YouTube video sermon
WELCOME
On behalf of Tracey, Briggs, Prentice, Meredith and the entire Heaney family, I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your weekend schedule to come and be a part of this service. And not just for attending today, but also for the cards, calls, e-mails, hugs, and other expressions of love and support that you have offered to them during these past several days, weeks, and months – particularly during Thomas’s battle with cancer.
If I may, I’d also like to extend an apology on behalf of the family. If you’re one of the many that have not gotten a response to an e-mail, or a letter, or a call, it’s not because they’re not trying. And I hope you will charge that to their circumstances and memory, rather than their hearts. They’re forever grateful for your kindness and love.
I would also like to take a moment and remind each of us that we are not here solely to remember Thomas Heaney: a dear husband, father, brother, uncle, or grandfather. And we aren’t here only to honor our friend and neighbor, although that is one of the purposes of this service. There are two more reasons we gather: to bring comfort and encouragement to his family, and to give exaltation and worship to the Lord, Jesus Christ, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).
Let me also share a few personal thoughts about Thomas, if I may. The man I came to know and love may look and sound dramatically different from the one you knew. And if that’s the case, then let me assure you it’s because he had a radical encounter with Jesus, later in life. You see, I think that Thomas feared that if someone else eulogized him, they might falsely represent him to be something he wasn’t – that they might only tell the “good” parts about him, rather than the whole truth. And they just might say something like, “Thomas Heaney was the best, the kindest, the bravest, the most generous, the most selfless, single-minded and interesting man I ever knew.”
So, let me begin by telling you what I think Thomas would want me to tell you about himself. He tried to be good. He tried to live up to the ideals that all of us believe in, but even on his best days he was woefully imperfect. At times he could be the most stubborn, bull-headed, inflexible, narrow-minded person you could ever meet. He struggled with alcoholism and other addictive behaviors that strained relationships and threatened his marriage. He sometimes lost control of his tongue and said things with words or in ways that he later regretted and had to apologize for.
In short, Thomas, would want me to make clear to you that while he was what we would all call a “good and decent man,” he was still plain and simple (like all of us) – a sinner – imperfect in all he ever did and always in need of God’s forgiveness. And I know why Thomas would want me to tell you these things, because he would not want this day to be so much about him but about his Lord and Savior, Jesus. He would want you to know that he will not enter heaven because he was good, but because Jesus was good and because Jesus died for him. He would want me to tell you these things so that you wouldn’t be tempted to leave here today saying, “I wish I could be more like Thomas Heaney”, but rather that you would leave saying, “I wish I could be more like Thomas Heaney’s Savior.”
INVOCATION
Eternal Father, You who are the God of all mercies and comfort; look with compassion, we pray, upon all gathered here now, that our minds and hearts will be focused on Your never-ending love for us. Grant that this service of comfort, which we now hold in Your name, may bring to all a sense of heavenly nearness and great trust in You. And may the peace of Christ, even the peace that passes all understanding, abide with us and rest upon all of us. We offer this prayer to You, O Lord, in the name of Your son, Jesus. Amen.
HYMN 343 – “AMAZING GRACE”
SCRIPTURE – ECCLESIASTES 3:1-15
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man.
14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.
POEM – “REMEMBERED JOY”
Don’t grieve for me, For now I’m free!
I follow the plan God laid for me.
I saw His face, I heard His call,
I took His hand and left it all…
I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work or play;
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss…
Ah yes, these things I, too, shall miss.
My life’s been full, I’ve savoured much:
Good times, good friends, a loved-one’s touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief –
Don’t shorten yours with undue grief.
Be not burdened with tears of sorrow,
Enjoy the sunshine of the morrow.
PASTORAL PRAYER
“Our God and Father, You laugh with us and cry with us; You, walk with us each step of the way, carrying us when our strength fails. We gather today with grieving hearts and voices crying out words of lament.
And so, we ask that You would move in and around us today. As we remember and say goodbye to Thomas, be the shoulder we cry on and the arm we lean on. Help us, we pray, to see through the veil of tears that there is hope and life after death – through faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Gracious God, as mysterious and wondrous as You are, You’re also a compassionate God: attentive, tender, watchful, and protective. So, we come, asking that your Holy Spirit would be here to ease our pain.
