CAN WE KNOW WHY?
On behalf of Marc, Bindu, Alec, and the rest of the family, I would like to thank you for coming today to help remember and celebrate the Life of young Reece Marchand.
Before we go any further, let’s pray.
- Prayer - Most Sovereign Lord, we know that to You one day is like another. You are not limited by time, nor is Your knowledge limited in any way, so you knew this day was coming long before we did. You foresaw the accident and the events that led to this day, so none of this shocks You.
However, Father, we are mere mortals. We do not know what tomorrow holds. None of us, 2 weeks ago, anticipated being here, gathered together with these folks, and experiencing what we are today. We are shocked by the suddenness with which death has come near. We are pained by the loss that we are experiencing, grieved by the dreams that will never be fulfilled, and torn by the empty place we now find in our lives.
We, perhaps like Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus, know that one day we will see Reece again, but are hurting, and grieve for the hurt we see in our friends’ lives.
Please help us in the short time we are together today, to remember the good, and to find comfort in the presence and the work of your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
For those who are Christians, for those who are part of Jesus’ flock, David wrote a psalm describing our relationship with Jesus. In Psalm 23 David writes:
- Read Psalm 23.
What a help, what a comfort it is to know that if you are a follower of Jesus, that you can walk through the valley of the shadow of death, without being afraid, because the Shepherd is walking with you.
The story is told of an old gentleman lying on his deathbed. He asked his friend to reach into his pocket and get the dime out that was there. He did and the dying man put the dime in his mouth and swallowed it. He said, “I came into this world with nothing and I don’t want to leave anything behind.” Silly man. All of us leave something behind. We leave friends and family. We leave the people who’s lives we have touched over the years, and we leave memories.
- Let Marc share.
I would like to give you an opportunity now, if you would like, to share some of the memories you have of Reece. If you have a story or a memory you’d like to share, come on up.
- Let people share memories.
I hate funerals. It isn’t because I feel sorry for the person who has passed, so much, because that die has been cast. The struggle is over for them. Shoot, Reece is in a better place right now than we are.
No, funerals don’t make me sad because of pity for the person who has passed away, but rather, they make me sad because we who are left behind are left with a void. We are left missing a friend, a son, or a loved one. And you know, it always seems more difficult, to tell them goodbye, when the Lord calls them home young, and when parents are still living and are here. It’s not supposed to work like that.
Amos, the ancient prophet, quoted the Lord as saying, And in that day—this is the declaration of the Lord God—I will make the sun go down at noon; I will darken the land in the daytime. Amos 8:9.
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, also experienced the loss of someone who died at a young age, when he said: she breathed her last breath. Her sun set while it was still day.” While Reece was still young, and his friends were with him, suddenly, without anyone expecting it, we find that his sun has set.
When an accident like the one Reece was in nearly 2 weeks ago occurs, a person often ends up asking why. Why did God allow this to occur? If God is good, and He is, and if God is all-powerful, and I know He is, we sometimes want to know why God would allow something like that to happen to a person who was so young?
And now, when Reece has died so young, we are faced with questions. The sadness of death seems less severe somehow, when the sun sets in the evening. It’s not difficult to adjust our minds to the idea of death coming when a person is old and has lived a full life; but when a friend or loved one dies at young age we often find ourselves asking God, “Why?” “Why God have you taken our friend? Why God, did you take him now?” We wonder Why? We sometimes find ourselves asking, with the psalmist, “Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger withheld His compassion?”
We don’t understand death, though we’re very familiar with its power. The cry of death began with Adam & Eve when their son was killed. One of the darkest nights in all of history was the night when the firstborn of every Egyptian home died. The cry of fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters has not stopped from the time of Adam until now. It will not stop until time shall be no more and Jesus shall win His final battle over death and the grave.
And still, we humans often ask, “If God is with us, then why does death come to us?”
Sometimes we have to realize that there are some sorrows we will never understand on this side of heaven. It is during times like these that we have to trust to an all-knowing and all-powerful God. Jesus once told Peter that we would not know everything on this side of heaven, but that God’s reasons will become clear when we reach the other side.
But, we do not come today to talk about things we do not know, or things that we do not understand, but rather, we come to talk about a few things which are certain and steadfast. For one, we know that we have an opportunity to know our Savior while we are young.
1. We can know our Savior when we are young.
King Solomon once said, “So Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.” Death is never untimely when it is expected and when you have prepared for it. When you have prepared for this journey, when you have prepared for the day you travel to the other side, it will hold no terror or fear for you.
