Our dear brother in the Lord, Howard Zerbst, died early this morning after a brief illness. Howard would have celebrated his 90th birthday in September, and really this was the first serious illness of his life. He always gave God thanks for blessing him so deeply; Howard knew from whom all blessings flow.

 

Howard was the chairman of the pastoral call committee 23 years ago when I came to St. John. I always said that "God and Howard" were the reasons I came to here to serve. That was not an overstatement. Howard's faith, personality, and zeal for sharing the joy of Christ were huge attractions for me to this congregation. In no small part, I wanted to be where Howard Zerbst was. I will miss him dearly.

 

Several times in his letters, the Apostle Paul says for others to imitate him, as he imitates Christ. That is to say, Paul knew he was living so closely aligned with the will of God that he provided an appropriate role model for other believers to follow. It's an audacious claim. But in Paul's case, it worked. In Howard's case, it worked, too.

 

Howard Zerbst was one of only a select company of people that I would say, "Imitate him, and you will imitate Christ." But such was Howard's faithfulness.

 

He's now in the eternal hands of his Lord and Savior. But may his faith and life continue to make us all imitators of Christ, and may we serve as appropriate models of the Christian life for those who come after us.

 

Mark