Bob Perry

* I had the honor to preach the funeral for Bob Perry yesterday morning in Versailles, Kentucky. The following is the eulogy that I delivered.


What an honor and a joy it was for me to serve Bob Perry and much of his family as a pastor. My name is Tim Schindler and I was the pastor of Hillsboro Baptist Church several years ago while I attended seminary in Wilmore. Hillsboro is the church that Bob grew up in, and Bob was serving there as a deacon when I came to the church in 2000.

Many of you here were fortunate enough to know Bob Perry well. The words that come to my mind come to yours, too. Big-hearted. Love for family. Devoted husband. Pride in his kids and grandkids. Faithful. Straightforward with his opinions. Welcoming. Dedicated to God.

One word that I keep coming back to again and again is generous. He lived a generous life. I don’t mean that he was simply charitable. What I mean is that he lived his life in such a way that his focus wasn't self-centered… the direction of his heart was toward others. Bob extended himself outward in self-giving. Whether it was welcoming a new family in the neighborhood or working to make sure someone had a warm place to sleep at night; maybe it was an act of kindness to someone who worked on his farm or trying to impart wisdom to a grandkid on their slow ride through the country—“Let me tell you about the tortoise and the hare.” Maybe it was hearing him go on and on again how precious Clara was to him, or even assuring a young nervous preacher, “You did a fine job.” There’s even this story going around that when he and his twin sister, Ruth, were in the crib with their bottle, that after she finished hers she helped herself to Bob’s bottle. Knowing Bob and how much he loved his sister, I wonder if he didn’t just offer it to her. Bob gave of himself for the benefit of others. Listen to how Jesus describes it in Luke 6:35-36, “I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.”

What I think Bob knew (at least intuitively) was that you have to make a choice. You can choose to be self-centered and hold on to those things that fill our lives… our time, our affections, our attention, our possessions, our comfort. Or we can choose to give it all away to gain something of greater value.

Let me see if I can explain. (Since Bob was a farmer, I figured I would use these heads of lettuce.) This lettuce represents the many things we cling to for ourselves… maybe this is our food, this is our free time, this is our abilities. Pretty soon all of our energy is going to be used in holding on to our own stuff. So imagine Bob with an armful of lettuce and along comes Victoria, the little girl who lives next door to him, what do you think he would do? Would he say, “Sorry, my arms are full, no hugs today”? Or would he gladly set aside the armful of lettuce for his greatly-treasured hug? No question. You let go of the things less valuable in order to have the freedom to embrace the greater things. Bob Perry knew that the more you give yourself away, the more capacity you have for filling your life with the things that truly matter… love, kindness, grace, mercy, joy… a life that is truly full.

Maybe these words from 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 would express Bob’s word to you today: “I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!” Live generously.

In case there is any question where Bob Perry’s generosity came from, let me assure you this morning that this is a result of his faith in God. Bob had a sincere love for Jesus and followed the example set by Christ himself, who gave us the greatest expression of self-giving generosity by laying down his life for us on the cross. See the pattern of Bob’s life in these words from Philippians chapter two, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” You see, Bob knew he could never be more generous than his Savior had already been to him.

And may you also receive God’s generous love. Amen.