Memorial Service for Gordon Brown
2nd Corinthians 5:1-10
Good afternoon. My name is David Henderson and I am the pastor of Eagle’s Landing Baptist church. I have known Mary and Ann for about 15 years. I am honored to be chosen to speak to you today. I want you to know that I am very sorry for your loss. I know that each of you knew Gordon in different ways and so your grief will be different as well. I am praying for you and asking God to help you through this very difficult time.
Today we find ourselves in the valley of death that the Psalmist talked about….it is a difficult place to be but as the psalmist talks about it is also a place where we can experience the presence of God. These words were written down by the shepherd boy, David. Like all of us, David went through some difficult times. In the previous psalm, Psalm 22 we hear David cry out to the Lord with these words, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We don’t know exactly what he was going through but we do know he was hurting. He experienced grief in the loss of his infant son who was only 7 days old. So he was familiar with this valley of the shadow of death. This valley is an actual place in the Holy Land/Israel. When people would walk through that area as they were traveling they would often be in danger for their lives. They could be robbed, beaten or even murdered. But David said that when he walked through that place he was not afraid…because God was with him…His rod, his staff they comfort me. These were items of protection. God still gives that protection and help to us today. In fact I believe that He is more present at the time of death than perhaps any other time.
Years ago when my children were younger we had decided to purchase our first tent and take out kids camping. They loved it. We could fish, see the mountains and we could do all of this on a pretty low budget. So we decided to invest in our first tent. We were in the hills of Arkansas camping…had a long day and laid down for the night to get some rest. It began to rain…I enjoy listening to the rain at night but not when I am in a tent. But we all fell asleep in the safety of our tent. When I woke up the next morning my boys were already awake and they were laughing at me because the tent had developed a leak in the middle of the night and my head was lying in a small puddle of water. So I wasn’t very happy in our new tent.
The apostle Paul in writing in the NT describes our bodies as a tent. And because it was Paul who said that, it has a lot more meaning to us. In churches in that day, the pastors were not paid much by the church, if they were paid at all so they had to also have a another job as well. The Bible tells us that Paul was a tentmaker. He would have been familiar with the fabric, how it was sewn together and he would have known the downside of what sometimes happens to a tent, as it did to ours that night. Listen to what he has to say about this.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (LB)
For we know that when this tent we live in is taken down-when we die and leave these bodies- we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself and not by human hands. How weary we grow of our present bodies. These earthly bodies make us groan and sigh, but we wouldn’t like to think of dying and having no bodies at all. Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies realizing that every moment we spend in our earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus. We know these things are true by believing, not seeing. And we are not afraid, but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So our aim is to please Him always in everything we do, whether we are here in this body or away from this body and with Him in heaven. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged and have our lives laid bare – before Him.
BRIEF OBITUARY INFO
In Gordon’s last years he would understand this concept of our bodies being like a tent. His health began to decline. The tent that he lived in began to weaken. It wasn’t as strong anymore. Paul said this….these bodies make us groan and sigh. These bodies make us groan and sigh. When we get sick. We groan and complain. When arthritis sets in we moan. When we step on the scales and they say we are gaining weight we moan! Our bodies are much like a tent; they rip and they tear, they wear out, they grow old and they don’t last as long as we would like for them to. And so we must turn our lives over to Jesus and live for Him and then the scripture assures us that we will have a home in heaven and receive as new body. He assures us that in this home in heaven
* there will be no more sickness
* no more death no more funerals to attend
* we will never grow tired or weary
* no more hospitals
* no more Rx to fill
* no more need for doctors
* no more darkness
* no more tears
Gordon Robert Brown was born 1946 in Washington D.C. and grew up in Maryland. It was there that he met the girl next door, Mary Ann Gordon and they were married in 1968. They had their own carpet business and real estate investments. In 1979 they relocated to Florida . He leaves behind his wife Mary and their two sons Gordon Robert Brown and Brandon Joseph Brown. Also he had two daughters, Donna Lowery and Brianna Brown. Gordon and his friends enjoyed the races where he raced his corvette. He loved horseback riding, working on their farm in Maryland, and water skiing and boating. He knew how to pinch a penny and stretch a dollar. He was a very hard worker and a very private person. He took great pride in his work. He was loved by his family and will be greatly missed.
Mary told me that Gordon’s death was really unexpected. Yes he had been sick but still the family did not expect this to happen. Most of the time when death comes that is exactly how it is. We don’t expect it. We are surprised. We are caught off guard. We like to think our loved ones will live be here forever and that we will also. But of course that is not what the Bible teaches. James tells us that our lives are like a vapor…here for a moment and then gone. And as we grow older we all realize just how true that is. It goes rapidly.
Grief counselors will tell you that there are at least 3 things that we must do or pay attention to when we go through the valley of the shadow of death. Three things that can help us.
(1) time -doesn=t usually happen quickly...the grief process takes time…..so don=t try to rush it...sometimes a few months....sometimes a few years. It is different with each person.
(2) talk- share memories, stories, talk is therapeutic.
(3) Tears- when Jesus learned of the death of His friend Lazarus, the scripture tells us that Jesus wept. Tears are good.
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I have stood here and conducted funeral services for people of all ages...those who are older in their 80's and 90's who have lived a long full life as well as those who are much younger...one of the things that I have discovered is that regardless of age we are not ready to give them up. We cannot help it but we often ask why things happen as they do. Paul the apostle said Anow we see thru a dark glass…..it=s not clear but one day we will see face to face...he was saying it is not all clear now but one day it will be...there are things we do not understand right now but one day we will understand. Today we must trust these things to a God who is much bigger than us, who loves us and will see us through.
A little boy and his father visited the country store, upon leaving the store the owner of the store offered the little boy some free candy. "Get a hand full of candy", the merchant said to the boy. The boy just stood there looking up at his father. The owner repeated himself, "Son get a hand full of candy, it’s free." Again the boy did not move continuing to look up in the face of his father. Finally, the father reached into the candy jar and got a hand full of candy and gave it to his son. As they walked back home, the father stopped and asked his son why he did not grab a hand full of the free candy. The boy with a big smile on his face looked into the face of his father and said " Because I know that your hand is bigger than mine." So when we walk through difficulty, when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we need to place our hands in the hands of Jesus. His hands are much bigger than ours and He will get us through.
Would you pray with me?
Prayer...heavenly Father we are reminded of the time that your friend Lazarus died and we find the simple words in the scripture that tell us that you wept. We are grateful that you are a God that has feelings...one that cares for us in our darkest moments…..one who knows all our feelings ...all our needs and you have the answers and the hope that we need. Today I pray for each member of this family asking you to comfort them guide them and help them though this difficult time. I pray that would you show then just how real that you are and how much you love them and that they would sense your presence with them in a powerful way today and in the months to come. I pray for your comfort and for your blessings on them...in Jesus name....Amen.
