Sermon Cloud

Burial of the Dead

Dr. Harry W. F. Dressel, Jr.

August 24, 2009

John 6:34-40

 In the Name of God: + Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 We’re here this morning to give thanks to God for the life of Dr Harry W. F. Dressel, Jr.

 Our aim is to honor and remember Dr Harry and worship the Lord he loved and served.

 Even in death Dr. Harry was thinking of others – you see he wanted his funeral service here so as not to inconvenience anyone by making them travel to St. Timothy’s Church. 

 Hilda, I want to take a preachers prerogative for a moment to tell you how often Harry spoke of you; how much he loved you; and what a wonderful friend and companion you have been to Harry.  Words fail to express the love he had for you.  After some serious reflection, I honestly cannot think of any conversation of length that I had with Dr Harry where he did not mention you with words of praise.  God bless you and may God wipe away your tears and turn them in to joy.

 Friends on behalf of Dr Harry, Hilda, Dr. Harry’s family, his closest friends and St Timothy’s Church, thank you for coming to remember the life of Dr Harry and celebrate the eternal LIFE he enjoys through faith in Jesus.

 How many people have known Harry for 30 or more years?

 How many people here believe their lives are better off for knowing Harry?

 I want to take a few minutes to paint a snapshot where Dr Harry came from and how he was molded as a young man.

 Harry loved his parents.  He proudly described his father, Harry, Sr., to me as “disciplined and likeable” and his mother, Ethel, as “beautiful”.  Harry had one sister, Audrey (also a member of St Timothy’s) Harry held a deep love for his sister whom he knew as one of his best friends.  He said, with teary eyes and a choked up voice “Nobody had a better sister.”

 His father routinely encouraged Harry to learn all he could on any given topic. Family was important – Harry said, “We were devoted to the success of one another; a family that cared for one another.” His family went to parades and social gatherings; they went to St Paul the Apostle on Washington Blvd, weekly; they prayed before meals and they all attended Sunday School.  (Harry, Sr., was a Sunday School teacher and sang in the St. Paul’s Choir; Dr. Harry sang in the Children’s Choir.)    

 Harry credits three key people as having influenced him the most: Fr. Frank Hay Staples, the pastor of St. Paul’s, his father and his Scoutmaster.  From these men he learned love of neighbor, a passion to learn and the wonder and beauty of God’s creation.

 After college Harry was admitted to the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (BCDS), University of Maryland (the first dental school in America.) During the Second World War the Army enrolled students into an accelerated program which Harry qualified for and participated in. 

 A caption next to Harry’s dental school senior yearbook picture (1945) says this about Harry:  Loquacious and ingenious; incessant interrogator; zealot for knowledge.

 The canvass of Dr Harry’s life was filled with faith in God through Jesus Christ - strong, healthy relationships – family – learning – and caring for others.

 These factors, especially his faith, sustained him and guided him in the good times and bad – his mother’s death on his 63^rd birthday, Audrey’s diagnosis of ALS and death, Bill’s death and the difficult days of coping with Dupytrens Contracture of his hands.

 Harry was raised in an environment of faith . . Every time I’d talk to Dr Harry for any length of time he’d always talk about Hilda and his trust in God – with a smile on his face and confidence in his voice.

 He would always say each day was in the hands of “the good Lord” and when The LORD was ready for him Harry would willingly go but then he’d add – I think He has a bit more for me to do J

 Truthfully Dr Harry’s faith in God’s  promises to him are an even greater story than that of a young man with a keen mind who went on to achieve so much.

 This is where we turn back to John’s Gospel – it’s Oh so important – listen, please.

 ³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

 From this we learn three important truths that build our faith and give us hope:

 1. What the Father gives the Son welcomes.

 Jesus revealed a life saving message to St Paul.

 In Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome, he says the obvious - that all of us fail to live up to God’s standards and desires and are therefore in need of salvation.

 Our sins stand in the way between us and God.

 He goes on to say that once sin entered into the world so did death and that freedom from sin is a matter of the human will to be turned to Jesus in faith.

 For our wills to freely embrace Christ in faith the Spirit of God must give us the grace to see Jesus for who He really is:

 The type of “seeing” I’m talking about is done through the eyes of faith.

 Scripture goes on to tell us that faith is a received gift from God given by grace so we cannot boast of ourselves – Ephesians 2.8-10 and Romans 10:17, “¹⁷Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

 The gift of faith is just that  - a gift from God and not one that we choose on our own.

 John 15.16 in part says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. . . . “

 Why is this important to know?  Because when we finally come to faith in Jesus it is actually a supernatural work of God in our hearts through grace . . . . . .

