Dying, Christ destroyed our death.
Rising, Christ restored our life.
Christ will come again in glory.
As in Baptism Jacob put on Christ,
So in Christ may Jacob be clothed in glory.
Here and now, sisters and brothers, we are God's children.
What we shall be has not yet been revealed;
But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him,
For we shall see him as he is. Those who have this hope purify themseleves as Christ is pure.
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life.
Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never due. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also.
Scripture Readings: Ps 23, Romans 8, John 14: 1-4, 18-19, 25-27
The Sermon:
Jacob Watson Gentry was born October 11, 1991 and died April 7, 2010. He is survived by his mom Virginia, his dad Les, his brother Andy, and his two sisters Erin and Rachel, along with many other family members and friends. He will be dearly missed by all of us.
I did not personally know Jacob, but I have learned a lot about him over the past couple of weeks, through visiting with family and friends as well as reading the blog that was set up for Jake, If you have not had a chance to read these touching entries, I invite you to go to jakegentryrecovery.blogspot.com.
As a youngster, Jacob was a slow grower. Still, he was on the move from very early on. Family members have remarked about this tiny thing that they would see running under tables. They had to put him in a toddler bed by the time he was 10 months old since he was leaping out of his crib. When he was not even a year old, he got two scars from running into the corner of a wall while chasing a cat. He would split open at other various points of his life. The windows in the house where he lived had to be redone so Jacob couldn't get out. When his mom took him for his two year check up, it didn't take ten minutes after the pediatrician came in for Jacob to be up on the window sill like a monkey. Multiple family members have mentioned that he was the kind of child that, "If he was the first one, you wouldn't have another one."
Although short in stature, Jacob was larger than life. It was as if he had the energy of four or five kids. Words like "daredevil" and "risktaker" always seem to pop up in descriptions of Jake. He was also extremely active and adventurous. Jacob played baseball, and football. In school he won the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. He took karate. Jake liked to fish, hunt, and was quite the outdoorsmen.
Of course, this adventurous spirit also got him into a little bit of trouble from time to time. According to multiple sources, Jacob was told not to return to Manchester United Methodist Church's Preschool due to his somewhat rowdy ways. You see, he didn't want to sing and listen to stories; he was all about the playground.
Jacob was quite popular with the ladies, even as early as 3rd or 4th grade. Love notes were often found in his jeans. One female admirer wrote on facebook about how Jake let her ride on his bike pegs, which is a huge sign of committment for an elementary school boy. Jacob, though always played it cool, as if he could have his pick of anybody, which to a certain extent may have been true.
Jacob was very mechanically inclined. Whether it was building bikes, fixing Rachel's car, or repairing the carborator on his Mom's lawn mower, you only had to tell him once how to do something.
Jacob deeply loved his family. It was said that his sister Rachel could get him to do anything. At many moments Jacob seemed to have no shame and to be embarrassed by anything. This is probably why he needed the supervision of three brothers & sisters. And of course, we all know he loved the attention.
Jacob did enjoy Church even though it was hard for him to sit still. His family enjoyed dinner prayers together. The older he got the more willing he was to have serious conversations from time to time. From the moment he was very young his family tried to instill these things in him, that he should be compassionate and try to help someone everyday. These lessons also occured in Sunday school or when Jacob would go play cards with Rachel and some of her friends. Such influence led Jacob to pray every single day. A couple of years ago Rachel had the opportunity to ask Jacob about his faith and he simply responded, "Rachel, same as you, Christian."
There are no words I can say today that will fully remove the feelings of grief, anger, pain, confusion, and sorrow that we are feeling right now. I do not come to you with empty platitudes. Now is not the time for saying things like, "God has a plan."
This was not God's plan. What happened to Jacob was tragic. A parent should never have to bury a child. Any attempt to answer this question, "Why do things like this happen?" falls short at a time like this.
What I can tell you and remind you is the good news of great joy that is for all people. As Psalm 23 says, God is with us, even in the deep valleys and the dark shadows. Romans 8 recalls that nothing, not even death, can seperate us from the love of God that we find in Christ Jesus our Lord. In John 14 Jesus promises us that His house has many rooms, that He has prepared a place for us, and that He is coming back so that where He is, there we might be too.
As Christians and as the Church we just finished the season of Lent, where we remember the journey that Jesus made that ended in the suffering of a cross. God is not unable to to sympathize with what we are going through, for the Father has witnessed the same thing happen to His son. On Easter Sunday we celebrated God's victory over sin and death, that all of us live in the hope of resurrection power. Death does not have the last word. God does!
One of my favorite verses of Scripture is 1st Corinthians 2:9 where we hear that, "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagained what God has prepared for those who love Him." Jacob is now seeing what our eyes have not seen. He is now hearing what our ears have not heard. He is now experiencing what your minds have not imagined. And with Jacob's zest for living, my guess is he is having the time of his life.
Dwight L. Moody was an American evangelist in the late nineteenth century. Right before he died, he sent out a message to members of his family that went something like this, "In a few days you will read in the newspaper of my death, but whatever you do, don't believe such rumors, for I tell you that I will be more alive now than I ever was before!" In the same way, Jacob is more alive now than ever was before.
Again, this does not take away our grief, but hopefully such truths can sustain us in this most difficult time: God is always with us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. God's house has many rooms in it. Our route to such a house is to cling to Jesus, the one who conquered death and is the way, the truth, the life!
Reflection:
I loved this sermon because of its honesty and powerful message. I thought that today, this could be something we remember as we heard these words last at Jacob's Celebration of Life on April 10th 2010. I am unable to truly describe what the last year has been like. Honestly, it hasn't felt like a year. Everyday Jacob is on my mind, and I still struggle with the fact that it is true. As I had stated before, my only hope for continuing to write and share my families story, Jake's story, is that maybe good will come out of this. The hope is maybe this will save another person's life.
Today as we reflect we will be having a memorial picnic in Jake's honor. Surrounded by food, family, and friends (and maybe some Lil' Wayne ;) ) we will remember Jake. We have had a brick named in his memory at this park and will be doing a balloon release. When we recieve letters back from the balloon release or if we recieve anymore information from the organ recieptiants I will post.
Love those around you even when it's hard.
Rachel
