Dear Friends,
On
Tuesday the church was filled to capacity to celebrate and remember the life of
Dan Immordino, or “Pastor Dan”, as he was best known. If you gaged the impact of
your life on others, you might calculate the size of the ‘crowd’ who showed up
for your funeral. If that was our standard of measurement, you would have to
say Pastor Dan’s life had an overwhelming impact on the lives of those who knew
him as not only was the church filled for the service, but hundreds of people
showed up for calling hours (one person told me he had to wait in line for an
hour to show their respect to the family).
The service was a wonderful tribute to a man who was greatly loved by
all who knew him. and who treasured the relationship they enjoyed with him.
Five pastors including Nick, Jared and I had the privilege of sharing our
remembrances of him, and a few of the thoughts I shared during the service I have
incorporated into my Musings for this week.
Someone
once asked a pastor “How do you know if you are a servant,” and the pastor
quickly replied “By the way you react when you are treated like a servant.” Pastor
Dan never had a problem being a servant. His life bled servanthood, and the
greatest compliment anyone could give him, or us for that matter, would be to
have someone call us a servant.
Dan
might just as well have had a Big “S” emblazoned on his chest for in my mind he
was more than Superman, he was a super “Servant.”
I
sometimes sign my letter with the verse Col 3:17 “And whatever you do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God
the Father.
Dan
epitomized this verse for no matter how large or small the work might be, Dan
devoted every ounce of his energy in accomplishing it. Whether it was the
sacred duty of studying and preparing to preach the Word, or the secular
responsibility of moving tables, shoveling sidewalls, cleaning up the kitchen,
or taking out the trash, you knew it would be done well for it was always done
for the Lord.
Of all
the ministries for which Pastor Dan was known, perhaps the one most significant
and most appreciated was his countless hours of visitation to those both in and
outside our church. Whether in the hospital, nursing home, or in someone’s
home, Dan would faithfully show up to read from the bible, offer encouragement,
pray, and of course sing some hymns, which earned him at Riverview Hospital the
moniker of the “singing pastor.” Everywhere he went, he brought joy to the
hearts of those he visited.
Tucked away in 1 Timothy are three words spoken by a friend of Paul who visited him while he was in prison. Paul remarked that many of his friends had deserted him, but not Onesiphorus. He said of the “Big O” that his visits “often refreshed me.” Onesiphorus is not a well-known biblical name (when was the last time you heard of someone named Onesiphorus), but to God his name was special. I am sure Onisiphorus has taken his rightful place in God’s “Servanthood Hall of Fame.” And last week, I suspect that Onesiphorus had a new friend and brother in the faith join him and his name was Pastor Dan.
For
those of us who would aspire to be known as a servant, we might wish to keep in
mind the following remarks shared by the deceased but well-known pastor Fred
Craddock who summed up the measure of a servant when he spoke the
following words at a pastors’
conference. This is what he said “To pour myself
out for others . . . to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom-I’ll do it. I’m
ready Lord to go out in a blaze of glory.”
“We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $1,000.
bill and laying it on the table-Here’s my life, Lord, I am giving it all. But
the reality for most of us is that he sends us out to cash in the $1,000. for
quarters. We go through life putting our 25 cents here and 50 cents there. We
listen to the neighbor’s kid’s troubles and instead of saying, “Get lost. It means going to a nursing home and giving
out a cup of water to a shaky old man.” “Usually
giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of
love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory. It’s
a lot harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.”
(Quoted off the internet)
I think Dan wonderfully filled Craddock’s definition of a
servant and like the “Big O”, Onisiphorus, maybe God now knows Dan as the “Big
D”, or better yet, the “Big S” for Servant. But to us who knew him he was
always just Pastor Dan, a faithful follower of Jesus, who because of his unselfish
life of service to others has been privileged to hear those wonderful words of
Jesus “Well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a few
things, I will put your in charge of many.” Matthew 25:23. God bless you Pastor
Dan for showing us the meaning of servanthood.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Pastor Tom
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