Philippians 1:21    3/5/08

In the name of him who abides with us in life and in death, dear friends and family of Fred Lietz,

Yesterday was a sad day for any fan of the Green Bay Packers.  Brett Favre, their quarterback for the last 17 years, the man who led this proud franchise back to the Super Bowl, announced his retirement from professional football.  It wasn’t because he no longer loved football.  One of the main reasons Mr. Favre offered for retiring was simply because he “was tired.”  He wants to move on with his life, to spend more time with his wife and children.  He admitted to still enjoying the game of football, but he admitted to looking forward to the future, to a life outside of football that would bring blessings of its own.

When the apostle Paul surveyed his life, he may have had a bit of the same mind-set that Brett Favre had.  For Paul, it was his pride and joy to be able to serve his Lord and Savior here on this earth.  But he had to admit that he looked forward to the future, to a life that would be even more enjoyable.  So, finally, he came to this conclusion (Php 1:21), “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Only a child of God could understand what Paul meant, to actually picture death as being a “plus” when compared to this life.  Fred Lietz understood what Paul meant.  As long as he lived here on this earth, he had this same philosophy:

“For Fred, To Live Was Christ, To Die Is Gain”

When the doctors finally told Fred that his heart wasn’t strong enough to survive surgery, when they told him that dialysis would do more damage than good, when Fred faced the reality that he couldn’t serve his Savior as he was used to doing, then he didn’t hold back in expressing his preference — he wanted to leave this world and be with his Lord.

And yet while on this earth Fred was all about serving his Savior.  I was privileged to be Fred’s pastor for over 20 years and saw firsthand how important the church was to Fred.  He served on the church council – put it this way, he was never off the church council!  He served as an Elder, making tough calls on people whom the devil had been pulling away from the church, encouraging them by his words and example to be faithful to their Savior. Although he may have never officially been a trustee, Fred might as well have been one for all the times we called upon him to fix a dryer or refrigerator at the parsonage, a toilet at the child care center, or a dishwasher over at the teacherage.  He was the unofficial “handyman” of Messiah.  In between all that he squeezed in a little lawn-mowing.  Just take a look on your way home today at the vast lawn we have surrounding our building.  That’s Fred’s lawn.  He mowed it all by himself, only every now and then allowing his sons or grandsons to take a turn, but not for long.  He was particular about how he wanted it to be mowed, about how it should look.  He wanted it to be as nice as possible, because it was the church’s lawn.  Tell me if you ever saw it in need of mowing.  Fred once told me it took seven hours to mow the whole lawn, so a conservative estimate would mean that Fred spent almost an entire year of his life on his John Deere mowers, serving his Savior!  One of the last conversations I had with Fred emphasized how much he cared about the lawn.  In the midst of talking about the wonders of heaven awaiting him, he leaned towards me and said, “You know, Pastor, when I’m gone, you’re going to have to get a lawn service to take over the mowing.”

Lawncare isn’t what I’ll remember most about Fred when it comes to how he served his Savior.  The work he did in the area of Evangelism shines even brighter.  At the church’s annual meeting back in 1988, just six short months after I had arrived at Messiah, the voters decided to form their first Evangelism Committee.  Fred Lietz was appointed to that committee – one that he would serve on for 20 consecutive years!  Fred loved to share his faith!  Whenever we would have church visitors and I’d call them or stop by their homes for a visit, they always mentioned one person by name who had greeted them and welcomed them to worship – a man named “Fred.”  For the last 10-12 years Messiah has had a booth at the Sedgwick County Fair, and every year Fred would help set it up, man it for hours, and help bring everything back.  Our Evangelism Committee members make monthly phone calls to new members who have moved into our area.  Not everyone can make these kind of “cold” calls on people, but Fred made them faithfully for 20 years.  Again, some quick math tells me that Fred must have made close to 4000 of these calls on people, with the intent of simply finding out if they had a church home and, if they didn’t, inviting them to our services.  Even in his last days, on his last visit to the hospital, he was found sharing his faith with his roommate Lenny.  For Fred, that was what life was all about.  For Fred, to live was Christ!

