How We Live

It hardly seems real.

This last week has been spent doing all the things

Necessary to close an estate.

Its been arduous to say the least.

But, everything that has needed to happen has happened.

Except for one thing.

There has been little time to actually be able to sit back and grieve

The loss of Bryson Kratz…

As a pastor, I have sat with countless families who have lost a loved one,

But have never been through the process myself.

It has been eye opening to say the least.

Now, we find ourselves here.

A place of calm and a place of rest.

We are finally in a place that is safe,

And a time that is set aside to grieve.

The loss can finally be experienced.

Some of you have traveled a distance to be here.

I invite you now to sit back, relax a bit,

And stay in the moment as we reflect on the life of Bryson Kratz

And the impact of his life and death on each of us,

And also take a moment to embrace the holy and the

Unseen at work in these sacred moments.

The text this afternoon comes from…

II Corinthians 4:7-18

7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."[1] With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Here we are…

A timeless message for people who are very much

Bound to the passing of time.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like it much when things break.

I have the opinion that once you buy something, it should last forever.

I have the patience of Job in dealing with people,

But I am perfectly capable of ranting like I just escaped from

Psychiatric facility when it is the car, computer, cell phone,

Or my personal nemesis, the irrigation

system for our home owners association.

The water pump is enough to make a grown man cry.

I can vouch for that…

It’s a daily occurrence in my life.

Why am I telling you this?

Because these things are just supposed to work…

They worked yesterday when I went to bed,

Nothing has changed overnight.

It should still work in the morning.

Then, one day, your loved one says…

“I can’t get out of bed…

there is something wrong with my back.”

Suddenly the car, computer, cell phone, and water pump don’t seem

Quite so ominous.

What do you do when the machine that broke

Down overnight is you?

What if that machine that broke down overnight

Is your brother, your father, your husband,

Your friend?

Fill in the blank.

It’s a scary thought.

Its also why we are all here today.

The machine that broke down was the body of our friend

And loved one.

Paul has some words for us,

And to be honest, I do not know that his metaphor is all that comforting at

First glance.

He calls our bodies jars of clay.

Jars of clay?

Who wants to be that?

Clay pots are fragile.

They chip, they break, they certainly aren’t worth very much.

Who wants to be that?

I certainly don’t.

I want to be stone and steel.

Something that is timeless and indestructible…

Something that the passage of time ignores

And the forces of nature have no power over.

I don’t want to break.

I do not want to be a jar of clay.

But, Paul is wise and tells us the truth despite what we want to hear.