Derrick Henderson came into this world and served in a number of roles and relationships. He was, a son,, a brother, a friend, a husband, ,a father an uncle, a community activist and faithful employee. He was born, he lived, he died, he went home to a place prepared for him. We all go through that cyle of birth, life, and death because its automatic.
Yet it takes a willful decision on our parts to go home to place prepared for us. Jesus put it this way. Let not your hearts be troubled, For you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s House are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
For those who remain on this side of death, the Bible tells us, there is a time and a season for everything under the sun. A time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to hope and a time to give up, a time for joy and a time for pain, a time to be born and a time to die. Every moment of the day somebody is being born and somebody is dying. Death is going to happen to every one of us here tonight, unless Jesus comes first and takes us directly to heaven in the rapture.
The Scriptures tell us that there is a way that seems right to a person, but at the end of it is death. It’s okay to dream great dreams for our lives, and to make terrific plans, and to set some awesome goals, so long as those dreams, those plans, and those goals include the knowledge of knowing, one day I will stand before God and give an account of the life He gave to me. It is in that knowledge, that we keep in mind what’s really important as we go through life.
If we are all living in order that we might some day die, it should be of utmost important that we live in such way that in the end our lives would not have been lived in vain. When Death arrives, we take none of the gold or silver or money in the bank which we accumalated in life. We do not take any cars or houses or good looks with us. We do not take our educational degrees, or the titles and positions we had in the area of employment. We can only take our souls and the memories of what we have done in this life with us. For naked we came into this world, and naked we go out.
We come into this world not to hold on to things but to give them away. No person dies happily with clenched fists. The only thing that we can take out of this world is what we have given away. For that is how Jesus said to lay up treasures in heaven. If we have not loved and have not given then our living has been in vain.
The Apostle Paul knew that his life was coming to an end even though he had been a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. He did not become bitter that God did not set him free after he had been unjustly condemned to have his head cut off. Instead he chose to look back over his life.
When he looked backed over his life, he was pleased with what he had seen. He was able to declare in the last book that he wrote, " For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." Paul could see that his living had not been lived in vain.
Death is closer to all of us than we think it is. If you had to meet it today and your life would be over this evening, would you be happy with the life you have lived. Would you be ready to go with no regrets? Have you said your were sorry to those you hurt and granted forgiveness to those who hurt you? Would you be as certain as being in heaven tomorrow as you are of sitting in this sanctuary . tonight. The good news is that it is still possible for you to be certain.
God gave Derrick Henderson his life for a purpose. By talking with his mother, Mary, his sister Vicky, his daughter Aleesha and his son Ricco, I got a greater glimpse into Derrick’s purpose in life.
When I asked them for one or two word descriptions of Derrick, the following images came forth. Very caring, loyal, humorous, jovial, strong, cool, helpful, very generous, loving, dependable, strong, compassionate, sweet and family oriented.
When I asked his mother for a very special moment she shared with Derrick, her face lit up and said the moment he was born. He was the best looking baby boy you ever seen in your life. There is a challenge in the book of Proverbs for us all as we go through life. It says, Prov 23:25 May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice! .
Derrick fulfilled this purpose in his life. Never has a mother been any happier with her son than was Mary with her Derrick.. Her testimony of her son is that he was a joy in her life. He never gave her any problems in life of his own making. He was never a discipline problem at home or school. His sister said, as Derrick was growing up, when the other kids were tempted to go do something they shouldn’t, Derrick would hide in the closet and tell her to tell them that he was not home. Each holiday Derrick would usually hand deliver his mother a card which indicated he had taken his time to find just the right card with the right message.
We live in a time in which fathers and mothers have no problem walking away from their responsibilities as parents. That has never been the case with Derrick. Aleesha, Ricco, and Chase were at the center of Derrick’s world. He had a purpose in being as great of a father as he knew how to be. He knew how to be stern with his kids, but he also knew how to be tender.
When asked of a special moment with his father, “Ricco remembers back to that first day of kindergarten when he was scared to be left with these strange people. He did not want his father to leave. Derrick wasn’t the one to say , boy just be tough and get on in there. Derrick sat just out in the hallway, so that his son could look and see that he was there. His father stayed until nap time, but by then it was okay because Ricco had met some new friends.
Derrick had his little games to win over the hearts of his children. It could be scaring your kids by putting shaving cream all over his face, or peeking around the kitchen door with your Halloween mask on his face, or whistling into your presence with his hands behind your back, stealing a tape or cd from you, knowing all the while you’re watching him as he took it. He even sent his daughter on a scavenger hunt in order for her to find her Christmas present on Christmas morning. It was just a part of his jovial nature, and his desire to make others happy.
