Jordan Darga Funeral Sermon
“Whoever Follows Jesus Will NEVER Walk
in Darkness”
John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people,
he said, “I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life.”
Dear family and friends of
Jordan, and especially you – Jeff and Barb, Jessica and Josh, Jeremy, Justin
and Julie; and Ron and Judy…
Look at all these
people! Look at all these people today
who have gathered to lift you up in the love and comfort of Jesus. What a blessing it is to have all this
support during your difficult time.
Even so, I am so sorry we are
all here today. This is not at all what
we planned to do today. It’s not
supposed to be like this. Parents are
not supposed to bury their children.
Grandparents are not supposed to outlive their grandchildren. Jeff and Barb, I love coming over to your
house, but I wish I wouldn’t have been there last Monday afternoon, at least
not for that reason. You were supposed
to be at work and the kids were supposed to be in school. This is all such a shock. It has been a difficult week. You have suffered a terrible loss. You won’t be able to hug your son anymore. You won’t be able to wrestle your brother
anymore. Our hearts are all aching for
you.
But in the heartbreak, there
is happiness. In the midst of your pain,
there is peace. In the throes of your suffering,
there is serenity. How can we say
that? How can that be possible? Because of the promises Jesus gives us. You see, today’s service is a funeral service
for
Jesus did not say things like
that to waste his breath. He said things
like that to enlighten us. He wanted us
to know who he is and what kinds of things he has done. He doesn’t want us to be in the dark when we
think about what happens after we die.
Being in the dark is scary.
Why is the darkness so
scary? It’s scary because when you are
in the dark you are very confused.
It’s scary because when you are in the dark you don’t know what
is coming next. It’s scary because when
you are in the dark you realize how vulnerable you are. I heard a story one time about a friend in
Being in the dark makes you
afraid. The hunters were in the dark;
they were afraid that a hungry bear was very near and they were vulnerable to
an attack. Being in the dark about God
makes you afraid too. If Jesus had never
come, we would all be in the dark about eternity and we would forever be
afraid. If Jesus had never come, we
would all be doomed to hell, every single one of us. If Jesus had never come, we would have no
idea who God is, what God has done. We
have no idea what heaven is like and we have no idea how to get there. Without Jesus, when it comes to life after
death, we’d be jumpy and on edge and terrified like a hunter in the dark who
thinks a bear is just around the corner.
We’d be in the dark.
But what is Jesus’
promise? “I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” That’s quite a
promise, isn’t it? Whoever follows me
WILL NEVER walk in darkness. Whoever
follows me WILL have the light of life.
Because of Jesus, we don’t have to be afraid. We don’t have to be jumpy, we don’t have to
be nervous. Because of his promise, we
have life even though we die. Because of
Jesus, death is as scary as walking through a door. One second you’re on earth, the next second
you’re in heaven.
Those promises are so solid;
they’re guaranteed. Sometimes when there
is an unexpected death, you’ll hear people say, “Well, I guess he went to a
better place.” That sounds a lot like a
guess though, doesn’t it? It sounds like
you’re in the dark and don’t really know for certain. Don’t say, “He went to a better place.” Instead stand up and say, “He believed in Jesus;
he went to the best place. He will never
walk in darkness; he will have the light of life.”
The
Bible is very important because it tells us something that we cannot learn from
nature. It tells us that God is divine,
eternal, kind, wise and powerful. It
also tells us that we are sinful and deserve God’s punishment. But it teaches us that we are saved through
Christ’s innocent blood, which was shed for everyone. The Bible assures us that we don’t have to
work our way into heaven, because we are already saved through Christ. And I believe that the Bible is true because
the words that were written were inspired by God. The Bible has a special meaning to me because
it tells me that I am a sinner and that I am worthy of punishment, and then it
tells me I am saved because Jesus Christ took the punishment for me on the
cross. He gave up His own son for the
salvation of all. Could you imagine
giving up your holy and blameless son so that a bunch of guilty and unworthy
sinners could get what they didn’t deserve?...But I’m grateful that God sent Christ
to do it for me.
But what about you? Are you in the dark about your eternal
future? Are you in the dark about
answering the eternal question, “When I die will I go to heaven or hell?”
Please, I beg you, do not
stay in the dark for one more minute!
Listen to Jesus the light of
the world. He died for all your sins
that first Good Friday. He rose from the
dead that first Easter so you could rise from the dead too. Your sins need not trouble you any longer;
Jesus has forgiven them all. You don’t
have to stay in the dark! Listen to the
light of the world, for whoever follows the light of the world will never walk
in darkness. If you have any questions about Jesus or heaven or forgiveness please
talk to the Witts.
They will rejoice over you with a hug and with tears of joy if you ever
asked them, “I’m confused about Jesus; could you show me the light?”
It is a blessing to be in the
light; for when Jesus says, “Whoever follows me will NEVER walk in darkness”
never means never. Not too long
ago, Justin needed a flashlight one day to look at something on his fish tank,
and Julie threw him the one she had, which happened to be