Can I give another testimony to Fred’s faithfulness?  Look at these front pews.  On any given Sunday, Fred’s entire family can always be found gathered here in the Lord’s house.  I’ve never made a delinquent call on any one of them, and it’s a rare Sunday indeed if they’re not at worship and in Bible Class as well.  And that goes for the grandkids as well.  Whenever Fred would move his family from place to place, his primary concern was being close to a church that faithfully proclaimed God’s Word.  His love for the Lord was evident in how many hours he spent learning from God’s Word.  If there’s anyone who’s heard every story and every illustration I possibly have to tell, it would be Fred, because he was a fixture here on Sunday morning for worship and Bible Class, not to mention the vicars’ midweek afternoon classes and many of the classes I held weekday evenings.  For Fred, life was all about growing stronger in his understanding of God’s Word and in his faith.  For Fred, to live was Christ!

If Fred were with us here today, I’d probably have to apologize to him.  By now he would have cut me off and told me to stop singing his praises.  Unlike some people who seem to constantly want to draw attention to themselves and to be praised for what they do, I can’t think of a time when Fred did something for personal praise or recognition.  He did everything for his Savior, knowing full well what his Savior had done for him, and he’d be the first to tell you that he’s not in heaven because of anything he had done.  Fred was also a sinner, just like you and me.  Fred’s in heaven today only because of Jesus!

Fred never bragged about how nice the lawn looked, about how many Evangelism calls he made, about how well he had raised his children, about how faithful he was in his church attendance, or about how good he was at cracking walnuts – O.K., I did hear him bragging a little about that last one, but only a little!  Fred had the gift of humility, an important gift because it recognizes that by ourselves none of us is able to make up for our sinfulness and earn our own salvation.  Fred was a Lutheran because he believed what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8,9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”  What Fred did to serve his Savior here on this earth was all the result of knowing what his Savior had already done for him on that wooden cross on Calvary.  When Fred was talking to his grandson Colton about playing the organ for this service, he told him that he wanted to make sure this funeral service was most of all a worship service, a service of praise to God.  So I apologize to Fred for spending so much time talking about his service to his Savior.  But I think it’s important to see how much that Savior’s love meant to Fred and how it motivated him to serve his Lord while on this earth.

The best news for Fred and someday for us is that even though we’re privileged to serve and live for Christ, when our time on earth is done, “to die is gain.”  For us as Christians we have a whole different take on life.  We shed tears today because we’ll miss our loved one, but we dare not shed tears for Fred himself.  Where he’s at, he doesn’t need them.  Fred has run the race.  He’s fought the fight.  He’s reached the goal – the goal for which we all strive.  Right now he’s with Jesus, in glory, without sin and its effects, with his sainted parents and brother and sister, waiting for you and me to join him.  And if there’s a lawn up in heaven . . . .well, you can imagine that Fred’s taken over the job!

I want to leave you with one final thought.  So often at funerals we talk about wanting to honor the one who has passed away.  Mike suggested we name the shed outside with the mower inside “Fred’s Shed.”  We can do that, but there’s something that Fred would want even more than that.  To honor the memory of Fred Lietz, make sure you’re using the time right now that you have here on this earth to know and follow your Lord and Savior!  Find a church that is  faithful to God’s Word.  Be regular in attending and in reading your Bible at home.  Raise your family to know Jesus and what he has done for them.  If the Savior isn’t part of your life right now, if you’ve strayed from him and his Word, be thankful that he’s a forgiving God and wants so much to have you back.  To honor Fred, make sure that someday you see him again.  Make sure you’re on the path to heaven!

I’ll conclude with a story that tells us what it truly means to believe that “to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  On Monday my wife was wrapping up Bible time in one of our child care center rooms – the “Purple Room” with the older kids.  As is their custom, they ended with a prayer, but little Kennedy knew they had forgotten something.  She spoke up and said, “Miss Deb, we forgot to pray for Mr. Fred!”  My wife replied, “I’m sorry, I forgot to tell all of you.  Mr. Fred is living in heaven with Jesus!  He went there on Saturday.”  The children’s response?  They all shouted, “Hooray!”  Afterwards my wife reminded the kids that Fred’s family would be sad for a while because they would miss Fred, so they should continue to pray for them, to which Kennedy asked, “Can we do that right now?”  And they proceeded to do just that.  I can’t help but think that little moment must have made Fred smile.

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  May that be our motto, just as it was Fred’s while here on this earth.  We can and should continue to say prayers for each other, that God will help us get over our loss and strengthen us in the hope of the resurrection.  But you can stop praying for Fred now.  He doesn’t need your prayers.  When it comes to Fred, all we can do is join with the children and proclaim, “Hooray!”

                                                                                                                                                                                                Amen