Scripture: Romans 8:31-39, Luke 24:1-12
It just won’t be the same.
Of course, it never is when a prominent and beloved member of the church dies. But the way things change is always different for each one. I’ll miss swinging over to that side of the church each Sunday during the peace to make sure to greet Fred and share God’s peace with him. Usually accompanied by some compliment on whatever colorful shirt he was wearing that day; something I’m told Sandy is mostly to blame for. Either way, I envied his style. There I said it.
And it won’t be the same at the mall either. When Emily would drag Sarah and/or I along (required, since Em can’t drive yet) on her weekly pilgrimages to Hot Topic, it was not an unusual thing to see Fred there in the food court, hanging out with his buddies. It was also not unusual for him to wander off and chat with us too. His friendly presence at the mall was always a welcome sight.
It seems like he was always around. Constantly here at church. Out in the community. And he was, up until things got worse with his Kennedy’s Disease over the last year or so. Before that, he seemed like a bad penny. Always around and you couldn’t get rid of him. But that was a good thing. You want good people around. They make the world brighter by their very being. But today, the world is a bit dimmer as one of its lights has gone out.
Yeah, I’m going to miss him too.
In the years to come however, of all the things I could remember about the Fred Halbach I knew as his pastor, what will, no doubt, stand out the most in my mind were his last moments here on Earth. Sandy texted me on Sunday, asking me to come in to the hospital and I drove over as quickly as I could. Fred had asked to be taken off the ventilator and he knew. He knew what that meant. He knew what would happen.
After the breathing tube came out, he took Sandy in hand and said to her, a couple times if I remember correctly, “I’m not going to make it.” He was right. It was maybe another 10 minutes and he was gone.
There aren’t many times when a person could be said to have had a “good death,” but Fred came as close to that as I’ve ever seen anyone come. He faced his end with courage, dignity, honesty, compassion, and faith. He knew what was coming and there was no fear. His last thoughts were on those he loved, Sandy in particular. He was preparing you for what was coming. He didn’t want you to worry or be afraid. He knew he’d be all right.
And he was right about that too.
Sometimes we pastors wonder if anything we say up here gets through to people. We talk and talk about how God takes care of us, about how God loves us enough to send Jesus to live, die, and rise again for our sake. We talk about how we don’t have to fear even the most frightening things when God is on our side. All the things you heard in our lessons today. If God is for us... Why seek you the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. All that and more. This is what I and others like me have said from the pulpits of churches like this one.
Fred got it. He understood. He believed it and I know that in my heart of hearts by the love, compassion, and courage that he showed in his moment of death. He knew he had nothing to fear because Jesus has taken care of everything. And his last energy in this life he dedicated to reassuring us who are left behind, it’s alright. God’s taken care of him.
God takes care of us so we can take care of others. I’ve said that line countless times. Fred understood that. Fred believed that. Fred lived that.
His faith and confidence in that truth is something we can all take to heart on this day. For what was true for him is true also for us. God will take care of us. God loves all of us to send Jesus to live, die, and rise again for our sakes. We don’t have to fear even the most frightening things in life because God is on our side. All that is true for us this day.
And because it is true, this parting that we have with Fred is only temporary. As the Scriptures tell us, God promises a day when the dead will rise and we need not seek the living among the dead ever again. A day when Easter comes for all of us. On that day, Fred will be with us again. That’s what God promises. It’s what Fred believed. It’s how he lived and it’s how he died, safe and confident in his savior’s arms.
Alleluia. Christ is risen!
And because he has arise, so too shall we. All of us. Amen.
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