Author's note: My "blogging mentor" Ryan Egan tells me I need to write something personal once in a while. I thought I'd come up with something trivial just to poke fun at him a little bit, but then my high school math teacher died after a long battle with cancer. I ministered to him for the past couple years, as he was dear to me and was not a believer. Yet the lessons he taught me had as much to do with my conversion to Christ and passion for full time ministry,apologetics and teaching as anything else. The following lengthy post is a text copy of the message I am preaching at Mr. Ritter's memorial service tomorrow, at Lake Preston (SD) High School, my alma mater. The "Thursday" to which I refer in the message was last Thursday, and Mr. Ritter died last Saturday, February 16.The best news of all is that a dear Christian man who worked for years with Mr. Ritter in Lake Preston observed Mr. Ritter very clearly surrender to Christ on Friday.

Answers in the Form of a Question

Remembering the life of Mr. Richard C. Ritter

Memorial service at Lake Preston High School

Friday, February 22, 2008

If you look at my calendar for the past several months you will see a recurring appointment labeled “Visit Mr. Ritter.” I enjoyed these visits, especially when the phone rang while I was sitting with him. I would watch his face light up as he heard a familiar voice: Dave Schmidt, Klark Thomsen, Patty Garry… or so many other loved ones. Sometimes the visits were longer or shorter- quieter or more talkative- but they were always educational. Mr. Ritter never stopped teaching.

One of the lessons I learned from Mr. Ritter during these past months is the importance of 11AM and 4:30PM. KSFY- Channel 13. Morning Jeopardy and Evening Jeopardy, he called them. These were sacred times to Mr. Ritter. No one- doctor with chart, nurse with needle, or pastor with Dr. Pepper- dared to interrupt these daily times of answer and question with Alex Trebek.

As a teacher at LPHS Mr. Ritter taught us a lot more than the answers to questions. Do you remember the items posted around the top of his classroom? π to 100 significant digits on the south wall; the circle with the numerical values of sine, cosine and tangent for common angles right in the center; and a little sign in the upper left corner of the room that said, Teach a child what to think and you make him a slave to your knowledge. Teach him how to think and you make all knowledge his slave. Mr. Ritter taught us how to think.

In the days before cancer I would talk with Mr. Ritter about the way he taught me how to think, and how God used those lessons in my life to lead me to Christ and- eventually- to full time ministry. Mr. Ritter never had much to say about the subject, but thought it was ironic. He would give me the same look he gave me when I told him I was intent on coaching basketball instead of finishing my engineering degree. And do you remember game-day alliterations? Kill the Cardinals. Flog the Fliers. Repel the Rebels. Batter the Bulldogs.

Several months ago, in our first visit after cancer returned, I asked Mr. Ritter about another feature in his classroom- a quote from Galileo just above and to the right of those game-day alliterations: Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe. A general observation, he said, more than a personal statement of faith. But then he added, “They call me ‘Ritter, the Atheist,’ you know.”

I didn’t.

“I’m not really an atheist, I just don’t know about God as a whole.” Somewhat reluctantly, Mr. Ritter gave me permission to show him how, not what to think about some of life’s most important questions. He started reading the Gospels and asking me questions.

While the reading didn’t continue, the questions did. Mr. Ritter’s questions came in the context of everyday conversation, but flowed more freely as he became convinced that his earthly life was coming to an end. Is there pain after death? Will I be conscious? What will it be like when I die, like a light switch going off, or something more? I always tried to get in an answer from Scripture, but mostly what he wanted was someone to listen to him. Like his students in the past, Mr. Ritter listened more intently than he indicated. His mind was sharp as a razor, even hours before his death.

Last Thursday I came for a visit. After I had tidied up the room and handed him a box of Dots, Mr. Ritter spoke with a raspy, but certain voice, So the question returns- is there pain after death? Over the course of the next 90 minutes we revisited much of the ground we had covered in the months past:

• Are “we” our bodies, or something more- a soul?
• If our soul exists is it merely a function of our body, or is it its own entity?
• If the soul is a separate entity from the body, do we have any reason to think that it stops existing when our body stops functioning?
• And if the soul lives on when our bodies die, where and how does it exist?

While we agreed for the most part about these important questions, we found ourselves looking for more answers. We had traveled down a road that human reason failed to pave- at least completely. I asked if I could read what God said on the matter. As Mr. Ritter consented I read just a bit about what God says concerning eternal life in John 5: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live… those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

 

At this point I must provide a bit of a flashback, for by now Mr. Ritter and I were in familiar territory. We had discussed the basics of the Gospel many times, and I had declared these Scriptural truths to Mr. Ritter- for not every answer comes in the form of a question:

· God is perfect, holy and just, the Creator of the universe and everything in it.

· We have all sinned and fall short of God’s glory. For example, look at just 3 commandments:

o We lie, and God says He won’t excuse lying, for He is truth.

o We use His name in an empty manner, and He won’t excuse us for blaspheming.

o Even if we have not physically killed another, we lash out in anger and wrath- this is murder in the heart, says God.

· As you and I are guilty before God, God’s justice won’t allow Him to ignore our sin and let us into heaven.

· While it would be just, God’s love wouldn’t allow Him to send us to hell without hope.

· So God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who paid our price for our sin, allowing God to be just, while at the same time declaring guilty souls to be right with Him.

And now back to Thursday: “A lot of questions,” said Mr. Ritter. Indeed, but I pointed him to one verse I had read (John 5:24) that was no question at all, but rather a promise: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

“That is a promise,” I said. “A promise that is never too late to claim as your own.”

“You give that book a lot of credit.” His words lacked the skepticism of earlier conversations, and I smiled, told him that we loved him, and prayed for him. I went home and collected some of my favorite reasons for trusting the Bible as God’s Word, but I never got to deliver them, as our teacher and friend passed away before my next visit.

And so I have told you a story for which I cannot write the end. That privilege belongs to Another. Yet, as others before me have implied, I have great reason to rejoice. I’m not talking about shallow optimism- like placing a Band-aid on a knife wound- but a sure and steady hope that survives the grave.

Instead of trying to write the end of Mr. Ritter’s story, I would like to help you write yours. After all, we gather today in memory of Mr. Ritter, but our time together is more for the living than the dead. Ironically, for much of his life critical thinking led Mr. Ritter to not think critically about some of life’s most important questions. It would be a shame for us to leave this service without learning from the last lesson Mr. Ritter left us: Some questions are too important to leave for later.

Friends, family and loved ones, life’s most important question isn’t material or temporary, it is enduring: Where will you spend eternity? Ignoring God’s Word doesn’t make this important question go away; it simply disqualifies the right answer.

In the past minutes you have heard everything you need to know God personally and intimately: Admit to God that you are a sinner incapable of saving yourself. Trust Jesus Christ’s work on the cross- His death and resurrection- as the one sure payment for your sin. Trust Jesus like a parachute, not a like a lucky rabbit’s foot. Read your Bible and believe what it says. And remember John 5:24- the Bible verse that is no question at all, but a promise to which it is never too late to cling: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

I pray that this promise is personally yours today.

And blessed be the memory of Mr. Ritter.