Funeral Service—March 24, 2002
Reflections on the Prayer of Moses, the Man of God
Psalm 90
In the closing, mysterious scenes of the Revelation, John describes his vision of heaven and of eternal life. He speaks of a sea of glass shining with glory. By this shining sea he tells of those who have lived by faith, and they have harps in their hands and they are singing. He even tells what song they are singing: they are singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. A song of freedom and of God's grace; the final victory, the ultimate Passover Celebration.
I'm not sure of the tune, nor the exact words of that song which maybe one day you and I will join in singing. But Moses has left us a prayer, Psalm 90:
(A Prayer of Moses, the man of God) 1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 3Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. 6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. 7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. 8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. 12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 13 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. 14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. 16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. 17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
In many ways Psalm 90, the prayer of Moses underscores what is vital in a life of faith. And it is not by accident that in many ways the life of John Stark is an exposition of that prayer.
They both (the prayer and the life) speak of God as A DWELLING PLACE - The prayer begins "Lord YOU have been our dwelling place in all generations"
Moses lived in many different places. He started life in a basket, and moved to a palace. Then he became a shepherd, and then came miracles and Exodus and forty years of wilderness. But when he came to sum it up he said 'God is where I live!' "In Him we live and move and have our being," was how Paul said it.
To the man of faith, God is not incidental; not an important add-on. (Psalm 1) And though he himself may not have said it in these words, God was the foundation on which John Stark built a life. John Stark lived on the south shore of Long Island, and here by the bay in Quincy. But he built his house upon a Rock; his HOME was with God, God's people; his family was built into the church and the church is his extended family.
Moses' prayer- and John Stark's life reflected toward God A SENSE OF AWE AND REVERENTIAL FEAR - "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance"
To dwell with God does not mean a glib familiarity. Moses talked with God; he was the servant of God, the friend of God. Remember it was Moses, with Elijah, who met Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. And yet scriptures tell us that as gifted and powerful as Moses was: (Numbers 12:3) "Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth." Moses was the meekest man who ever lived. He knew his own weaknesses.
John Stark was a humble man as well. The center of his focus was others; he was humble almost to a fault. Sometimes he had trouble understanding just how much God loved him. But without wavering, his spirit was right! I never heard a bad word about anyone. I never heard complaint, (except maybe that the fish weren't biting.)
Moses was not an eloquent man. But he was who he was before God! He stood in the gap for others. ("If not, blot my name out of the book!" - what a prayer!)
Moses did not spend a lot of time in the abstract. He was all for applied wisdom:
"Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom"
Moses was not a man of abstraction and theory. He was down- to-earth practical. He accepted advice from his father-in-law. He grew into the task of leading several hundred thousand people.
When it came time for Moses to die he had this advice for Joshua and those who followed him: He said, "Don't get too esoteric in your search to excel. Living in God's will isn't always as complicated as we make it. Actually, what he said was (Deuteronomy 30:11, 14) "This commandment ... is not hidden nor far off. But the word is very near unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." John Stark was one of the most adaptive, practical, imaginative men I ever knew. He could make something out of almost nothing. His inventions were practical. He never wasted anything; he always looked for the simplest, most sensible way to do things. He taught me knots that worked.
Make no mistake: there is beauty in a life of faithfulness: BEAUTY - "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us..." Moses closed his prayer with the petition that God's beauty might be his legacy. And right here I know John Stark would be embarrassed, because I am saying without hesitancy that his was a life that was shot full of beauty.
Oh, I don't know about aesthetics, although a man with any soul has to be moved by the beauty of tides and sun and clouds and waves and water, and John loved just about everything to do with the sea. But I am speaking of the beauty of a humble life lived in total honesty, keeping covenant with wife and children and grandchildren and the beauty of a life that to my mind defined the word "love."
Last Wednesday evening in the church where I am currently doing some part-time ministry a group was seriously discussing the word "love" in the context of covenant relationships. I sat silent as we were reminded of the different definitions of love: "eros" and "philios" and "agape." I heard again, was reminded, that "love is a choice." All true.
But just last Wednesday I sat there in the corner listening to the earnest discussion, and I thought of a "living definition of love" that I can't put into words, but that I went fishing with maybe a hundred times or more across the last 25 years.
How many ways did this humble man define love? John Stark invested his life and love in everyone he could help. He and Henrietta made a very practical difference in the life of one family, Tom and Millie Crawford, in a way that has made a direct impact on my own family. Joy Crawford Metcalfe would probably never have been born but for the love of the Starks. But that, too, is a long story.
John Stark is a definition of love; love as a choice, that goes beyond feeling, beyond expectations, beyond the call of duty. In the greatest trial of his life he came through. If you knew him you know what I mean. If you didn't know him I can't explain it here and how. See me later.
Then, when he was old enough to legitimately sit back and be waited on himself, John Stark for years made a dally trip to Quincy Center to prepare and serve meals to the homeless through the Quincy Crisis Center. That is a legacy of sharing the beauty of the Lord God.
Finally Moses was concerned that he had not lived in vain; he wanted, he prayed for a LEGACY - "... And establish the work of our hands - yes, the work of our hands establish thou it."
In the last words of his prayer, Moses asks God to make his efforts of love last. Don't let my life be wasted, is what he really is asking for. And we know that prayer was answered. Was John Stark's life a plus? Does he leave us a lasting legacy? The answer is with God and with faith. But with all my heart I believe John Stark's legacy will have eternal dividends.
Thank you for sharing your dad and grandpa (and great-grandfather) with all of us! You will miss him deeply. Be sure that the church family will miss John very much, too. But you can count on it, your church family will be praying for you. We will be praising God with you, too, for the beauty of a life well-lived. I am grateful to have counted John Stark as a friend. Carry on his rich legacy! May a double portion of his honesty and integrity fall on each of us.
CLOSING PRAYER