The thing Aleecia and Ricco both appreciated about their father the most was his consistency in always being there for them.. Aleecia said she could always depend on her father to be willing to work something out for her. Ricco said, whenever I was stuck somewhere, I knew he would come and get me. I’ve been told that nothing was more important to Derrick than helping his kids succeed in life. He was proud of all three of them. He’s invited about a million people to his daughter’s wedding, because he wanted to share his joy and sense of delight with the world. Go to the wedding and stand in his honor.
Every father wonders what does his kids think of him. Ricco saw his father as a man of courage and a good person. Whenever someone compliments him, he points back and says, “I owe it to my father.” His daughter saw him as one on whom she could depend. His son Chase looked forward to spending time with his father. May every father leave this world with the same kind of admiration, respect and love from his children as Derrick did. It’s an indication that you made some good investments with your life.
Derrick was the kind of person who willing made sacrifices for others. Whether hew was acting as union president or member of the community, he was giving his best, sacrificing himself in the process. Once when a family, lost all they had in a fire, including their three children, Derrick took the initiative in organizing a community effort to help the family.
When asked by the reporters, why he had taken on such a task, he responded, “We have to help our own and we have to take an interest in the neighborhood where we live.” Those words are as true today as when he spoke them a few decades ago
Death is significant only because it marks the end of our opportunity to have an affect upon others for the sake of Jesus Christ. For as I said before, the Scriptures tell us that there is a time for everything under the the sun. A time to be born and a time to die. The mere fact of being born is a guarantee that we shall one day die. A lifetime in eternity hangs upon the balance of the choices we make during the brief interval that we call life.
But death is not something to be feared, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die but have everlasting life. Jesus, God’s Son, said, let not your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me. For I go to prepare a place for you. Not only has Christ gone to prepare a place for us, He has revealed to us the road in which we should follow.
Jesus tells us that there are but too roads in this life. One way has a wide gate, is a broad road and that the bulk of people travel upon it, but it leads to death and destruction. He tells us the other road has a narrow gate, is very narrow, and that few people travel upon it, but that it leads to life. Jesus himself is that narrow gate. For he issued a call, "If anyone wants life, let the person deny himself or herself, pick up his or her cross and follow me." Are you headed for death and destruction today, or have you chosen the path which leads to life?
Have you ever wondered how good do you have to be to go to heaven and meet God. Most of us would consider ourselves a good person. The truth is, none of us could ever be good enough to go to heaven. It’s worthless to even try it. Because going to heaven isn’t about how good or how bad we have been. It’s a matter of, " do we know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior by having made a decision to follow Him with our lives."
Jesus has gone forth to prepare a place for each of us. But like Derrick and all the others who have gone on before him, we must make a choice. Mary said one of the last gifts she was able to give to her son, was the gift of turning his heart to the Lord. He let her know he was ready to accept the Lord and to begin putting his house in order. Those talks of sharing the Lord with her son and his decision to turn to Christ is the most important thing anyone can give to another person
You see none of us know the day nor the hour when we shall leave this world. Christ has died on our behalf that we might have life. It’s as simple as admitting the wrong we have done in our lives, asking God for forgiveness, and then letting Jesus Christ determine how we live from this day forward. For in the end, the only decision that will matter is what did we do with Christ. For only what’s done for Christ will last is going to matter a thousand years from today.
Derrick will be remembered as a loving and caring person in many of your hearts. In the end, it was part of his compassion and desire to offer help which cost him his life. There is a tremendous sense of pain, of hurt, and confusion surrounding the circumstances of his death. We will never understand why it happened. We cannot exchange places with Derrick. We cannot turn back the hand of time. We can be thankful for the love and the life that he gave to us.
Derrick was about helping people to improve. He saw potential in others, that many of us failed to see. It would be a tragedy, if any of us used his death as a reason for us not moving forward to excel. It would be a betrayal of all that he stood for in his life. Remember his strength and courage in the face of adversity. Imitate his desire to help someone else along the way.
I do not believe Derrick would want us to hold bitterness within our hearts toward Renee in any way. As difficult and as hard as it will be, he would want us to be open to forgiving her even as he has done. Forgiveness does not mean, we simply act as though nothing has happened. It means we give up our right to seek revenge. We put it into God’s hands to do what God feels is best.
Derrick has found freedom. I’m sure he does not want us in any self imposed prison by allowing hate to take root in our lives. His life was dedicated to bringing joy, smiles, and happiness into the lives of those he loved. Let the memories of him, continue to do that. Resolve now to embrace the love of God for your life and prepare your own heart to meet the Lord. Death is always closer to us than we think it is.
The joy of dying in Christ is that goodbye is never goodbye. For the word of God clearly states, " Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men and women who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s own words, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left at the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down form heaven, with a loud command, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. Our God is faithful.
