It is Finished- At the Funeral of My Dear Father Edward David

It is finished- A dimension of achievement orientation

Dear friends, well-wishers and loved ones of Edward David our dear father and brother, as a family we are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, affection and grief at the passing to glory of our dear father.

While we are in grief at dad not being with us, he has taught us to celebrate life and viewed death as the threshold of eternity. I would like to share our journey over the past few weeks, which would give you all a picture of what my dear father experienced and his response to the same. I have chosen for our meditation an apt passage and the words of Jesus. ‘It is finished’ is Jesus' sixth word from the cross. Jesus’ first five words from the cross addressed all his key stakeholders namely:

* Enemies and the world at large.

* Neighbors and those in need.

* Family.

* God.

* And in the fifth word His own need.

Now we come to the sixth word where Jesus addresses his task and mission. Jesus’ task is to save people and to love them; having done that since His birth, “It is finished” is a word of accomplishment. It is not a word of defeat but a word of victory and affirmation. I would like us to understand this from two perspectives.

A. The pre-requisites

B. The positions.

The pre-requisites are just three aspects.

Vision: An understanding that our life on earth is transitory - it is only for a period of about 80 to 90 years or less. This is an important understanding, as we need to have a vision and glimpse of heaven while living on earth. Therefore we have a task to accomplish while on earth.

Ludwig Van Beethoven the famous music composer became deaf at the age of 28. In the last ten years of his life he could hear nothing, but he went on to create masterpieces in music. His last words when he died at age 56 were, “I shall hear music in heaven,” which indicates that he went about his task because he had a vision that he will be able to hear music in heaven. My dad shared with us that he had a burden for the flesh trade in the world, and he prayed that the mountain of flesh trade be thrown into the sea. He had a vision that these girls would be his daughters in heaven. It would be wonderful if each of us prays that this vision be realized.

Task Clarity: For us who know that Jesus is our Savior, we need to fulfill God’s purpose and will in our lives. In fact very often at every Sunday worship we pray, “Thy will be done” from Mathew 6:10. To know the will of God, St. Paul tells us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.” - Romans 12:2. To make this prayer a reality in our lives, we need to have an understanding of the task at hand and then go about doing it.

Execution: With clarity of task, the next step is execution – this is simply being obedient to God’s will. We not only need to do the big tasks, but also the little and even the not so interesting tasks! Sometimes we tend to get so distracted by our worldly pursuits, that we need simple actions like prayer and Bible reading to steer us back in the right direction. For this we have an assurance in Colossians 1:9-10, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

A few years ago dad shared with me a newspaper clipping with great emotion. It said there was relief for the gold miners in Kolar Gold Fields …. then he showed me his prayer request for the same miners made 6 months earlier. He was overwhelmed that God had heard a humble man’s prayers, which only encouraged him to press on. No issue was too small for dad. He prayed for the nurses, doctors, prayer books … anything that came to his attention.

It is only when we put effort and work, can there be achievement and we can say, “It is finished,” to a task. We also need to say “It is finished” to finish our tasks and move on to more challenging tasks/ assignments.

Having discussed the prerequisites lets us now look at Positions which a person may take.

Jesus spoke the words “It is finished” on the cross. At Calvary I have noticed that there are three positions taken.

I am finished: The thief on the left could only picture his physical survival hence he said, “Save yourself and save me.” While he said that in ridicule, he could just see the end of the road for himself. Hence his position is summed up as “I am finished”. How often do we feel that way when circumstances go against our plans? The last words world renowned playwright George Bernard Shaw said to his nurse were: “Sister, you're trying to keep me alive as an old curiosity, but I'm done, I'm finished, I'm going to die.”

My dear brothers and sisters, when we come to the end of the road in our life and circumstances are adverse, please do not say, “I am finished.” Rather our words should be, “It is not finished.” Please focus on the task at hand than on ego and shame.

We had, as a family, faced many challenges but he refused to get bogged down. One year when dad was not employed he had pledged to give as tithe, more than previous years. My mother was not well for many years and we, as any other family, had our share of sickness, pain and grief, but he always taught us to be positive.

It is not finished: The thief on the right held on to the position - It is not finished. He repented in the last hour and thus was able experience the saving power of Jesus. He has a glimpse of heaven which made him pray, “Lord remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” For him clearly it was not finished.  Those of us who do not have a glimpse of Heaven we need to come to that saving Knowledge.

Accomplishment: The position that Jesus has taken is one of accomplishment. Jesus’ word, “It is finished” communicates closure and completion. It is one of goal attainment. Jesus has given us the example that we need to be goal oriented and execute what we have set out to do.

Having done God’s will we also need to have the inner confidence to say, “Yes it is finished.” Notice the humility of Jesus in saying “It” and not “I have finished the task”. Many a time we are eager to garner credit for ourselves. Jesus’ focus was the task and its accomplishment than on self. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Friends, the call today, is that all of us work as a team and complete the task at hand. The most beautiful aspect is that every ‘Finish’ gives us the hope of a ‘New Beginning’. May God give us grace and peace to do his will and attempt great things for God even as we expect great things from God.

God Bless you all.  April 23, 2012