As we give thanks for all that Thomas added to our lives, and the lives of others around him, as we release our tears and anger, as we say our goodbyes, remind us that we are not alone. You, O God, our Savior and Friend, are with us. Your Word says that You will never leave us or abandon us. May we know this in our heads and feel it in our hearts. For we pray in Jesus’s name, Amen.”
SOLO – “GOING HOME”
MESSAGE
The last passage of scripture that I shared with Thomas was John 14:1-7. It’s listed in your program. These verses are among a collection that every pastor carries in his heart and mind when he goes to visit people who are approaching the end of life’s journey. In this particular instance, it was the first time that I shared these words with someone actually bearing the same name as the disciple in the text, and that was especially meaningful for us both. Follow along with me, as I read John 14:1-7:
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”
The apostle Thomas sometimes gets a bad rap. Outside of this scene, there are only two other places where Thomas’s comments are captured in the pages of the Bible. The first is in John 11, when word reaches Jesus and the disciples that Lazarus has died, and Thomas says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” And, of course, the last time is in John 20, where Thomas doubts the resurrection of Jesus. That’s probably the scene most of us are familiar with because that’s where Thomas gets his nickname – doubting Thomas. The wonderful thing is, however, that it was the question of a doubting man that provoked one of the greatest statements Jesus ever made.
Nobody needs to be ashamed of his/her doubts – as long as they come from a genuine heart. It’s an amazing and blessed truth that the person who genuinely and honestly seeks will, in the end, find. And your friend and mine, Thomas Heaney, was lovingly drawn by the hand of God into a relationship with Christ Jesus.
I want to focus ever so briefly on Jesus’s response to Thomas because it’s not only essential; it’s eternal. It’s not just important, it’s immortal. It’s not only Jesus’s response to Thomas, the apostle, but it was Jesus’s response to Thomas Heaney.
Folks, listen to me, when it comes to the time of your own death, when you’re the one in the casket, when you’re lying there holding your wife’s hand or your children are crowded around the bed, you had better know – in your head and in your heart – that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And keep in mind that it was Jesus who said that no one comes to God, the Father, nobody enters the gates of heaven, except through Him. This is the truth of the gospel, and it’s what your friend and mine believed and was convinced of and why he died in perfect peace.
THOMAS RECOGNIZED JESUS AS THE WAY
There are a lot of voices in our world that offer advice and direction on how to get to heaven and how to be with God. One of those voices says, “Just be a ‘good’ person.” The interesting thing about that instruction – when you begin considering it and investigating it – is that you find out there’s no unified definition for what people consider “good.” In fact, what you discover is that most people are their own judges of what counts as “good.” Moreover, their own standards of “goodness” change. Yesterday it was “good” to tell the truth, but today, in the pickle I’ve gotten myself into, not so much. Yesterday it was “good” to be faithful in my marriage, but today, since you no longer satisfy my sexual desires or my emotional needs or my financial needs or whatever, I think it’s time for us to go our separate ways. Yesterday it was “good” to attend worship on Sunday, but today, I think I’ll go to the lake instead.
I could go on and talk about how yesterday it was “good” not to murder, but today we just re-define human life (on both ends of the spectrum, the unborn and the elderly). I could remind you that yesterday it was “good” not to take the name of the Lord God in vain, but today; well, I might just mess somebody’s golf game up if I take that off the table.
Another voice in our world says, “All faiths, all belief systems, all religions lead to heaven.” That’s clearly not possible because not all faiths and religions even acknowledge Jesus, and those that do (Islam and Judaism, in particular) try to bypass Him altogether. There’s simply no getting around the exclusive claim that Jesus makes.
Most of you remember the days before navigation and smart phones. Back then you had to use paper maps or write out directions. Occasionally you’d get somebody that said this: “Take the 1st right, and then the 2nd left. Cross the town square, go past the church, take the 3rd right and the road you want is the 4th on the left.” Chances are, you’d be lost before you made the first right. But suppose the person says, “Follow me. I’ll take you there.”
That’s what Jesus does for anybody that follows Him. He doesn’t just give advice and direction. He takes you by the hand and leads you; He strengthens and guides every day. He doesn’t just tell us about the way; He is the way. Our friend and brother, Thomas Heaney, acknowledged Jesus as the only way to the Father. Have you?