A young man’s parents once died and he was left alone. His aged aunt wrote and agreed to take him in. On the day she was supposed to come and get him, he stood with a suitcase outside of his house, waiting for her to arrive. After a short wait, his aunt’s hired man came to pick him up. He was a bit disappointed that his aunt had not come, but he adjusted to the man she had sent.
After a long day of traveling, when it was dark all around, the young boy spoke to the man who was guiding him. He said, “Do you think she’s still awake? Do you think she waited up?” The man answered, “Oh, she will be awake alright. In 2 more turns of this trail, you will see her house with lights in every window, a hot meal waiting inside, and your aunt on the porch waiting to greet you and to welcome you to your new home.
After just a short while longer, that’s exactly what he found. The house was a haven of light in a dark and cold place. There was a hot meal waiting and a delighted aunt to go and help him down from his horse and to welcome him to his new home.
The young boy grew up and became a minister. Years later, his aunt grew old and was on the brink of death herself. She was concerned about what lay ahead, and so she wrote to her young nephew, explained her fears and asked about what lay ahead.
He answered, “Do you remember when you took me in years ago? I was scared and alone. I was disappointed that you had not come to get me, but had sent someone else. When I got to your house, however, I found it warm, and welcoming, and you standing there with your arms wide open, waiting to welcome me home.”
That’s what death is for those who know the Lord. It can seem scary, and dark and cold; but it is none of those things. It is nothing more than a passageway we must step through, a journey we must take; and there on the other side we will find warmth, and light, and a Heavenly Father with His arms opened wide, waiting to welcome us home.
Reece has taken that trip. He has stepped through that door to a better place.
Reece has known Jesus as his Lord and Savior for many years. Years ago he asked the Lord to forgive him of his sins and to come into his heart. Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Id anyone will hear My voice and open the door, I will come into him and dine with him and sup with him and he with Me.”
King Solomon, the richest, and wisest man who ever lived, spent some time exploring the things this world has to offer. He examined pleasure, and grief; learning and ignorance; partying and drinking; wine, women and song; constructing great monuments and building great businesses where his employees would bring him tons of gold a year. He records his exploration in a journal we call the book of Ecclesiastes. After all building, exploring and partying he writes,
> Ecclesiastes 12:1,Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.”
How great it is when a person has parents who understand the importance of teaching their children about Jesus when they are young, for Jesus loves children, and He loves it when people spend almost their entire lives in fellowship with Him.
Dwight L. Moody came home from a crusade meeting one night and his wife asked him how many people were saved that night. Dr. Moody answered, 4 1/2.” His wife said, “Oh, 4 adults and 1 child?” He answered, “No, 4 children and 1 adult. The children can spend their whole lives knowing the Lord, while the adult has wasted part of his.”
We can know our Savior when we are young, and for those of us who do, death holds no fear.
There is a second thing we can know, we can know Who we believe in.
2. We can know Who we believe in
- John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness,yet the darkness did not overcome it.
We can know Who we believe in. We are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
a. My friend, Jesus has been around since before time. Since He’s been around for awhile, He has seen everything that can come down the pike toward us and none of it surprises Him. He was here from the beginning, so this is no surprise.
b. Since He created everything, there is nothing He cannot do and He cannot handle.
c. He loves us.
> John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but hath ever-lasting life.
> Romans 5:8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
Jesus left the glories and halls of heaven to come down because He loves us. . .
3. We know that Reece did what he wanted with his life.
For nearly as long as I can remember, Reece has been running around kicking a ball. I never understood soccer very much, but that little red-headed boy, who did end up staying little, sure seemed to love it. He and Alec ran all over the place with that thing.
I can remember when we went on vacation out west, and were at the painted desert, Reece, Alec and Drew, decided they were going to run out on this ridge and then run back. When they got back, Drew was sucking air, but Alec and Reece were barely winded, cause they ran all the time.
They, like their mom, still walk a lot. I’ve never understood that. When I got my driver’s license, I quit walking, but they continued to run and walk, almost like they enjoy it.
We went to the Grand Canyon. Drew and I are in the back, walking like a couple of old people, trying to conserve our energy. Reece and Alec are running all over the place, from rock to rock, looking at everything, like a couple of over-caffeinated squirrels.
