3:16 | Sermon for Warren Charles Dressler

Pastor Jeff Alexander | 06.28.08 | Mount Olive Lutheran Church

At 3:16 a.m. on Wednesday, Warren left this life he loved to be in the presence of the Jesus he loved all the more.

3:16.

How fitting.

Warren was a 3:16 kind of guy.

John chapter 3 verse 16.

The Gospel in a nutshell.

The bottom line.

The heart of it all.

The most treasured verse in all of Scripture:

For God so loved the world

That He gave His one and only Son

That whoever believes in Him

Shall not perish but have eternal life.

Warren was a 3:16 kind of guy.

Warren loved, didn’t he? Boy, did Warren love!

Somehow, someway, it seemed that he always had more than enough love to go around. Somehow, someway, that love never seemed to run out. In so many different ways, every face that graced this place last night and every face filling this place today bears witness to the love Warren had.

Amazing.

And though we’ve all been privileged to receive Warren’s love, his love was most beautifully evident in the love he had for you, his family.

Warren so loved you, Doris and Wally, his parents. You were the ones who brought him into this world and brought him to the cleansing waters of Baptism. You were the ones who planted the seed of God’s Word in his life and whispered the Gospel promises into his ears from the time he was an infant to the final days he had on this earth.

Warren so loved you…and so does Jesus!

Warren so loved you, Linda and Karen, his sisters. I know your memories of times with your brother are probably worthy of publishing and mass distribution! You were three “preacher’s kids” and I know how that really binds kids together.

Warren so loved you…and so does Jesus!

Warren so loved you, Michael. I am sure that your memories of being on his lap and at his side are ones you will cherish forever. You are a special son to Warren, and your wife, Amanda, became a wonderful daughter-in-law to him, too.

Warren so loved you…and so does Jesus!

Warren so loved you, Johnny. You are your daddy’s big girl, his favorite vocalist and the actress who touched his heart with your talents. You are his darling high school graduate and, now, his favorite freshman all over again.

Warren so loved you…and so does Jesus!

Warren so loved you, Sydney. You are your daddy’s little girl, his favorite drummer and, perhaps, second only to him as the World’s Best Hugger! Your songs of praise to Jesus always warmed your dad’s heart and not only made him so proud, but also helped him to “do all things through Him who gives you strength” (Philippians 4:13).

Warren so loved you…and so does Jesus!

Warren so loved you, Suzy Q, his wife of nearly 20 years. You are his fellow tuxedo-wearing partner in crime and partner in reaching the world for Jesus. You taught him everything he knew about cooking up culinary creations and everything he knew about singing like an American Idol superstar! I am not alone when I say that I have never seen a couple love each other and love Jesus the way you and Warren do. Amazing.

Warren so loved you…and so does Jesus!

So many people wanted to tap into that love Warren had to share. And I thank you, his family, for sharing Warren with all of us. Thank you for letting us all experience that love.

Warren loved so much that he gave. He was always loving by giving.

In fact, he would drop everything (including his keys and cell phone, time and time again!) to leave what he was doing to go off and give love to someone who needed it.

Whether that be leading the people of God here at Mount Olive in passionate worship;

or teaching children how to sing praises to Jesus;

or heading out on mission trips throughout our country, and also to places like Honduras and Nicaragua;

or talking with the downtrodden and homeless;

or praying with kids at their school;

or “pit dad-ing it” with the Center Grove Marching Band;

or sharing some love with the nightshift employees at the gas station;

or “working on” the grocery store attendants;

or dishing out his world famous hugs…the list could go on and on…and on!

Warren so loved this world that he gave.

And so many of us are blessed because of it.

So many of us wanted so desperately to tap into that contagious love he had to share.

The love that could take the bad, and make it good.

The love that could take the broken, and make it whole.

The love that could take a mess, and make it beautiful.

Warren was that kind of guy. That kind of saint. That kind of hero.

Warren had that kind of love.

Do you know where he got it?

It’s no secret. It came from God Himself.

Warren was able to love so much because Warren is loved so much.

Warren was able to give so much because Warren has been given so much.

For God so loved the world

That He gave His one and only Son

That whoever believes in Him

Shall not perish but have eternal life.

God’s love in Jesus Christ was so much more than an example for Warren.

It was, and still is, his everything.

