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For a six-year-old boy who was ill from birth

Can We Give Thanks?

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

(This sermon was preached upon the death of a boy, age six, who was born with a palsied condition that inhibited his physical and mental growth and made him extremely susceptible to illness. He died when his body could no longer resist the latest illness.)

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

Give thanks in all circumstances? Can we give thanks when death, death to one so precious and dear to us, has visited our home?

The testimony of the scripture and the experience of countless Christians down through the ages answer, "Yes," to this question.

There is the experience of the Pilgrims. They gave thanks in the midst of their hardships, in the midst of much suffering and death. For, although they did not understand in every detail what their ordeal meant, they in faith saw the hand of God at work in their midst, bringing good out of evil, life out of death.

Can we give thanks?

First, yes, we can give thanks because God has shared the life of Timmy with us.

When a child is born, we experience his birth, his coming into our midst as a gift of God. But sometimes we, as parents, forget our initial feelings and start thinking that the child belongs to us. The death of a child reminds all of us that the life of our child -- of all children, indeed of all persons -- belongs to God. Even more, we are reminded that any life is a gift shared with us by God, be it for six years or sixty.

By your own testimony, Gloria and Aaron, you have understood this truth. You have said many times that Timmy truly was a gift of God. He has brought dimensions of life and understanding to your family beyond measure and understanding.

And, as family and friends, the rest of us have experienced this gift through you and your family, through your quiet but eloquent faith and witness. We have received a glimpse of what God had in mind when he blessed your family with Timmy.

Secondly, we can give thanks because God has promised us a richer and fuller life beyond this life.

The most comforting truth of this hour is that Timmy is in God's loving care. Remember Jesus' words: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God."

Timmy has gone before us to that dimension of life where suffering and pain will be relieved, where broken lives will be made whole, where tears will be wiped away.

I am overjoyed to know a God who reveals himself in a person who said, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven."

Thirdly, we can give thanks because God comforts us in our loneliness, loss, and sorrow.

He alone can fill the emptiness left in our lives by the loss of a son, a brother.

Here the scriptures speak most eloquently to us in our need.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want....
Let not your heart be troubled.
Underneath are the everlasting arms.

I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

The same God who shared Timmy with you, who embraces Timmy in his everlasting arms will comfort you in your time of loss and sorrow.

Can we give thanks? Yes, by the grace of God we can and we do. Amen.

-- Carl B. Rife

(Reprinted from "Through The Valley Of The Shadow," CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio 45804, © 1976.)