Who Will Preach Your Funeral?
“What are your plans for when retirement ends?”
When asked this question, most people respond with where they plan to live in retirement or mention an activity they are looking forward to enjoying.
“Yes, but when retirement ends, what will you be doing?”
“What do you mean? When retirement ends, I’ll be dead.”
“Exactly right. And what then?”
In truth, many people don’t plan well for life after employment ends. But sadly, even many who have accumulated wealth sufficient for their needs in retirement have given little thought to the afterlife. Some who meticulously prepare for their “sunset years” in their brief time on earth have no clue how they will spend eternity. “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
It is a holy moment to be at the bedside of a dying saint who has prepared well for the world to come. My wife Lori and I were privileged to be among those in the hospital room when, on August 19, 2024, Life in Messiah’s Personnel Director Tim North “slipped the surly bonds of Earth”[1] and was ushered into the presence of the Lord he so loved.
If you didn’t have the privilege of knowing Tim, he was both remarkably ordinary and impressively extraordinary. Ordinary in the sense that he was a “regular guy.” Extraordinary in that God molded him into an amazing vessel for His glory.
Growing up in Port Huron, Michigan, Tim had a younger sister, Pat, who adored him. He loved playing baseball with his buddies and watching Detroit Tigers games with his dad. Tim enjoyed music of all kinds and played the trumpet.
Tim grew up in Griswold Street Baptist, the church planted by his paternal grandfather. Tim’s parents were strong Christians. At age seven, Tim trusted the Lord Jesus to be his personal Savior. His faith was real; apart from ordinary boyhood mischief, Tim avoided both a rebellious youth and sinful habits as his walk with God deepened.
He excelled in school and qualified for the University of Michigan’s dental program. For 20 years, Dr. Timothy J. North DDS kindly and expertly treated patients in his dental office.[2] Even after selling his practice, he “subbed in” for other Michigan dentists for another decade.
Tim was ordinary in the sense that, apart from his college years, he always had a Port Huron address. He was extraordinary in the destinations to which he traveled in service of others. His dental skills were put to use on multiple short-term missions trips to Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America.
Tim’s passion for the cause of global evangelism was extraordinary. In God’s providence, Tim married Carmen Learned, whose family’s ministry in Africa was supported by Griswold Street Baptist Church.[3] Tim served on the missions committee and, after selling his dental practice, became “church MOM”: Minister of Outreach and Missions. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been distributed to missions projects and servants of the Lord to further the cause of Messiah Jesus around the world through GSBC’s Faith Promise giving, which Tim and Carmen championed.
Jewish ministries were included in the church’s missions budget, Life in Messiah among them. It was through that connection that Lori and I first met the Norths when Griswold Street Baptist began supporting our ministry in 1990.
Our personal relationship developed as we spent time together as families, then colleagues. Tim and Carmen ably served on Life in Messiah’s board[4] and in 2004 became our Personnel Directors. In that role, they processed applications, welcomed new recruits, and cared for our staff with regular contact by phone, video calls, and in-person visits. They planned the annual five-day retreats for the Personnel Team, which included a day focused on prayer for each individual serving with Life in Messiah. They also coordinated our quadrennial “Doing LIFE together” staff conferences.
In May, Tim began experiencing stomach pains. By July he was hospitalized for treatment of an advanced tumor. After seven weeks the inoperable stage 4 carcinoma had advanced to the point where he was placed in hospice care. Thankfully, he was able to remain in the same room on the oncology floor for his final week.
The attending medical team at Beaumont Hospital in Troy, MI, demonstrated great care for both Tim and Carmen, even providing a private room so Carmen didn’t have to make the hour-long commute from home. They brought meals and snacks for her and helped celebrate her birthday in July and their 43rd wedding anniversary on August 8.
How would I respond to two months of hospital confinement, dealing with the cascading series of test results that grew only grimmer? We saw firsthand how Tim handled his declining health and strength with incredible grace.
