truth B told

On Oct. 17 I posted about our church's smallgroup doing yard work at the home/shop of a local biker gang guy who was now in a nursing home because of a bad accident. If you missed the post, scroll down and read it before reading the rest of this.

Ok, to catch you up to speed, the man passed away last week. He got pretty sick all of a sudden and then passed away. The family was devastated.

Since I met the son and daughter while cleaning up their parents' place, (and the grand daughter occasionally attends the Pipeline) I decided to go the to visitation and make a contact with the family.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the funeral home, there were about 100 Harley Davison bikes in the lot, on the road, and lined up in the drive. Nearly all the bikers--dresses in their leather, bandanas, vests, and denim--stood in the funeral home parking lot as if it was a tailgate party to an Oakland Raider's game. (I think the funeral home set out extra trash bags for the beer bottles.)

It was quite the site. I wondered through the crowd to get into the funeral home to meet the family. They remembered me as the youth pastor who helped clean up dad's place. They introduced me to friends as the guy from the church who helped them out. Everything was very positive...and thankful and appreciative.

We talked for a brief moment, I told them I was sorry for their loss, and them made my way to the door after looking at some pictures.

As I left (in the only mini-van in the lot) I had a few thoughts:

• There was a great sense of community that surpasses the typical American church. The clusters of friends talking outside, laughing, crying, drinking...it was community. Tight community.
• This biker leader who passed away was highly loved and respected by his friends. He had invested years of memories with many of these people. The pictures showed how much he was around people, and loved to have fun. He was a social magnet. An influencer.
• There was pride in wearing the biker wear that day. It was if everyone put on their biker best for this event. People like to identify with other people.
• The majority of people who attended this funeral wouldn't just walk into any ordinary church. The church would have to be creative, flexible, and more open minded to reach out to them and show them love, acceptance, and belonging. Relevance is extremely important.
• Most people there had to deal with some type of emotions regarding death. No matter how they live, what they do, what they ride, what they wear, how they talk, and how tough they are...they still have to face the reality of death. We all do. Death is not optional. We all face it. It leaves many with questions, some fears, some anger, some sorrow, some celebration. But for everyone, it's a reality we face. Everyone faces eternity.