The lasting impact of a life cut short
As people for whom death has lost its sting, our natural and proper impulse is to declare our thanksgiving to God. We are—or ought to be—a joy-filled, life-affirming people.
But sometimes God uses the stark, cold reality of death to jolt us back into a full appreciation of what it means to be truly alive. That reality hit home for me in June when my mother passed away. And it hit me again recently when Ed Schellenberg—a man I never met—died.
In one way at least, Schellenberg's death was more wrenching. My mother's death was not unexpected. But Schellenberg's was sudden, violent, bloody and utterly senseless.
Schellenberg was a devoted family man and churchgoer who loved Jesus Christ. This was evidenced by all who knew him. But as he went about his business one Friday afternoon in October, it seems he stumbled upon a terrible crime in progress, and the perpetrators murdered him and another innocent bystander to keep them silent.
The deaths sent shockwaves across the country. At Schellenberg's church, Immanuel Fellowship Baptist Church in Abbotsford, associate pastor Trent Erikson told ChristianWeek that while Schellenberg's passing has "undoubtedly been a tragedy," the fallout has, remarkably, "been very positive and healthy for us."
Here is part of that interview:
Erikson: "It caught us all off-guard. We were on an elders' retreat thinking about the future of our church and where God is leading us and that sort of thing, when we got the news that this had happened. We were just stunned.
"We rearranged everything for the entire next day [Sunday] once we found out. We just said, 'We're going to need to take this time to allow God to minister amongst us.'
"After the memorial service and the following Sunday service as well, we kind of went in the direction of 'What is God wanting to do' or 'What do we need to be aware of in God's plan and purpose' when it seems so different from where we're at or what makes sense to us. So it has impacted us tremendously.
"Ed was a behind-the-scenes guy here at our church. But he was well-known, because of 16-plus years with the church and a breadth of relationships that he had. So there was a very broad connection with the community, as well as him being a businessman."
ChristianWeek : The age-old question comes up—it's inevitable—why do bad things happen to good people?
Erikson: "You know that we don't know the answer to that. But in fact, what we've seen and what we've been rejoicing in, is what God can do through something like this. One thousand people came to a memorial service to hear about the life of one who honoured Christ well. So there was a breadth of testimony going on there.
"In this tragedy, in pastor Jim [Penner]'s speaking on behalf of the family, and friends speaking on behalf of the family, the name of Jesus Christ was put on national news broadcasts and the faith and trust that Ed had in Him was spoken sincerely and it was spoken completely.
"It's never just about one person, the one event. It is always about something that God is allowing to happen. There's a broader perspective and a broader purpose. And so our eyes are really looking for that right now."
ChristianWeek : Do you see this having an ongoing impact on your church?
Erikson: "Yes. We've already had a number of men come up and say, 'We need to get something going together as men, because we need to be men like Ed was.' It's been something that we've been talking about and seeing as a need. Maybe God is just nudging us and giving us that opportunity to move forward in those plans with men now ready to step in and be involved in something like that.
"And so we're expecting that there will be spin-off, a renewed commitment and involvement in the things that matter, the important things, as we've seen this touch so close to home."
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