Welcoming & Opening Prayer

On behalf of the family I want to welcome you and thank you for coming to this memorial in honor of Don Thurman. In 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, God’s Word says, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” And then it goes on to say, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Well, in many ways, the sting of death is right here in this room. We come together in grief, feeling the sting of death, mourning over the loss of a great man of God. But, because he was indeed a great man of God, we do not mourn without hope. And for Don, the sting of death has been removed, and instead death has become the doorway into eternal joy. The hope of Christ has become his reality. And this is the case for all true Christians, which is why we do not mourn without hope. For we have the hope of Christ… at least all of us who truly trust in Christ do. 

You see, we mourn and grieve when death happens because death is linked to sin and the brokenness of this world. And Jesus is all too familiar with the brokenness of this world. He lived among it, though He never sinned, and then He died by the hands of it; a death that paid for sin. In Jesus’ life He was tempted and tried, He felt pain, and He mourned, and He cried. And then in order to save us from the death and wrath that we deserve He felt the ultimate pain. He was mocked, beaten, and nailed to a cross, and then upon that cross He had the wrath that we deserve for our sin poured out upon Himself. And then after drinking down every last drop of God’s wrath due us He died and was placed in a borrowed tomb. He knew pain. He knew death all too well. But, this was not the end. On the third day after His death He got up from the grave in victory so that all who turn from their sin and trust Him would be saved from sin, death, and wrath, and would live forever with Him in eternal joy. Jesus felt the sting of death so that the sting of death would not get the last say with His people. Death is not the end for us. There is hope beyond the grave for those who trust in Jesus. And Don trusted in Jesus. I pray you have, or that you will as well. 

Jesus is God, and He’s the God who knows the pain of He’s people. He grieves with us, He hurts with us; but more importantly, He hurt for us, so that He could bring us to Himself. You see, our great God took on sin and death at the cross so that one day He could fully rid the world of sin and death and all its effects. Jesus didn’t merely come to save us from death, but to kill death altogether. One day He will fully fix what is broken. God’s Word says, “He will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things [will] have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). One day He will rid this world of pain and suffering, of disease and death. So on this day, as we mourn, let us not mourn as those who are without hope. On this day let us remember the hope of that day, when Jesus will make all things new. So, as we grieve, mourn, and remember our departed brother, let us do it with our hearts and minds on Christ, and the great hope we have in the gospel. Let’s pray towards that end. 

Scripture Reading By Collin and Hayden Thurman

Obituary Reading by Bob Price

Family Remembrance by Randy Thurman 

Message

Jesus once asked, “which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” This is the context of Don’s favorite verse—Matthew 6:33, which we’ll look at in a minute. It’s found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where He’s particularly addressing our anxiety, especially about every day things like food and clothing. In other words, He’s addressing anxiety over needs… the basic necessities of life: food, clothing, shelter, etc… And in that context Jesus asks, in Matthew 6:27, “which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” And then in verse 30 He gives a rebuke, saying, “O you of little faith.” In other words, often our anxiety problem is a faith problem. 

Now, don’t misunderstand… Jesus isn’t saying that if you believe rightly or hard enough, or that if you have enough faith you will always have more than enough food and the like. But He is saying that our anxiety, our lack of trust in God’s Word, God’s promises, and God’s care for us, will not bring us any of the things that we worry about not having. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” Anxiety can be, and often is, debilitating; however, faith can be, and often is, liberating. And this is what we see in Don’s favorite verse.

On more than one occasion during a sermon or Bible study I would look at Don and say, “What does your favorite Bible verse say?” And immediately he would quote Matthew 6:33 from memory, saying, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Now, consider that in light of the context. Jesus is telling us not to be anxious, but to have faith, to trust God and know that He knows about everything that we need, and He is sovereign, and He is good, and He cares for us. And with that in mind, don’t worry yourself, don’t give yourself over to worry and anxiety,  but give yourself to seeking, that is give yourself to ongoing pursuit of the Kingdom of God. He says to do this first, as in first and foremost above all else. Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Give yourself to the ongoing pursuit of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first and foremost, above all else. But, what does that mean?

To know what Jesus means here we first need to know what the Kingdom of God is. Paul tells us in Romans 14:17 that “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Righteousness and peace and joy are all ultimately found and truly come to us in and through the redemption that Jesus provides that is applied in and by the Holy Spirit. Put simply, the Kingdom of God then, is God’s redemptive rule in and through Jesus Christ. It’s the rule and reign of God in and through Jesus who is the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, who took on flesh and became a man while staying God, and lived the perfect sinless, the perfectly righteous life that we all have failed to live; and then He died the sacrificial, wrath-absorbing death that we all deserve to die; and then He rose in a death-defeating, justifying resurrection, and gloriously ascended to the right hand of the Father where He rules, reigns, and intercedes until all of His enemies come under His feet. Jesus loved and gave Himself for all of His people, for all who will turn from their sin and trust in Him… for all who will trust in Him as Savior and submit to Him as Lord. And that idea of submission to Jesus as Lord is directly tied to the Kingdom of God here. The Kingdom is all that is rightly under God’s redemptive rule, that is all that is in right submission to Jesus.

