Funeral for Robert Jackson
February 22, 2010
We
gather this afternoon to celebrate the life and mourn the death of Robert
Jackson.
We draw
our comfort today from the clear and sure words of Jesus Christ,
I am the resurrection
and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and
whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)
The
Apostle Paul wrote with equal clarity,
Christ has been raised from the dead. He is
the first of a great harvest of all who have died.21 So you
see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from
the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone
dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be
given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection:
Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ
will be raised when he comes back. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)
Though
our sadness and sense of loss is great, it is not the sadness of despair. Our
sadness is tempered by a sure hope that though we part for a season, by the
grace of God we will be reunited, restored, and given a life better than what
we can even imagine in the present.
Please
pray with me,
Our Father we come to
you numb. Everything has happened so quickly that our minds and hearts have not
fully caught up to reality.
Comfort us in this
time of loss. Renew a fervent faith within us. Grant that as we remember we be
led to appreciate and give thanks for Bob’s life that you have given to us. We
also ask that you use this time to help us to look to you. Help us to take
stock of our own mortality. Lift our eyes above the activities and distractions
of this world to see the much bigger and clearer picture of life. Renew and
refocus our hope even in the midst of our tears.
We ask this in Jesus’
name. Amen.
Mr.
Robert O. Jackson, 88, of LaHarpe, Illinois passed away Thursday, February 18,
2010 at 11:11 P.M. at the McDonough District Hospital, Macomb, Illinois.
He was born February 16, 1922 in St. Mary, Illinois, the son of Orville and
Ethel Pittenger Jackson. He was raised in the St. Mary, Illinois community and
attended the Oak Grove School.
On May 26, 1947 he married June Bouseman in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. She preceded him in death on February 25, 2006. They
were married for almost 59 years.
Bob served in the US Navy during World War II. The family lived in Fountain
Green, Illinois for many years, moving to LaHarpe in 1986. Bob worked for
Bouseman Auto Supply, worked for a few years as a car salesman for Fred Gibb
Chevrolet, and worked at Western Illinois University for almost 25 years. He
worked in various places on campus before becoming a stationary fireman in the
heating plant. He retired from WIU in 1987. While the boys were still farming
Bob would come out to help on the farm on his days off. He didn’t mind work.
Bob was
a member of the LaHarpe American Legion, the Lion’s Club and a former member of
both the Fountain Green and LaHarpe fire departments and he served as the
secretary of the fire district board of trustees.
He is survived by two sons, John (Sharon) Jackson of Great Bend, Kansas and
Roger (Marilyn) Jackson of LaHarpe, 4 grandchildren, 3 step-grandchildren, 4
great-grandchildren, 9 step-great-grandchildren, 2 sisters-in-law, 1
brother-in-law and several nieces and nephews.
He was
preceded in death by his wife, June, 1 son, David Jackson, 1 daughter, Cathy
Caraway, 1 brother and 2 sisters.
**********
Robert
Jackson was a guy you couldn’t help but like. Bob was a quiet guy with a warm
smile. Bob didn’t have a lot of education in terms of diplomas. However, he was
a very smart man. To his credit he went back later in life and earned his GED
so he could get a better job at WIU. Bob was paid attention to life. He took
everything in and seemed to learn from everything he took in. Nothing seemed to
bring him greater joy than to share the things he loved with his kids,
Grandkids and Great-Grandkids.
He
loved nature. For a while he kept honey bees. Bob was fascinated by the bees
and he loved eating honey. His Bee Keeping did get him in trouble one day. His
bulls were getting a little too close to the bees so Bob went out to reinforce
the fence to protect the bees and ended up climbing a tree to get away from the
Bulls who apparently didn’t like him being out there!
Bob
loved and studied trees. One of his traditions was to plant a tree for each
Great-Grandchild. He could tell you the kind of tree from a leaf or just a
piece of bark that came from the tree. He was fascinated by the variety of
nature that he saw in the trees and various kinds of grasses. John remembers a
time when he and dad tapped a Maple Tree. John’s not sure how he learned how to
do this but his dad knew just what to do.