He did what he wanted in life. He went to the school he wanted to attend. He went into the military like he wanted, and even when questions arose about Covid and such, he stuck to his guns.
We know that while he lived, Reece did the things he wanted to do and the things he enjoyed.
4. We know if given a choice, Reece would rather be the one who died instead of one of his friends.
Reece wanted to look out for folks. Shoot, he even wanted to look out for cats. I remember he and his mom finding a stray cat while we were a trip, and the 2 of them trying to find a home for that cat. He had a tender heart and looked out for people, so I know that he would prefer to be the one among his friends who died, because Reece knew where he was going.
Earlier I read the 23rd Psalm, where it says, “The Lord is my Shepherd. Yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.
The only way you can make that trip through that valley, without fear, is if you have a relationship with the Shepherd, and Reece did.
If there was any doubt about any of his friends, I know Reece would prefer to be the one who went, so his friends would be given another chance, another opportunity to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
5. We know that all things work together for good -
> Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good[b] of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
I don’t know how or why this happened . . .
6. We know that there is a better place waiting for those who know Christ -
- John 14:1-4
Jesus is right now preparing a place for us. Can you imagine? Someone has called it a place of no more. For in that place there will be no more pain. No more suffering. No more sorrows. No more tears. No more death. No more goodbyes.
I have looked forward to many trips, knowing that I was going to a great place, but none of that anticipation begins to compare to the anticipation I feel when I look forward to the journey to heaven.
We know there is a better place waiting for those who know Christ.
We do not know why Reece had to die when he did. We do not know why he left, but there are some things we do know. We know a better place is waiting for those who know the Lord and that those who follow Jesus will get to see Reece again one day. Between now and then, though, we have some tasks to take care of.
II. OUR TASKS
1. Make sure you’ve prepared for the trip.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
In other words, if we want to go to a place Jesus has prepared for us, we need to make sure we’ve prepared for the trip. You don’t get to heaven by accident. You don’t get to heaven by drifting. You get to heaven by having a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle John writes in
> 1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
My friend, do you know that you have eternal life? Do you know that you will see Reece again? You can.
Admit -
Believe -
Confess -
Our first task, make sure you are ready for the trip.
Our second task, ask for help.
2. Ask for help - Philippians 4:4-7
Present your requests to God. In the days ahead, when pain fills a place that Reece once did, ask for help. Tell the Lord about your pain and ask for His help making it through another day.
In the days ahead, make sure you’ve prepared for the trip. In the days ahead, when tears fill your eyes and a lump forms in your throat that refuses to leave, pray. Ask the Lord for help.
3. Think on the good things
- Philippians 4:8-9
a. Remember a young man who loved his country and worked during the hurricanes to help others, and who stood in harm’s way to protect his country.
b. Remember a boy who grew up out here. Oh, after the accident 2 weeks ago, I came back here that afternoon, and everywhere I looked I saw Reece’s fingerprints.
I walked down to the lake for minute, and there I saw the raft. When one of our young people pulled it in last time, evidently he pulled the ladder out so it wouldn’t drag the bottom, and I remembered the last time Reece was on the raft, pulled the ladder out so no one else could climb on it, and threw it into the lake. We had to replace the ladder.
I thought about the many times we played king of the raft on that thing. It was pretty easy to throw him off years ago, but as he got older and stronger, it became more and more of a challenge.
I saw the flag poles, and remembered the years Reece was on the color guard in Mission Possible Camp and helped raise and lower the flags.
I saw the basketball court, and remembered the early days of MPC, when my brother would lead the kids in close order drill on the concrete; and Reece later telling us how well he did in Basic because of that experience.
I saw the zip line, and remembered him running and pulling kids up the hill on that thing, and the relief on his face when last Memorial Day I told him we had the 4 wheeler fixed so he could pull the kids up the hill with it instead of running.
Remember a young man who stood up for the underdog, and who couldn’t stand to see anyone taken advantage of.
Remember a young man with a good heart.
In the days ahead, think on the good things. We hurt today, only because of the impact Reece made on all of our lives.
c. Remember that those who know the Lord will have a reunion one day that will be out of this world.
Can you imagine what it is going to be like on that day, when we get to heaven and get to meet all of our friends and family who have gone before us? Aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, husbands, wive, mothers and fathers. And there in the middle of them all, Tommy, standing there with his beard, looking like the Taliban himself, waiting to show us around.
Prepare for the journey. Ask the Lord for help. Think on the good things.
Prayer
