Magyar Egyház, 1979 (58. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-01-01 / 1. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ MAGYAR SERMON AT THE FUNERAL SERVICE OF THE LATE RT. REV. DR. ZOLTÁN BEKY, BISHOP EMERITUS November 30th, 1978, Thursday, 2 P.M. in the Trenton, N. J. Church (died Nov. 26, 1978, in Washington, D. C.) Text: “Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, 0 Lord, hear my voice” Psalm 130:1 Churches usually are built on high points of villages and towns and often, to go to church meant for the people of the community that they had to go up to the church, the House of the Lord. Even where there is no high elevation point in the area, still the church represents something elevated in the life of the people and when they think and speak of the Tabernacle of God of the Most High, they associate it with solemn feelings, when the prayers and praises of God give wings to their emotions: they feel, that their hearts are lifted up and thoughts fly high searching The Creator, The Almighty Lord. But, today our feelings are quite different, the church bells in Trenton, N. J., toll with a muffled sound, spreading in the cold wintery air, the news of sadness and sorrow, that the former pastor of this church has been called home by our Eternal Heavenly Father. The voice of the servant of the Lord has been silenced, and will speak no more to his loved ones and members and friends of the congregation. The strains of the organ prepare our hearts and souls for the final farewell, when all present at this memorial service can sense from the tone of the hymns, the sadness and sorrow that fills every heart. We cry out today with the Psalmist, “Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, 0 Lord.” Indeed, everyone who came to attend this memorial service and pay their last respects to the late Rt. Rev. Dr. Zoltán Bcky, our beloved Bishop, is touched with the CHURCH deepest sympathy and with heartfelt emotions, that are so difficult to utter and express in human words. I. I don’t know how many of you have felt the “depths” of grief at various points in your life. When you experienced what the Psalmist wished to convey, when he says in the Bible “Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, 0 Lord”. When Almighty God prepares our soul for the great journey, from the land of mortals, to the land of immortality, from the place of corruption to the kingdom of incorruption, from the land of dishonor to the land of glory and light, we often must go through trials and tribulations, when we feel, that we have reached the deepest depth of the ocean of our life. But how many times we experience the mighty hand of God, the healing power of our Savior, and after the difficult times are passed, and the trials are over, we are grateful to God, who has brought us out of the depth of our afflictions and tribulations. Regardless how many trials you have had, how many times you sensed the depth of painful emotions in your soul, the deepest depths are only reached when God calls home a loved one. Who can explain the depth of grief, in the heart of a beloved wife, when the husband is called home by Almighty God, or the children, when a loving father will he among them no more. Or the grandchildren, when this grief touches the little hearts of the young ones, who are so unprepared to meet the storms of life and the billowy waves of the ocean. Is there anyone in this church todav who would not feel the true meaning of the word of God. or sense the depth that the Psalmist is speaking of? Is there a person here who never walked in the valley of the shadow of death? Not only the members of this church, hut every member of our denomination, the Hungarian Reformed Church in America, and Reformed Christians, not only in this country but throughout the whole world, cry out of the depth of sorrow and grief, over the passing of Bishop Zoltán Beky: “Hear our prayer O God.”