Bob
also loved birds. He was fascinated with the differences and mannerisms of the
birds. He derived joy from simply appreciating the variety of creation. He
loved reading Bird books and watching the birds with his binoculars.
There
were times Bob would find a big patch of mushrooms while he was out. Instead of
harvesting the mushrooms himself he went home, gathered up the Grandchildren,
and then took them out to the patch and let the kids “discover” the mushrooms.
He stood back and watched it all with joy. It was these kinds of simple
pleasures he enjoyed the most.
Bob enjoyed
wood-working and over the years made lots of shelves, bookcases, stools, bird
houses and other useful things. Since he was a perfectionist there were many
good projects he never finished. Bob
made the new Roman numerals for the clock on the Carthage Courthouse. He
enjoyed bringing his kids and Grandkids into the shop to teach them how to make
things. He would show them how, explain why, and then let them try it. We always
think of June as the teacher of the family but Bob did his share of teaching
also.
He
loved his family and especially loved babies…all babies. It wasn’t necessarily that
he wanted to hold them . . . he was just fascinated by them. Once again he
appreciated the wonder of creation. He was never happier than when the family
was together. The family remembers fondly the many times they cooked out around
a fire. One thing about Bob, he could make a fire anywhere at any time . . .
and they were always BIG fires.
If you
had a splinter, a loose tooth, or some other kind of problem Grandpa was the
one who would fix you up.
He
enjoyed reading. He especially liked Westerns and read many Louis L’Amoure
books. He enjoyed reading the
Smithsonian magazine. He enjoyed geography. And for some reason he liked to
collect and hoard wheat pennies. For many years he had stacks of shoe boxes
filled with Pennies. The family didn’t know why he collected all these pennies
but they did learn that they should not “borrow” any of those pennies.
Bob could
get frustrated and even mad on occasion. Much of the time he was just mad at
himself. For example, he wasn’t the best driver. He drove fast (when he wasn’t
driving too slow). Once, Bob got into two accidents in one day! He had an
accident came home and then promptly backed into someone else! He also had some
run-ins with garage doors. A few times he had garage doors come down on his car
(which would flip the anger switch). One time he was responding to a fire call
and pushed the garage door to open it and put the car in reverse and hit the
gas. Unfortunately, Bob hadn’t noticed that the garage door was already open
when he pushed the button. So he ended up going through the door. I’m guessing
he wasn’t in the best of moods when he arrived at that fire.
Then
there was the time he was going to sit up all night to get the raccoon that was
eating all the strawberries. He had his gun and his flashlight. He waited and
never saw the raccoon. When he finally gave up to go inside and was startled by
something. The raccoon was right next to Bob apparently keeping an eye on him! Bob
was so surprised that the raccoon had no trouble making a clean escape.
Let’s
see, and there was also the time he wanted the grandkids to ride some mules.
They didn’t want to do it and he became frustrated (he had planned something
fun for them to do and they didn’t want to do it). Bob figured he would show
them how much fun it was so he got on a donkey. Within just a few blocks Bob
had been thrown and landed on his head!
Then
there was the he intended to train the dog not to bite the tire of the bicycle.
To make a long story short the dog was essentially run over and Bob went over
the handle bars like Superman and landed on his face. He got up and said, “I
told you I’d train that dog.”
Bob and
June were quite a team. They did many things together. People joke and say Bob
was June’s chauffer. June invited people over to the house and Bob welcomed
them. June wanted to go someplace and Bob went with her. June was social, Bob
was more on the quiet side. I always had the sense that Bob considered himself
to be a very lucky man. Consequently, it was hard for him to watch June decay,
suffer, and not be able to help her.
When
June was finishing up her education Bob took care of the kids. He didn’t do a
lot of cooking but everyone got feed. He made lots of biscuits and gravy,
chipped beef on toast and chili. His favorite dish to bring to gatherings was
his apple salad.
Bob and
June regularly watched Jeopardy together. We’re not sure whether Bob enjoyed
watching Jeopardy or whether it is simply what June wanted to watch! Bob was
not a big church-attender. During his years at Western Bob volunteered to work
Sundays and holidays so the younger guys could spend those times with their
families. These last four years since June died have been really difficult for
Bob.
