On The Anniversary Of My Father's Death

One year ago today, my father passed away. So today, I wanted to take the opportunity to share the message that I delivered at my father’s funeral.


In Proverbs 10:1 we find it said that, “A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.” Now, I don’t know if I can be called wise, though many have told me over the last few days that my father was very proud of me and my brother. I am confident, however, that I have done many foolish things that have brought sorrow to my mother. So mom, I’m sorry.

If, in fact, there is anything in my life that made my father glad, and thus demonstrated any measure of wisdom (which I hope and pray is the case), I know that it is for one reason only. That reason is to be found in the book of Isaiah, chapter thirty-eight, verse nineteen, which says, “The father makes known to the children Your faithfulness.” More than anything else, my father made known to me, and I’m sure to most all of you as well, God’s unending faithfulness. In that same verse, Isaiah wrote, “The living, the living, he thanks You, as I do this day.” So even though I know that we are here to mourn, to grieve, and to honor, more importantly, we are all here to say “thank you” to this man, Jonathan Byrd; and most importantly, to say “thank you” to the Savior, Jesus Christ, Whom he served.

Though we are rightfully saddened at this time of loss, and though we have been understandably perplexed as to why he was allowed to linger in his disability for nearly five years, when all he wanted was to, as he put it so many times, “receive his promotion,” we now rejoice in the fact that our Lord finally and faithfully brought His servant home to Himself, that his promotion came through, and that his earthly sojourn has been brought to a blessed end. Because that blessed end was followed immediately by a glorious beginning, we are able to quote the words of the Apostle Paul, in which he says, “Give thanks in all things, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). To God be the glory, great things He has done.

I was at the airport in Beijing, China, on my way to Singapore, when I received the news from my mom. I’m sure that I don’t have to explain the wave of emotions that was experienced in that moment. There was surprise at the fact that it came without warning, relief that the suffering and pain was finally over, thankfulness for the perfect peace and healing that had now been granted to him, and naturally, a deep sadness.

Then, two things happened. My Bible was open on the table in front of me, so scanning the page, my eyes came to Matthew 12:18, which reads, “Behold, My servant whom I have chosen, My beloved with whom My soul is well pleased.” Though I never, not for one second, doubted that my dad had entered into an eternity with His Lord, that verse immediately became a source of great comfort for me.
Second, I immediately thought about a man named M.A. Thomas. Dr. M.A. Thomas, the founder of Hopegivers International, was one of my father’s most dear friends. His ministry was, above all other ministries with which my father worked and supported, the one that was closest to dad’s heart. Though he gave millions throughout his lifetime, to so many ministries, and though he raised money for ministries, in amounts that, when totaled together, runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars, there was no single work to which he gave more, than the ministry of Hopegivers. I thought about Dr. Thomas, because when he would phone my father, or anyone else for that matter, he would always greet that person by saying, “Yes, my brother.” Sometimes, my dad would answer the phone, and Dr. Thomas would say, “O my brother. I have such glorious news!” When those words were spoken, my dad would cry, because he knew that Dr. Thomas was about to tell him that one of his preachers boys, in India, had been martyred, laying down his life for the sake of the Gospel. So as my mother spoke to me the words of my father’s passing, I heard the voice of Dr. Thomas, saying, “O my brother. I have such glorious news!”

Dad would not only give to ministries, and he would not only help raise money for ministries, but he would also give of his time to speak at events, large and small, in support of those works that he wanted to support. When he would do so, he would almost invariably reference the Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus. He would tell those who had gathered together that in chapter three of Titus, beginning in the third verse, we find this said: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasure, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”
Now, doesn’t that seem like a good way to start a fundraiser? Then he would add, in spite of all those things, that Paul went on to write, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (3:4-7).

