Text John 14:1-7; Romans 8:31-39; Psalm 23
Theme My Father’s House
Subject Christ’s teaching that he is going to prepare a place for us
Occasion The
Memorial Service for Max Selzer (76) – 10/6/07 –
Friends in Christ
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
26 days have passed since Max
breathed
Those of you who knew him best, were closest to him
Especially Dee,
Your friends and your families
These have been days of adjustment
Unhurried as you take in the honest truth
Max is dead
Last night Dee and the kids
hosted a party
That’s genuine-issue Max: a party
Many of you were there and
told stories
Remembered Max
Brother
Veteran
Self-made man
Builder
Cyclone graduate who loved the Hawkeye
City Councilman
Colleague, friend and neighbor
Husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather
My privilege was to be there
To meet many people and hear more Max-stories (Max-ims?)
But the truth is, I never met
Max Selzer
But
I’ve heard his voice
I
dialed his cell [319-331-3770 – his voice is there]
You’ve reached the hom—er residence of the Selzers
We can’t come to the phone right now
But if you’d leave a message after the beep,
we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Thank you.
I could tell – same guy
you’ve told me about:
Friendly,
interested in others, retiring, relaxed
It would be silly for me to
repeat the stories
You tell ‘em better anyway
But I do want to tell you
about Max’ Lord
I know Dee and the kids were here at
I’ve talked to former Pastor Trost
He confirmed this as truth: Max didn’t
worship much
Max was not one to articulate the great truths of the faith
Max did not distinguish between theological and
doctrinal positions
The testimony of Max Selzer is not available in words
We have to look where he walked
Where those who love him walk
I have in mind this verse
from the 14th chapter of John
In my Father's house there are
many dwelling places. (Jn 14:2a)
The Father’s House
Maybe
you’ve walked through a house Max built – or live in one
If you were at The Highlander last
night, you were at a house Max built
In 1979
I slept in a house Max built
A young pastor with my family at the
Bible camp near Strawberry Point
Somehow Max Selzer got the
contract to build the administrative building
Hickory Lodge we
call it
Offices
upstairs; meeting rooms and bedrooms down stairs
I’ve spent many hours in meetings there
And many nights sleeping there
In April
of this year I went there to be alone and pray
My question: God, do you want me to accept this calling to
It
is one of my holy places
Today we
are here at Zion Lutheran
This is a holy place: a sanctuary – a
safe place
It is one of the holy places in
Max’ life, my life, maybe your life
This is one of the holy places for Dee
and
We’ve got memories here
The
banners on the wall today were made by
The
banners announce Paul’s teaching from Galatians 5
The fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23)
Some who
knew Max could tell us how this scripture describes him
When we
are surrounded by people who exhibit the fruits of the spirit,
we want to be with people like that all
the time
It’s like being with Jesus
That’s
what I need to tell you today
Not about Max
Not about
Not about the banner
Max may
never have told you;
This is his last chance with all of
you together
I get to tell you what I’m
sure Max wants you to know
Max was like many Christians:
A believer but not an
evangelist
I’m an evangelist
In
answer to Paul’s question from Romans 8:
What then are we to
say about these things? (v. 31b)
What are
we gonna do without Max?
What has
happened to Max now that he is dead?
What about
us when we die?
Hear the
revelation to
No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors … For I am convinced that … (nothing) in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord (v.37-39 selected)
Is it
clear enough?
Nothing can separate you from the love
of God because of Jesus
He’s the way, and the truth and the life
Are you willful, hiding, or hurt
God through Jesus is with you
– you can’t shake the love of God
But
Thomas, yup, that’s Doubting Thomas, the same
He’s near panic when he hears Jesus
will be leaving
Even if Jesus does say
In my
Father's house there are many rooms” (Jn 14:2a)
Thomas shouts,
"Lord, we do
not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" (Jn 14:5b)
Stay with me here
What’s the address for heaven?
How do we get there?
Jesus tells Thomas in a way for all of us to know:
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. (Jn 14:6a)
You want
to live in The Father’s House
The only sure way is through the Son
His name is Jesus
This revelation has been
passed down thru the ages
We believe it is sure and certain
Thru Jesus, nothing can separate
us from the love of God
Why risk wandering or shopping for eternal life?
Go with a sure thing
Trust Jesus: he’s the way and the truth and the life
What will this mean for you?
A bunch of have-tos?
Go to church?
Read the Bible?
Give money to help the poor?
Visit sick people?
Pray a lot?
Were you paying attention?
Remember what I said, what
Nothing in all creation can separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus
There are no have-tos
These are only get-tos thru the love of Jesus
In The Father’s House
We get to belong to a people – go to church
We get to connect with ancient, holy, universal truths –
read the Bible
We get to live beyond ourselves – for the poor and sick;
widows and orphans
We get to be silent in a frenzied world – listening for God
Max the Builder would love
for you to join him in The Father’s House