Dear Rose Park,
On Monday evening, I attended the visitation for our beloved neighbor, Del Dekker. Del passed away on Tuesday January 9. I saw some of you at the visitation. It was such a joy and blessing to see pictures of Del, speak with his family, and reminisce about a man who so deeply cared for his neighborhood.
As I meandered around the funeral home looking at pictures, I spoke with neighbors and friends (and even overheard a few as well) who all had a similar experience with Del. They said things like: I first met Del when I saw him walking the neighborhood…or…I will always remember Del because he would invite me to church dinner…or…I’ll never forget the man who walked around the church parking lot with his home phone attached to his hip.
Whether he knows it or not, Del was embodying incarnational theology. Jesus displayed this when He put on flesh and dwelled among us. In doing so, Jesus did not lose any sense of His divinity, but instead continued to be fully God yet truly living a human life. This means the second person of the Trinity, the King of kings and the Prince of Peace, spent time in the neighborhood. He spent time praying for the community He lived in. He ate with His neighbors and those He disagreed with. He ministered to those in need. He faithfully showed up among the community. He walked around His house and invited the neighborhood to a meal. It’s not out of the question that Jesus could have had a morning walk just like Del where He greeted those He encountered while He prayed to His Heavenly Father.
My heart will continue to be warmed by Del’s faithfulness because in a very ordinary way he pointed others to Jesus. This is all to say, it is one of my greatest hopes and prayers that our daily lives might embody the love of Christ in the very neighborhoods and contexts in which we reside in order to point others to Jesus as well.
Grace & Peace,
