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Homily

Memorial Service for
Charles Overton Franck Jr.
January 20, 2018


Shortly after I came to Light of Christ Charlie dropped by one day and handed me a 12 ½ page article entitled, The Saga of Charles Overton Franck, Jr. He said he wanted me to have it because he wanted me to know who he was. It was Charlie’s life story up to that point and it was written in a “stream of consciousness” style. It was like having him there telling you what his life had been like.
Charlie’s life growing up read like a John Steinbeck novel, like The Grapes of Wrath, and it would really make a very good story line for a movie. He captured the time period of the depression and the pre- and post-World War II era. He wrote it in such a way that I could almost see the lifestyle of poverty and hardship and the adventures that came along with it. He made me want to go fishing with a cane pole and a can of minnows, and he reminded of how much I love butter beans.

He shared the struggles that he had to overcome and the years when his parents split up and he was sent to live with this family member and then another. He talked about what it was like for a 9-year-old boy to not feel wanted. He told of the importance of his physics teacher Mr. Jarmin talking to him “like a Dutch uncle” and how he encouraged to try harder at his school work. It changed everything to have somebody believe in him. He spoke of the path that God put him on that led him to the military and to Ruth and then to success in business. It’s a wonderful story and I’ll be glad to make copies if you want to read it.

I confess that I never got to know Charlie very well and reading his story shows me that is my loss. In hearing others talk about him I realized that success didn’t spoil him, because he was a man who had been formed of strong stuff as he grew up with hardship and knew that he had been blessed. I did get to know him well enough to know that he was a man who loved God and the church, and who dearly loved his wife and family.

As a pastor, it is not unusual for me to perform a memorial service, and there only two types really: those for people who have died in the Lord and those who had rejected a relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s hard to speak comfort when the one you are memorializing was lost because they had rejected the only one who offered eternal hope. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that “it is appointed for every man to die once and then to face the judgment.” For those who are lost this is not a comforting thought, nor should it be. However, it is with joy and relief that I am privileged to speak at Charlie Franck’s memorial service because anyone who knew him can testify that he loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Suddenly, the passage from Hebrews 9 takes on a whole other feel especially when joined with the verse following it. Heb. 9:27-28,

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Charlie had been looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ for a long time but now his waiting is over. He can now join in saying with the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4: 7-8,

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Charlie’s life on this earth is over and there is for him no more suffering, or sickness, or sorrow or pain. For those of us here that are Christ followers today is not simply a time of grieving, although that is a part of our temporary separation, but today is meant to be a joyous celebration that our brother in Christ has gone to his reward, his inheritance as a son of God. James 1:12 promises that,

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Jesus said of himself in John 11:25-26,

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Our separation from loved ones who have died in the faith is temporary. We will see them again and then there will be no more death or sorrow or pain forever.

The question before us this morning is, are you a Christ follower? There is a fact that no one can dispute, everyone will die. The sobering fact before us is that every one of us will one day be the one being mourned and it will either be a celebration of life now continued eternally in the presence of God or a tragedy of life now lived in eternal judgment. Sin and judgment is not a popular topic in our culture and those who dare brook the subject are often seen as unloving, narrow minded bigots. The truth is that not speaking of this truth of Scripture is extremely unloving because it is a matter of eternal life or eternal damnation. We live in a time when everyone is searching for meaning and purpose and they are encouraged to look everywhere but to Jesus Christ. That is the result of the lie of the enemy who does not want Jesus Christ to receive glory and does not want you and I to come to faith in him.

In spite of that, our mission as the people of God is to tell the story of how Jesus Christ saved us and the joy that brings. The truth is that God through Christ offers us relationship with Him here and now. That is what we were created for and the more we run away from God the more we suffer the consequences of our sin. It leads us to addictions, misery, dissatisfaction with life, and it cause us to continue to pursue things that look promising but once attained bring no relief. Only Jesus is able to meet the need of your heart and we can only have Jesus when we are willing to bow our wills to him and in repentance turn to Him for our hope and salvation.

That’s how Charlie Franck lived his life, and that’s how he faced pain and suffering. He wasn’t living for all that he could attain here but lived to glorify God now and with Ruth teach their children to live like that too. That is why it is such a comfort in the midst of grief to gather to celebrate a life well lived by God’s standards, not man's.

This morning we come as friends and family to say “farewell for now”. I want to end with the Apostle Paul’s words of comfort to the Thessalonians who were concerned about their loved ones who had passed away. Listen to 1 Thess. 4: 15-18,

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Let’s pray.

©2018 The Rev. Mike Moffitt