We gather this afternoon to worship
God and celebrate the life of Gene Reeves
It’s hard to see him go, but he made
this a very easy sermon to preach. Today
you get three messages. I am the most
recent pastor and will speak to what I know of Gene. Jim knew Gene before any of us up here and I
know there is no way that Duawn could have been untouched by this faithful
servant of God.
They can tell the stories of
mismatched boots and golf tournaments or snow angels or Gene Reeves stories
that I have yet to hear. I expect to
learn something new about this wonderful man before we wrap up today.
I ask that everyone who can get their
hands on a red hymnal, turn to page 657.
In a few moments, we are going to sing this. You’re thinking, I thought the family got to
pick the music.
Well, Gene picked this one. When you see Sunday and Wednesday worship
from my perspective, you see a lot of different faces during the singing of the
hymns.
Some folks have a little smile. Some look like they are back in high school
algebra and the bell just won’t ring.
And then there was Gene.
I could always count on Gene to have a
big smile when we sang this song. He was
singing. He was smiling. He was the epitome of making a joyful sound
unto the Lord.
And then Gene couldn’t talk or sing
and had to walk around with that towel in his mouth. I’m sure he couldn’t stand it. It hurt me to have to see him that way, but
then we would sing this song and Gene couldn’t sing but I could see him
clapping with the heels of his hands.
It was a clap you couldn’t hear, but
it was heard in heaven. Gene’s heart and
his hands were singing, I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my
heart. I will enter his courts with
praise.
Let’s sing number 657
together. If you don’t have a hymnal and
don’t know the words, just clap the heels of your hands together and smile like
your worship is pleasing to God.
I couldn’t stand to see Gene with that
towel in his mouth. I knew he loved to
talk and he didn’t have that joy in his last days. Sometimes, when he could still talk, he would
stop by in the afternoon on his way to somewhere else or just to come see me.
Our conversation always started the
same way: Got coffee?
I would answer: Yes, but it’s been on a while.
Gene would head down the hall and
return with a little Styrofoam cup of coffee and a smile on his face ready to
update me on anything of local or international importance.
I would offer that the coffee was at
the point when it was probably a 30-weight consistency.
Gene would smile and take a big drink
and commence whatever he had to talk about drinking that coffee like it was
fresh brewed gourmet blend.
You also knew when Gene had been in
the building. There would be a trail of
mud from the front door to my office and usually to the coffee machine and
back. At least, I think it was mud. He had surely come from the pasture. I don’t know that Gene ever had an office job
in his life. He was always coming from
his barn or his pasture of some point in between.
I was sure that Gene was going to get
me fired. I was sure of it. He wanted to do the children’s sermon. He explained what he was going to talk about
and after he explained it to me, I was positive I was getting fired that very
Sunday.
What are you going to do? It’s Gene Reeves and he wants to talk to the
kids.
Sunday came and I still wasn’t sure
what he talked about with the kids. I
was positive that it was going to be my last Sunday though.
After the service, I talked to some of
the kids, and they gave me the most succinct thoughts on what they had learned
that morning. I don’t remember what Gene
talked about. I think it was Noah and
combines and harvest and broken parts.
I’m not sure but the kids were telling me about how much God loved them.
And then there was Route 66. Gene made the analogy because there are 66 books in
the Bible. I got that but he lost me
with the rest of the analogy about how many books were in the Old and New Testaments
and how somehow there was this comparison, but Gene was using a different road
atlas than I had.
So here’s the deal on that. Reeves kids and grandkids, somebody is going
to have to find out the whole story and be able to retell it. That’s on you.
I have grown accustomed to having
Patsy fix my tie during First Light. I
don’t wear a robe or a sports jacket during that service, but I’m not fully
dressed until Patsy fixes my tie.
The morning after an elder retreat a
few years ago—and we started those when Duawn was here—that morning at First
Light Patsy, didn’t grab my tie. She
grabbed me by the front of my shirt and got in may face and said: The next time I am supposed to make something
to eat, you tell me and not Gene.
Everyone always brought something to
eat to the retreat but only Gene had kept that information secret until the
morning of the event.
