President Haynie
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Tribute to Dad
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I appreciate the opportunity to be here this morning and to share just a few
thoughts with all of you. Let me start with the most important thing I could
say. I love and respect Brother Art Sevy. I also love and respect his eternal
companion, Sister Fern Sevy. Both of them have made and are keeping sacred,
priesthood-empowered covenants.
As most of you know, Art passed away shortly after midnight on Sunday, a day the scriptures refer to as a day of rest. I was told about Art’s death on Sunday morning and had a desire to express my love and support in person to Fern and the family, as did many of you. I knocked at the door of Art and Fern’s home on Sunday morning and was told by one of her sons that she already had left to attend sacrament meeting. My initial thought was you have got to be kidding. I wouldn’t have done that. I would have stayed home. Certainly the death of her eternal companion a few hours before provided ample reason for Fern to miss just one sacrament meeting. I returned to the stake center where Fern’s ward met and found Fern sitting in the back of the chapel, surrounded by her children. Her daughter kindly allowed me to sit next to Fern for a few moments and I whispered to Fern, “What are you doing here? I assumed that you would be home.” Her response carries great weight and certainly makes Art proud to be her eternal companion: “Oh, I just had to come to church,” she said, “I needed to take the sacrament and renew my covenants.” So once again Art and Fern Sevy taught me that the making and keeping of eternal covenants is the key, the most important thing. I have had the opportunity to speak at a number of funerals over the years. Preparing to speak at this funeral, however, has been particularly troubling, in part because I know Art will be paying close attention to what I say and I do not want to say the wrong things or leave anything out. I think Art wants all of you to hear certain things today, particularly those he loves so much, his good wife, his children, each one, and his grandchildren. One of our latter-day prophets, Harold B. Lee, taught the following principle concerning a loved one who has passed through the inevitable portal of death, “As a matter of truth, he is more alive than we are because he is more sensitive to things round about us. I have a firm conviction that the spirits of those who pass on who are righteous have a great influence upon [funeral] services of this kind, bringing to such services through those who perform on the program, if they are in tune therewith, the kind of sweetness of spirit, kindliness of council, forbearance, unselfishness, devotion – all those attributes all come seemingly back in the spirit of him who has passed through those who have been asked to sing and speak.” The Teachings of Harold B. Lee at 44-45. Maybe some of you have sensed Art’s presence and influence here today, particularly as songs have been sung. My sincere hope is to not lessen or diminish such a feeling of his presence and influence. At times like this, the words of the Savior have great meaning, after all, who better understands the purpose of death in the eternal plan of our Father in Heaven than he who delivered us from its awful chains. The Savior taught that, “Thou shall live together in love, insomuch that thou shall weep for the loss of them that die.” D&C 42:45. In case any of you were concerned, God approves of the sorrow we feel as a result of the temporary separation that we call death. It is all right to cry at funerals. Expressing sorrow at a funeral does not mean we lack faith or confidence in our Father in Heaven’s plan. But here is the really good part in the Savior’s teachings concerning death, something that Fern reminded me of on Sunday as I sat next to her during sacrament meeting, “And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them.” Id. at 46. That is why latter-day prophets have continually declared that funerals are for the living and not for the dead. Art is exactly where he carefully planned and always hoped to be, in a place called “paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where [he] shall rest from all their troubles and from all care and sorrow.” Alma 40:12. In fact, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught “When men are prepared, they are better off to go hence” because they can then “open up a more effectual door for the dead.” The Teachings of Joseph Smith at 161. I believe Art will continue to open a lot of doors for the dead, after all, that was his favorite thing to do hear on this earth, opening doors for the dead through the work that occurs in temples. As a young boy, while attending a funeral of an aunt who I dearly loved, I learned through the spirit that death is not the end of a person’s existence. As one modern day prophet has stated, “We came into this world to die. . . . Death is just as essential as birth.” Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation. Absent death, we could never leave this troubled world and return to the presence of our Father in Heaven, which is what we all should want. Death really consists of simply going home. President Ezra Taft Benson referred to death in another way: “The death of a righteous individual is both an honorable release and a call to new labors.” Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson at 33. I would like to share with all of you some verses from the New Testament that describe one of the most tender and powerful events that occurred during the life of Jesus Christ. Read John 11:1-45 Jesus Christ had power over death during his mortal life. Just as he raised Lazarus from the dead, he too raised himself from the dead. The garden tomb was empty. He did appear to Mary, to his apostles, to numerous others in the old world and thousands in the new world. I testify that the Savior continues to have power over death today. In the Book of Mormon we read “there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God . . . .” Alma 11:42-43 Brothers and sisters, the resurrection is real. It will happen. Like death, not one of us can avoid it. It is a gift that the Savior universally gives to all of us. The quality of that experience, however, will depend greatly on our efforts to pattern our lives after the life of the Savior. Art understood that and strove to become Christ-like. So, when push comes to shove, what is it that Brother Art Sevy would want all of you to know on this day? What would he say if he were here? I think he would want you to hear the truth, plain and simple. And for all of you who knew Art, you also know that Art was incapable of deception. He always told the truth. I am confident that the principles I am now going to declare to you as true are principles that Art also knew by revelation and now by first-hand experience to be true. What I know to be true centers on what is called the plan of salvation or the plan of happiness. Let me share the high points with you. Our Father in Heaven is real and has a glorified body of flesh and bones. We are his children. We lived with him before we came to this earth. He directed the organization of this earth for us. We were created in his image. We can talk with Him and receive guidance and counsel from Him, because that is what loving fathers do. He will never, as the Savior said, give us a stone when we ask for bread or a serpent when we ask for a fish. Matthew 7:9-10. Our Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness included the need for a Savior, someone who could live perfectly while on this earth and thus satisfy the demands of justice for all of us. His name was Jesus Christ and he came to this earth and lived a sinless life. In the Garden of Gethsemane he suffered for our sins in a way that we cannot begin to comprehend, suffering that caused him “even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit – and would that [he] might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink.” D&C 19:18. But he did drink it, all of it. Justice was satisfied and mercy became possible if we will but repent. Jesus Christ voluntarily gave his life; it was not taken from him. On the third day he overcame death and was resurrected. We have the testimonies of thousands who saw him and felt the prints of the nails in his hands and feet. I add my testimony to theirs. The Savior lives today. That is how I know Art lives today. Art’s spirit is intact. He has identity and personality. He continues to love his family and friends, each one. President Ezra Taft Benson taught that the “veil can be very thin – that there are people over there who are pulling for us – people who have faith in us and who have great hopes for us, who are hoping and praying that we will measure up.” The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson at 31. I know that it is Art’s faith, hope, and prayer that we will “measure up.” I testify that Art will be resurrected at the appointed time. I cannot tell you the exact day, but it is my feeling that for Art it will occur in the morning of the first day. That will be a good day, a glorious day. And then we will have the privilege to hear Art singing once again. Of these simple truths I bear solemn witness in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. President Haynie |