Reality Check

  • Gary Cass
  • Mar 23, 2010
  • Series: Infusion Blog

blogpic_gary  by Gary Cass

 

Today I will be attending the funeral of a close friend and colleague in the ministry, Pastor Don Hamer. Don passed away unexpectedly last Wednesday from a heart attack. He and I spoke for about an hour two weeks ago and Don was full of life and was his ever optimistic self. 

Don was so proud, and rightly so, of his children and what they were accomplishing. Don’s vision for expanding classical Christian education in the County was contagious. His brain child, www.bettercourtsnow.com was getting traction and the accolades it deserved. Then, in an instant, Don was gone from this life.  Now in the presence of His Lord, Don is enjoying the presence of the one he loved and served so faithfully. 

The passing of our dear bother Don has challenged me. Why is it that we believe that we will never die? At least that’s how I often live with nary a thought of eternity for days and weeks at a time. I get so busy with this world and it’s problems. Then death rears its ugly head and I am left a bundle of conflicting emotions. 

It felt like I was punched in the stomach when my son Josh called and told me the news. Shock turned to grief then to anger all in the same nanosecond.   

“Jesus wept.” It is the shortest verse in the Bible, but one heavy with consolation in these moments. When confronted with the death of his friend Lazarus, Jesus wept. Even though he had the power to raise Lazarus, and did raise him, he nevertheless wept. By his own tears, Jesus has sanctified our grief in the face of death. 

God created a world without death. It is the result of the sin of the first Adam. It took the obedience and suffering of the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, to destroy the power of death. The sting of death has been removed by Christ’s saving power. The keys of death are in Christ’s firm grip and He will one day destroy it finally and forever. That is our hope and everlasting consolation. 

But today I grieve, not the hopeless grief of unbelief, but the grief of missing Don and his friendship and his council. Don was, as the Bible describes, one of whom this world was not worthy. The seeds that he sowed in the lives of so many will bear fruit, and fruit that remains, to the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom. May God bless the memory and legacy  of Rev. Don Hamer.