A Funeral Homily for an Old Soldier

MSGT Freddie Lee Mahone, U. S. Army (Retired) died on August 12. He was 82 years old. The words below are my funeral sermon for my friend, who was also a friend to many others in his neighborhood, his extended family, and the U. S. Naval Academy Chapel community.

He was buried, with military honors, in the Maryland Veterans Cemetery, Crownsville.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12

This passage from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes may seem to be a strange text for a funeral sermon – particularly for a man who had lived for more than eight decades; a man who had fought in two wars; a man who had served our nation for 30 years as a soldier, and 30 additional years as a federal civilian employee.

However, the truth about the funeral sermon is that it is not for the person who has gone – as the folks in Freddy’s native Georgia might say – “from labor to reward.” It is for those of us who remain.

I first met Freddy – who insisted that I call him by his first name – one Sunday morning before services in the upstairs chapel. He was an usher and a cross-bearer in the procession. (He was one of the gentlemen who comprised our usher corps, and not all of them could easily carry the heavy processional cross the 80 yards or so from the Chapel entrance to the altar!)

But I got to know Freddy as I encountered him – at 70-plus years – running the perimeter of the Naval Academy grounds. Occasionally, we would run together.

I learned that he was devoted to his wife, who at the time was seriously ill. He had great affection for the Naval Academy, despite being an Army guy. He loved this Chapel community. This was his church!

He had seen a lot. He had done a lot. And he knew a lot, although he would be the last person to let-on, because he was a man of great humility.

The resonance of the final chapter of Ecclesiastes for we who remain is in the preacher’s admonition to remember our Creator while we are young.

You may be 100 years old, but you are younger today than you will be tomorrow.

Today: Are you living for God?

Today: Have you time for God?

Today: Are unalterably committed to the things that are always right; the things that never deceive; the things that transcend time and eternity?

The words of Ecclesiastes are as relevant today to persons who are “young at heart” as they were when first written 3,000 years ago to people who were “young in fact.” To those individuals – regardless of chronological age – for whom tomorrow is bright; and for whom life is as full and varied as a Sunday buffet, the preacher has three words: Remember your Creator!

Scripture tells us that there are three basic tactics employed by the devil to help us to forget God: (1) The lust of the flesh: What feels good to our senses; (2) The lust of the eyes: What looks good, either literally or figuratively; and (3) The pride of life: The sense that life is good, and that, for you, it always will be good.

Yet, the preacher says that if we live long enough, our life will change – and at the end of life, we each must stand before God.

When that day comes, and we each stand before God, what will be in our memory? Recollections of treasures reserved for us; or the reality of treasures laid up in heaven, where moth and rust cannot corrupt; and where thieves cannot break through and steal?

When that day comes, and we each stand before God, what will be in our memory? Recollections of our hobbies, pastimes, and occupations; or the assurance that God has remembered the visits to those whom others seem to have forgotten: The sick, the shut-in, the prisoner, and the elderly?

When that day comes, and we each stand before God, what will be in our memory? Will it be our Creator? Will we recognize Him as our Father? Will he recognize us as His children?

Our Hope – Jesus Christ – came to this earth; lived, was crucified, buried and resurrected, that you and I might become the Children of God by believing in Him. If the Spirit of God is speaking to you; urging you to remember your Creator, will you now come to Him?

Jesus says this: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3: 20) There is no better time than now. There is no better place than here.

As a disciple of Jesus, this was Freddie’s hope. It is my hope, too.

I envision that when I see Freddie in heaven, we will, again, go for a run; but not before we have added our voices to the heavenly assembly, gathered to remember in eternity our Creator, Redeemer, Lord, and God: “Holy, Holy, Holy! Amen!”