 It wasn’t because of anything we did. . . . . the only thing we bring to our salvation is our sin. . . . this is what makes it such Good News. 

 God saved us from a fate which we could not save ourselves from – that is an eternity of separation from Him.

 John 6.37 is a great encouragement! “³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

 There is complete harmony between the Father and the Son: the Father gives and the Son receives – never rejecting the work of the Father – accepting ALL the Father gives Him.

 The Father’s love shown through His Son empowered by the Holy Spirit calls us to faith by His love for us – He beckons us and gives us to His Son who gladly welcomes us.

 Our responsibility is to answer the call to faith by turning to Christ out of thanksgiving for His love for us on the Cross.

 Once welcomed He will not drive us away from Him.

 And again in Romans 8.1 we learn that, “¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

 Dr. Harry’s father took his children to St. Paul’s Chapel, taught them scripture, prayed with them and God in his mercy and time gave Dr. Harry the precious gift of faith. 

 Jesus came into Harry’s life and has stood close to Harry in life, death and life after death.

 2. The Son never loses anything the Father gives Him.

 ³⁸For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, . . . . . “

 To say that Christ loses nothing (no one) given to Him means that through the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to persevere.

 Nothing will shake us loose from Christ.

 Even if our faith is unperceivable to us or anyone around us once given saving faith we will never slip out of Christ’s grip and be lost again.

 The saints of God will persevere until the last day . . . .

Look with me at John 10.28-29.

Jesus is speaking about His sheep (people) and He says, “²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.”

 He calls us – adopts us and carries us all the way into eternity and His perfection.

 Philippians 1.6, “⁶being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

 This is a critical point for us to grab on to: God finishes what He starts in us!

 Did God let go of Harry at any time?  NO!  What about when his hands became too crippled to practice dentistry?  NO!  What about when his mother died on his 63^rd birthday?  NO!  Or Audrey’s death?  NO!

 Was God absent from Harry when he fell to the floor and died in his apartment?  NO. 

 The instant Harry took his last breath Jesus received Harry’s soul back to Himself.

 In fact Harry himself testified to Christ’s faithfulness when he told me it was his faith and his church that saw him through the hard times of his life.

 Harry came to the Son out of the Father’s will and the Son’s promise was not to lose him!

 Faith lived out does not necessarily disappear once one is sick or has to make mid-life career changes – in fact for Harry his faith went through the refiners fire and sustained him! .

 The final promise in the last part of v. 39 and v. 40 apply to him – look with me.

 3. What is given will be raised up at The Last Day.

 Perseverance of the Saints is the Father’s will inasmuch as it leads the saint to the Last Day.

 It is the Father’s will that we run the race (as Paul puts it) with a strong finish; and once run as the Gospel Hymn says, “to trade our cross in for a crown.”

 “ . . . . . but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

 The Godhead will raise Harry and we who believe in Jesus on the Last Day.

 Listen to what Paul teaches in Romans 6.3-5, “³Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  ⁵If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

 John 5.28-29 teaches us not to be shocked to believe in the power of God to justify, to sanctify and to resurrect, “ ²⁸"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

 When will this occur?

 Only the Father knows for sure. . . . . . .

 Listen to 1 Thessalonians 4.13-14, “¹³Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. ¹⁴We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  ¹⁸Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

 Dr Harry W F Dressel. Jr. will one day – along with his beloved parents, sister Audrey, his close friend and brother-in-law Bill and all the faithful who have gone before or after who trusted Christ for their lives will be raised again.

 He was given to the Son by the Father.

 His faith and soul were guarded by the Spirit and kept safe.

 He will be lifted up from the grave at the Last Day.

 Listen to the promise:

 John 6.39, “³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

 Give rest, O Christ, to your servant(s) with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.
 
You only are immortal, the creator and maker of mankind; and we are mortal, formed of the earth, and to earth shall we return. For so did you ordain when you created me, saying, "You are dust, and to dust you shall return."

 All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song:

 Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 I loved Dr Harry . . . . I’m going to miss him.  I am a better man for knowing him; our sons are better young men for knowing him and my wife is a better Christian for knowing him.

 Finally our church has been blessed to have Harry as part of the Body of Christ called St Timothy’s Church . . . . . Since July he has been sorely missed . . . he was dearly loved.

 I suspect many of you can say the same thing.

 One day we were talking and Dr Harry looked at me with a smile and with joy-filled teary eyes, and whispered, “I’ve lived a wonderful life!” 

 Yes, amen, he did.

 Our loss is heavens gain – thanks be to God.

 Amen.