February 13, 2025
Dear Central Church,
Today, I participated in the funeral service of Rev. Roberto Hodgson. It was an honor to join with Nazarenes from many different places who gathered here at Central to celebrate the life and legacy of this great man.
After a distinguished and fruitful ministry planting multicultural churches, he became the Director of Multicultural Ministries in the United States and Canada. The significant growth of these congregations can be traced back to his passion for evangelism, brilliance as a strategic thinker, and patient refusal to give up on the Church.
Roberto’s life reminds me of a quote from John Wesley, “The people called Methodists die well.” He was referring to those who had so fully surrendered to the sanctifying grace of God that their impact for the Kingdom of God far outlived them. Roberto pointed to Jesus in how he lived, how he loved, and in how he suffered. Even in death, he continues to point us to Jesus. I think of him when I read these words from Jesus:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:6-8)
In today’s culture, you wouldn’t list the Beatitudes as a way to lead or get ahead in life. Power players and business moguls aren’t building empires by hungering after righteousness, showing mercy, and being pure in heart. Whatever “success” they have in this life, will do them no good in the life to come. In this sense, they live and die poorly, and if we are not careful, we will join them in this fool’s errand.
The people of God, like our friend Roberto, live and die well. They do so because their life is built on the most fundament of all Christian confessions: Jesus is Lord. This one who perfectly embodied the life described in these beatitudes is Lord of all creation! He lived, died, and his resurrection promises that after we “die well,” we will live again!
This is how we will conclude this “Cycle of Victorious Living” series. I invite you to join us this Sunday as we proclaim a truth that makes victorious living possible: Jesus is Lord!
Until He’s Finished,
Pastor Mark