[AI translation] At first glance, it seems as if this Word that I have just read in this service of mourning is not quite appropriate. For today at two o'clock in the afternoon the old bell of the small Reformed church in Lecce village was rung for a funeral, to accompany the ashes of Dr. Ede Keresztes to his last earthly resting place, and to return what was in him of the earth, to the earth from which he was taken. And we now bid farewell to our dear Uncle Ede, the honorary pastor of our congregation. How can we speak of joy when our hearts are filled with the pain of mourning? Yet I think that on the occasion of our commemoration of Ede Cross, we have every reason to rejoice. Whether we think of his life or his death, we too can sing with true, deep, grateful joy the hymn of praise with the psalmist: 'The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoice'!Yes: "The Lord has done us a mighty work" in giving him to us! It was a gift, this precious life! It was a gift from God: a gift to his wife, with whom he lived fifty-eight years of exemplary happiness; a gift to his children and grandchildren, to whom he remained a close friend with serene rigour; a gift to his relatives, acquaintances, friends, who all looked up to him with respect and love.
Oh yes: 'The Lord has done a mighty work in us', we might say in the words of the Word, in giving him a faith that almost grew into the grace of God. He was steadfastly convinced that God had also sacrificed His only begotten Son for him, so that he might not perish but have eternal life. And this sober Calvinistic faith he not only preached, but lived. The testimony of his happy faith was not only heard, but seen, and from which we could draw strength. We have seen how with reconciled confidence he began his life anew when the great historic storm scattered all that he had worked a lifetime for. We have seen how humbly he bowed his soul before his God as he mourned the loss of his dearest grandson, his young hiking companion. The way he was able to grow and grow poor, to rejoice and grieve, to enjoy the beauty of nature, and to fulfill his ministry, was a seal of his faith. There was always something of the seriousness of heaven in his gaiety, but there was also always something of the pure serenity of heaven shining through his seriousness.
"The Lord hath dealt mightily with us," in giving him a hope that would never be put to shame. When others around him were discouraged and complaining, his hope was always able to throw a new ray of light into the despair. He was a man who knew that he was never going out of life, but always going more inward into life. The more he lived this earthly life, the more he hoped that real life was never behind him, but always ahead. There was no hopelessness through which he did not look forward to tomorrow with sanguine hope. So, too, on his sickbed, he looked on through the darkness of death towards eternity.
"The Lord did a mighty work in us" when he put into his heart a love that never waned. It could be wasted, and he wasted it: on family member, stranger, good friend, enemy alike. There was no frosty environment to extinguish the flame of his love. All who met him warmed to him. His arm was always ready to embrace, his lips to say something kind and witty. He was a man who reflected back all the love and appreciation he gave to others. Indeed, the eighty-eight years he spent here with us were a gift, and we should rejoice! With grateful hearts and joy we thank God for his precious gift.
"The Lord has done a mighty work for us" in giving him to us, the Church of Pasarete. He has devoted the last thirty years of his sixty years of public ministry almost entirely to this church. Dr. Ede Keresztes seemed to have come straight from his Transylvanian homeland to Pasarét to organize our church and to carry it out with stubborn Székely tenacity, great experience and patience. Thirty years ago he edited the circular letter, he tirelessly worked, negotiated, argued, counted, searched, and worked tirelessly to make the idea of the parish a reality. He set his heart like an engine in the current of church and parish building, and the battered heart endured the work. He kept his hand almost constantly on the coin of the parish. First as a caretaker, then as a superintendent, then as an honorary superintendent, he did what God entrusted to him!
But "the Lord did a mighty work for us" when he took him away! Because He took it! Here we truly know that it was not sickness, not a weary heart that took him from us, but Jesus, the Prince of Life, came for His faithful servant. Yes, the same Jesus about Whom two mighty proclamations have been heard for two thousand years throughout the world. One is that he died, the other that he rose again! That He died means that there is forgiveness of sins, and that He is risen means that eternal life has been opened. He was taken by the Jesus who said, "He who believes in me, though he die, yet lives"! (Jn 11,25c)
So then, death is not the end of life, only the end of transience, life itself goes on, and even unfolds in all its splendour where we see it disappear from our earthly sight. We can therefore look after the departed, dear figure of our dear Brother Ede with the triumphant hope that he is alive. Not only does his memory live on among us, but he himself lives on: triumphant, happy, glorious. Let us think of him, then, as the servant of the parable, whom his Lord, when he stood before him to give an account, received, "Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful to few, I will give you much more; enter into the joy of your lord" (Mt 25:21).
Behold, even in his poverty he has left us a rich heritage: his unbreakable faith in Christ and his loyalty to the Hungarian Reformed Church. May you continue to live his faith and fill his empty place! How we have every reason to sing God's praises together with the psalmist, even with a sorrowful heart: "The Lord has done great things for us, therefore we rejoice!"
I know: my Saviour lives,
He is ready and waiting for me;
He beckons to me and crowns me
Promises after the earthly battle.
Though the world mocks and laughs,
Homesickness fills my soul,
For soon the Lord will call:
Come home, come, my child!
The Lord is waiting with open arms:
Come, rest, rest in my bosom.
(Song 421, verse 1)
Amen
Date: 8 October 1967 (Funeral service of Dr. Ede Keresztes, Senior Pastor.)