A Hot Summer Day at the Zion Church Cemetery

It was Oct. 15, 2004, that my Grandpa, Ferdy Hofer died at age 90 as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. I have always been close to my Grandpa. For much of my life, I live just 300 yards from him on the same small farm in Central California. Much of who I have become as a person, much of what I love and value, is a result of my relationship with my Grandpa Hofer. I was honored to perform Grandpa’s funeral service and we laid his body to rest in the old church cemetery adjacent to the church his Father and Grandfather founded in 1911.

This cemetery is atypical in that there is no lawn. It is sandy soil and a few weeds. Some say the church was built in that location because digging graves in the cemetery would be easier there. Truth be told, it was just the land given by my Great-Great-Grandfather to build on and in fact, all the soil in the local area was sandy. While it did make it easier to dig, Steve Hofer, in a recent Facebook thread, is quoted as saying “…we also worried that it would give way and suddenly I would be seeing my grandpa Hofer’s casket.”

Growing up in this church, I explored the cemetery as often as I was allowed to. I read the names and the dates on the headstones. I looked for my dad’s sister’s grave, graves of my Great-Grandparent’s and my Great-Great-Grandparents (see photo). I didn’t know or even care about the geological aspects of the cemetery. I knew my dad helped dig graves with a shovel every so often, but that was the extent of it. The only thing I knew is what Winona Campbell recently said in that Facebook thread. “I recall how we had to step carefully out there.” I had no idea why nor did I really care other than I thought it was a "respect" thing. "Don't walk on dead people's graves."

Grandpa was buried in October 2004. The next summer I was home for a visit. At age 39 I began what has become my custom every time I visit home; I went to visit Grandpa Hofer’s grave. When I arrived to see the headstone for the first time since it had been installed I was astonished and I must say even angry to find that there was a mound of dirt on the plot where he was buried. I could not believe that no 
one had the respect or even the decency to smooth over my Grandpa’s grave and make it look nice. I didn't know who's job it was to do that, but someone had failed an important duty. I jumped back in my car and raced the 3 or so miles back to my parent’s house,  grabbed a shovel and a rake from the barn and raced back to the cemetery. In the heat of the summer, I began to move dirt. Where does one move dirt in a cemetery? I couldn’t put it on someone else’s grave. That would be disrespectful to the dead. I couldn’t pile it in the walkway. That disrespects the living. So I decided to throw it against the fence. That would be out of the way of both the living and the dead. I dug and threw, dug and threw, until the plot of land my Grandpa lay under was nice and smooth. I weeded and raked it and made sure it looked great. I said nothing to my mom and dad. I had gotten out all of my frustration that hot summer day at the Zion Church Cemetery.

The next stop on our trip was my wife’s parent’s home in San Jose. Victor Klassen had grown up in the same general area as me, my parents, and my Grandpa. He was familiar with the Zion Church Cemetery and burial techniques. I told him the story about finding my Grandpa’s grave left unattended and how I proceeded to show the respect that had not been shown for at least 8 months now. I told him how I used a shovel, digging and throwing, and a rake to smothe it over and how I had relieved my frustrations by making Grandpa’s plot look perfect. He looked at me, eye to eye and I’ll never forget his tone as he said “Oh, Don!” I stood there, paralyzed in my tracks. What had I done? What kind of a problem could I 
have caused? 

This moment was when, at nearly 40 years of age, I first learned about what Paul Fast recently described in that Facebook post. “I could tell after several months that the thin concrete slabs that they put on top had collapsed because the mound of dirt had sank. I am glad that I was able to see the process knowing that the collapse was only the sarcophagus (vault) around his coffin.” Victor began to explain that the mound of dirt is left on the plot so that when the vault collapses it leaves a nice flat spot rather than a “hole in the ground over the casket.” “Oh no! Did I cause my Grandpa’s grave to now become a hole in the ground? Have I made a horrible mistake?” The picture here is a mild version of what I was was imagining would be happening to my Grandpa's grave sometime in the future. And it was MY fault.

Skipping to my most recent visit home. I'm happy to report the grave is still flat. I am not aware that anyone has had to fill it in, although I cannot be certain of that fact. In the summer of 2005 my brother received a panicked call from me and he assured me, between my childhood friend Karl, who was now the caretaker of the cemetery, and himself, it would be fine. Of course I told him to not tell Mom and Dad. I’m pretty sure at a much later time I told them the story. If not, Dad’s now gone (not buried there) and Mom now knows. We can all have a good laugh.