Bob had
a great sense of humor. He was “sneaky funny”. He loved giving people a hard
time. Once he thought something was funny he could giggle for a long time.
Everyone knew his warm smile and warm “hello”. He had a wonderful twinkle in
his eyes that revealed his joyful and warm heart.
In
these last few years John and Roger encouraged their dad to get the kind of car
he wanted. They told him “you can’t spend all your money anyway.” So, Bob went
out and purchased a new Buick. John admired the car and noticed he also had a
nice new John Deere mower next to the car. When John commented with surprise
that he had made two significant new purchases Bob’s response was, “You said I
could never spend it all and I’m going to try to prove you wrong!”
One of
Bob’s favorite outings was a trip with the “boys” to the Rib Shack in Galesburg.
He started making that trip back in 1952. It was always a special and fun time.
The family did a good deal of traveling over the years. Bob and June wanted
their kids to see and experience things. Brian and Carla were a prominent part
of the family.
In
these later years Bob enjoyed going out with the Thursday group who met to have
dinner together. He was grateful to continue to be included in the group after
June died. Bob enjoyed the Lion’s club and I always saw him up working at the
Clubhouse for the Lion’s Breakfast.
Bob
Jackson was a quiet man. You could hang out with him for hours and he might
never say a word. If you called his home he answered simply with “Yep”. That
was your signal to start talking. In fact, even when he called you he might say
I thought I’d see what was going on” and that was the signal for you to start
talking.
He was a
quiet man but also a leader. He didn’t lead with motivational speeches or flow
charts; he led by a strong example. When he was on the school Board in Fountain
Green the school burned down. Bob made sure the kids didn’t miss any class and within
a year a new school was built. Bob served faithfully on the fire department and
was instrumental in getting the Fountain Green station established.
The
gist of these recollections is that Bob Jackson was a solid, consistent, hard
working, content man. He was a person of deep character. We forget that his
life was not free of hardship. His family had hard times as he was growing up. As
a dad he had to bury two children after they both died suddenly. I know that
watching June decay and die was the hardest thing he ever had to do. Bob had
heartache and he carried his scars, but he kept going. He died suddenly and
quietly . . . just the way he would have wanted it to be. We’ll miss him more
than he would ever believe.
[SOLO]
Death
can be numbing. It can leave us feeling desperately alone and like life is
futile. As a result some people simply throw themselves recklessly into life
intending to have as much “fun” as they can until they die. They work to be
successful, they experiment to find happiness, and they reach the end of their
life empty and afraid.
It
doesn’t have to be this way. The Bible calls us to something better; something
hopeful and wonderful. Jesus knew his death was approaching and he spoke to his
friends and disciples,
Let not your heart be troubled;
believe in God, believe also in me. In
my father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, would I have told you
that I go and prepare a place for you?
And when 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. You know the way to the place where I am
going...Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the
Father except through me. [John 14:6]
Jesus knew his death was going to leave His
followers (and His friends) stinging from their sense of loss and confused over
their purpose and their future. Jesus’
words were words that continue to give confidence and hope even today. Listen
to what He says.
First Jesus tells His disciples to “believe in God,
believe also in me.” How you view life,
and how you view death is determined by your belief or lack thereof in
God. Those who say there is no God are
left with the unhappy conclusion that man is simply a cosmic accident. There is no ultimate meaning to our
existence. We live, we die, and that’s it. It is a very bleak picture.
Even if you believe in God I must ask: “Who is this
God you believe in? Is he a god of your
own imagination or popular culture or is it the God who has revealed Himself to
us in the Bible and in Jesus Christ?” It seems reasonable to me that a God who
created us would want to have a relationship with those He created. He would want us to know about Him.
Jesus tells us that this life is not all there
is. He said “in my Father’s house are
many rooms . . . I go to prepare a place for you.” Jesus said He is preparing a
place for us and He will come and take us to that place when we die. I picture Bob
leaving this life holding the hand of Jesus!
