I write to you this morning as a very broken man.

There is not much left of me emotionally physically, or spiritually.

On Saturday, I was asked to officiate and preach at the funeral of a 26-year-old young man who was a good friend.

For the past 13 years, Jonathan’s body was plagued and ravaged by Intracranial Hypertension, an illness that brought him through 70+ surgeries over those years.

Jonathan’s father, a pastor in Staten Island, asked me to let him rest during his time of loss, grieving, and mourning, by taking over his church and the pulpit as we remembered who his son was, but more importantly who Jesus is.

I first met Jonathan when I was a volunteer youth leader at our sister church in Staten Island. At that time his family had moved to the island because Jonathan’s father excepted a call to lead a congregation not far from the church that I serving. Upon arrival to the neighborhood, Jonathan’s parents sought out our congregation to care for and love their four children.

As the years went by and I parted ways with Jonathan and his family to accept a call out here to Huntington, our relationship remained strong because of our shared issues with illness–his Intracranial Hypertension and my cancer.

The geographical distance didn’t stop us from meeting and texting each other. Our relationship became a point of refuge where we could speak and share thoughts and words with each other that we would never share with our family or friends.

The Baldini family has given me permission to share the sermon I preached at Jonathan’s funeral with you today.

——————–

We are gathered this morning in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Amen.

Family and friends,

I am here with you on this day to share your loss as best as I can, but more than that, I am here with you to hear what Jesus has to say about life, and death, and resurrection.

In a recent conversation I had with Jonathan, talk of the latest superhero movies and what comedies we were currently watching and re-watching on Netflix eventually dissolved, as it always did, into talk about our shared hardships due to illness.

When we got to the place of discussing the specifics of pain, suffering, life and death, Jonathan questioned me saying,

“When you had cancer, did you ever think about dying?”

My response was a quick and easy, “Yes.”

Jonathan then proceeded to tell me that he wasn’t afraid to die because He knew God’s love would take care of him.

But, when he thought about his own death, the only thing he worried about was leaving his family behind because he knew they would experience great sadness and deep suffering once he left them.

In Jonathan’s last moments with us, he was deeply concerned for your welfare and he had a Christ like love for you.

The account of Jesus pain, suffering, and death is told to us by the Gospel writer John with these words:

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

 “They divided my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.”

 So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus was not afraid to die. He knew His death would forgive the sins of many.

But, one thing Jesus worried about from the cross was leaving his family and friends behind because they would experience great sadness and deep suffering once he left them.

The text tells us that

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, [he is now] your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “[Friend, she is now] your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19)

Deeply concerned for His mother’s welfare, Jesus entrusted Mary to a disciple’s care.

Even in the dark moments of pain, suffering, the light of the love of God shone brightly through Jesus onto Mary, His mother who was suffering from watching the brutal and humiliating death of her son.

Even while dying on the cross, Jesus has compassion on the ones who were grieving and mourning the loss of a loved one and makes sure they will be properly cared for after his death.

Jesus is deeply concerned for you.

In fact, he is so concerned for your eternal well being that he was crucified on a cross to provide the forgiveness of sins that you need in order to brought back into a right relationship with God.

From the cross, Jesus, God in the flesh, the Creator of all that exists, looks down and has compassion on you, who in this world are daily struggling to keep your life together in the face of challenges.

First, Jesus’ compassion has made sure you will be properly cared for through forgiving your sins and gifting you eternal life.

Secondly, just as Jesus’ compassion led him to take care of his mother and friends by entrusting them into the care of each other, Jesus will also continue to make sure you are properly cared for, here and now, through entrusting you into the care of your brothers and sisters in the church body.

This is a time of great sadness and deep suffering because Jonathan has left us.

In Jesus’s last moments with us, he was deeply concerned for your welfare and loved you with an eternal and never changing love.

A friend of mine recently introduced me to a song penned by the modern wordsmith and artist Wiz Kalifa. The lyrics to the chorus go like this:

It’s been a long day without you, my friend

And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again

We’ve come a long way from where we began

Oh, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again

When I see you again

Because of Jesus, we will see Jonathan again.

“Have you thought about dying?”

I know your response is quick and easy, “Yes.”

Know that in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God’s love has and will take care of you.

Go forth today and take care of one another, as Jonathan and you have already been taken care of by Jesus.

Amen.

Pastor Fred

September 11, 2017