I tell you this story to illustrate that what you see on the surface is not necessarily what is below, nor can we always know why things are the way they are. Sometimes what we see is preparation for what is coming, though we don’t understand that yet. Colossians 1:26-29 (The Message) says this:

This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery, in a nutshell, is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.

The Bible is full of mysteries, some explained, some unexplained. Here, the writer of this book of the New Testament is sharing the answer to a mystery with everyone. When it looked like God’s love was only for the Jews, it was actually for everyone. When it looked like there were lots of things one needed to do to earn God’s love, first and foremost to become a Jew, the answer to the mystery was actually simple: God loves everyone and offers Christ to all, no more, no less. If God has given us Christ and all He is asking is for us to believe for ourselves that His death and resurrection has reconciled us to Him, common sense says to go with it.

There is a story in the book of Mark, Chapter 9 where a man brought his mute son to Jesus. His son was oppressed by a demon and Jesus’ disciples could not deliver this him from the demon. Jesus became a little exasperated and said to these people, “You unbelieving generation” (Mark 9:19 NIV) “How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this?” (Mark 9:19 The Message). The boy’s father said to Jesus, ““If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!” Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”” (Mark 9:22-24). Jesus proceeded to deliver the boy from the demon and helped the boy to his feet.

There is at least one obstacle that many people run into in terms of understanding the mystery of Christ for themselves. It’s been an obstacle for nearly 2000 years. That obstacle is belief. Those that have not yet decided to believe for themselves represent the first group that has yet to overcome the obstacle of belief. If that is you, I described the simple, yet profound step, that is, believe in Christ for yourself. Just do it.

There is a second group that has yet to overcome the obstacle of belief. It’s the group that Paul, the writer of Colossians was talking about when he said, “To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me” (Col. 1:29). It’s the group that included the disciples in the story in Mark 9, whom Jesus referred to as having “No sense of God!” (Mark 9:19). In a sense, the boy’s father actually spoke for this entire group when he said, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!” (Mark 9:24). You and I likely fall into this group of people, people who say we believe, who act, on the surface, as if we believe, but underneath we struggle and wrestle with doubt. When others look at our posture of belief they see a person of faith on the outside. If we let them in to see what is happening underneath, they observe the battle that is going on to really believe. I hope that you will admit with me that most of the biggest things you have prayed for (healing of a family member, provision for a job, where the next meal will come from, etc.) all of these types of things have taken more faith than you can honestly say you have. Some of us need to admit that even the small things have taken more faith than we have during certain seasons of our lives.

It’s not that the disciples in the story in Mark weren't willing tohelp this man and his son. The problem is that they were not praying for the right thing. Our obstacle to the mystery of Christ is not that we are unable to find the answer. The problem is that we are not praying to have enough faith to believe Christ; believe that He is who He says He is, believe that He did what He said He did, and believe that He, not you, has all the power necessary for everything in life. “I believe. Help me with my doubts!” (Mark 9:24).

The outside of Grandpa’s grave, everything on the surface, was not an accurate representation of what may have been happening under the surface. In fact, I watch enough crime mysteries to know that things are happening under the surface that I don’t even want to know or really think about . I’ll let Walt Longmire deal with discovering those details (Longmire, Season 3, Episode 10 "Ashes to Ashes" - Netflix). I will tell you that I think our generation needs more people that are willing to expose what is happening below the surface of their lives. “I believe. Help me with my doubts!” is just one of the truths below the surface that you and I should find the courage to expose. It might be that we expose them to our spouse or a trusted friend. It might be that we have a small community of Christ-followers that we need to practice sharing what is below the surface. I will say that the power comes when we ask for God’s help in whatever lies beneath the surface, whether it is doubt, fear, addiction, anxiety, fatigue. You name it. God is more than able to handle it. He is more willing to handle it.

And if what has surfaced for you is the fact that you have never believed in Jesus, it is no longer a mystery. God loves you. He’s ready for you to believe. I would love to interact personally and privately with you. Please reach out to me. I’d love to have conversations with you and answer your questions as best I can.

Thanks for reading,

Zion Church Building, early 1900's and 

2007, from the cemetery