The Dawn Treader

Clete, at age sixteen, had thought through his funeral quite carefully.  He expressed his wishes clearly to his parents and his friends.

For example, on the morning of Clete's death, he was meeting in a small group with his friends at school.  They were studying a liturgical prayer from a Lutheran book of prayers.  They came across the phrase, "If I should die today...", and it got the group talking about death.  Clete very clearly told those who were there that he wanted bag pipes played at his funeral.  Twelve hours later, Clete was hit head on by a drunk driver and killed instantly.

Clete's wishes were honored.  At Clete's funeral, I heard the most beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace I have ever heard ... played on bag pipes.

Another of Clete's requests was that his father (and my former pastor), Dr. Craig Childs, preach at his funeral.  Again, Clete's wishes were honored.  In an amazing display of God's grace, Craig was able to preach the gospel and speak at length about his son to a standing room only crowd of at least 600 mourners (I am guessing).

Clete wanted the song I'll Fly Away sung at his funeral.  So we sang it.  We were led by the youth group band from the church.  Among the singers, was Clete's sister and best friend, Alie Childs.

Clete did not want his funeral to be a sad affair.  Craig honored that request by beautifully weaving in humorous anecdotes from Clete's life.  Craig was honest about his sadness, however,  and shared very specific ways about how each member of the family will feel the loss of Clete.  Perhaps the most poignant loss, will be the fact that Clete hugged and kissed both of his parents every night, and greeted his mother with a bear hug and "I love you" every morning.  Most sixteen year old boys are not openly expressive with their affections.  Clete was no ordinary sixteen year old.

Clete had a ministry of hugs.  Every person I talked to, it seemed, had a Clete hugging story.  Clete loved people and refused to allow them to be sad, lonely and filled with self-pity.  He would invade the enemy occupied territory of sadness with a contagious smile and an enthusiastic hug.

That is what it means to live redemptively.  Our lives must be about reclaiming territory.  Our broken world is filled with hurt, pity, anger, selfishness and pain.  We, who follow Christ, need to have an impact by letting Christ shine through in our words, our actions, and our lives.  Clete did that.  Darkness retreated when Clete was around.

Clete gave in life, and Clete gave in death.  Unbeknownst to his parents, Clete had marked organ donor on his drivers license.   Clete was extraordinarily healthy, and Craig shared how Clete's heart, liver and kidneys were already bringing life and hope to others.

There are many take aways from Clete's funeral.  One is that our days are numbered.  Each of us may be 12 hours away from a head on collision with a drunk driver, like Clete was Thursday morning when he met with his small group and expressed his wish to have bag pipes at his funeral.  We need to recognize that our days on this earth are numbered.  Each of our bodies is destined for a pine box, unless God chooses to end history during our lifetime.  Few of us think through our death and our funeral as carefully as Clete did.  But we ought to.  And we ought to make sure that our trust is in Christ, and Christ alone, for eternal life.

A second take away is that we need to be intentional about living redemptive lives.  We need to take our faith beyond Sunday morning into Monday morning, and push back the darkness.  We need to invade enemy occupied territory, face forward, and let Christ touch others through us.

Clete did that in his own unique way.  We ought to go and do likewise.

I look forward to seeing how God will unleash grace upon this world through the lives of the kids in Clete's youth group and in his school.  Darkness beware.

Bye, my friend.  Because of Christ, I will see you again and look forward to a great bear hug.  My sons look forward to the day when they can sneak up behind you and jump on your back again.