This dear brother who had poured out his life ministering to others in multiple places around the world continued to minister from his bed. His kindness shone as he profusely expressed gratitude to those who cared for him, from the medical specialists to the custodians who emptied his trash. Over the eight weeks, relationships were built to the extent that nurses would stop in to say goodbye and inform when they would next be on shift.
Tim encouraged the hearts of family and friends who came to visit. Even after it was clear that, apart from a miracle of God, his next move would not be back to Port Huron but to heaven, he consoled others who began to grieve the inevitable. “Don’t worry about me. It’s a win either way, if God heals me or takes me home. We are trusting His perfect plan.”
Messages poured in from friends and coworkers around the globe for Tim and Carmen. Everyone assured them of their prayers. Many expressed gratitude for the manifold ways the Norths had blessed them.
Lori and I considered it a high privilege to be able to spend those last days with Tim and Carmen. We laughed as we reminisced over the more than 30 years of spending Memorial Day weekends together. We wept as we considered the loss of Tim’s presence on earth. We comforted one another with the promises of God’s Word and were strengthened in singing the old hymns of our faith.
We marveled at Tim’s fortitude. Even as he grimaced when the meds were insufficient to quell the increasing pain, he never complained. No harsh words or dark glares when he was awakened for his vitals to be taken.
The love of Jesus poured out from Tim on all who entered his presence. And Carmen, though wrestling with the reality that the love of her life was slipping from her, shined the same light that demonstrated the reality of her faith and sufficiency of God’s grace.
Indeed, God’s presence was manifest in that room, as holy a place as any cathedral might be. On the morning of Tim’s homegoing his eyes remained closed, his breathing labored. We had all had our private moments with him while he could still communicate. Gathered around his bedside with his family, Scripture was read, including Psalm 23 in Spanish, English, and Hebrew.
“Tim, you are free to go home. God’s got you. We’ll take care of Carmen.”
We lifted our quavering voices to sing “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” Within moments of the final strain of “Be Thou My Vision,” Tim breathed his last here on earth. Holding Tim’s hand, Carm looked up. “I think he’s gone.”
With neither moan nor groan, gasp nor sigh, our beloved friend and cherished coworker had entered the very presence of the Lord he so loved and served so well.
Among those able to attend Tim’s funeral[5] were three nurses who extensively cared for the Norths in the hospital. Each remarked on the impact Tim and Carmen had made on them during those two months. Indeed, expressions of condolence have been received from across the country and around the world, testifying to the significant legacy left by this ordinary extraordinary man whose life of humility, faith, and obedience touched thousands.
Who will preach your funeral? What will be said about you when your brief days on earth have flown?
Of far greater importance, what will you hear on the other side?
“Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
“Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joys of your reward.”
I pray it’s the latter – which is only made possible by doing what Tim did as a young lad: trusting in Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection to life as our sufficient sacrifice for sin.
Written by Wes, Life in Messiah Global Ambassador
How is your “eternal state planning” going for when “retirement ends”? If unsure, check out https://isos.app/lost-and-regained/.
Flowers at funerals are not enjoyed by the dearly departed. Who would be blessed by your expression TODAY of gratitude for their impact on your life?
Have you considered the importance of “member care” in ministry? Prayerfully consider making a donation designated “LIFE Personnel” in honor of Tim North. Funds will be used to bless and encourage our workers on the field.
Endnotes:
[1] From “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee Jr.
[2] “Crown Him with Many Crowns” would be a great hymn for dentists; years ago Tim provided that service for me when I had an issue with a tooth while visiting Port Huron.
[3] George Learned, Carmen’s dad, was led to the Lord through friends at GSBC. He and his wife, Millie, were friends of Tim’s parents, Bert and Carmen North – so much so, that when the Learneds’ twin daughters were born, they named one Carmen. For two decades, Tim’s folks sent in monthly donations to Sudan Interior Missions for Carmen’s support.
[4] Tim joined in 1993 and Carmen in in 1999.
[5] As of this writing, over 2,600 have viewed the streamed service or its recording, which can be found at https://fb.watch/ugztyyuBAI/.