“There is a leak in this old building”
Memories
? Easter Sunday, Kimberly was 4 or 5 years old: “What are you looking at me for? I didn’t come here to stay. I came to wish you a happy Easter day!”
? My baby sister had a talent that would have made her the envy of jury consultants and police detectives everywhere. (explain, including her noticing when I didn’t like something)
? I hope I say this correctly: Kimberly showed absolutely no hesitation in freely sharing her thoughts about things. Can I get a witness? So, if you were on the other end of her thoughts you had one of two choices, and I don’t really think this is too much of an exaggeration: agree and move on or go to a neutral corner and wait for Michael Buffer to say “Let’s get ready to rumble!”
? After our Mom died Carla and Kim formed, what I affectionately call C & K Fashion Consultants. They only had one client: our Dad, whom they lovingly called, John Blu – that’s B-L-U. Kim and Carla were so good at coordinating Daddy’s outfits that he often looked like he had just walked right out of GQ Magazine. Can I get a witness? (My “tie” story – Kim: “I don’t work like that. I buy things to match!”)
? One more Kimberly story. She loved it when I came home to visit during the last couple of years of Daddy’s life. I would barely be in the door and she’d give me the look. It was the “you are making coffee in the morning” look. Daddy liked “see through” coffee. Kim hated it. My coffee was so strong that if you didn’t put generous amounts of cream and sugar or honey in it, you couldn’t drink it. Kim and I – we liked coffee that “moved” us.
Kim, when I came home this time, I made the coffee just the way you and I like it. And with each sip, sweetie, when I closed my eyes I saw you smiling as you sipped your cup.
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Before preparing my remarks, I looked up the word “eulogy.” A eulogy is “a speech that praises someone who dies.”
Today, I really don’t need to do that for Kimberly. All I have to do is look at each of you. Your very presence here today is giving her eulogy – high praise – which no words can adequately express.
The late tennis star Arthur Ash, in his autobiography Days of Grace, wrote "If one's reputation is a possession, then of all my possessions, my reputation means most to me. Nothing comes even close to it in importance."
Putt, Soupie and Connie, would you please stand? Now look around and see all of the faces here today. You are looking at the faces of people who are here because of your Mom’s reputation – because of the kind of life that she lived. Trust me when I say this, there are no words to express how much they cared about your Mom. So they came here today to show you and Darryll how much they cared about your Mom.
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Today, I’m going to echo the words of my brother Delrick. I asked him to read the Scripture at our daughter’s memorial service nearly four years ago, almost to the day. The first thing he said was “I don’t want to be here.” Family, I don’t want to be here.
But that’s where we find ourselves today – a place where we don’t want to be and doing a thing we were not prepared to do.
We find ourselves looking at Kimberly’s body and saying “Kim, we love you and we miss you so much already” when what we really want to say is “Kim, get up. It’s not time for you to go.”
We find ourselves looking around at our family and trying to understand why Kimberly is not among the faces we see.
We find ourselves thinking about the last time we spoke to Kimberly on the phone or in person.
We find ourselves thinking “If I had just known that visit or that telephone call would be the last one I’d have with her, I would have (fill in the blank).”
And for those of you having these thoughts – that’s all right. That’s all right. You will have these questions and feelings tomorrow, next week, next month and in the months to come.
But don’t beat yourself up with the “What ifs?” because there will never be a satisfactory answer to the question.
You have to make up your mind to believe God’s promise: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Death is a foreign concept to us because we are spirit beings who will live forever. We will live forever in heaven or we will burn forever in hell.
Our bodies die because of what Adam did in Genesis 3. When he ate of the forbidden tree, it opened the door for Satan to bring sin, corruption and spiritual death into God’s creation. From that day forward, all of us were born with an “expiration date”.
But let me explain what I mean by that. When she was born, God didn’t look at Kimberly and say “I am going to give her 52 years and seven months and seven days.” That’s not how it works.
God lives outside of time. He can see our entire lives from the day we are born to the day we die in an instant. He knew how long my baby sister would live – but it was not a beginning and an ending determined by him.
According to Psalm 91:16, if God had had His way, those belonging to Him would live long, satisfying lives. In Psalm 116:15, God drives this point home when He had David write “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”
That word “precious” doesn’t mean “precious” in the way we use it to describe people. It’s a word that’s used to describe gems like diamonds, rubies and sapphires, for example.
For God, “precious” means “so costly and valuable that there’s nothing that can replace it.” Ladies and gentlemen, a faithful child of God has a value – now listen to me – a value that our Heavenly Father cannot replace.
Kimberly Dawn Cooper was precious in the sight of the Lord. And when my time comes, I want to have lived the kind of life that in my eulogy the person can say “Barry Orlando Johnson was precious in the sight of the Lord.”
We are spirit beings – eternal creatures – who have a soul and who live in a body. When loved ones die, that’s why we cry. When loved ones die, that’s why we get angry. When loved ones die, that’s why we get depressed. We know, deep down inside of us, that something is wrong with a person not living.
Family, we are not here today because God took a life. We are here today because of the corruption Satan unleashed on humanity in Genesis 3.
