Early in May, I officiated at the funeral service for Wendell Smith. He was 90 years old and had been an active member of our congregation in Madison for all but a brief time since the congregation started in 1958. His life speaks to what it means for a Christian to faithfully serve the Lord.
The funeral was held in our church building, which Wendell had a large part in building in 1958. He also played a part in the decision to start the congregation. It was the first time I conducted a funeral in a building constructed by the person being remembered. Among the stories he told over the years about that construction project was how he laid the brick for the building. He had never laid brick before, but did so expertly, taking to the task with his usual attentiveness to detail, making sure the job was done right.
That is the kind of building that God wants us to do with our lives and that Wendell demonstrated consistently with his life. Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 to be careful how we build “for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” We are to build our lives on Jesus Christ. He alone is the foundation we should build on.
From the time that Wendell walked down the aisle of his home church in Jamestown, Indiana, as a young man and gave his life to Christ, he faithfully followed Christ for nearly 80 years. The foundation of his life was Jesus Christ, and Wendell worked to honor Christ.
Wendell was a woodworker. He made many things with his hands and demonstrated through them how to build our lives with Jesus Christ as the foundation, Among them were various items that he made for our church building and for people. Here is a sampling:
One of Wendell’s district managers for the insurance company he worked for before retiring in 1984 told us at the funeral about a grandfather clock that Wendell built for he and his wife. A few years ago, he made a small clock for my wife and I that sits on the desk in my office. He made many of those clocks for people. Wendell did things like that to bless people, doing what Paul commands: “make the most of every opportunity.” Now the clock has run out on his life on this earth, but his influence remains, and he reminds me that we should leave things behind that will be a lasting influence on others.
We have a directory board that Wendell made in our church building with pictures of the people in our congregation. Wendell and his wife, Helen, have been committed to the people of our congregation for all these years. The people of our congregation have been their family. They demonstrated faithfulness to the church over the years, staying active in the congregation through good times and bad, because you stay with family.
We have two candelabras in our building that Wendell made and that we use for Christmas Eve and Good Friday services, weddings, and on other occasions. He also made candelabras for other churches and has them scattered in churches across Wisconsin. Candles are important to those of us who follow Christ, because they are a visual representation of the light of Christ. Jesus is described in Scripture as the “light of the world” who came into the darkness to save us. When we light candles in our churches, they can remind us to live our lives by the light of Christ.
Wendell made our pulpit a few years ago. I generally do not preach from a pulpit, but it is still a reminder of the importance of preaching and teaching the Word of God. Through the preaching of the Word of God, we learn the truth of God and receive encouragement to live by it. We should work at making sure our churches are Bible believing and Bible preaching churches.
The cross at the front of our worship center and our communion table were both made by Wendell. The cross, of course, is the very essence of Christianity. Jesus came into our world to go to the cross and redeem us from our sins. We remember Jesus’ death every time that we take communion, so our communion table has been central to the worship of our congregation from the time that Wendell built it.
You may not be able to build a church building or furnishings for a church building, but you need to build your life on Jesus, and we need to help others build their lives on Jesus Christ. I hope that is what your legacy will be.