THOMAS RECOGNIZED JESUS AS THE TRUTH
Not only does Jesus say that He’s the way to the Father, the way to heaven, but He also says that He’s the truth. Jesus is the embodiment of what is true. You and I have the capacity to tell the truth. Hopefully, we seek to teach the truth and speak the truth. But nobody except for Jesus was fully and purely truth wrapped in human form.
The beginning of John’s gospel contains these words. If you’ve ever been to church during the Advent season, just before Christmas, then you might have heard them. John 1 says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Jesus was identical with the truth. This meant that everything He said and did… the life He lived in the flesh… everything about Jesus was in lockstep with ultimate reality. And therefore, to reject Him is to choose to govern one’s self with a lie. Thomas acknowledged Jesus as the way to the Father, because he recognized that Jesus was only and always telling the truth.
In fact, in verses 8-11, which aren’t printed in your program, the conversation shifts to another disciple named Philip. Listen to what he says: “8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ 9 Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. 11 Believe me, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”
In case you missed it, Jesus said that He and God were and are the same. Jesus claims to be the virtual, true, living manifestation of God Himself. We want the doctor to be truthful with us about what she sees on the scans. We want our friends to be truthful so that we’ll feel comfortable leaving our pets in their care when we go on vacation. We want the truth in so many areas of our lives, but when we’re confronted with the truth of Jesus we turn the other way.
Thomas embraced Jesus as the truth – not only for this earthly life, but also for the life everlasting.
THOMAS RECOGNIZED JESUS AS THE LIFE
Not only is Jesus the way to the Father, and not only is Jesus the truth concerning the Father, but He’s also the life. The verse that we all grew up memorizing says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not die but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In John 11, at the tomb of His friend, Lazarus, we hear Jesus utter these words, “Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
This idea that Jesus is life – physical and spiritual – isn’t just to be found in John’s gospel. No, Paul says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And once again in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Or how about Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Over and over, the Bible points to Jesus as the giver and sustainer of spiritual life. Thomas Heaney reached a point in his life about 3 year ago – right over there in what we call the Parlor, the old sanctuary – where he understood that the only-begotten Son of God became man for his sake and suffered in his place and he realized “There’s hope for me.” Are you here today and need to be reconciled to God? Your only hope – indeed the hope of the entire world – of ever being reconciled to God is on the cross. It’s through Jesus, and only through Jesus, that you, me, your neighbor or the stranger sitting beside you or in front or behind you has the hope of ever being the friend of God.
My friends, Thomas wants you to be in heaven. I hope you know that. There’s a hard edge to the gospel that says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” We get there because of what Jesus has done for us. And Thomas wants all of you – people he loved and who loved him – to be in heaven. So, as I conclude, I believe that if Thomas were here today he would want to say (especially to his family), “Please, please, come to Christ. Give Him your heart. Give Him your life. Give Him everything. You will never regret it. Trust Christ. Serve Christ. Love Christ. Honor Christ. Die with Christ. And rise to new life with Christ.”
BENEDICTION
Heavenly Father, at a time when we’re acutely aware of death, we thank You for Your living presence with us. Your unfailing company with us gives us comfort for today and courage for tomorrow.
In Your Son, Jesus Christ, You have revealed Yourself as a God of grace and a God of glory. Through the life of Jesus we’ve been blessed; through His death we’ve been redeemed; and through His resurrection we’ve been filled with vibrant hope.
Lord, in our sorrow help us to look to the risen Christ. Help us to truly believe that what You did for Him You will do for us. You raised Him from the dead to give Him eternal life. Remind us that You have promised eternal life to all who believe in You through faith in Your Son. On this difficult day, lead each of us
to a deeper level of resurrection faith.
We thank You, O God, for Thomas’s life and the opportunity to share it with him. We’re grateful for his faith, witness, and influence upon his family, friends, church and community.
We pray especially for this sweet family. May they feel Your comforting presence with them and know Your perfect peace. May they experience the reality of Your sustaining strength. May they realize our love for them and be encouraged through our prayers for them each day.
And Lord, once again, we’re reminded of the brevity of life today. Help us to live each day with a deep sense of gratitude for Your blessings, a deep commitment to Jesus Christ, and a vibrant hope of eternal life through faith in Him. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.