Great joy filled the Haertling home situated just east of the village of New Wells, Missouri, that July day in 1932. Into a family of three daughters, a healthy son was born.

The child came from a long line of Saxony German Lutherans who had immigrated to America in the mid-1800s for religious freedom. His father was a farmer, as was his father before him, and his father before him, who was also born to a farmer. By the grace of God, that boy child grew to adulthood. He became a farmer, too … and my father. A man of character. An authentic mix of courage, commitment and creativity.

I don’t know where my daddy was born. “Behind the wood pile” he would say with an impish grin during one of those silly childhood questioning games. To which I can still hear my grandma’s “O Gott!” response. He was likely born at home. But I never asked.

A Saxon father was concerned for the well-being of his family. Consequently, faith played a vital role in a child’s upbringing. Daddy was Baptized into the Christian faith on August 14 shortly after his birth. Fourteen years later, after instruction and having “professed faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and vowed obedience to His Word,” he was “received into full Communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church by the solemn rite of Confirmation.”

Professed faith. Vowed obedience. Solemn rite. Some rather weighty words for any person, much less a young teen. Did he ever question his commitment? I never asked.

Daddy attended a one-room school through the eighth grade. Did his sister Melva, who was six years older, show him the ropes the first days? Maybe where to store his lunch box or put his coat?

His First Grade marks hint at a slow start to his schooling. It seems after the first quarter, however, he figured things out. In fact, in later years he received National Board of Examiners certificates in both penmanship and reading. I wonder what books he enjoyed most? Who was his best friend? What games did he play at recess? I’m afraid I never asked.

He and my mom began their married life in the same church in which he was Baptized and Confirmed. They remained together 53 years, until his death. I never asked how they met or how he knew she was “the one,” nor about the courage he mustered at age twenty-five to raise five children under the age of three.

I loved watching him record the play-by-play action during the St. Louis baseball games we attended. Daddy was a “south paw.” The brisk strokes of his pen gave an account of athletic skill; letters and digits documenting each player’s performance. That’s right … penmanship certificate … grade school. I never asked why as a Cardinals fan he came to admire Steve Carlton, a Philadelphia Phillies player.

Focus on the Family, A Father’s Day Tribute Blog

Dad sang in the church choir. Mom was in the choir loft, and my sisters and I eventually joined, too. He loved to dance: polkas and two-steps, waltzes and the Schottische. And when he got the chance to combine the two — to sing his favorite, “Lucille,” at a community dance — well, that was the cat’s meow! When did he develop a fondness for music? I never asked.

My dad was not flawless. His commitment could border on hardheadedness, as surely as it could reflect a tender heart. What joys and heartaches of life shaped him? Was it family needs? Community issues? Our nation’s struggles? I never asked.

On another day some 2,000 years ago, there was no joy in a home in the village of Bethany, located on the eastern slope of Mt. Olivet, southeast of Jerusalem. Only deep sorrow. Jesus had delayed arriving. The young man Lazarus, who had been ill, had died. (John 11)

From the language of the New Testament book of John and the order of the three names, we may reasonably conclude that Lazarus was the youngest of the family, with two older sisters. And Jesus loved them — Martha and her sister [Mary] and Lazarus. John 11:5

Likely, the last time Jesus had been with them, He left the family well, in health, and joy. (Luke 10:38-42) But changes come, don’t they? When we part from our friends, we don’t know what may affect us, or them, before we meet again.

Now present, Jesus — the true Son of God and true Son of Man — stands before the grief-stricken Martha.

Confident of His power to heal the sick, Martha addresses Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:21

With no explanation for his absence, Jesus tenderly leads Martha’s thoughts away from her dead brother to the most remarkable revelation of Himself. Listen. Hear his compassionate voice. “Your brother will rise again … I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”

And then He poses to Martha the most decisive personal question: “Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

Who am I to you? Blog

Martha knew what the ancient Hebrew Scriptures taught and what Jesus Himself endorsed concerning the resurrection (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28, 6:40, 44, 54). Yet, was she prepared that the One who stood in her presence did not merely have power to resurrect, but that He is the Resurrection and the Life? How astounded she must have been as she listened.

In the midst of her pain, with her heart stilled in the calm majesty of His presence, the Master beckons Martha to the most significant confession of faith. To declare what she knows about Him: “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” John 11:27

Martha may not have fully understood the depth of her own words. She may not as yet fully connected Jesus’ teachings with who He is. Could she have ever dared to imagine what she was about to witness?

At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus’ claim becomes clearer: He calls in a loud voice and raises the man dead four days to life. In this momentous event — in which others are allowed to share — they lift the stone, but only Jesus can bring the dead man out. They free him from the grave cloths, but only after Jesus has given life to him.

Jesus is the author of the Resurrection. More than a doctrine, much more than a theological concept, Jesus not only gives new, eternal life, He is the very source of Life. That is part of His glory! (John 11:4, 40)

Jesus performed many signs while He walked on this earth, with the raising of Lazarus the seventh and final sign recorded in the book of John. And like a historian, the Apostle summarizes his narrative in the book’s final chapter: But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31

It is a shame that many questions in life never get asked. This one, the most significant, however, does: Do you believe Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life?

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised.
Hebrews 10:23

Cover photo: My then 10-year-old father’s elementary school class of 1942, #16, far right side.