Gene was our session clerk
forever. He only relinquished that duty
less than 2 years ago. Gene used to give
his written notes to Patsy to type until his last few years he would give them
to Laci.
Sometimes, nobody could figure out
what he wrote. His penmanship was pretty
good but sometimes the sentences just didn’t make sense.
One time we were trying to make out
one of those sentences. It appeared that
the session had voted to purchase a space shuttle with a manual transmission
and park it on the 3 acres to our east.
That wasn’t exactly it, but close enough. Eventually, we figured out that the session
had voted to buy a fire extinguisher for the van.
Here’s the thing. We had two or three sentences to figure out
each year when the minutes were typed but what was amazing was that the session
would have a 15-20-minute discussion about something we had to wrestle with and
Gene would manage to record the essence of this conversation into one very
succinct sentence. It was utter
brilliance.
One time, Gene couldn’t be there for
the session meeting so I took the notes and after the meeting I typed them into
a document and attached it to an email to Patsy. Gene got the copy of the notes and handwrote
them on his yellow legal pad so we still had to decipher them at the end of the
year.
Some of you might be thinking,
shouldn’t the preacher throw in a Bible verse or two? I can’t settle on just one or two.
Gene ran
the good race, the fought the good fight, he kept the faith. Now there is in store for him a crown of righteousness.
OBTW—there’s one waiting on you as
well, if you have professed Jesus as Lord and faithfully run you race.
I can’t leave you with just Paul’s
letter to Timothy, I need to give you some of the Master’s words as we
celebrate Gene’s life.
The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and
have it to the full.
I think Gene heard this verse long
ago—the Lord Jesus Christ talking about abundant life—and I think Gene said,
“I’ll take me some of that!” I don’t
think he ever looked back from that point forward.
Gene knew that abundant life was
watching kids and grandkids and great grandkids doing all manner of things,
telling stories, and even trying to repair some machine that should have been
retired a decade or two ago. Abundant
life was preparing for the Sunday school lesson. Abundant life was dumping gutted material
from this old building into a ditch and coming back for another load.
But when I think of Gene Reeves, I
think of the Parable
of the Talents. If you are here on a
regular basis, then you hear this
parable at least twice a year. I
love this parable.
A certain man had three servants and
was about to go on a long journey. He
trusted the first servant with 5 talents of money, the second with two, and the
third with one. He had given to each
servant in accordance with their abilities.
Then he left for a long time.
The first servant put his talents to
work immediately and made 5 more.
The second servant likewise put his
talents to work right away and made 2 more.
The third servant was afraid and hid
his talent in the ground.
When the master returned, the first
servant gave his account. You gave me 5
and see I have gained you 5 more.
The second servant had a similar
report. You gave me two and see I have
earned you two more.
The third servant came with his report
as well, leading with his excuses for having buried his talent in the
ground. I know that you were a hard man and
harvested when you didn’t even plant, and I was afraid.
The master said, “Oh you poor
thing. I’m sorry I put this burden of
trust on you.” NOT!
He said you wicked lazy servant. All you had to do was put the money in the
bank and at least you would have a little interest to show for this minimal
effort.
Take the talent from him and give it
to the one with the ten talents. When
Jesus told this parable, I’m sure the people remembered the proverb. The wealth of the wicked is stored up for
the righteous.
Now back to the first two
servants. You heard their reports. Now hear their master’s reply.
Well done, good
and faithful servant. You have done well
with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Now, come and share your master’s happiness.
Of all the people whom I know that are
trying to
live out their salvation and their faith with fear and trembling—as the
most important thing that you do, Gene had to be at the top of that list.
He had heeded the counsel of the
psalmist and learned to number
his days, know that tomorrow
is not promised. Eternity is our promise
but tomorrow
in these bodies on this earth is not.
Gene’s
tomorrows stopped coming last Saturday, but I know with certainty, he has
heard these words.
Well done, good
and faithful servant.
I’m sure he has been put in charge of
many things just like in the parable, but I think the words that Gene is
enjoying the most are Come and share your Master’s happiness.
As you think of Gene today and in the
coming days and weeks, think of the words of our Master.
Come and share
your Master’s happiness.
I will rejoice
for he has made me glad.
Amen.
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