Ruthfred Lutheran Church

Pastor Dennis' Funeral

Sermon Text

Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” 

Jeraldine, Michelle, friends of Pastor Dennis.

The last couple of months, Pastor Dennis struggled with leaving all of you.  He loved you so much.  I don’t believe that I have ever seen in my life a man who loved doing his job, living his life, more than Pastor Dennis.  And being a Pastor for him was not a job, it was not an occupation, it was more of a lifestyle, it was his wife it was his family.  He told me that he loved every minute of it.  I worked very closely with him and I can tell you, that he did indeed love every minute of ministry.

            I remember walking through a hospital corridor with pd and we were walking by a man who was obviously sick and not doing well Pastor stopped and said something like, did you hear they found bones on the moon?  He got the man's attention and continued “I guess the cow didn't make it”.  The formally sad man smiled, and PD began a conversation with him that eventually led to talking about Jesus. 

I used to get a bit frustrated with PD because we had calls to make, people to see, a schedule to keep, and he always made me late.  We were always stopping like that, talking to people we didn't know, visiting people in a certain room and then spending more time talking to the roommate (Realizing that he knew the man’s second cousins, brothers, friend when he was born and where he attended college), breaking social norms by even talking to people on the elevator.  You just didn’t do that! But Pastor Dennis did.

            I got frustrated until I figured out that:

It wasn't the schedule that mattered so much,

it wasn't the destination that was important, 

It was the journey that really mattered. 

What did you accomplish on the journey.  And Pastor Dennis always accomplished an awful lot on that Journey.  Did you hear the Mexican weather report?  Cold today but Hot tamale and another conversation was started, another smiling face, another opportunity to talk about Jesus.

            He simply loved people, and he lived to do ministry.  I often told him that he could have made a great politician the way he worked a room.  But no, he was born to be a pastor.

The day before he died he was still able to talk, he sang for me in a voice that was still strong and beautiful a song based on the poem by Robert Burns – My heart is in the highlands.   He said to me, “I’m tired of the mountains, and then began to sing.  My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer -A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the NorthThe birth place of Valour, the country of Worth;Wherever I wander, wherever I rove, The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

And he told me that he was excited about seeing the glories of heaven.

As a congregation we will be in mourning.  We will be sad because of what Pastor Dennis has meant to all of us.  But don’t be sad for Pastor Dennis.  He is happier than he has ever been.  And he is right now anchoring the Tenor section in the choir.  We could spend hours telling stories about Pastor Dennis.  And we could laugh thinking of his old, - very old Jokes.  He was a unique unforgettable character.

But Pastor Dennis was very specific about his service – and he told me very clearly, and forcefully.  Tell them about Jesus, and I will do that this morning.

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for all.  Jesus is what this is all about.  Jesus is the reason that Pastor Dennis went into the ministry in the first place.  He is the reason that Pastor Dennis continued in the ministry.  As I thought about this text, and Pastor Dennis’ life, I wondered if even now, Pastor Dennis is meeting people in heaven that he led to the Lord.   And so with his permission, I would like to introduce you to Jesus.  As much as Pastor Dennis understood that the Journey was important, that people were important, Jesus is the one that ultimately modeled this for us.

            Jesus throughout his time on earth served and gave himself to others, He served.  Throughout the Gospels Jesus had compassion on people.  In Matthew 20 as the blind men called out for mercy, the bible says, “Jesus had compassion on them and healed them.”

In Luke 7 when Jesus met a widow whose son had died, “He had compassion on her and raised her son from the dead.”

In Mark 6 the Bible says, “And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like a sheep not having a shepherd”.

What was it that enabled Jesus to serve as he did?  He knew the value of people.  He knew and he knows that each one of you is a treasure.  And because of that, you are not a source of stress, you are not a bother, you are a Joy.  Jesus knew that it wasn’t about accomplishing certain tasks, but rather, it was about the Journey, what did you accomplish on the journey

Because of God’s love for you.  Because of His extravagant love, he gave His Son Jesus Christ as a ransom.  We are all sinners, we have all failed, we have all fallen short.  And we cannot, we never could save ourselves from our own sin.

Jesus left the most incredible place, he left the place where Pastor Dennis is now to come to earth die a horrible death so that we could be free from sin.  So that we could spend eternity in heaven.  This news of Jesus death resurrection, and salvation is more than just good news.

This is life changing news.  This is the kind of news that changes the way we live forever.  If you have wondered, why did Pastor Dennis do all of the things he did.  Why did he spend his life as a minister, it was because of what Jesus had done for him.  As a 17 year old in Marion Ohio, a friend had explained to him Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved by faith, not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works left anyone should boast.”  It was then that Pastor Dennis gave his heart and his life to Jesus Christ.

It was after realizing the grace of God through Jesus Christ that Pastor Dennis decided to go into the ministry and become a Pastor.  And those of us in this building will never be the same as God worked mightily through him.  Pastor’s business card it says, “If you meet me and forget me that is nothing, but if you meet Jesus Christ and forget Him you have lost everything.”  Today if you only know Pastor Dennis but not His Savior, you really never knew, who he was, and what drove him.   Do you know Jesus?  I mean really know him?  Has he changed your life, have you given him all of your sin, all of your heartache, all of your guilt, all of your anger?  If not, lay all of your burdens at the cross of Jesus Christ. 

My sympathy to Jerry, and the one he called, “My dear sweet little Michelle”.

My sympathy to all of you, because you, this church was truly his family.

Pastor Dennis used to tell the story of when he was a child.  He loved to Roller skate, he would Roller skate all day long outside loving it.  And he was very tired at the end of the day, so tired he could barely move, and then he would hear the call from his mother, “It’s time to come in”.  The Lord on Friday called out to Pastor Dennis after a long day of work, “Pastor Dennis, it’s time to come in, the journey is over”, and he took him.  He was absent from the body, and in that instant, he was present with the Lord.  “Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who have loved him.”                                                                                                                              May God bless each one of you, and may God bless the memory of Pastor Dennis, no longer Pastor Emeritus, now he has an even greater honor, he is part of the Church triumphant.  Amen.