Facing Life’s Trials: Death of a Church Saint

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Proverbs 2:6-8. (NIV)

Recently I attended the funeral of one of the saints in our church. Ted was a dearly beloved man who endeared himself to most of us over the years by loving and serving our children.  He just had a way with children and young people.  He loved them and everyone knew it.  Some of my son’s oldest memories are of Ted handing out peppermints to all the students as they came by and visited with him. He was happy, and just had an aura of love surrounding him.

He was always faithful. He apparently never had an over-abundance of worldly treasure, but what treasures he must have laid up in Heaven after a lifetime devoted to teaching and simply doing whatever he saw needing to be done in church!  He was a fixture in the church for my 45 years of attendance. He made coming to church fun for the students he taught and they always looked forward to seeing him. I never saw Ted without a big smile on his face that told you all you needed to know about him.

He left a treasury of good memories for so many in our church. He will always be missed by all who knew him. His faithful wife, Mary, was always by his side and in later years he took good care of her as her health declined. He was a beacon of God’s love and mercy for our church. That kind of man is hard to find and impossible to replace.

Since the word saint in the Bible refers to those who were set apart for God’s service, I can call my friend Ted a saint without any fear of contradiction by anyone. He was set apart in service to God: simply loving others and doing what the Holy Spirit lead him to do. We need more saints like Ted!

Our former pastor, who preached his funeral, summed it up when he said, “Ted is an easy man to bury.” He loved Jesus. He served our Lord. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that when Ted left this world he went straight to Paradise to be with Jesus. We need more saints like Ted. We, each one of us, needs to be more like him!

Father, I thank you with all my Heart that my children had the experience of knowing and loving and being loved by an upright man like Ted. Thank you for all the things he did in your name that pointed others to you. I ask you to make my heart more like Ted’s heart-receptive to the leading of your Holy Spirit. I ask you to raise up many more men like him to lead the children in the next generations. Amen.

Pat Eppler