John 13:33-36
33 Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”
Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”
Ed N__ followed Jesus on earth and now in eternity. He has gone where Jesus went when He left the earth. So today we gather to remember Ed, to comfort his family, and to honor God, even in sorrowful times.
Funerals remind us of:
a. The Certainty of Death (Ecclesiastes 9:5)
1) Observation and Revelation (Hebrews 9:27)
2) Day of Death is an important day – Ecclesiastes 7:1 (NKJV):
A good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;
[Did angels gather to welcome Ed as we gather to welcome the birth of a child?
[We face death prepared or unprepared. Following Christ is our ultimate preparation.
b. The Shortness of life (James 4:14)
c. The Shortage of life (John 10:10)
• How much do we waste on the trivial?
• There is power in priority! (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Ed Nix prepared for November 9, 2022, the day he passed into eternity. He knew as what his favorite apostle wrote in 2 Timothy 1:12 (NKJV):
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
Ed was not a perfect individual, there is only One who lived perfectly. Ed is forgiven by the power of the cross and wears the righteousness of Christ. Ed knew by faith and now by sight that we are children and servants of God
We Enter the Family and Service of God by Grace Through Faith – Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV):
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
1. We Can’t earn salvation by good works – comply with the will of God
2. Good works follow salvation for which we are rewarded – Matthew 16:27 (NKJV):
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
3. Example of Matthew 25 – When did we see you? Least of these my brethren.
Ed’s Heart of Service
[While living in Albuquerque, the family was driving to work on the cabin in Chama. Ed and Alta May were in one vehicle and Richard was following in another. A man flagged Ed down on the highway and asked for assistance saying he was too shaken to drive and needed to get to Santa Fe. Ed got in the man’s vehicle, Alta May drove their vehicle, and Richard followed not knowing the particulars.
As they were driving Ed noticed a bullet hole in the windshield and asked the man about it. The man was a jockey at the local racetrack and someone got upset with him and fired a gun at him. Fortunately, the bullet missed the mark but shook the man. Thankfully Ed was there to help.
He blessed his family and sacrificially cared for them. One of the first things Alta May said to me when we met to discuss today’s service was, “He took good care of me.”
• Washed her hair her every Saturday night for years.
• Put eye drops in her eyes as long as he was able.
• He had wanted to live and retire in Albuquerque but happily moved his family back to Oklahoma to take care of Alta May’s mother.
Ed’s Heart of Service Reflected His Work Ethic
Ed had been a butcher and transitioned to work as an award-winning salesman in the meat industry.
He thought being on time was being 15-30 minutes early for his job and other activities, not actually on the exact time.
[“Puritan Work Ethic” described honest, hard work. The Pilgrims were from the Puritan side of the church world in the 17th century. When they moved to Holland they vowed not to compete with the Dutch over jobs, making their own way. However, the Pilgrims were so productive that the Dutch business owners preferred hiring Pilgrims over their own Dutch neighbors.
Solomon said it like this in Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NKJV):
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
Along those lines:
• Great provider for his family
• As a 16 year old he built a desk that Richard will inherit and a hutch that Carol has. Imagine having a usable piece of furniture that your father/grandfather built almost 80 years ago.
• He was organized wanting everything clean and in its place – Alta May could sometimes trick him if she ran out of time to clean. She would dust the piano that was near the front door. Ed would see the clean piano and assume everything else was clean!
• A Bible student, specializing in the Apostle Paul. He and Alta May were able to see places in Turkey and Greece where Paul had gone to share the gospel. They also went on a trip to Israel that I led a few years ago. He was thrilled to see Masada and the Sea of Galilee. Of course, we went to Jerusalem where both Jesus and Paul would have visited.
[I sometimes think of the difference between Paul and most American preachers. Paul gave up everything he had for the sake of Christ and the gospel. He made the statement, “11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
We say that heaven is “a prepared place for a prepared people.” Jesus is preparing our places right now and as God’s children we have a unique relationship with Him now and shall enjoy His love and presence forever.
In Jesus’ day when an engaged couple was to marry, the young man would go back to his father’s house and build a room onto it. When the room was completed, the father would send his son to get his bride and the marriage feast would begin. The bride had to be prepared while the young man built the room as she did not know when the room would be ready and her groom would come for her. The groom prepared the room and the bride prepared for the wedding.
In John 14:1-3 (ESV), Jesus said:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if 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.
Jesus is our Groom and we are the bride. He is preparing a place for us and we must prepare for His return. The great wedding feast of the Bride and Groom will begin when Jesus takes us to the Father’s house.
If we had a special cell phone and could call Ed, we could ask him if it is worth it to follow Jesus. What do you think he would say to us?
1 John 3:1-3
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
[Prayer
Richard will lead us in “When We All Get to Heaven” and let’s think about our reunions with family but even more about getting to see Jesus face to face!
