Home  Eulogy
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Written by Pastor Kurt Van Fossan
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Wednesday, 13 February 2008 |
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Sidney V. Irons Born 2 April 1940; Baptised 1940; Called Home 5 January 2008 We are gathered here today to thank God for the life of Sid Irons, and to seek God’s help in coming to terms with his sudden death.
Death hides our loved ones from our physical eyes, and from our human reason, no matter how clever we are. For man, death is a mystery–pure guess work.
I read an article in the newspaper about death, which was one of the most absurd thing I had ever read. The article said that since man on his own is at a loss to know what happens after death, some researchers have tried to offer comfort by taking some of the “guesswork” out of death. They’ve come up with a mathematical formula to give you a rough idea of “what your changes are” (at least that’s how they put it). After figuring in various risk factors, like whether you’re male or female, whether you smoke or don’t smoke, whether you’re overweight, or whether you exercise, etc., they try to give you a firmer sense as to “what the future holds”. They even give you some tips on how to lower your risk of death from say 64% to 60%.
Am I missing something here? I thought the risk of death was 100%!
This article said that a very natural human question is “What’s going to happen to me?” It also said that doctors are very cautious about giving people an answer to that question because they don’t want to be wrong. So why don’t they just tell them the truth, “The wages of sin is death!” (Romans 6:23) There’s no human way around that. And the time of your death? Sid’s sudden death reminds us that it could happen any time!
This, of course, is not a very comforting prognosis. But the truth is, man by himself can’t give you a good prognosis when it comes to death. Only God can.
Fortunately Sid didn’t trust in man’s guess work to answer the question of what was going to happen to him when he died. Sid wasn’t afraid of dying.
Instead you could actually say he looked forward to it, no matter when that time would be, because he was confident that at the time his physical body breathed it’s last breath, God would take him to his heavenly home.
What made him so confident of this? Was it just guess work? No, it was God’s Word, especially His Word made flesh (John 1:14), Jesus Christ. God’s Word first came to Sid during His first year of life, when He was Baptised in the name of God, the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. That was the best thing Sid’s parents ever did for him, even though he was separated from both of his parents by the time he was 11. His mother died, and his father was unable to take care of all 11 of his children, so Sid with the rest of his brothers and sisters were split up and eventually placed in foster homes. Sid didn’t see his father again, nor most of his brothers and sisters (which may be one of the reasons Sid cherished his own family so much).
Even though God was still working in Sid’s life, it wasn’t until after he met and fell in love with Linda (thanks to the matchmaking efforts of Linda’s sister) that both Sid and Linda became involved in the church here at St. Andrews. A year after Sid and Linda were married at St. Andrews, they both publicly declared (Confirmed) their Christian faith (into which they had been Baptised as infants), and received Holy Communion on 1 June 1969. Through His Word and Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, God poured out His love to Sid and Linda, which they passed on to others, especially their Children, Dorian, Rebecca & Jane.
What did God enable Sid to see as he considered the difficult years of his life in the light of God’s Word? First of all it was obvious that he was a sinner. Sure, Sid could have blamed any bad behaviour on his difficult childhood, but that wouldn’t change the fact that he was still a sinner (as we all are!). It’s those sins and God’s judgement, “the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23 (which refers to eternal death or separation from God), that destroy any peace of mind we may try to find as we look at ourselves or to any “good works” we may have done. No amount of “good works” can pay the price for your sins, only death can.
But fortunately God also enabled Sid to see and believe in his Saviour from God’s Judgement, Jesus Christ. The Son of God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, not to condemn us as we deserve, but to provide the way out of an otherwise impossible situation. By taking our sins upon Himself, Jesus willingly suffered the judgement against our sins—the damning death–that each one of us deserve.
And the good news is that after suffering death on the cross, Jesus came back to life to assure us that He was successful in overcoming our sins, and death, and to offer us the gift of eternal life in Him. Listen to Sid’s confirmation verse: It comes from the second chapter of Revelation, where Jesus Christ promised: “Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Mark 16:16).
Faith in Jesus Christ as His Saviour is something that God Himself created and sustained in Sid’s heart right up to the time of his physical death. As a result, even though Sid knew that in the past he had not always been faithful to God, he could still come to Him in repentance and faith in what Jesus Christ did for him and for all of us, and be assured of his forgiveness. Faith in Jesus’ work of salvation is what enabled Sid to not be afraid of physical death but to look forward to it as the gateway to his heavenly home with God. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
As I talked with Sid’s family, one of the things they remembered most about Sid was his smile and sense of humour, his optimism. Most of the tributes written for Sid on the web-site created in his honour by Daryl (a friend from the Black Bull), speak of the same smile, humour and enjoyable attitude. It’s this loving, carefree attitude, that made Sid fun to be around for the members here at St. Andrews (including the older youth, now adults, who remember Sid as a Youth Leader), for his family and his friends throughout the Ruislip area and beyond! Thanks be to God, who can turn times of suffering into the richest of blessings through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And I’m sure that Sid, during this time of physical separation from the family and friends he loves, would want each one of you to remain close not only to each other, but also to him. How is that closeness possible? It doesn’t happen by going to a cemetery or other such place where his body or ashes may be, because he is not there. It happens by remaining close to God, because that’s where Sid is alive and with God!—singing (kareoke?) with the angles of heaven!
Listen again to these words of God in the Epistle reading from Revelation 7. When talking about God’s children in heaven: “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, ‘they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
These are comforting words as we think about temporal death and where Sid is right now. God certainly doesn’t want us to spend the rest of our days in this life (however short of long they may be) wondering where Sid is, or worrying about where we will be at the time of our death. Instead our Lord says: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:1-6)
Jesus continues to come to us today through His Word and Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion to create and sustain a saving faith within us–a faith which keeps us coming back to feast on God’s Word and the Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood, thus keeping us united with Him and with all His saints in Heaven, like Sid (made righteous through the blood of Christ Jesus). Thanks be to God! Amen
Copy of sermon as read by Pastor Kurt Van Fossan
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 February 2008 )
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Newsflash
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A known crack cocaine dealer, Sebastian Jansco, 23, killed Sid Irons, 67, and left him for dead in Victoria Road.  registration RA57 GZW,
Rather than stopping to help Sid he drove off. Later he tried to evade justice by having his Audi repaired and then hiding it. He even got two of his friends, Raphael Baragwanath, 22, of Field End Road, Eastcote, and James Davies, 19, who now lives in Buckinghamshire, to make false witness statements for him. Sebastian Jansco of Victoria Road (the road on which Sid lived and was mown down) was on licence after being realised early for dealing crack. He was jailed for two and a half years at Harrow Crown Court It has been decided he is worthy of being realised after serving half of the sentance.... Did the courts not learn anything from the fact that had previously released him early???? Full story here |
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