At 3:16 a.m. on Wednesday, God made good on his 3:16 promise to give eternal life to Warren.

God said at that hour:

No more tears. No more suffering. No more cancer.

Only love.

Only perfect, indescribable, uncontainable, unfathomable, imaginable love.

That which Warren gave us such a beautiful taste and preview of through his life here on earth, he now experiences in full, complete, heavenly joy.

Warren now experiences the fullness of God’s love for him in Jesus Christ.

Why?

Because Warren was a 3:16 kind of guy.

He was the first to admit that he could never do enough to earn or deserve God’s love. As good, as great of a guy that Warren was, no word of kindness, no song of praise, no action of love could ever earn him the heaven he now has.

And the same is true for you and for me.

No word of kindness, no song of praise, no action of love can ever earn the heaven God wants you to have.

Warren is experiencing eternal life because God so deeply loved Warren that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, for Warren.

To die as his substitute and sin-bearer when He went to the Good Friday cross.

To rise back to life as his Savior, healer and restorer when He came out of the Easter tomb.

Warren believed. Warren trusted. Warren loved that Jesus, baby!

And that’s why Warren hasn’t lost anything. Warren couldn’t lose, wouldn’t lose, and has not lost.

He has only gained.

Don’t take that from me. Listen to Warren himself in his Caring Bridge journal entry from January 9, 2008:

Our sermon Sunday was about courageous joy... joy in life and joy in the face of death. Paul writes (Philippians 1:19-26, The Message):

“I am going to keep the celebration going because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything He wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail (or, in my case, with my disease) only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They (the Roman government or in my case, this disease) havn't shut me up; they’ve given me a pulpit to speak from! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dead, I'm His bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose.”

I can't lose... it's a win-win situation. I know all the prayers and tears and heartaches that are being generated because of my situation, but it is my hope and utmost prayer that you will be able to see through it all and see the joy and love that is being created as a result...and most importantly to share it. Touch someone else's life with it.

“Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.”

Because of Jesus Christ, Warren lives on today in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Because of Jesus Christ, Warren looks forward to the same Day that we also look forward to: the Day when Jesus returns in all His glory to call forth the living and the dead and to give perfect, eternal life and love to all who trust in Him.

Warren was, and still is, a 3:16 kind of guy.

And so, what would Warren’s wish be for us today?

I think we know the answer.

Warren wanted more love for God and more love for each other.

Warren wanted you to know and to receive that perfect love of God in Jesus Christ.

Several weeks ago, while I was with Warren at the hospital waiting for CT scan, he and I got to talking about Jesus and Rich Mullins and orange Crocs and ancient hymnody and the theology of the visible and invisible Church (in no particular order). During the conversation, Warren made a comment to me about how we in the church always seem to take the simple things and make them complex, when we really should be doing the opposite. We talked about our longing for the Church to be about loving God and loving people as God loves them.

After the CT scan, as Warren was being taken back to his room, the orderly looked at a book I was holding and that Warren was reading about the Apostle Paul. She asked what it was about. We said that it was about the life of Paul.

She said, “Who’s he? Does he live around here? What’s his last name?”

No idea.

No idea about the complex things.

Warren then kept it simple.

He looked up at her, pointed his index finger toward her, and said, “Here’s what really matters. Jesus loves you, baby. Jesus loves you.”

Warren was a 3:16 kind of guy.

And Warren wanted so deeply—with all his heart, soul, mind and strength—to give that love of Jesus to people like you and me.

Today, my hope and prayer is that you know and receive and trust that love of Jesus.

If you’d like to talk more about it, I would be honored to have that conversation. Warren has so deeply impacted us in this place that we want to be a 3:16 kind of church.

We love you because God loves you. And because God has given you His everything in His Son, Jesus Christ, we want to give you that love He has for you.

So, before you know anything else.

And while you go through life learning a lot about everything else.

And even after you may be tempted to think you know all there is to know.

Don’t forget the heart of it all. John chapter 3 verse 16:

For God so loved the world

That He gave His one and only Son

That whoever believes in Him

Shall not perish but have eternal life.

Warren was a 3:16 kind of guy.

And because of that, he loved to say and will keep on saying:

Jesus loves you, baby…and so do I!

May the Man in your life...be a 3:16....May that man be right above...your husband.