Two weeks ago a guy I worked with from February – April named Nate was over on Vancouver Island, I believe vacationing with family. When I worked with him he was framing houses with his older brother Eric, but as of July he became the interim worship pastor at Ross Road Community Church here in Abbotsford, and from what I hear he has always belonged in worship, so this was a realization of something long in the works. While on Vancouver Island, he and his brother Eric were on a dock on a lake, enjoying the summer sun, when they noticed a trio of teenage guys diving into the water and swimming out from shore. As they watched, one of them was lagging behind. I don’t know how long they watched, or what tipped them off that something was wrong, but Nate wound up diving in and swimming a distance to this young man’s rescue, fishing him out from under a few feet of water. Upon getting him on solid ground and calming him down, Nate shared the gospel with him. His message was one of how short life is, and how we must do all that we can in the time we’re given.
A week later, while driving his wife, his other brother Doug, and his sister in law to a friend’s wedding in Calgary, a semi trailer tipped over on the highway and slammed into their car. Nate died instantly.
There are countless things I can list that are unjust about the sudden passing of Nate, because though I didn’t know him well, everything I do know about him and everything everyone tells me about him says he was a man who’s life was glorifying to God. He made the world better just by being here. He seemed to love everyone, and by the sheer number of people at his funeral I know he was greatly loved in return. He was a few months younger than me, having just turned 24 a few weeks ago, right in the prime of life. He has only been married a little over a year, and just started as a worship pastor not three weeks before his death. He was the laughter and love in a tight knit family that has wholly and individually poured out their lives for God’s glory, and was a joy to be around, no matter how long or short you were around him. And though we know with great certainty all the promises of God to be true, our human minds can not comprehend a satisfactory answer to the one great question: Why?
I lost a few friends when I was younger, before I came to know Christ, and it was always in anger that I asked that question. It was an accussation that God had no right to take those people away from me. That He was unfeeling in His omnipotence. What I felt and saw today, though, was slightly but fundamentally different. And it is not only an interesting shift that comes with trusting Christ, it’s also a testament to the type of faith Nate inspired, because when you get down to it, I think the funeral conveyed the character Nate was. I saw a family, along with hundreds if not well over a thousand close friends, who lost someone they never wanted to live without. But instead of slinging accusatory questions at God from the cold comfort of anger, we buried our face in His chest and wept with Him as we asked the same questions, and allowed Him to wrap His huge, enveloping arms around us as we grieved. And I say He weeps with us because though Jesus knew He would raise Lazerus from the dead, He still wept at the news of his death and the pain Lazerus’ family was going through. I don’t know the answer, and as my friend told me, I don’t want the responsibility that comes with that knowledge anyway. But I trust in God, and know that He is here in this time of trial, that He does not leave my side. Ever.
We celebrated a life well lived today. I think Nate lived the words he spoke to that boy on the island, living a full life in the time he had. It was far too short by our standards, but one that will never be forgotten.
