Del Birkey

My father is dying.

Those are words I did not expect to be saying and thinking and feeling at this point in my life. I am 55 and my father is 76 and in otherwise good health. Last week he had a stroke that has robbed him of his mind and the ability to communicate verbally. He is currently on a ventilator with feeding tubes and IV’s, some of which we as a family will very soon need to decide how long to continue with.

Dad is a committed follower of Jesus Christ. He has spent the largest part of his life in Christian ministry doing youth work, pastoring churches, teaching and studying the Bible, writing and thinking about Christian topics, issues and theology. He is not without faults and failures, but he is a man whose legacy is one of growth and change as he trusted and followed his Master… Jesus Christ.

I am proud to be his son, and to have learned about who Jesus is from him (and my Mom) since I was a little boy. My concept of God as my Father, and Jesus as my Savior and the work of the Holy Spirit in my life have been in large part formed by this man… listening to him, and watching him live out his life. Needless to say, his life has had a significant impact on me. I am going to miss him.

Yesterday I was reminded of some foundational truths that Dad taught and exemplified in his life, as I read to him aloud out of the 8th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Roman church as found in the Bible:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, as I look into the future with the high probability of life without Dad physically present, it is good to know that neither of us will be separated from God’s love, nor will a physical separation between us be very long in the grand scheme of eternity. You see, there is a very real thing called Hope, that is based upon the above words being True. Christians believe that Jesus is real and that he actually is GOD (as he claimed to be) and that He exists today and the words recorded in the Bible are actually True. We gamble our entire lives and future on that fact. As Paul said, “…if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

So, as I watch my father in the process of passing from this life into the next, I am even more convinced that what he believed and lived and taught me is ultimately True… not less true. His dying does not make me believe less because I see HOW he is dying. His example in life and during the process of dying increases my Hope and Trust in Jesus as Lord. His Lord becomes my Lord even more.

Dad is an example of a life well-lived for Jesus Christ. I can only hope to live a life half as well. I pray that I will be able to leave a similar legacy when my days are up.