Tribute to Jack Clifford

On March 27th my father, Jack Clifford, passed away. Following is the eulogy I gave at his funeral.

Dad loved music weather playing his instruments or singing. I remember as a young boy dad would sing solo’s in church and his favorite was How Great Thou Art.

When you listen to it sung today contemplate these stanzas:
HOW GREAT THOU ART

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power through-out the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee: How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin:

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow in humble adoration, And there proclaim, my God. how great Thou art!

I know that these stanzas capsulize what dad would want to tell you today.

His life showed me many things that taught me weather good or bad. Some of things are precious to me.

They are examples of things he taught me that I want to say YES too,
My relationship with Dad grew in the last 7 years as I would visit with him every other day by phone. It was during mom’s illness with Altzimers that I would pray with him on the phone for strength to endure. There were times of utter exhaustion from caring for mom. He would read the scriptures to her everyday. They would spend time singing as he played the ukulele. These familiar things would help mom. Dad was a stubborn man as many of you know, on many things and caring for mom was one area that I thought was beautiful stubbornness. The devotion that he showed toward her and the love that he displayed to her in his care. It was then that I learned what it means to love honor and cherish your spouse in sickness and in health. I say YES, I want to love, honor, and cherish Evelyn like this.

These last few years as dad went through dialysis for 4 hours every other day. A lot of time was spent in a chair. Dad spent a good share of it reading the scriptures. He would talk of how interesting a passage was or how great God’s anger toward those who did not obey and trust him was as he read Old Testemant passages. How happy he was to know the Savior. To know his love and not his anger towards us. How good it was to have talked to him about the scriptures or a sermon I had heard at church. I say YES, I want to know His word and be faithful to it.

James 1:2-3 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

A couple of years ago I had read a book called Heaven by Randy Alcorn and found it to be so helpful and full of the scriptures related to heaven that I gave dad a copy to read during his chair time. Dad said he was so glad that he was going their and that he found out some things that he did not know about heaven as he read the book. He thought everyone should read this book so that they could know what will happen to them when they die. To understand that God’s wrath is only removed from us by the blood of Christ. To repent and trust in Jesus was the only way to be in a right relationship before the Lord God Almighty, Dad believed this to be true. I say AMEN; I want to have an eternal perspective like that.

Praying was a big priority for Dad. Matt and Laura, Ruth, Jason and Daniel, Justina … Your grandfather prayed for your spiritual condition – wanting to know that you were in church and hearing the word of God. He knew that this life is just a vapor for him and for each one of us. Our lives are here and then it quickly vanishes like the vapor we breathe out on a cold winter’s day. I say YES, I want to be a man of prayer like that.

This is affirmed in the scripture:
James 4:14 You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison

On Sunday last we sang this hymn in church and I thought this is what Dad could be saying as he enters the presence of the Lord. Let me share it with you.

I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art
I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art,My only trust and Savior of my heart,Who pain didst undergo for my poor sake;I pray Thee from our hearts all cares to take.
Thou art the King of mercy and of grace, Reigning omnipotent in every place; So come, O King, and our whole being sway;Shine on us with the light of Thy pure day.

Thou art the life, by which alone we live,And all our substance and our strength receive;Sustain us by Thy faith and by Thy power,And give us strength in every trying hour.
Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness,No harshness hast Thou and no bitterness;O grant to us the grace we find in Thee,That we may dwell in perfect unity.

Our hope is in no other save in Thee;Our faith is built upon Thy promise free;Lord, give us peace, and make us calm and sure,That in Thy strength we evermore endure.

The Lord gave. Jack, dad is a gift. Yes, he has been taken away. But that does not change the fact that he was and is a gift. You had him, and you have him still—not in your arms but in your memory; not in home but in your heart; not on earth but in heaven. Philippians 1:23, My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Jack would want you to know Christ, to repent of your sins, to trust in Him, to delight and treasure Him. Today let Jacks life be a testimony to the goodness, the mercy and the grace of God to one deserving of his wrath and judgment to one who is now counted righteous through Jesus Christ.

I believe that Dad’s prayer for you all is found in Psalm 27: 4-5
One thing I ask of the Lord this is what I seek: That you all may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of your lives, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble he will keep you safe in his dwelling; he will hide you in the shelter of his tabernacle and set you high upon a rock

Dad your inheritance is before you. Delight in your Savior

Joy has comes in the morning. Praise God for his love endures forever.