I had the great honor and privilege of preaching my friends funeral His name in Larry Green. Larry went home to be with His Lord on April 6th, 2017 and is enjoying the presence of the one he loved and served.  Left behind were those who loved him and those whom he loved, Larry was passionate about three things and as a matter of fact when I asked Larry what he would want me to tell people?  Oh, Just so you know it was Larry who chooses me to be his pastor and I am grateful for that.

What were the three things?

He Loved his family.

He loved his Church.

He loved his country. And he served them well.

Larry is the kind of guy that you don’t come a cross every day, you see Larry had a different way of looking at life Larry was always looking for the best in you and me, He thought of others before himself.  He never met a stranger and just had a way with people no way to really describe it and I think it had a lot to do with how he approached people.  The first thing out of his mouth was “do you know Jesus loves you?”

Larry loved God and He loved people, he served them both well.

Larry served his country in Vietnam from 1968-1971.  He was wounded in action and still had some shrapnel in his body.  He received a number of metals and accommodation for his service, a bronze and silver star and a purple heart to name a few.  Larry also learned to fly and took that skill to the mission field in Alaska. where he became a circuit preacher for a number village churches. Larry was not a polished preacher he was rough and rugged like the rough sawn lumber that was so common in Alaska. but it also possess a unique beauty with no two pieces being exactly alike.  That’s what set him apart from most people, Larry could look past the flaws.  Larry was always looking for what was best in people and had a way of bringing it out of them sometimes you thought you were helping him but in the end, it was you that got something you needed.

Larry taught me through relationship, Sneaky he was.  The Lord used him in my life and ministry to show me things about people and about God I didn’t know.  One of the last lessons he taught me was “preacher you have taught these people to get a long with each other now you need to teach them to love each other”  speaking about our church.  And he is right.  Larry learned the love lesson a long time ago and we would do well to learn that one ourselves.  Sometimes God will put people in your life to help you, and if you’re not careful you will miss it,  I almost did and if it had not been for Larry I would have. “hey pastor what you doing?”  Was the start of most conversation whether on the phone or in person that’s how it started. Dorthy was amazed at how much he  had called me because he never made a big deal about it to anyone,  Larry and I  talked often and the last year or so of his life when the phone would ring and I was it was Larry I just  stopped and sat down because I had learned God had something to say and he was using Larry to say it.

I miss him.

This is the message I delivered to the congregation that day.

Welcome to Friends and Family.

I want to welcome you here today and to tell we are here to celebrate the Life of My friend Larry Green.   Today I don’t want to think about all the things we could have done for this good man, today I want us to think about all the things he did for us. 

 it’s Larry’s fault I am here today………….. Many of you know Larry had a thing for strays, You see I am Here today because Larry adopted me to be his pastor. I didn’t choose Larry He choose me and it is my great honor to be here with you. So I am grieving with you and I miss him.  So I want to begin with a word of comfort and as Larry would say A word of Prayer.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV2011) 

13  Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 

14  For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 

15  According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 

16  For the Lord, himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 

17  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 

18  Therefore encourage one another with these words. 

Pray Father may we comfort and encourage one another with these words.

Poem by Hunter.

Song by Kevin.

Obituary.

Song.

Message: The least of these.

What Larry wanted you to Know.

I love my Family.

I love my Church.

I love my Country.

Can I tell you about the Larry Green I knew?

Bear Joke.

Broken finger Joke.

Stories about Larry. Who is Lou? The queen of his life.

Larry was the kind of man that made do with what ever he had and for Larry lack was just another opportunity of God to show up and do something. Larry was a man of Great Faith Scary faith……..

Larry was always thinking about others before himself and to be honest I don’t know if he ever thought of himself because I never heard him.  It was always a concern for someone else.

The Fort Yukon…….

I have known for some time now that this day would come and the Lord spoke to me while I was visiting with Larry and Dorthy (Lou) a couple of months ago…………………………

Matthew 25:31-40 (NIV2011) 

31  “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 

32  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 

33  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 

34  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 

35  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 

36  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 

37  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 

38  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 

39  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 

40  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 

The Righteous did the work but never realized the significance of the work. That was Larry. “All in a day’s work”

Really that all? I don’t think so. This was significant. 

But Larry would say when Lord when did I do that……..

I believe this would be the Lords response:

When You save those kids for drowning is southeast Asia.

When you put your hand on a bleeding soldier on a battle field….

When you talked a man off a bridge……..

When you stopped a man bent on mass murder…..

When you took a gun out of a man’s hand…

When you walk a tank of propane into a man’s camp…

When you opened up your home to college kids so they would have a place to hang out.

Larry when you gave the coat off you back……

when you gave your last $20.

Larry when you said Yes I will go to the least of these…….

I tried to write this blog about Larry several times and wanted to get it perfect but I have never been able to make that happen.  I wanted you to know the man I knew and loved  Larry was the first sheep of mine I had to bury, Its was an honor to do it but it hurt, a lot to do it.

But Larry would say “it’s all in a day’s work Pastor” and laugh.

And thats the way I see it in my market.