Words I shared at the memorial service for a wonderful human, Pastor Gary Burns.
One school morning during my junior year at Andrews Academy, Pastor Gary drove me and two other students, Veruschka and Matt to Battle Creek Tabernacle where the four of us led a group of Adventist Church administrators in worship. Veruschka and I sang with Pastor Gary as he played his guitar and Matt shared a story about his journey with Jesus. I don’t remember the songs we sang or the specifics of Matt’s witness. I do remember being nervous. I mean, I was 15 years old? The idea of singing in front of a group of adults was intimidating.
He told us we’d also be praying with these adults. It was one thing to sing, but it was another thing to pray one on one.
From what I now know about Adventist administrator meetings, I’m guessing it was the North American Division Annual Council meetings the fall. The time of year makes sense for what I remember about what happened when we returned to school. We did not want to return to school and went to the Andrews University campus. The air was cool but warm enough to walk around comfortably so we hung out for a while, basking in our mountain top experience.
With all that I was uncertain of, I was sure that my contribution mattered.
“Matter” is defined as a physical substance. When what we do matters, what we do has substance. In high school I knew, through Pastor Gary’s ministry, that my offerings had substance—they had value.
This happened time and again when Pastor Gary invited me to be part of something.
January of 2009 was the last time he invited me to lead music with him. It was also my last year of Seminary. There was a prayer conference organized by aunt Ruthie Jacobson. Justin, my then boyfriend now husband, went with us to Myrtle Beach and played the piano. These many years later I still remember being nervous and I think it was, in part, because I don’t remember Pastor Gary giving me a plan. But he believed that I could and he was with me. What I take from his life is he always took us with him.
This habit is the result of the sort of time spent with the Lord that moves us toward each other not because we feel strong or certain, but because we’ve developed a practice of being where Jesus is. He was all about taking people with him. From what we know of our Savior’s life, that practice was not easy. I imagine Jesus going off by himself to pray and saying, “Father these guys are a mess. If I had a last nerve, they would be on it.”
I never asked Pastor Gary about his time spent with Jesus, but I’ve lived enough of life now to know that we don’t get to this point of willingness because we’re nice people or because it’s the expectation based on our particular job. Expectation only goes so far.
What happens when we spend time with the Originator of being with, Immanuel…God with us, is that we learn to take others with us. We learn to not be afraid of that journey. We know who we are and how God has chosen to live through our brokenness and also our lovely moments. We know what that looks like and feels like. So, in gratitude and surrender, we’re able to see God living through others and we trust God when he nudges us to take them with us. It’s a deeply humble existence.
When we come together in times like these, remembering and celebrating someone’s life, we sometimes think or talk about how we’ll live in light of what this person taught us. We make connections between what we’ve learned from such a wonderful life and the joy that we’ll one day experience when we get to be in that person’s presence again. Heaven, the new earth…the reunion and eternal time will be incredible. And yes, I know that’s what Pastor Gary wanted for us.
I also want to talk about now. Living out the incarnational character of Christ isn’t only about eternity, it’s also about now. We invite people to be with us not only because we want them with us in eternity but also because we want them to experience the freedom that a future promise enables us to live in now. No, not perfection but freedom. Not perpetual ease but freedom. It’s a freedom from human expectation because we’ve grown more and more conscious of our status as Christ’s beloved daughters and sons.
In the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is talking about the difference between a good shepherd and a thief. In verser 10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” A good shepherd provides life for the sheep, life filled with abundance which is another way of saying “more than one would normally expect or anticipate”. This more is possible because of the time sheep spend with the shepherd.
Our human expectation is to at least be stolen from if not killed and destroyed. Many live daily with the fear of destruction. Even if our only fear is theft, it comes in many forms and whether the thief steals, kills or destroys, the thief takes away what matters to us. The shepherd, on the other hand, gives and gives more than what we’d normally expect or anticipate.
What does abundance look like right now? Based on Pastor Gary’s example, it looks like the giving of time, the giving of opportunities to use one’s gifts, the giving of praise, the giving up of prominence for the growth of another, the giving of a listening ear and a kind spirit instead of judgement, the giving up of ego, of status, the giving that comes from a humble heart and a wise tongue, the giving that’s possible when one is fearless and free, grounded in the abundant love of Christ—more than we’d normally expect or anticipate.
I’m not saying that Pastor Gary was next to Jesus in importance or perfection, but if Jesus looked like a white man…I think they’d at least look alike. The twinkle in the eyes. The smile that perpetually says, “I’m so proud of you.” There’s nothing easy about being with. Initiating presence with can be awkward and there’s always a chance that the person we’ve invited will say no or that they’ll become a headache. Things may get messy. Yet I’m guessing each of us is here because we experienced some level of Pastor Gary taking us with him and that’s a journey that will forever bless us and encourage us, I pray, to do the same.
I have to admit that until settling down to think about my journey with Pastor Gary, I hadn’t thought much about taking others with me. At least not in those words. I’m familiar with discipleship—that’s part of my role as a pastor. But the words “take them with you” currently mean more because of Pastor Gary’s example and the realization that this way of living is divine—heaven on earth. We could all do with a lot more of heaven now, more than we would normally expect or anticipate.
What do you do when the person who lovingly took you with them is no longer able to do so? You keep on taking others with you.
That great getting up morning will come and until then let’s spend time with Jesus and take others with us.
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Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Pastor Gary’s favorite prayer was the text above from Jude 1:24-25. I forgot to end with it but I’ve added it here as a beautiful benediction.