In Memory of Scottie Houghton

A great civil rights leader was gunned down and died forty years ago on this day. As our nation collectively memorializes a great man who lived for justice and peace, a man who gave a voice to the voiceless, a man who stood up for the rights of the oppressed, a man named Martin Luther King, as so many are remembering him another man quietly went to be with the Lord.

I got to know Scott Houghton while he was living at the Kansas City Rescue Mission. Over time he became a member of our church...a part of our family. He fell asleep in the Lord this morning. Years of living in brokenness ultimately broke his body and devoured his liver and kidneys. Becoming a follower of Jesus didn't take away this physical decay - at least not in this age, but we look forward to the age to come. I'm officiating his memorial serivce at the Rescue Mission tomorrow. This is in memory of Scottie. [ I have to thank my friend Brian Postlewait because he gave the basic thoughts and structure to this memorial message. ]

Jesus had lots of interesting encounters with lots of interesting people during His earthly journey. And thankfully some of these encounters have been recorded for us in the New Testament. It is in these encounters that we begin to see who this Jesus is and what His mission is really all about. One such rendezvous that has really stuck in my mind recently is the conversation that Jesus had with a man named Nicodemus. Now, Nicodemus was a Pharisee…who was a part of the ruling counsel. In other words, he had money, influence and power. Yet, something about Jesus struck him. He wanted to go talk to Jesus, but there was no way that he was going to go in broad daylight…someone might see him, it could ruin his reputation, it could get him kicked off the counsel…so he decides to go see Jesus at night…in the dark.

Jesus starts talking to him about crazy stuff…like being born again…being born of the Spirit…a Son who has come from heaven to teach us heavenly things. But, Nicodemus just can’t understand what Jesus is talking about because he is still in the dark…and then Jesus says some of the most famous words ever recorded:

John 3:16-21 NIV:

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Jesus clearly reveals His mission here. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Folks, Death is not our friend. Yet we all know that death will come. For some of us sooner than others. For some in seasons of peace and remembrance after many long years of life, for others unexpectedly, but it is certain it will come for us all. Doctors tell us that the human body begins to turn from the growth process to a process of decay around our mid twenties. We can do things that speed that along or we can try to slow that down, but we cannot stop our bodies from decaying. How easy it is for us brush aside this inevitable reality until one close to us experiences what we will all experience. Death is not our friend.

It is not our friend because God did not intend for it to be this way. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. This is the same God who brought order out of chaos and formed man and woman in His own image. He created us out of dust and then breathe the breath of life into us. He breathed the life of His Spirit into us. We were supposed to live and grow and enjoy the goodness of God’s creation. Yet now we are all in the same boat – stuck with a curse of our own devises.

No, death is no friend of ours. Death and darkness are enemies...our greatest adversaries. Jesus knew this. Remember when Jesus hears that his dear friend Lazarus’s has died. He goes to the tomb, knowing that he will raise him – but John records that Jesus was deeply moved and troubled in spirit…Jesus wept. He is consumed with grief, because this just isn’t the way life is suppose to be. But the light cries into the darkness and says, “Lazarus, come out!” Well, you know the rest of the story.

Scott knew that death is our enemy. We went to visit Scott at the hospital during those last days – he picked up the bible that was ever by his hospital bed and one of the first things he said to me was, I’ve got the sword of truth…I’m doing battle with the enemy. And he was…he was.

Those who have life in Jesus are not condemned; but those who do not have life in him are condemned already. You see what is more tragic than the inescapable reality of our natural death, is the sad but profoundly true reality that many begin dying long before their death. I’m not talking about illness here. I’m talking about the fact that many people, and it is not such a difficult thing to do, many people, like Nicodemous, live in the darkness rather than the light. And if you are living in the darkness, though the signs of physical death are not always evident, a spiritual, mental, social, death is already at work in your life. Let’s be honest. Many of us have walked on the path of darkness for such a long time that even when we find the light, we still have to deal with some of the physical and relational consequences of being in the dark so long.

We can live for wealth or influence or power, like Nicodemous, but if we do…we’re still in the dark. We deceive ourselves if we believe that living is about pursuing success or fame or fortune. We deceive ourselves if we believe that happiness can be found in such things. Unforgiveness, anger, hatred, violence, are not signs that we are still living; they are signs that we may already be dead. More tragic than the inescapable reality of our natural death, is this reality that we risk the possibility of dying long before we ever die. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light.

For all that do evil hate the light and do not come into the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.

Here is the good news, folks, because as surely as death may set in for us long before our bodies decay, life, good life, the Godly life, the life of the light rather than the false life of the darkness, eternal life, life everlasting also begins before we die. And that, Brothers and sisters is the testimony of the life of Scottie. Death is our enemy, yet we are given hope for eternal life, and it starts long before our bodies lay still. Scott found that life and light in his Lord and Leader Jesus Christ.

You see, Scottie Houghton was a Saint of God. The world may not have noticed him for any grand achievements, yet after becoming a follower of Jesus - he managed to live a life that many, many people fail to live. He lived a life of loving service, a life of redemption. Where family may have been far away God gave him a family – right here at the Kansas City Rescue Mission and at New Hope Church. He battled many things in his life, but he fought that battle through the Word of God. His was a life of hope for a better world. That is why he willingly went to serve others in Mississippi and longed to return to help those who were hurting and broken.

It was on that trip to Gautier, Mississippi that I really got to know Scott…to know his story. His life tells the story of a savior that he didn’t just know about, but he knew as the light of the world…that he knew as the light of his life. Scott Houghton knew Jesus. He knew Jesus in the same way that I got to know him on that trip. He journeyed with Him…he served with Him…he knew Him. And for that he has lived life as perfectly as any of us can ever hope to live. Through simple trust and faith in God he has become for many of us a window into God’s presence.

I’m so glad that Scott came into the light…that he became a follower of Jesus…if you haven’t found that hope, that life, that peace, that light today…I pray that you take the same step that Scott did...that step of faith, that becomes the first step in a journey…the first step on a mission where we get to know and serve with Jesus.

Scott’s life is the fulfillment of this scripture we have read today: But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God. And all who have life in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life.

Until next time - Blessings in Christ ~ RLS

N.B. Again, Brian is to be credited with a great bulk of this reflection.