From there, he would add the next verse, which says, “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people” (3:8). I would ask that, if you truly desire to honor my father, his memory, and his influence in your lives, that you would prayerfully consider devoting yourself to this particular good work. Whenever my father would gather together a group of people, inevitably, he would talk about Hopegivers (www.hopegivers.org), and attempt to convince as many people as possible to support an orphan child that would be raised up to become a preacher. As dad has gathered all of us together this final time, I would be remiss if I did not do the same.

Yesterday, as I had the privilege of speaking to so many people that knew my dad, I heard about the influence that he had in their lives. I heard about so many things that he had taught them. To each of you that have been taught by my dad, I would like to add some words that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith. He wrote, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2:1-3).
Why do I speak of suffering? I do so because of dad’s physical condition even before the stroke. I don’t know how many of you know this, but for most of his life, even from his teenage days, dad had bad feet, bad knees, bad hips, and a bad back One leg was shorter than the other, and he actually walked with a limp, which he disguised very well. Most of these things were due to a degenerative spinal condition, which he had from birth. To these things, you can add chronic high blood pressure, from his teenage years, along with an early onset of arthritis.

Yes, my father lived a very blessed life, but it was tempered by a great deal of physical pain which, believe it or not, actually limited him from doing all of the things that he wanted to do. I’m sure that, well before the stroke and its complications that disabled him for these last five years, he often wondered why such pain was to be his lot in life, especially considering his service to the Lord. I am sure that he found comfort from the Apostle Paul, as he wrote to Timothy, saying, “share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God, Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:8b-9). Frankly, all of the pain and all of the problems simply didn’t matter, because dad knew that he had been saved and called to a holy calling.

Over the last five years, because of all of the businesses in which our family is involved, many important decisions have had to be made. These decisions were the type that dad always seemed to make so effortlessly, though we always knew that there was great effort, thought, and prayer involved. Now, for the most part, these decisions ultimately fell to my mom. Because dad was the dynamic and powerful leader of our family, and because that leader was no longer there to lead, mom took great encouragement from the words of Joshua 1:2, which says, “Moses, My servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, go…”
Though dad was not dead, the man that we knew was gone, and there was still work to be done. God went on to tell Joshua that “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” (1:5). God would later add, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (1:9).

I bring this up because I thought it was so appropriate, as it relates to the night that dad died. It was a day like any other, an evening like any other. A very routine day at mom and dad’s house. When God took dad’s breath away, mom was making his dinner. As I thought about that, I thought, what a wonderful metaphor for these last five years of mom’s life. She was making his dinner. She was serving him and caring for him, not only until the very end, but literally, that’s what she was doing when the end finally came. So mom was in the kitchen, getting his dinner ready. As is usually the case, when mom went to get dinner ready, dad indicated that he was going to take a nap. When he woke up from that nap, he was with Jesus. I can’t even imagine what a glorious awakening that was. But this was mom’s prayer. Her prayer to God had been, that when He finally saw fit to take dad, that He would do so at home, at peace, while he was sleeping.

Now, this is why I think that mom’s regular references to Moses are so appropriate. As we read through the book of Deuteronomy, we are not specifically told how Moses died. However, the Hebrew language, in which Deuteronomy was written, is a picture language. Each letter is an illustration, and taken together, the letters of the words form a picture that underlies the words of the text. So when we read, we simply read that Moses died; but the picture that is painted by the language tells us that “God leaned down over the balcony of heaven, that He kissed Moses on the cheek, and Moses fell asleep.” That’s how God took our Moses as well. Well before he was taken, however, God said to Moses, in the eleventh chapter of Numbers, “And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not have to bear it yourself alone” (11:17b).

As I close, I want to leave you with some final words of the Apostle Paul. He wrote, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). As we reflect on that, we do not mourn like those who have no hope, but we rejoice with my father. We celebrate his life today. Why do we celebrate? Why do we carry such a hope? There is one reason, and one reason only, which is something that my dad said never ceased to amaze him. The reason for our hope is that Jesus Christ is still the hope of the world.