Jesus told us that Heaven is real. As you read through the Bible Heaven is
described as a place where pain, frustration, discouragement, physical
limitations, and imperfections disappear.
It is described as a place of reunion and productive, fulfilling and
meaningful activity. It is a place where
we know God fully and for the first time we are fully known and understood.
Jesus explained to the disciples that there is only
one way to get to Heaven: Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,
no one comes to the Father except through me”.
Many today rebel at these words.
They say they are narrow-minded and too exclusive. But the invitation is
not restricted. Jesus invites everyone
to turn to Him as Savior and Lord.
However, not everyone will do so.
Let’s be clear.
The Bible teaches that not everyone goes to Heaven. In fact, it may be safe to say that the
majority of people do NOT go to Heaven.
There are always those who say, “I want to go to Hell because that’s
where all my friends are.” They miss the
point. When God’s love is replaced by
God’s wrath there will be nothing good about Hell. The bond of friendship which we cherish -
comes from God . . . it will be gone in Hell.
The delight we feel at the pleasures of the world - come from God . . . they
will not exist in Hell. Joyous laughter . . .gone. Taste buds….gone. Amusements . . . gone. There is NOTHING heavenly about hell.
The problem is that the Bible tells us no one
deserves heaven. Imagine registering for
a class where getting a score of 100% is required to pass. It wouldn’t matter if your scores were in the
20’s or 90’s both would fail. The first
point you lost would guarantee your failure in the class. The Bible tells us that because God is holy and
sinless, only those who follow Him perfectly will gain Heaven by their merit.
Some people do live better lives than others . . . .but no one lives a good
enough life. I believe Bob Jackson is in
Heaven . . .but not because he was good enough to earn it.
Yet there are still some people who feel they live
pretty good lives and therefore God will surely give them Heaven (since they
have earned it). What they fail to understand is: sin is not only doing what is
wrong; it is also the failure to do right. We sin when we do not honor God or when
we ignore Him in the way that we live. We can sin in word or in thought.
Let’s suppose you only sinned 3 times a day (which
would be an extraordinarily good day for me). If I could maintain that
consistency, (never having a really bad day, week, month etc.), that would be
21 acts of sin in a week. In a year that would be almost 1100 acts of sin. By
the time you were 60 years old you would have committed 66,000 acts of sin and
rebellion against God. Let that sink in a little bit. Let me remind you that
this would be a person that was extraordinarily better than most of us! The
point is that you might think of yourself as a “good person” but you are seeing
things clearly. Even if God gave us a truckload of “do-overs” (which He doesn’t)
we would have used those up a long long time ago. We need help and we need it
badly.
The Bible tells us that Jesus came into the world to
point the way to God. He willingly gave His life as payment for our sin debt. In other words, He was executed in our place.
But how is it possible for one man to pay for the
sins of millions who believe? Let me answer that this way: How many secret
service agents would give their life to protect the President of the United
States. The answer is: all of them. And how many soldiers would give their
lives to protect the President? Thousands of soldiers would give their lives to
protect the Commander in Chief. But why?
Why would you protect this one man if it cost the life of so many others? What
makes this one man more valuable that the many? What makes him so valuable is
the office or position that he holds.
If you had a bunch of hostages would you trade all
those hostages for the President of the United States. You would if you were
smart. The one man’s office is worth more than the many hostages.
Jesus as the Son of God (the highest office there
is) traded His life for all those held hostage by sin. It is because of the value of His position as
Son of God that He can trade His life for many millions who will entrust
themselves to Him. But why would He do it?
It’s because He loves us more than we realize.
Jesus is the only way to Heaven because He is the
only one who can pay the price for our sinful failures. All the other religions in the world may be
well meaning but they are designed to only help us score a little higher on our
“test scores.” However, when passing is
100%, doing a little better doesn’t make any ultimate difference. You still fail.
So, does everyone go to Heaven? No. Jesus said
whoever believes in Him will live even though He dies. He doesn’t impose His gift on anyone. He extends and invitation, we must receive
His gift. So, we are confronted with two questions: What does it mean to believe in Christ? Did Bob Jackson believe in this way?
