Funeral Service
for Lindsay (Junior) Metcalf Jr.
December 27, 2008
We gather today
to remember the life and mourn the loss of Lindsay Metcalf Jr. We want to celebrate his life even as we seek
to comfort each other in the time of loss.
The Bible speaks
words that help us in a time of loss,
In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Solomon wrote,
There is a time for everything, and a season
for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot
a time to kill and a time to heal
a time to tear down and a time to build
a time to weep and a time to laugh
a time to mourn and a time to dance
a time to scatter stoned and a time to
gather them
a time to embrace and a time to refrain
a time to search and a time to give up
a time to keep and a time to throw away
a time to tear and a time to mend
a time to be silent and a time to speak
a time to love and a time to hare
a time for war and a time for peace.
These words from Solomon remind us that life
is filled with different seasons. Today
we enter one of those hard times; a time of saying good-bye and a time of
grief. In this time however, the Apostle
Paul reminds us:
If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave him
up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God's
elect? It is God who justifies; who is
to condemn? . . . What shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness or peril or sword? . . . No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" [Romans 8]
Today as we
gather we are reminded that we are not alone.
God is with us. He is our
strength and our comfort.
Let’s pray
together.
Our Father, we gather today to
remember and thank you for the life of Junior Metcalf. We thank you for his character and his
example. We also come seeking your help. Give us perspective. Help us to see beyond the grave so that we
may not grieve as those who have no hope.
Help us to that end, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Lindsay Metcalf
Jr. (better known as Junior Metcalf) was born April 13 1918 to Lindsay Sr. and
Emma Erbrohdt Metcalf. He married
Marjorie Bouquet on December 9, 1939 in
Junior lived all
of his married life in the Blandinsville area. He was a farmer, a rural mail
carrier and a part time school bus driver.
He served on the school board for several years.
Junior died on
Tuesday, December 23rd at 7:30 a.m. at the
He is survived
by
one daughter,
Sondra (Donald L.) Porter of Blandinsville;
three sons, Dave
(Linda) Metcalf of Blandinsville,
Dennis (Sue
James) Metcalf of Sciota
and Dane (Jackie)
Metcalf of Blandinsville,
eight
grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; three step-great-grandchildren and
nine step-great-great-grandchildren.
Junior Metcalf was an influential community member in Blandinsville. He served freely and fully and gave his heart to this community.
Junior was one of the men who donated lots of time and
manpower to the building of the golf course here in town. Junior loved to golf, bowl, and hunt. Every year he would go Pheasant hunting in
Junior was a guy who believed in old fashioned values. He was a stern (but fair) father. He took his role as provider for the family seriously and worked hard to make sure that his family had what they needed. Junior was one of those guys who could exert a great deal of discipline on his kids simply by his tone of voice!
Junior was devoted to Marge. They worked together, they played together (they both enjoyed gambling), they traveled together and just simply loved each other.
Junior loved to be involved serving his community. All the things he was involved in were things he did in addition to his farming. He clerked at a bunch of Auctions because he was so good at math. He didn’t need to drive a school bus but he did it because drivers were needed. It was just what he did.
Junior loved football. He was at all the high school football games and even announced the games for 12 years or so. He quit only because Dane was starting to play and he knew he was going to be really into the game and in one sense didn’t want to be distracted by having to announce. He volunteered to haul equipment to away games as his way of helping. It was also a good excuse for going to the away games.
Junior served on the School Board during a very difficult period. It was during this time the school moved out of Blandinsville. Junior never wanted the school to leave town. I don’t know what all the issues were but it was a very trying time. During this time Junior endured threats, hate mail and agonized over the division in the community. I’m not sure, but I think Junior knew that people would disagree on the issue. What made the situation hard was that this disagreement became so personal. I’m sure he was hurt deeply by the fact that some people didn’t think he had the best interest of the community at heart. It was not so much that people questioned the decisions; it was that they questioned his heart and his character. I’m sure there was a part of him that felt he had proved his love and devotion to the community. Unfortunately, many of those wounds never fully healed.
Junior loved to drive. He enjoyed traveling and always wanted to be the one doing the driving. It wouldn’t bother him to drive 500 miles or better in a day. In fairness, in most of those occasions he had the newest car. Junior was constantly trading cars. Marge never knew when Junior was going to come home in a new car. People used to say, “when the ash tray was full it was time for Junior to trade for a new car!”
Speaking of ash trays it should be noted that Junior used to smoke pretty heavy. One day at the bowling alley he sensed he was getting short of breath and decided right then and there that he was going to stop smoking. And that is what he did! Junior could be a little stubborn! Sometimes this stubbornness and determination worked in his favor.
This last year or better was hard for Junior. He was without his partner and it became more and more difficult for him to get around. He moved to the apartments at the Nursing Home but didn’t like the food so he still went out to eat a bunch. When he could no longer get out; when he could not longer drive, he felt he had lost his independence. In his mind his dignity was gone and he just stopped eating. If he could not live life fully he was not much interested in living at all. At the end Junior Metcalf was ready for the journey to end.
It’s too bad that there are not more people like Junior Metcalf in the world. If there was, the world would be a much better place.
