sermons | Pure Piano By Jeff Bjorck

The following are sermons I have preached over the years. I hope they are an encouragement.

To stream with a player that allows you to back up a bit or go forward a bit within a given track, click a blue link below for streaming MP3. These are big files so it will take a minute to load.

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Tribute to Ray Anderson

I was honored to give a tribute at the funeral of my dear friend Ray Anderson on June 27th, 2009; and I included an excerpt of a lecture he had taped for the class we taught together from 1992 to 2000. Below is my written tribute. In addition, a number of people asked to hear the lecture. Because this lecture is integral to this class (which I have continued to teach alone), and because it is deeply special to me, I would ask that you not copy the audio files. However, you are free to listen to both the excerpt that was played at the memorial service, as well as the full lecture. (The excerpt is inside my tribute, and the full lecture is below it.) I pray that it is an encouragement to you as it is to my students each year. This is just one way that Ray will continue to speak to us.

Eulogy

I am honored and a bit overwhelmed to give my tribute to Ray. For most of my 19 years on the psychology faculty at Fuller Seminary, he was my esteemed colleague and my dear friend. Thus, I am grieving deeply, and I want to convey my most profound sympathies to Ray’s family and all of us who called Ray our friend.

Clearly, I could spend many days speaking of Ray’s professional accomplishments as a prolific writer, teacher, pastor, and theologian, and the lesser known fact that he wrote beautiful poetry. But, while we all admired Ray’s accomplishments, it was Ray whom we loved. Thus, I would like to share with you two more personal things. First, I will share portions of a letter I sent to Ray several months ago and read a few quotes from his 2008 book on The Seasons of Hope. Second, I would like to give you each the opportunity to share in the immense privilege I had to be in class with Ray. I was the other professor, but I also learned much! First, here are several excerpts from my letter to Ray.

April 3, 09

Dear Ray,

[As part of this letter,] I want to document some of the many ways in which you have touched my life, for you have done so deeply and frequently...In the spring of 1992...I was invited to co-teach [a course] with you...framed around your book, Christians Who Counsel...It was one of the best decisions I ever made...The eight years of our teaching that class together remain the high point of my teaching at Fuller.

Our in-class dialogues became a highlight of the course for me, as we modeled to the students that Christians could sometimes disagree, sometimes even strongly and substantively, while still holding mutual respect. Needless to say, I learned much from you over those eight years, and I am convinced that those lessons have been formative in my development--not only as a Christian but also as a psychologist.

Our continued dialogues to this day are precious to me as well as just plain fun! I could go on and on, recounting many other ways in which you have influenced my life with your kindness and wisdom. I could speak of the letters you wrote supporting my promotions and tenure. I could speak of the wonderful personal letter you wrote me for my 40th birthday. I could mention your willingness to have lunch with me in this past year even though I realize that such excursions were not without their physical challenges and fatigue. Rather than simply continuing to list such things, however, let me close by expressing my deepest respect, thanks, and love for you, Ray. My prayer is that, in some small way, this letter serves to encourage you by showing some of the impact you have had on just one other human being. Multiply that impact by all the thousands of people whom you have touched, and you might begin to have an appreciation of your legacy. God has used you in amazing ways thus far to further His Kingdom. May He continue to bless you and work through you, as I am sure He will!

You won’t be surprised that Ray quickly wrote me a wonderful e-mail thank-you. Every time I spoke with him, including just a couple weeks before he left us, Ray continued to be gracious, articulate, genuine, and even maintained a sense of humor. For example, when I wrote him in late April and asked how life was going in the trenches, he shot back the following:

“Ah, still in the trench! But that's better than sticking one's head up at the wrong time...! Still moving toward hope, only with a walker and wheel chair now.”

Ray was referring to our shared love of hope, and I commend his 2008 book on The Seasons of Hope to each of you. It is full of Andersonian gems like the following:

“We are only fooling ourselves when we attach hope to possessions. Hope is strongest when it is least dependent upon the results of our own efforts.” (p. 77)

Ray also clarifies the source of hope:

“It is the vine, not the branches, that carries the burden of hope.” (p. 78).

Later, he writes,

“Hope is not something that exists somewhere outside of and beyond our earthly life. Rather, hope is God’s salvation that can be ‘brought home’ to us in our present time, even as a sacrament or sign of an eternal hope that overcomes and transforms our mortal life.” (p. 104)

Ray also acknowledges that hope can have a sorrowful side:

“Embracing the tragic element imbedded in hope at the beginning is not to lose hope but to have hope that endures loss.” (p. 118)

Indeed, Ray acknowledged that sometimes we, like Abraham, must "hope against hope.” He writes:

“‘Hoping against hope’ is the reach of the human spirit for the promises of God as inspired by the spirit of God.” (p. 134)

Ultimately, Ray’s hope was ‘built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness,’ as the old hymn goes, and for this we can rejoice, even as we mourn.

And now, let me invite you into our classroom together. In the fall of 2000, our final year of teaching together, Ray developed a hip problem that forced him to miss some classes for the first time in his teaching career, which spanned 24 years at that time. I knew that students each year especially valued his lecture on destiny, where he helped them to be freed from anxiety regarding whether they had discerned the right calling or career choice. So I asked if he might make a tape. Undaunted by his hip problem, Ray obliged, recording the entire 37-minute lecture flat on his back at home. I hope the following edited excerpts will give you a feel for the wonder of being in his classroom.

Click to hear excerpt of Dr. Anderson's lecture

Today, as we grieve together, we can also be glad that Ray met his destiny much as he had hoped. That was his final lecture in our class, but he went on to write more books and teach many other classes, and when he taught his final courses for Fuller less than a year ago, well over 200 students rushed to enroll. He also continued teaching his beloved Sunday School class well into this year. Through his writings and our memories, I am sure Ray will continue to teach many of us for years to come. As I quoted earlier, Ray has reminded us, “hope is God’s salvation that can be ‘brought home’ to us in our present time, even as a sacrament or sign of an eternal hope that overcomes and transforms our mortal life.” Today, I really need that hope because I miss my friend.