EULOGY FOR A GOOD SOLDIER OF CHRIST JESUS10-31-04
Dear brothers and sisters, God bless you. According to the dictionary, a eulogy is 1. A speech honoring a person or thing. 2. High praise. We are gathered together today to honor the memory of a person worthy of high praise, our dear departed brother, Jon Search. The event of Jon’s passing from the warfare of this world to a much better place brings to my spirit the words of King David: “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” King David was a warrior king, and he spoke these strangely unemotional words upon hearing of the death of his infant son, a son for whom David had been intensely praying and fasting, and supplicating God to spare for seven days. “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” Given the tragic circumstance of his only son’s death, David’s quiet composure may seem abnormal to us as we relate it to our own personal experiences with the death of a loved one. It is quite surprising really, David’s calm reaction to the death of his only son, when we for a moment consider the physical hardship that David incurred by fasting for seven days prior to his son’s death, and the mental hardship of his fervent but unanswered prayers on behalf of his son, day and night for those seven days. Indeed it seems surprising that his only reaction to the finality of his son’s death was a level steady series of rational words, words not at all filled with the sorrow that we might expect, nor the deep pain, or the hot railing anger that many of us would have exhibited. What thoughts of the mind could possibly have elicited such an unusual response? Well, David loved God. To “love” God means that David unreservedly believed and trusted God. And from out of the context of his complete devotion to God, came forth the verbal expression of David’s certain belief, the belief of all his heart, that his dear son had gone on to Heaven, and that he, David, would soon be joining him there. “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” Isn’t that a breathtaking expression of faith in the Living God? You see, David really believed that the ways of God, the Creator of the entire universe, are higher than our ways, far surpassing our meager capacity to understand. People dear to us die, such as Jon Search, and in our immediate grief, we really don’t understand why, but we must believe that God is not a liar when He says in Romans 8:28 “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his [i.e. God’s] purpose.” And you may rest, assured, that Jon Search perfectly fulfilled the purpose that God had called him for in this temporary earthly kingdom, and now Jon has been promoted upward into the Eternal Kingdom. Praise God. Thank you Lord. So then, we, you and I, remain left behind in this earthly kingdom, sad and distressed, for we have suffered a heavy loss, a casualty of the spiritual warfare that wages continually in and around the outpost of our Rescue Mission, and in a mixture of that sadness, for we shall miss him, and joy, for he is in Heaven, it falls upon me, as Jon’s commanding officer, to deliver this speech and letter to his family and friends. Our comrade in arms and captain in this Rescue Mission, Jon Search, has been called up to be with the Lord. Jon appears to have died quite peacefully in his sleep late Saturday night or early Sunday morning October 24th of 2004. His purpose for the Lord was fulfilled. I loved him. Jon was a man who came to us out of the gross darkness of this world and into God’s marvelous Light; his walk with the Lord serves as is a wonderful example for us all. I first met Jon Search about eight or nine years ago. I was new to the Rescue Mission ministry and had been invited to speak a Gospel message on Monday evenings by Bryan Kuiper who was then Executive Director. Over the course of my weekly speaking, I came to know Jon Search. Jon was one of the worst alcoholics imaginable, always completely and incoherently drunk. Well, one bright wonderful day Jon Search got saved! Praise God. Jon received Jesus Christ into his heart as his Lord and Savior, and by doing so, Jon enlisted into the Army of God. And Jon Search began to be changed from corruption into immortality. Meanwhile, I had received a new assignment from the Lord, to become the new Executive Director of this Rescue Mission, and I asked the new and improved Jon Search to join our staff, and he accepted. His first duties were very rudimentary and menial, generally mopping, scrubbing and cleaning, but he unquestioningly did them, and he did them well. After a bit, Jon slid back into alcohol, and I had to let him go. And then, after a month or so, just like the prodigal son, “he came to himself,” and asked forgiveness and for another chance, and he came back on staff. I believe that I fired him two or three times in the early years before he got the hang of it, that is, before he got a firm grip on the Lord, and then Jon continued soldiering for the Lord at this Rescue Mission, rescuing people, loving thousands of trodden down souls for the remainder of the last six years of his life. From the lowly beginnings of those menial duties at this Rescue Mission, Jon Search rose up, or more correctly, was drawn up by the Lord, through increasing ranks of responsibility to become a thoroughly trusted leader, a captain in the Army of God. Together, we fought the good fight of faith, for six years, back-to-back with Jesus, in the foxhole of this Rescue Mission; the three of us under daily attack, under daily attack, under daily attack and we prevailed. The apostle Paul sent the following words of encouragement in an epistle to his spiritual son, Timothy,
God chose Jon Search to be a good soldier in God's Army, and as we all know, Jon endured much physical hardship in his personal life, suffering with numerous very painful major medical problems. And Jon endured much mental hardship here at the Rescue Mission through the impossible task of striving daily to satisfy countless thousands of unhappy, miserable, basically unsatisfyable, impoverished and depressed men, women, and little children; a people whom only the Lord can truly satisfy with His amazing grace. Jon Search was, and still is, a good soldier for the Lord. Now I ask you, dear brothers and sisters, do you know what a good soldier is? I mean really is?? Well, a good soldier, in God’s vocabulary, is a “good and faithful servant” to God. A good soldier is first and foremost a servant to his commander; a good soldier manifests his obedience through service and dedication to his assigned mission. That is why we call serving in the armed forces of our country “Military Service.” A good soldier does not leave his assigned post, his duty, his foxhole in time of war. Jon Search lived, ate, and slept right here in this Rescue Mission, under constant enemy assault, every day, for the last six years of his life, and now, (Mat 25:21) “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of the lord.”
Amen Sincerely, Rev. Lionel Cabral Executive Director |
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