[SONG]
In Isaiah 51:12 the Lord said to the prophet Isaiah, “I even I, am He who comforts you.” We long for that sense of God’s comfort today. It is a difficult thing to bury a parent. It is a difficult thing to bury anyone we love. The Bible speaks a great deal about the comfort that God provides for us. I read that the word comfort is found 112 times in the Bible. Here are some of those passages,
·
As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort
you; and you shall be comforted.
·
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted.
·
For whatever things were written before were
written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the
Scriptures might have hope.
·
Be of good comfort.
·
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy
staff they comfort me …
·
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all
our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble,
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
(Is. 66:13; Matt.
5:4;
God comforts us in many ways.
First, he comforts us through our family and friends. In times of loss we find ourselves weak,
numb, and depending on the suddenness of the loss, we may find ourselves unable
to do even basic things. Loss is a shock
to the system. In these times the
strength of family and friends is a great comfort.
Friends and family bring food, they share stories, and perhaps best of
all, they listen. The hugs, the tears,
the acts of kindness through a card or note, or the many practical helps remind
us that we are not alone.
Let’s be honest, no one enjoys going to a funeral. Most of you are here
today because you desire to comfort this family in their time of loss. You are serving as agents of God’s comfort
for those who grieve.
The second way God comforts us is through the Bible. The Bible
sometimes seems like a dry and dusty book.
We pick it up and there are many things we don’t understand. However, if you keep reading it is amazing
how relevant the Bible becomes.
There was a woman in Middle Tennessee named Agnes Frazier who began
each day for fifty years by reading the Bible with her husband, Emmett. The
morning after his passing, Agnes didn’t think she could sit at the breakfast
table and read the Bible. But she did, and the text she came to was this verse:
I, the Lord, will be a husband to you (Is. 54:5). She smiled and
said, “Thank you, Lord.” Such
“coincidence” reminds us that God cares.
As you read through the Bible you learn that God is merciful and
loving. You learn that Jesus came to
earth for the purpose of building a bridge to us. He came to introduce us to
God and to make it possible for us to have a relationship with God.
The Bible tells us that even though we have made many mistakes, and
even though we have ignored Him in much of our living, we can be forgiven and
know intimacy with God, and have the confidence of Heaven because we put our
trust and confidence in Jesus. We are
told that if we put our trust in Jesus’ death on the cross as a payment for our
rebellion and in His resurrection from the dead. . . we too will live even
though we die. It is the most comforting
promise of all: This life is not all there is.
The Bible gives us a comfort that is superior to anything the world can
offer.
The third way God comforts us is through the contemplation of Heaven. The Bible tells us about an existence beyond
this life that is better and where we are more “alive” than what we currently
can grasp.
In his book on heaven, evangelist D. L. Moody quotes an acquaintance as
saying: “When I was a boy, I thought of heaven as a great, shining city, with
vast walls and domes and spires, and with nobody in it except white-robed
angels, who were strangers to me. By and by my little brother died; and I
thought of a great city with walls and domes and spires, and one little fellow
that I was acquainted with. He was the only one I knew at that time. Then
another brother died; and there were two that I knew. Then my acquaintances
began to die; and the flock continually grew. But it was not till I had sent
one of my little children to his Heavenly Parent—God—that I began to think I
had a little of myself already in Heaven. By that time I had so many
acquaintances in heaven, that I did not see any more walls and domes and
spires. I began to think of the residents of the celestial city as my friends.
And now so many of my acquaintances have gone there, that it sometimes seems to
me that I know more people in heaven than I do on earth.”
I do not believe the Bible teaches that everyone goes to Heaven. The Bible teaches that those who put their
faith in Jesus Christ go to Heaven. True
faith is not measured so much by how often you attend church (though I think
that is important). There are many who
go to church that don’t seem to have genuine faith in God. There are others who have great faith but are
not comfortable in the church. The
people of true faith are those who trust Christ and try to live God’s way.
I didn’t know Junior well enough to know which category describes
him. God is the one who weighs the
heart. God is merciful, loving, and just.
What we do know is that this life is not all there is. When Jesus came triumphantly out of his grave
he announced that those who believe in Him “will live even though he die”. We draw comfort from knowing this is not the
end for Junior Metcalf. If Junior had
faith in Christ, then his death was not the end of his life . . . in some ways
it was just the beginning. Though last
Tuesday was a day of sadness and loss for us, for Junior last Tuesday was,
Tuesday was not a bad day for Junior . . . hopefully it was the best of
all days. As we ponder that reality, we
find comfort in our own sadness.
I encourage you to look to the Lord for your comfort. Draw from his
strength. I also encourage you to share your stories about Junior. Celebrate
his life. As you do, let’s try to learn
well some of the lessons of Junior’s life,
You have been blessed with a solid example of what it means to live a
life of character and integrity. It’s a
great heritage and one for which you can be very grateful.
Let’s pray together.
Our father, help us to draw on your comfort today. Help us to draw strength from each other,
comfort from your Word, and hope from the promise of Heaven. We commit Junior now to you. We ask that you love him and grant him the
mercy and the grace which every one of us needs.
I pray for this family and ask you to help them as they remember and as
they grieve. Help them to remember not just how Junior died . . . help them to
remember how he lived. Fill their minds
with long forgotten memories. Help them
to recall all the solid lessons he passed on to them. Help them as they seek
You. Grant them your comfort and your
grace. I ask this all in the name of our
risen Lord. Amen.