According to the Bible, believing in Jesus involves
several things
Anything less than this kind of belief is just being
religious. You can have an “experience”
and still not be a follower of Christ. You can know and say all the right words
and still not be a follower of Christ. True faith is active and life-changing.
The second question is: Did Bob believe in this
way? I believe he did. Roger and Bob went to a Promise Keeper rally one
time. When the speaker asked people to declare their faith in Christ, Bob did
so. I talked to Bob once and I don’t remember whether it was in a hospital
waiting room or in June’s room at Wesley Village. I asked him about his
spiritual state. He told me that he knew where he was going because he trusted Jesus
Christ as His Savior and Lord.
I believe Bob wanted to be a church-goer these last
years of his life but he simply couldn’t hear what was being said. He felt
conspicuous and isolated in church. The good news is that we are made right
with God not by doing religious things, but by truly trusting Christ. I believe
Bob had that kind of trust. Consequently, I believe he is with Jesus, June, and
many others in Heaven.
Three things I encourage you to get from all of
this:
First, in this time of sadness I hope you will
realize that we grieve, but not as those who have no hope. We know where Bob is. We know he is home with the Lord who guided and
gave strength to his life. We believe
that the one who marveled at creation throughout his life has now met the
Creator. We believe he has been reunited with those family members who have
gone before. We believe he is more alive
now than he has ever been. The smile is
broader, the laughter is fuller, and the sparkle in her eye is
unmistakable. Our grief should be for
our loss . . . not Bob’s. He has lost nothing and gained everything.
Second, I hope you will take this time of stark
reality to do a personal inventory of your life. Where do you stand with Jesus
Christ? Do you think you are “good
enough”? Do you think you are “too far gone?”
Are you putting your trust in your church membership or your family
association? Are you betting you life
that there is nothing beyond the grave? If any of these things are true I
invite you to put your faith, trust, and confidence in Jesus. I, on His behalf, invite you to receive forgiveness,
new life, and the assurance of Heaven.
You can do this right now. With a simple and sincere prayer you can say,
“Lord, I need you. I turn to Jesus as my
Savior and I ask you to help me follow Him as my Lord and Master.” Jesus said, “Anyone who comes to me, I will
not cast out.” If you come truly and
sincerely you will be forgiven. You will
become a child of God and the Lord will make a place for you in His house.
Make that choice and then spend the rest of your
days getting to know the Lord who loves you more than you can know. Start living the new life that God intended
you to live. Discover the contentment that Bob knew. Start looking forward to Heaven.
One more thing, if you trust Jesus as your Savior
and Lord . . . tell your family. Let them know that you have been forgiven and
are headed to Heaven because of what Jesus has done for you. If you will do this, then if something should
happen to you; if your life were to end suddenly like Bob’s life did; your
family won’t be left wondering. They
will know and they will draw comfort from your testimony. More importantly, if you share your belief,
your family may also come to trust Jesus, and then you will be able to die with
the peace and joy of knowing you will see them again.
Family reunions even at sad times are great. The
time always goes more quickly than we would like it to go. Often there are
tears as everyone gets ready to head off in their different directions. What
makes the pain bearable is the hope of seeing each other again. We draw comfort
by anticipating and even scheduling a reunion to come.
Today we say good-bye to a father, Grand-father,
Great-Grandfather, neighbor, and friend, Robert Jackson. We are saddened by the
separation but we cling to the promise of Jesus. We draw comfort from his
resurrection from the dead. And even now we start looking forward to the
reunion to come.
Let’s pray together,
Our Father, we ask you to comfort us by the work of
Jesus in dying for us and in rising from the grave. Help us to believe in You.
We ask that you would help us to believe You enough to see beyond the hurt to
hope. Help us believe enough to stop
running away from you and start truly following you.
I pray for this family. I ask that you give them
opportunity to stimulate and share the wonderful memories they have of
Bob. Help them to remember things they
had long forgotten and to cherish things they had previously overlooked. Draw
them together in your grace. Help them to find time to share with each other
the hope that they have found in you.
We seek your strength, your comfort, and your
transforming love, and we do so in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen