00:00:11.930 - 00:00:31.150

and the In the 1930s and 40s there was an informal discussion group associated with Oxford University in England. This group was called The Inklings. They met every week at a certain pub. They were writers more

00:00:31.150 - 00:00:45.640

to the point they were writers of fantasy and they met in this or that pub on a weekly basis To enjoy one another's company. This circle of friends was a support group of sorts, one of the

00:00:45.640 - 00:00:59.810

most influential literary groups of the 20th century and they would share with one another from week to week, whatever it was, they were each working on many of us here in this room, use cherished friends

00:00:59.810 - 00:01:12.600

to listen to sermons or two papers and to get feedback and encouragement and helpful criticism from them. The Inklings were a lot like that. J. R . R. Tolkien was in the group, C

00:01:12.600 - 00:01:29.410

. S. Lewis was in the group. Another member of the group, one who was a particularly important figure in holding that group together was an english novelist named Charles Williams. Williams died all too soon

00:01:29.410 - 00:01:44.230

and all too suddenly. And some weeks later the group was sitting around talking about him and how much they missed him and they were reminiscing about him. Finally C. S. Lewis said yes we're greeting

00:01:44.230 - 00:02:00.100

for him. We miss him. Yes. But even more we are missing who we were when he was with us. This is the way we grieve often isn't it? When someone near to us dies

00:02:00.520 - 00:02:15.510

of course we missed that one. Those closest to that one misses waking up next to him or her . Perhaps. Mrs. Their smell notices the profound silence in the house, the clothes hanging mutely in

00:02:15.510 - 00:02:34.850

the closet, the absence of cheerful conversations. And so we grieve for that when someone dear to us dies. But C. S. Lewis was right even more. We miss who we were when that

00:02:34.850 - 00:02:52.160

one was with us. And so it is for those of us who had the great privilege of knowing and loving Blair Russell mony, we are missing him for sure. But we're also missing who we were

00:02:52.840 - 00:03:10.750

when he was with us. There are students here and so many other students of his who have already graduated, who were grateful for his teaching ministry here for his wise counsel for his patient encouragement. There

00:03:10.750 - 00:03:28.190

are colleagues here who remember his presence around the faculty table, remember perhaps a private conversation in his office and the troll building. He who as the Zbinden shareholder represented the pastoral arts and not just one field

00:03:28.190 - 00:03:42.610

of knowledge, but also the synthesis of all the fields of knowledge that we teach here. And we loved seeing in him the integrity with which that knowledge is packaged and shared through the lifetime prism of a

00:03:42.610 - 00:04:00.780

faithful pastor. There are loved ones here Cindy, his wife and Courtney, his daughter, and so many others who remember his affection and friendship and disciplined mind and wonderful humor and grace and welcome. And

00:04:00.780 - 00:04:15.670

what is also remembered by all of us is his courage across that last year and then some when he wrote on caring bridge or taught in class or spoken private conversations or from the pulpit about his confidence in

00:04:15.670 - 00:04:34.240

the face of death, I am not afraid he told us and we know that is true. We Miss Blair and we miss who we were when he was with us. But here in this service designed

00:04:34.250 - 00:04:49.160

to give witness to the resurrection of jesus christ, we are here today to gather all of this longing into a larger purpose. We are here today to proclaim that just as God creates us at our beginnings

00:04:50.040 - 00:05:04.750

, so also God receives us at our endings. And as we do that just now, we ponder with amazement and gratitude. What I believe is the church's most majestic affirmation about life and about death.

00:05:06.040 - 00:05:21.770

That in the words of one of our more contemporary confessions, the brief statement of faith in life and in death, we belong to God. Isn't that a gorgeous affirmation that in life and in death we

00:05:21.770 - 00:05:39.120

belong to God in life? For sure, Blair belonged to God. He loved his life, he loved Cindy, he loved his daughters and their families . He loved his ministry in each of the churches

00:05:39.120 - 00:05:54.550

he served, he loved people, a gorgeous mosaic of all kinds of people. He loved his years at Preston Hollow Church. He loved and served the greater Church. He was a fierce proponent for inclusion

00:05:54.880 - 00:06:12.900

and for the notion of beloved community in his national presbyterian communities. He loved texas and Dallas. He loved gadgets and gizmos. I remember going to Dallas shortly after we moved here in 2002, just months

00:06:12.910 - 00:06:25.750

actually into our time here to meet Blair for the first time I went to the church and we went to lunch together and he couldn't wait to show off his new car. That's it. Now. I'm

00:06:25.750 - 00:06:38.060

kind of a troglodyte when it comes to stuff like that. I'm still trying to figure out the technology of a fountain pen, but he said, watch this. We were riding up Preston Road in Dallas

00:06:38.060 - 00:06:50.830

and he pushed a couple of buttons and asked the car the question, where's the best italian restaurant in this area? From some spot inside the dashboard, A woman with a british accent who was living there

00:06:50.830 - 00:07:13.950

apparently name that restaurant and began reciting the menu. I thought this is the coolest guy I have ever met. Not only that, he loves sailing. He loved traveling to all sorts of exotic places.