You see, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is the righteousness that comes in and through faith in Christ, because when we trust in Jesus we are united to Jesus, and therefore all that He has done and all that He is, including His righteousness, is accredited to us. But also, flowing from the righteousness we have by faith is a practical righteousness that joyfully submits to the Lordship of Christ. It’s a righteousness that is a part of being rightly under the Lordship of Christ, or rightly being a part of the Kingdom of God. You see, faith is not a mere trusting, or a mere believing; it’s a belief that leads to action, it’s trusting and obeying. It’s bringing, not just our hearts and our souls, but all of life rightly under Christ. And it is there, in Christ, that righteousness and peace and joy are found.

No doubt, just as Abraham was, so too are we counted righteous by faith. But also, just as Abraham did, so we too are called to obey by faith. True faith is obedient faith. As the old hymn says, we are to trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey. And that’s what true faith is and does. And true faith is what brings us into true righteousness and peace and joy. And this is why Jesus says that the way to fight anxiety that flows from little or weak faith is by seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. In other words, instead of giving ourselves to worry and anxiety, we are to give ourselves to trusting in and obeying Jesus. Put simply, in Matthew 6:33 Jesus is saying that we must focus first and foremost, above all else, on trusting in Him and obeying Him in every area of life, and then all those things that we were so concerned about before will come in one way or another. Indeed, most of them will come, by God’s grace, as a result of our faithfulness to Jesus.  

And you see, this is what Don Thurman was all about. Don was a man of faith and faithfulness. He was a man who pledged himself to living simply, yet living faithfully for Jesus. In Micah 6:8 there’s a very similar verse to Matthew 6:33, that I think helps us apply Jesus’ words here. There God’s Word says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” And you see, that’s what it looks like to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. It is to do justice, that is to live in submission to God’s Law and to seek to uphold it and promote it in all of life. And as you know, Jesus summarizes God’s Law by saying that we are to Love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourself. To uphold the Law, to do justice means to love rightly. And to love rightly means to treat lawfully from the heart. It means we need to treat God rightly, trusting Him and obeying Him; and we need to treat our fellow man rightly, being kind to all and seeking their good in Christ. And doing it humbly, recognizing that we are what we are and we have what have by God’s sovereign grace. This is how we are called to live. And this is how Don sought to live.

Again, as Jesus said in Matthew 6:27, being anxious does not add a single hour to our span of life. If anything it takes hours from us. And that being the case, I think it’s obvious why Don lived until almost 90 years old… instead of being anxious, he sought faithfulness. Instead of giving himself to worry, he gave all to the Lord. Once, when my life was going kind of crazy and I was being accused of a number of things, I really wanted to defend myself… But, before I did I talked it over with Don. For years now Don has been my braintrust, as it were. He has prayed for me and guided me with wise counsel for years. And on this occasion he told me, “Nick, people like to talk… God is sovereign… Leave all in His hands.” In other words, let it go. Don’t worry about defending yourself, but walk faithfully and humbly with your God. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God will work the rest of that stuff out. And indeed, Don was right. As he typically was, at least 9 out of 10 times or so. He was right… And he knew he was right because that was how he lived. Instead of giving himself to worry, he gave all to the Lord.

Don was indeed a wise counselor. I don’t quite know what I’m going to do without his counsel. But, what I’m going to miss most is his ongoing faithful presence in my life. Don was a friend, and even more than that, he was a father in the faith to me. Don and I have prayed together, served together, laughed together, and wept together. He and LaDonna have helped Rachel and I through some of the hardest times of our life. They have helped us up and helped us out when we thought there was no way up and no way out. And each time Don did it pointing to and living out Matthew 6:33… Seeking first the Kingdom of God. Indeed, he did it all in faithfulness.   

For some time now Don would send me emails and texts, that were composed of what he called, thoughts of an old man over morning coffee. And the gist of every thought he ever shared with me was to put Jesus first, my family second, and my self last, but to be sure to take care of myself as well. In summary, he always called me to be faithful. And that’s exactly what Jesus calls us all to in Matthew 6:33. And while Don was not perfect, he was faithful until the end. As I was sitting beside him on his death bed, his last words to me were, “I’m ready to be with Jesus.” He had lived for Jesus, and now he was ready to live with Jesus forevermore. And so he is. Don told me he was worn out and ready to be with His Lord and Savior, in the joy of His Master. And now he is. He lived by faith, and now his faith has become sight. No wonder God’s Word says in Psalm 116:15, that “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” For through death God brings His people home to Himself. 

Don’s final words to me remind me of the words John Bunyan—the author of Pilgrim’s Progress—said on his deathbed. He said, “I long for nothing so much as to be dissolved and be with Christ. I am content to depart when He shall call me. I have long borne a crucified heart, and by grace I shall enter into rest. Stay me not, for I am bidden into the presence of the King! Weep not, for though I pass away the Lord abides with you and never faileth!” We Christians feel the weight and reality of these words, and we long to be with Christ as well… especially as we hurt, grieve, and suffer in this broken world like we do today. But until the Day comes for us to be with Jesus, the Lord abides with us and never fails… and that is enough. Indeed that is why we must and why we can seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. So, in honor of Don, will you commit yourself to doing just that? Will you commit yourself to faithfulness to Jesus… either for the first or once again? If you will, please join me in reading Don’s favorite verse found on the front of your bulletin.

Matthew 6:33

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

May the Lord enable us to do just that. 

Benediction

Father,

Unto your mercy Almighty God, we commend the soul of our brother departed and we commit his body to you, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Numbers 6:24-26

24 The LORD bless you and keep you;              

25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;              

26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.