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Vice President Mike Pence and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany paid tribute to Ravi Zacharias-- perhaps the greatest Christian apologist of modern times--hours after it was announced that he had died of cancer at age 74.
Their words give hope, inspiration, and insight in a time of loss, particularly so on a weekend set aside for remembering.
Be inspired.
Hope.
The Christian Post published this:
Pence said in a post on Twitter that he and second lady Karen Pence were “[d]eeply saddened to learn of the passing of Ravi Zacharias, a Christian apologist whose ministry for the Gospel of Jesus Christ impacted millions around the world.”
“Ravi was a man of faith who could ‘rightly handle the word of truth’ like few others in our time & he was my friend,” Pence, an evangelical Christian, wrote.
“Upon the death of Abner, the Bible tells us David said ‘do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen today?’ Ravi was such a man and he will be missed. Karen and I send our deepest sympathies to his family and know he heard ‘Well done good and faithful servant.’”
Deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Ravi Zacharias, a Christian apologist whose ministry for the gospel of Jesus Christ impacted millions around the world. Ravi was a man of faith who could “rightly handle the word of truth” like few others in our time & he was my friend.— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) May 19, 2020
Ravi is with the Lord. Vice President Pence knows full well that the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:8: "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."
Sarah Davis, Ravi's daughter, announced his death to the world with these words:
"Ravi Zacharias, Now With Jesus.
She says:
"It was his Savior, Jesus Christ, that my dad always wanted to talk about. Even in his final days, until he lacked the energy and breath to speak, he turned every conversation to Jesus and what the Lord had done."
As we remember those whom we have loved and those who have served our country this Memorial Day weekend, please know that the believer in Jesus Christ has eternal hope.
Paul refers to that hope in I Thessalonians 4:13: "But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."
We may ask ourselves in the crisis and grief of the loss of a loved one, "Why am I crying and grieving," "Why am I not happy my loved one is with the Lord?"
Paul is not telling us not to grieve or experience a parting---he's saying it isn't a final parting, therefore, it's different. But it's still a parting. Have you ever wept or cried when a family member or loved one left on a long trip?
For Christians, death is still a parting, but it's not a final parting.
Inspiration
Kayleigh McEnany is President Trump's Press Secretary. She replaced Sarah Huckabee Sanders on April 7, when Sarah, Mike Huckabee's daughter, stepped aside to give more attention to her husband and kids, although she is actively campaigning for President Trump.
Kayleigh and Sarah are friends and both deeply committed Christians. And both highly talented people.
Kayleigh told CBN News regarding the passing of Zacharias, "It's a huge loss. My dad said to me that Billy Graham was the great evangelist and I think Ravi Zacharias is the great apologist."
Tearing up, she said:
"Ravi's someone I never met. I know his team, and I knew some of those who are around him. For me, as a Christian, I always had the heart for Jesus Christ that I got at a very young age. I was saved when I was in my teens."
McEnany actually attended Oxford University in England as part of a study abroad program at Georgetown University.
She says Zacharias' presence at Oxford is significant because his Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics was first established in 2004.
She speaks of how his life spoke to hers. She says he brought this feeling to the Christian that you don't have to check your brain at the door because you're a Christian. She feels he underscored the fact that Christians can make an intellectual case for Christ---which can lead to a spiritual relationship with Him.
McEnany says last Sunday when they heard of Ravi's passing, she had her 6-month-old daughter on her lap as she, her mother-in-law, and her husband, MLB player Sean Gilmartin, watched one of Zacharis' previous sermons.
The personal message from the President's Press Secretary was the verse she saw attached to the announcement of his passing: "Because I live, you also will live" John 14:19.
Insight
These seven words from John 14:19 changed Ravi's life 57 years ago. He was on a bed of suicide, as he described it, and it was a Bible that was handed to him and those words in particular that set him on a 57-year path that has truly saved lives.
His daughter says, "That Bible verse is carved into Zacharias' grandmother's gravestone and it will be etched on her father's gravestone."
Personal thoughts.
In the link to CBN News above, there's a lot of interesting information about McEnany and behind the scenes stuff at the White House.
Two things to consider.
First, Mike Pence and Kayleigh McEnany are not the only committed Christians in this administration. From Cabinet members like Ben Carson, Betsy Devos, and dozens of other influential people in the Trump administration, it is populated with deeply committed biblical Christians.
The assault on President Trump and his administration is historic.
Pray for all of them.
Secondly, this weekend as you remember those who have passed from this life, grieve if necessary, go ahead and miss them, but remember the promise: "Because I live, you also will live."
Be Hopeful. Be Inspired. Be Informed. Be Prayerful.