(Composed and shared by Alan's Pastor David Lehman during a worship service April 29 at Williamsburg Mennonite Church and then read by Clair Hochstetler as the Meditation for Alan Hochstetler’s Memorial Service, Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Nappanee, IN)
Theme: Reasonable Patience - James 5:7-11
Coming up with a favorite passage from scripture is about as difficult as choosing one interest or hobby as a favorite of Alan’s. Plenty passages of scripture come to mind when I think of Alan but I’m not sure of a particular favorite. The same is true for Alan’s interests or hobbies… Plenty come to mind but I’m not sure of a particular favorite! Many of you may have a better perspective on all this. My years of learning to know Alan were mostly these last few when he was no longer living at his Williamsburg house. Yet even during these years of decline… still he seemed to be interested in so many different things… Alan was quite the multidimensional person.
First of all Al loved people.
He loved his family (He’d show me letters/pictures/articles from home)
He loved his church family. He was zealous for getting to Williamsburg Mennonite even when that was quite difficult to pull off.
His door (Room 113 at Morningside Assisted Living) was always open. I think he liked to hear the chatter in the hallway and what the nurses/attendants were up to.)
Then there were stamps, cars, music, languages, sports, and chemistry. Alan knew more about each of these things than I’ll ever know about any one thing! He had an incredible mind.
During my weekly visits with Alan I never had to wonder what we are going to talk about.
If I only knew how, we could communicate in Pennsylvania Dutch or chemical formulas.
We could enjoy good music or discuss auto mechanics.
We could watch Wimbledon and talk tennis or the latest interesting stamp we had come across.
We could share a good laugh over something that tickled the funny bone or pray concerning the difficulties and trials of Parkinson’s.
(By the way… the best part about Al’s jokes was seeing how much he enjoyed them. He’d put on that whole face grin and you couldn’t help but laugh with him.)
But one hobby (doing puzzles) does lead me to James 5:7-11.
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
Often times when peering into Room 113 I’d find Al in the middle of some puzzle. They became more simple of late. But I saw him put together some serious puzzles over the years. Once after completing a “1000 – piecer” I commented… “I don’t think I could do that Al.” After one of his signature pauses… He replied: “Oh, it does require a reasonable amount of patience.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if a certain characteristic of a friend could rub off on you? I don’t think I got any of Alan’s patience. But I’m certainly inspired by it. Alan lived this passage. Especially verse 9… don’t grumble. Alan might not ever be known as one of the prophets of verse 10 “who spoke in the name of the Lord.” Yet Alan’s life speaks volumes… I believe we can dare to customize verses 10 and 11 to say:
Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take Alan. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Alan's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
May we indeed be inspired to answer the call of verse 8 as Alan did:
You, also, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
As Alan displayed that precious fruit of the Spirit… we, his brothers and sisters in the Spirit can do the same. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment