Tribute to Sam Parsons
Our dear brother and Worship Leader Sam Parsons kept the faith and has finished his course. After a fifteen month battle with stage four pancreatic cancer, God called him home. Even though we mourn with his family, we grieve not as others who have no hope for Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life…though he were dead, yet shall he live.
Sam was a man of God… absolutely. A man of God is God’s man. He understood that our identity is not in who we are but in whose we are. His was a life well lived to the honor and glory of his Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said that the works that I do shall ye do also and greater works shall he do because I go unto my father. Sam lived his life as a follower of Christ. Jesus’ mission statement was summarized in Isaiah 61:1-3, which Jesus quoted in Luke at the beginning of his ministry: “THE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
Sam personified this passage in Isaiah. He was called of God to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. He ministered to the elderly in nursing homes to bind up the spiritual and emotional wounds of the broken hearted. He sang familiar old songs as well as songs of the faith. He always had a word of encouragement and shared the gospel of salvation and the hope of the resurrection.
Pete and Sam were called together over twenty three years ago to preach and to lead worship. Sam had a shepherd’s heart. His joy was to sing praises to his Lord and to proclaim the gospel message. He set the captives free by demonstrating the liberty we have in Christ. According to Galatians 5, Liberty is not an occasion to sin, but to serve one another in love.
The gospel is both bad news and good news. Sam’s calling was to proclaim the good news of his Lord Jesus Christ. Pete’s granddaughter asked him why God allowed her grandmother Suzan to die instead of healing her from cancer. God reminds us that healing will be either in this life or the next. Romans 8:18 says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
One man in our Irvine band of brothers had a stroke several years ago. He was surprised when Sam came into his hospital room with his guitar. He sang five worship songs and prayed with him. The nurses wept tears of joy while they all sang praises to God.
Many men in our lives teach us how to walk with the Lord and please him. Men of God also teach us how to die in Christ….to finish well. It is appointed for all men once to die and then comes the judgement. For follows of Jesus Christ the judgement is a righteous judgement, for he who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Sam taught us how to pray and how to praise. Prayer is to align our heart with God’s heart and our will with His will. When our delight is His delight, He will give us the desires of our heart. Praise is the outpouring of a heart of love and gratitude. Sam taught us the meaning of the words of an old hymn: Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise. He taught us how to tune our hearts in prayer and praise to God’s “resonant frequency” that will resound into eternity.
Sam will be missed. However we rejoice in the hope that we will see him again. The words “eulogy” and “benediction” have a similar meaning. One word is from Greek and the other is from Latin but they both literally mean “good word” in English. A benediction is a good word of blessing to the one who is leaving. The phrase “good bye” in English is a benediction. Good-bye is a contraction from the Old English meaning “God be with you ’til we meet again.” Good bye dear brother Sam.
As Sam’s life was a living epistle, God’s love letter known and read of all men, May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael