Calvary Road Baptist Church

“THE MEMORIAL SERVICE OF ARCHIE FRENCH”

Proverbs 20.7 

Let me apologize in advance for injecting myself into this memorial service for your father, grandfather, father-in-law, and friend. But he and I were very close for almost forty years. Archie and Shirley French were here when my wife and I arrived at this Church in November 1985 as the pastor of this Church. They were astonishingly supportive.

Shirley was my daughter’s virtual grandmother, and Archie was her virtual grandpa, who she greeted and hugged three times a week her whole life. My wife had the cherished privilege of bringing Dr. French to Church three times a week until he became too week.

I apologize for being unable to pretend he was not like the many beloved family members whose memorials I have presided over. And I thank you for the opportunity afforded me to honor this man who was described by a Gospel minister who knew him and said to me yesterday, “Archie French is the man who comes to my mind when I consider the Biblical qualifications of a deacon.”

Since the Protestant Reformation, memorial services have served different purposes. Funerals used to be when prayers for the dead by a priest were paid for and then offered up in an attempt to rescue departed loved ones from purgatory. That is not something we do. The founder of Forest Lawn succeeded in transforming these occasions into what he called “celebrations of life,” diminishing to some degree the horror of our last enemy, death.

But from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries, events such as these were primarily seen in the Christian community as opportunities for bringing to the attention of unbelieving family members and friends issues they preferred to ignore, the mortality of every individual, the certainty of death, along with the hope that the gentle sharing of the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ would be used by God to draw sinners to our precious Savior.

Families don’t usually need memorial services to grieve the loss of loved ones. They do that at home, sometimes sharing funny stories in between the tears and the sense of loss. So we who are not family thank you for thinking of us. And we who are believers appreciate this opportunity to minister grace to everyone who is here. The man who witnessed to every person he got into a dental chair would appreciate that.

May I suggest we spend a few moments considering perspective? It has to do with your point of view as you reflect on and seek to ponder and appreciate Archie French. Of course, most importantly, there is the perspective of his cherished family. He is your dad. He is your father-in-law. He is your grandpa. Perhaps he is your uncle. That is the perspective of family, by blood or by marriage.

Then there is Archie French from the perspective of his profession. Are you a towering figure in your field? Perhaps you are, but it is not likely that you are the kind of towering figure in your profession Archie was in his chosen field. And that’s okay. That he was a respected colleague or employer is just fine.

Finally, there is Archie French from the perspective of the family of God, and in particular his Church. He was among the kindest men we have ever known. He was a constant and faithful servant, and I so much appreciate C. R. Rigali continuing to make a way for Archie to serve long after his ability to serve effectively had passed. And for the men who covered for him, so he could serve without his diminished abilities and would be covered by a younger man ready to step up. Sunday school teacher, usher, and deacon. The people he blessed, professionally and personally, are too numerous to recount.

These more obvious considerations expressed, there is another way of reflecting on and seeking to appreciate this Christian man, Archie French. That is by using other important perspective considerations. Of course, all of this should be understood in light of God’s overarching Providence in his life.

His time of birth is the consequence of God’s Providence. Why was he born at that time and not another time? His place of birth. Why there and not Ethiopia? His parents. His siblings. I could go on and on, 1but let me settle on the perspectives of four considerations with which to reflect on, get to know him better than perhaps you do, and appreciate this cherished but now departed Christian gentleman. Archie French was a man, just as Shirley was a woman, identifiers I am careful to use, if you know me at all. 

First, THE PERSPECTIVE OFFERED BY GENERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS 

You don’t know Archie French as well as you might (and I am not suggesting I will ever know him as well as you do), without recognizing him in the context of his generational cohort. He was not a G. I. Generation person who fought in or was of the generation that fought in World War Two, now referred to as “the greatest generation” by some.

Do not doubt that being a member of “the Silent Generation,” younger than the G. I. Generation and older than the Boomer Generation, though he did serve in the armed forces, greatly affected his personality, his values, his self-image, and many of the choices he made in the course of his life.

I suggest that your appreciation of him will grow as you reflect on and become more informed about his generation, how the Depression and World War Two affected his growth to adulthood, and perhaps how the Cold War and tragic events during his earlier adulthood left their mark on him. 

Next, THE PERSPECTIVE OFFERED BY POVERTY CONSIDERATIONS 

It is one thing to know someone who grew up experiencing grinding poverty, but it is quite another thing to have experienced grinding poverty yourself. Archie grew up poor. If you know about poverty, it is unlikely you know poverty from experience as he did.

Here is one illustration that may trigger a memory for you to use to better appreciate Archie’s early life situation so you can relate it more fully to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My dad was only a couple of years older than Archie, but he, too, knew poverty, the poverty of the infamous Dust Bowl. I knew my dad grew up poor, but since I did not know what I knew about, I did not know myself. But I appreciated it more when I took him to a Getty Museum exhibit with photographs of poverty in the Dust Bowl. Entering a room and turning to his left, my dad was surprised to see a dirty little diapered boy sitting in the dirt and holding a washboard. The scene was so poignant my dad recoiled as if he had been punched in the stomach.

That event did not give me any understanding of my dad’s poverty as a child. But it did make me somewhat more appreciative. Perhaps such a clue to what life was like for Archie as a child, before God gave him such marital, professional, and other forms of success, will deepen an appreciation of what God graciously accomplished in his life. 

Third, THE PERSPECTIVE OFFERED BY PROVIDENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS 

Everything I have said to this point is related to God’s Providence. But I am now moving from a secular to a spiritually oriented point of view.

I use the word providence, but what do I mean by the word? By providence, I refer to the unseen hand of the invisible God, working in people’s lives to accomplish His will. And who could deny the Providence of God in Archie French’s life? Only the person who will not see. 

Finally, THE PERSPECTIVE OFFERED BY GRACE CONSIDERATIONS 

Moving from a spiritual orientation to a, more specifically, Gospel of God’s grace orientation.

Archie and Shirley attended an Amway event for those here who are unfamiliar. One of the speakers introduced himself as a “spud picker from Idaho,” immediately grabbing Archie and Shirley’s attention. God used that man’s testimony about his relationship with Christ to persuade Archie that the claims of Jesus Christ in the Bible were valid, and he trusted the Savior.

From a Divine perspective, here is what happened: The Author of saving faith is the Holy Spirit, who is labeled the “spirit of faith” in Second Corinthians 4.13. The tool used by the Spirit of God in a sinner’s life is the Word of God, James 1.18: 

“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.” 

The means of the Bible’s use is referred to in Romans 10.17: 

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” 

The graciousness of God’s giving of faith as a gift is shown in Ephesians 2.8: 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” 

Thus, the Spirit of God gives faith to a sinner through preaching God’s Word, and the sinner then trusts Jesus with the faith he has been given. God gives the gift of faith so that through faith, He might give the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The result? God uses the faith in Christ imparted to the sinner to justify the sinner, Romans 5.1: 

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Archie’s sons saw the before and after. My experience was only with the after. But what was the after that I saw, from a pastoral perspective? I think it is wonderfully summed up in Proverbs 20.7: 

“The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.” 

I did not see sinless perfection. There is no such thing. What I did see was an abundance of humility, as an almost constant character trait. Then, there was always an impish joy and sense of humor. And kindness. And, O, what toughness they both had. I saw him brokenhearted and weeping, and it distressed me to see him sinned against so thoughtlessly. But I repeatedly saw him surrender to the Lord in prayer, giving over those wrongs done to him to his gracious heavenly Father for comfort and the return of his joy. The loss of his precious wife was the most difficult challenge of his Christian experience. But God’s grace was sufficient for him, and God showed through Archie that He is the God of all comfort. And his love for the Savior was triumphant. 

My father passed two years ago. Though I prayed for him and witnessed to him, I am saddened that he likely passed to eternity as a lost man. You sons were raised by a lost man and his lost wife. But you were witnesses of the dramatic impact on their lives the Savior had and the assurance God gave you as He gave assurance to the Apostle Paul about the Thessalonian Christians.

Paul knew the Thessalonians were the elect of God, not because of how he felt about them or how they felt about themselves, but from his observations of their work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope, First Thessalonians chapter one. From those observations, he was no doubt thrilled to write, 

“Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” 

And that is precisely what was so prominent in your dad’s life and your mom’s. They were examples of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of hope. They excelled in witnessing to the lost, lovingly ministering to the saints, and anticipating their Lord’s return.

How thankful I am sure you must be for such parents. And how thankful you must be that your dad’s time of suffering has passed, and he is in not only a better place, but he is in the best place.

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church