My grandfather was one of the most steadfast and immovable men I’ve known. So my thoughts have gone to a passage of Scripture that speaks to those qualities. The text is 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. These are the words of God:
“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
My grandfather (1932-2024) was born in deep Alabama in a shotgun house, so named because its simple and tiny rectangular layout was such that you could stand in the front door and fire a shotgun out of the back door without hitting any walls. He was the youngest of six children, birthed in the cool of a November evening by his mother after she had been working in the fields all day. That mother, who was born in 1905, would have each child say his or her prayers at night one my one, “As I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” And then each child would say good night to each sibling by name. That mother would also bake them biscuits in that shotgun shack in the sweltering Alabama summer. In the cold winters, she would take bricks from the fire, wrap them in a towel and put them at the foot of the children’s beds to keep their feet warm. My grandfather laughed as he recalled his mother’s policy for settling conflict among the children. If a skirmish of sorts arose, she would require them to hug and kiss each other, a point that grandaddy remembered was not well-received by certain members of the family. My grandfather would go on to join the military and jump out of perfectly operational airplanes as a paratrooper.
He married a woman who has done him no lack of good. She set her heart to serve the Lord and she set her hands to work in a manner that is downright intimidating to most modern women. They look in awe at Joann Cooper, marveling at feminine glory and wifely skill that modern men would give their right arm to obtain. Scripture speaks to the sanctifying influence a wife can have on a husband. And by God’s grace Joann did this for Bill, she won him through good works and obedience. She won him without a word. Bill and Joann raised a family. Bill provided for his household. And in later life often had his arms full of grandchildren and great grandchildren.
He was a steady man who loved with an old school love, the kind that valued sacrifice over sentimentalism and competency over personality. In that he is a model for us all.
The passage from the apostle Paul says that stability is an otherworldly virtue. Which is to say, it is a distinctly Christian virtue. It is often called fortitude. And we could use a few doses of that virtue right about now. But the text says therefore be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord. The point is that you cannot get the immovable piece apart from what comes before, namely, the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. That truth is what makes a man immovable.
But what about pagan strength? Genghis Kahn knew how to ride a horse long and hard. Alexander the Great could swing a sword and knew nothing of the Christianity I speak of and he knew nothing of the morality that marked my grandfather. But that is simply to say there will always be knockoffs of the genuine article. It is not denial of real dollar bills to say there are counterfeit bills.
In another place, Paul says that if in this life only we have hope in Christ, then we are of all men most to be pitied. I can think of no man less interested in your pity than my grandfather. I dare say if you came to him offering a bowl of pity, he would kindly thank you for stopping by and politely tell you that you would have to find someone else to pity. Where does that attitude come from? It comes from knowing that it is not only in this life that we have hope in Christ. If this brief life on earth really is all that there is, then indeed, bring on the pity. Bill Cooper is gone and that is the end of the story. But, in fact, there are days on the other side of the grave. There is hope in Christ for this life, and there is hope in Christ for the life to come. It is in that faith which says, “Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O grave, is your victory?” it is in that faith of our father, grandfather, and great grandfather, that we will find fortitude, resilience, and unflinching kindness.
It is in that faith that we commend him body and soul into the loving arms of our Savior.
As we await the day when we see our brother Bill again, we commit his body to the ground out of which we were formed. As he shares in the life of our resurrected Lord, we commit his spirit to the care of our Father in heaven. Knowing that the grave is but a rich soil out of which he will rise again, we commit grieving family and friends to the care of the body of Christ. And we commit ourselves to follow our Shepherd, who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death into the glorious life after death.
