July 19, 2017, 11:00 AM
Montes Chapel of the Hills, 330 Red Hill Ave, San Anselmo
Welcome and Call to Worship
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. (Psalm 90:1; Romans 14:7-9)
I welcome you as family and friends of Randall Gregory Tom who was born on 1960 and returned to God on July 2017 having lived for 56 years. Our time together is to remember and celebrate a life well lived.
Let us pray. We thank you, God, that nothing in all creation—nothing in life and nothing in death—can separate us from your love. Fill us with your Spirit in this time of suffering and loss, and remind us that Christ is Lord of both the dead and the living. May we trust God to rescue us from all destructive powers and show us the way to a new and everlasting life. Amen.
Scriptural Readings
OT: Psalm 23
NT: Romans 8:31-35, 37-39
Biography
Times of Remembrance Sharing
How Well Have I Loved?
I did not know Randy Tom in this world like all of you did gathered here today. To hear your stories and memories have been a blessing to me as I’m sure they have been blessings to you and to each other.
Randy Tom was someone who lived on his own but today he is in the company of many family and friends. We all know that we are never truly alone even after our loved ones have passed on because our Creator God is always with us.
When we remember a person and celebrates his life, the only real question that needs to be asked is: “How well have I loved?” A social worker who counsels terminal cancer patients and their families, Leah de Roulet said, “If there is a real purpose for any of us, it is to somehow enhance each other’s humanity—to love, to touch others’ lives, to put others in touch with basic human emotions, to know that you have made even one life breathe easier because you have lived.” Leah De Roulet continues, “By and large, the meaning of a person’s life gets distilled to: How well have I loved? A person can then find hope in believing; somebody loved me and I loved him or her and those memories that my loved one carries forward to others and beyond.”
Randy Tom loved all of his patients and as the result of his medical attention to the health and welfare of his patients, they are able to share that love onward to others. I understand that Randy was a heart transplant recipient 20 years ago. We attribute love originating from our hearts. Our ability to go on living every day, every minute, every moment with our heart constantly and relentlessly beating away is a strong symbol of our love for one another. Randy Tom received a new heart so that he can go on loving some more as long as he was able to do so.
In the Matthew gospel, Jesus taught us that when we fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, cared for the sick and visited the prisoners, we would literally be doing this for Jesus himself (Mt. 25). We know that Randy Tom took good care of all those who were sick.
And in John’s gospel, Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (15:12-13). I heard that Randy Tom was generous with his professional skills helping others to live while even at times at his own expense. In the end, Randy Tom followed Jesus’ commandment to love others and to lay down his life for his patients and for all of God’s people.
It’s natural to worry about what we don’t know. And not one of us here today knows exactly what happens to us when we die. Randy Tom knows medically what happens but no one knows what experience awaits us. But we do know who awaits us.
The one who meets Randy Tom is the same God who gave Randy Tom friends and family like you. You are the people who prayed for him, encouraged him, and urged him to give God a chance. God gave Randy Tom his life, and his powerful will to live and to love.
While we don’t know what waits for us when we die, we do know what God is truly like because when we look at Jesus, we see the very heart and nature of God. Like the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to find the one that was lost, it is God’s very nature to do whatever it takes to find the one that has strayed. The God we see in Jesus Christ doesn’t operate on the basis of “acceptable losses.” God accepts the loss of no one who can possibly be found.
Today we have the confidence to entrust Randy Tom to God, who knew him and loved him better than anyone else did. We safely entrust Randy Tom to the great Shepherd who will not rest until every sheep is reunited with the flock of family and friends.
Announcements
After our time here, we’ll proceed to Mt Tamalpais Cemetery for interment located at 2500 Fifth Avenue in San Rafael. Following that, we’ll gather for a memorial luncheon around 1:30 at Yet Wah Chinese Restaurant at 1238 Fourth St, between B and C streets. There is a parking garage at Third and C streets.
Benediction
Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, God has promised to bless us and keep us in this life and in our new life with the Lord.
The same God whose face now shines on our friend, Randall Gregory Tom, has promised through the Lord, to forgive us and shelter us throughout eternity.
I charge you to find your comfort and peace in these gracious promises of a loving God.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Committal Service
Jesus said:
I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)
Do not be afraid: I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead and see, I am alive forever and ever. (Rev. 1:17-18)
And from John, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, we commend to God’s merciful care our brother, Randall Gregory Tom and we commit his body to this resting place: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
“Blessed are the dead who…die in the Lord…They will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.” (Revelations 14:13)
Let us pray.
God our Maker, you made our brother, Randall Gregory Tom in your own image; you set his feet on a sojourner adventure; you watched over him along the way. As you lovingly received and welcomed him to the ranks of the redeemed, we pray that you would continue to guide our sojourner steps so that, at the appointed time, we might join Randall Gregory Tom in the communion of saints—forgiven, transformed, and fit for our new life with the Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Benediction
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Amen. Go in peace.