Kimberly was born with a heart that had genetic imperfections which prevented it from fully developing. Simply put, her heart couldn’t continue to support the needs of her body. Our Mom died from the same genetic imperfection when she was 48.
We are here today because God received a life that went home much, much too soon. I want you to understand this.
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What we see here is Kimberly’s body – not Kimberly, the person. Her body allowed her to live in this world just like our bodies allow us to live in this world. But now she lives in Heaven and for those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior – we will see her again. But...
[Have everyone look at the coffin]
If you were the person in the coffin today and you had not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, now it’s too late and you will burn in hell forever.
If you were the person in the coffin today and you had accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior but you continued to live the same way you did before you accepted him, and you never repented, now it’s too late and there is a good chance you are going to burn in hell forever.
If you were the person in the coffin today, and you had lived a life of adultery and you never repented, now it’s too late and the odds of you making Heaven are strongly against you.
If you were the person in the coffin today, and you lived a life of having sex without being married, and you never repented, now it’s too late and you have increased the changes of Heaven not being your final destination.
If you were the person in the coffin today and you had not forgiven those who mistreated you, who wronged you, who stole from you, who lied to you, who abused you, who cussed you out, who killed your dog or your cat – the list is endless – now it’s too late and the Bible says – now listen to me – the Bible says you will burn in hell forever.
I’m going to quote scripture on this one. It’s from Matthew 6:15. “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither (ou) will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s pretty strong language. Do you know why forgiveness is such a big deal to God? He forgave you.
If you were the person in the coffin today and you had not repented of your sins, now it’s too late and you will spend an eternity burning in hell.
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But ladies and gentlemen, here’s the good news. You are still breathing, which means you can still make a change, if you want to. You can change how you are living now, if you want to. If anything I’ve said applies to you, I’m pleading with you – repent now. Please repent now and mean it.
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Before I close, I want to say something to Darryll.
Most everyone in the family calls Darryll “Coop”. Coop, as Kimberly’s brother, what I wanted more than anything for my baby sister was a husband who would love her, who would take care of her and who would treat her right.
Thank you for loving Kimberly the way you did. She was blessed to have you in her life. We could not have asked for a more loving and caring brother-in-law for our sister. (Okay Dinky, don’t be mad. Carla is sitting next to you so we can’t talk about you just yet.)
Now to Putt, Soupie and Connie. You have an opportunity, beginning today, to not only honor your Mom in how you live but, most importantly, to honor God in how you live. I’m sure that for your Mom, it’s one and the same.
If you want to spend eternity with your Mom and if you want your children to spend an eternity with their grandmother, I have one piece of advice and four things for you to do.
(Yes, I know that I’m speaking with Kim’s children, but ladies and gentlemen, don’t tune out and start thinking about what you’re going to do when the service is over. This applies to you too.)
Here’s the advice: let the Bible be your standard for everything and then teach your children to do the same. If the Bible says something is sin, then you agree that it is sin and live your life accordingly.
Now the four things for you to do and teach your children to do:
• (1) Find a home church, commit to it and support it.
• (2) Read your Bible every day – not a devotional but your Bible. Hunger and thirst for it.
• (3) Every day, find the time and a quiet place to sit in your Father’s presence. Talk to Him. Seek His advice. Pour out your heart. Do this, every day.
• (4) Praise and thank God every day for His love, His goodness and His mercy.
I am going to close with the conversation Kimberly shared with us at Candace’s memorial service four years ago. The conversation she shared took place about five months before Candace died. I transcribed a portion of what she said.
Putt, Soupie and Connie, I want you to hear the last part of what I read as your Mom talking to you today.
Aunt Kim I want to ask you something. She said it seems like everyone in our family is dying from cancer. She said I know you smoked and everything and she said how did you quit from smoking? And I said Candace, it wasn’t easy. I smoked with patches. I smoke with no patches on. I smoked taking the pill. I was determined I was going to smoke.
And she said, well Aunt Kim, how many did you smoke? And I said I smoked a pack a day and according to what time of the night it was, I’d probably start on my second pack. And she said Aunt Kim, you mean you smoked 20 cigarettes a day? I’m like, Candace, yeah. (Show what Kim did)
I mean she said that about three or four times. You mean you smoked 20 cigarettes a day plus? And I said Candace, how much do you smoke? She said a pack of cigarettes would probably last her two or three days. (And Kim starts laughing.) And I said honey you’re not really smoking. I was a true smoker. I was a true smoker. What you’re doing is not smoking.
But I told Candace I had to pray about it. That was the only way I was able to quit. When you get ready, when you pray about it, you’ll be able to quit.
That was my last conversation with Candace and her last words to me was I love you Aunt Kim. And I said Candace, I love you too. Never thought I’d never hear from her again.
I love you Candace and I tell my children now He’s coming back. He’s going to come back. We need to be ready. There’s nothing we can do for Candace, but He’s coming back.
If my other two daughters are watching and my son is here in the audience today, He’s coming back. I want you to know, be ready. Be ready.
Putt, Soupie and Connie, your Mom, and Darryll, your wife, was ready for Monday, March 7, 2016 on Friday, March 23, 2012.
My prayer is that everyone here today is ready.
[Prayer for salvation]
