Reading the Daily Obits!

I know the old joke about how people wake up and grab the newspaper to make sure their name is not listed in the obituary column. Supposedly this is how they know they are alive to fight another day. My reason for scanning the obituaries in four or five different newspapers each day is to spot those I know and often to find one that inspires me to keep on keeping on.

Last week I spotted one in the large metro paper of an African American man who died at 107. I guess because of his age he was separated for special attention and listed with the celebrities and prominent folks. The headline gave his name, and then simply said, “A man known for sharing his faith”. I was shocked by this headline because this particular newspaper is anything but friendly to religion and has a record of being especially hostile toward Christianity. The photo is the one shown with his obituary.

The title was intriguing and as I read this man’s story it grabbed me and I came away being encouraged and uplifted. This fellow was born in 1900 and lived his entire life in Southeast Texas. One could only imagine what he had experienced as a black man living through a full century of chaos and change. Yet, his testimony was one of sharing his faith in God and encouraging others to do the same. He had retired from working at the age of 79 and his wife had preceded him in death many years earlier. His retirement from regular employment gave him the opportunity to fully devote himself to his role as a Deacon in his Church. At the time of his death he was still living alone in his own apartment and still taking walks everyday and sharing his faith. According to the obituary, when he was admitted to the hospital for the last time he shared his faith with all the medical staff encouraging each of them to trust in God.

I don’t know about you but this testimony goes all over me. How could someone who no doubt faced much in the way of rejection and mistreatment have such a sterling testimony? A number of years ago I attended a Christian concert that featured Bobby Michaels, the white South African singer. My favorite song he sings is, “My Redeemer Is Faithful And True”. He was talking about how we as believers observe things like a great testimony produced in adverse conditions and he said when we see things like that we should always immediately ask: “Could it be God?” The answer, of course, is YES! That is the only explanation for these types of inspiring life stories.

Back on May 16, I posted a blog entitled, “The Power of the Gospel”. It concerned an eleven-year old boy who was part of our inner city Bible club. A distraught neighbor had tragically gunned down Jonathan and his death had stirred the entire community. Go back and read the blog because it tells how Jonathan had given his life to Christ at the last Bible club meeting he had attended. His picture had been flashed all over the television news and in the local newspapers. It was a very tragic story about a young man with great potential who did not have an opportunity to pursue it.

His obituary would not be complete without adding to the story what happened at his home-going memorial service. The funeral service had to be postponed because Jonathan’s mom was in jail. Since she was nearing the fulfillment of her sentence they went ahead and released her. The family then went about making arrangements for the funeral service. Some two weeks after his death the service was held in a fairly large black Church. My great African American friend, the local missionary pastor who facilitates the Bible club, had desired to speak at the service to share Jonathan’s testimony.

Since the family had worked through other channels my pastor friend had not been included on the program. However, he called me after the service and told me one of the most remarkable stories I’ve ever heard. “Could it be God?” He said when he arrived at the Church he introduced himself to one of the associate pastors and told him about his ministry and how he had worked with Jonathan and his family in the apartment complex where we hold the Bible club meetings. The associate pastor immediately told my friend that he needed to be on the platform; therefore, he wanted him to take his place, which was to offer some words of comfort and a prayer for the family.

My friend recognized this was God at work and humbly accepted because he felt compelled to share Jonathan’s testimony. He got his opportunity and shared how it came to be that his wife had singled Jonathan out and shared with him a step-by-step presentation of the Gospel. Jonathan responded and prayed the sinner’s prayer and was gloriously saved. After concluding this brief testimony and sharing a prayer, one of the young men from our Bible club ministry came up and read a tribute to his friend. At the very end of his tribute he said the thing he was most proud of was how his friend had found Christ before his death. The people there rose to their feet and applauded three different times before this young man left the stage.

When the senior pastor got up he picked up on the theme of Jonathan’s testimony and began to speak about the uncertainty of life as witnessed by this tragic occurrence. He spoke from John 14 where he encouraged people to focus on things that matter for the long haul as opposed to that which is fading away here on earth. He then did something no one had anticipated. He said he felt led to use Jonathan’s testimony as a way of inviting any of the more than 500 there that day to come forward and make their life right with God. My friend said he was stunned as people began to get up and go forward. Some twenty people came forward for counseling that day including JONATHAN’S MOM!

Well done little buddy, you did well and your life, while short, it was not lived in vain! What more can be said except, “Could it be God?” Amen. More later…………