00:07:13.950 - 00:07:29.280

He loved music, from the high classics to the stuff that makes you want to snap your fingers. He loved motorcycles. He loved puns. He loved reading, reading, hm, politics, theology,

00:07:29.290 - 00:07:42.890

history, ethics, novels, essays, biographies. Whenever we spoke, he would ask me, have you read such and such by so and so. And he would quote something that so and so had

00:07:42.890 - 00:07:59.060

said he loved the life of the mind, dedicated to the glory of God. He loved his dogs , dax and sky. He loved his theological alma mater, Princeton Seminary. He loved this place at

00:07:59.060 - 00:08:13.650

different times. He was on the board of trustees of each school and of course he taught here is our third Zbinden shareholder. He told me more than once. God saved the best call for last.

00:08:16.240 - 00:08:37.310

He loved this place because he loved you. He loved all of it. And he knew he knew that in life and in death he belonged to God . Friends. That God is a big God whose

00:08:37.310 - 00:08:50.950

mystery can be described even if clumsily and only partially by our faith in our words, but is finally bigger than our most ambitious attempts to describe God fully . We do our best here. It's our business

00:08:52.340 - 00:09:05.170

to climb up on the rickety scaffolding of our words and our proof texts and our theological systems to climb as high as we can toward the knowledge of God . But still in the end, we can't grasp

00:09:05.170 - 00:09:26.690

it. It's all finally mystery and Cindy Rigby has said, when you think you understand God, you most assuredly don't and that whatever we know or don't know about God, we have this by faith Blair

00:09:26.690 - 00:09:43.440

is now safe in the everlasting arms of that big God, there is no more rickety scaffolding for him . No more mystery. Nothing separates Blair now from the love of christ, not death, not life

00:09:43.450 - 00:09:58.110

, not angels, not Principalities, not powers, not things present nor things to come, not height , not depth, nor any other creature. Nothing . That's the promise of our faith that we cling

00:09:58.110 - 00:10:18.750

to as we give witness to the resurrection for Blair is with God. So we are here not finally to just miss who we were when he was with us, but to celebrate that he is in companionship

00:10:18.750 - 00:10:30.920

now with the one who said, I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. That where I am

00:10:30.930 - 00:10:50.420

, you may be also and that one is with us too, when we miss who we were around Blair, God is present to us for say it with me in life and in death, we belong

00:10:50.420 - 00:11:07.690

to God, say it again in life and in death, we belong to them. Indeed, we do. A week ago or so, Stephen Colbert had Jeff Goldblum as one of his guests on the

00:11:07.690 - 00:11:22.390

late show. We know Goldblum of course, as an actor who has starred in some of the highest grossing films of our time. He's also an accomplished jazz pianist and I learned that night on the late

00:11:22.390 - 00:11:35.840

show that gold bloom is something of a philosopher. He and Colbert were lamenting the complexities of this time , the fraught nous of it. And finally, Stephen Colbert asked him how he copes in hard times

00:11:35.840 - 00:11:54.040

, when people disappoint and systems fail and division seems bigger than community, Jeff Goldblum did not say anything for a moment. There was a good bit of awkward dead air while he appeared to be composing his

00:11:54.040 - 00:12:15.160

thoughts. But finally he spoke, he said that he was deeply indebted to words, first composed by George Bernard Shaw, The Irish playwright from the mid 20th century, and then he proceeded to quote them

00:12:15.940 - 00:12:35.790

by memory, right there on late night television in front of God and everybody, he quoted from memory whole paragraphs from shaw. This is the true joy in life, he said, the being used for

00:12:35.790 - 00:12:50.870

a purpose, recognized by yourself as a mighty one . The being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little Claude of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making

00:12:50.870 - 00:13:05.320

you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it, whatever I can I want to be thoroughly

00:13:05.320 - 00:13:18.900

used up when I die. For the harder I work, the more I live, I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid

00:13:18.900 - 00:13:41.980

torch which I have got hold off for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. Friends that's worth memorizing for these days ahead. Life for

00:13:41.980 - 00:13:58.500

blair was no brief candle. It was a splendid torch. In fact, he was a splendid torch . He taught us how to live and he taught us how to die and that torch is passed to

00:13:58.500 - 00:14:24.910

us now that we might make it burn as brightly as possible for the sake of future generations. And we carry it confidently. Why? Because in life and in death we belong to God in the name

00:14:24.910 - 00:14:31.150

of God creator christ and holy spirit. Amen.