Duane Thomas died Oct. 29. You likely never heard of him, but he was one of my treasured friends.
Charlotte and I moved to Siloam Springs, Ark., when I became pastor of First Baptist Church there in March of 1968, at the ripe old age of 27. A few months later, Dr. Thomas and his family moved to our beautiful Ozark Village, having purchased the town’s only veterinary clinic.
Their first Sunday in town they visited First Baptist Church. The next Saturday, I visited their home. I visited with Lavon at the front door for a few minutes and then went next door to the clinic to visit Doc. He had removed two healthy miniature poodles by cesarean and was closing the wound when I entered the room. The mother dog died and he began to compress her chest and in 5 minutes she was running around the room.
Bill Bruster
I went home and told Charlotte the story and said, “If I should have a heart attack, drive right by the hospital and take me to the vet.”
The family joined our church and we became dear friends. Later, I baptized their children, Julie and Mark. I officiated Julie’s wedding. They came to visit us in four states. When our two children, Julie and Anthony, married, they were there. When we would visit Siloam Springs, we would stay with them. They took a two-week trip to New Zealand with us. I officiated Lavon’s funeral and when Duane died, I was asked to speak at his memorial service. I could not refuse.
As I prepared, I recalled my friend Rob Sellers’ excellent article in Baptist News Global titled “God Is in the River.” Rob wrote about attending the funeral of his good friend, Eugene Ruble. Rob and Eugene had been missionary colleagues in Indonesia.
“There are so many funeral songs that carry the same message.”
Rob reminded us of all the imagery of funeral messages that carry the idea of “crossing the river.” There are so many funeral songs that carry the same message. These include “On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to Cannan’s fair and happy land where my possessions lie.”
Other songs like “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder,” “I Think of a Home Over There,” “Shall We Gather at the River” and “I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone” all carry the idea of crossing the Jordan River when we die. Rob commended my friend Bob Setzer, who declared Jesus met Eugene in the river to escort him across.
My good friend Dan Day, a retired pastor and retired seminary professor, had the diagnosis of stage four prostate cancer about three years ago. He was given six months to live. During those months, he wrote his prayers and collected them in a book. They are wonderfully inspiring prayers. He titled his book, At the River I Stand. It is well worth the read. (Good news: He was referred to Duke Medical Center and given a new medicine that might give him another 10 years of life.)
As I prepared Duane’s message, I decided we need to rethink the “river” imagery for death and resurrection, though. That is an Old Testament concept born in Joshua chapter one, where the Children of Israel were camped at the Jordan River waiting to cross over to the Promised Land.
“What should the New Testament imagery be?”
I asked myself, “What should the New Testament imagery be”?
In John 14, Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you may be also.” And where did he go? After the resurrection his last appearance was to the disciples and Acts 1:9-11 says: “He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Jesus died and was resurrected. Scripture says nothing about him crossing the Jordan. He ascended upward into heaven.
In our age of space travel, this New Testament imagery communicates more effectively than the Old Testament imagery. So, I ended Duane’s service by saying, “On Oct. 29, the Holy Spirit descended into Duane’s room and said, ‘Hop on my back, we are going for a ride.’”
And then I quoted an old hymn, “Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away, to a home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away. I’ll fly away, O glory, I’ll fly away.” The service ended on an uplifting spirit.
It is time to look up and rethink our imagery.
Bill Bruster is a retired pastor of multiple Southern Baptist churches, the last of which was First Baptist Church of Abilene, Texas. He was instrumental in launching the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and spent the latter part of his career as a field coordinator for CBF. He lives in Dallas, where he is a member of Wilshire Baptist Church and serves on the board of Gaston Christian Center.