Funeral Sermon for the Rt. Rev. Dr. John Bütösi Rt. Rev. Koloman Karl Ludwig Bishop Emeritus
Dear Pastors and Layleaders,
The attached is the sermon by Rt. Rev. Koloman Ludwig preached at the funeral of Rt. Rev. Dr. John Bütösi on July 17, 2010. This is slated to be in the Sept./Oct. issue of the Calvin Synod Herald, but it is deserves to be shared.
The photos are of the interment and graveside ceremony Aug. 6, 2010 in Ligonier, PA. The first photo is of the Ballas Family during the interment service. The 2nd photo is of the ministers in attendance surrounding Rev. Butosi’s headstone, left to right: Rev. Jozsef Posta, Rev. Alexander Jalso, Rev. Ilona Komjathy, Rev. Imre Bertalan, Rt. Rev. Koloman Karl Ludwig, Bishop Emeritus, Rt. Rev. Louis Medgyesi, Bishop Emeritus, Rev. Gabor Nitsch, Rev. Albert Kovacs.
Peace and blessings,
Tunde Garai
Funeral Sermon for the Rt. Rev. Dr. John Bütösi
(December 18, 1919 – July 12, 2010),
preached on July 17, 2010, at Bridgeport, Connecticut
Scripture readings: Psalm 103, John 14: 1 – 3, Romans 8: 31 – 39
“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” Psalm 103.
My condolences this morning to my good friend Ann, my colleague Jim, their children Matthew and Erica, and other members of John Butosi’s extended family.
So also my sympathies to his extended family here in Bridgeport – those of you who have known him for so long – some of you for 34 years, some for 50 years or more.
The immediate Ballas family lost someone who was an everyday part of their lives; many of you have lost a pastor, a teacher, a friend. For each of us The Rt. Rev. Dr. John Butosi meant something different, and affected our lives in a different way.
Ann, your father called you “Sweetie”. What a fitting name! It betrayed that special affection he had for you. I am sure he was very proud of you when you were honored this past May as “Employee Of The Year” from amongst over 3,000 persons at the hospital where you work. We know that girls tend to be closer to their fathers, and as they choose a life mate they search for and find a husband who has their father’s best qualities. Your father was a giant of a man in many ways, and you chose Jim as your husband. Jim is a fitting “giant”, both physically and following in the footsteps of his father-in-law.
Jim, I don’t know if you were aware of the expectations Ann had for you, but you surely fulfilled them, which is why I consider you a “colleague”. Ann chose wisely!
Matthew and Erica, you came to bid farewell to your grandpa. He was very proud of the two of you, and spoke of you often. I hope you come to know who he was, and how important he was to the world! The many people in this church this morning didn’t come to bid farewell to grandpa; they came to honor The Rt. Rev. Dr. John Butosi.
There is a story of a man who won the Noble Peace Prize, and when the day came for him to fly to Sweden to accept it, his wife was unable to accompany him. So we went by himself, and when he returned home with the award, he set it on the coffee table, unwrapped it and showed it to his wife. “That’s very nice, Dear”, she said, “But it’s still your turn to take out the garbage.” Today we do honor “grandpa who takes out the garbage”, but we also honor someone who was much more important to many people in the world!
I met Rev. Dr. Butosi 42 years ago, and very early on for me he was the model of what a person in the Christian Ministry should be like in virtually everything he exemplified. Yet we each come with our own memories and thoughts this morning.
I would be very easy to give the kind of talk this morning that people love – a glowing portrait devoid of specifics, in which we would listen to the wonderful attributes of the person we are remembering and honoring. You have all been to such funeral services. After all the praise by the preacher, and the service is over, many who come by for the final viewing of the body look to make sure they were at the right funeral – because the person they knew wasn’t nearly the person portrayed! I say it would be easy because if I were to do that today, all of you would know exactly who I am talking about – John Butosi – pastor extraordinaire! But the Rev. John Butosi would be disappointed. I think we would better remember his life if we examined why one could fill this sanctuary with the kind of words many would love to have said about them. Besides, we shouldn’t praise a person – John’s autobiography was entitled “Praise the Lord, O My Soul!”
I think that is a good starting point to discover the secret to John’s life. He learned that only the Lord is worthy of praise – and he actively endeavored to bring this to life in all he did.
I was honored to be asked to proofread Dr. Butosi’s faith journey, and while doing this I discovered what I consider some gems of faith and wisdom which begin to explain this servant of God who was able to focus his life following what he believed.
First, of course, his discovery of Jesus the living Savoir. Young John says this happened when he was 14 or 15 years old. He was reading a religious pamphlet in which his eyes were opened to the fact that not only did Jesus live 2,000 years ago, not only did Jesus die 2,000 years ago, not only did Jesus rise from the dead 2,000 years ago and not only did Jesus ascend into Heaven 2,000 years ago – all history – Jesus lives even now – today!!! Even now He lives amongst us, even now He walks amongst us, and He is here even now. Not history, not myth, not just a “confession of faith” – this is fact – He is here now!
One would say this was his meeting of a personal Savoir. Young John became Rt. Rev. Dr. John Butosi because of this awakening in his life. Jesus is not confined to the Bible, nor to this sanctuary, nor to Sunday morning. He is always with us. This became the very basis for everything John did after that moment in his life.
John realized that “Religion” was meaningless unless one was in total adherence with that power which the religion espoused. As a result, as a seminary student John was even suspect, because he took Jesus too seriously!
But that was the big difference in his life. He understood that just knowing about God, just knowing about the Creeds, just knowing about Christianity – this is not what Christianity is about. If that is all our Christianity is in our lives, then, as Paul says in I Corinthians 15, “we are of all men most to be pitied”. John came to realize that in all that we do, Jesus IS with us! John knew this, and welcomed Jesus as his partner for life.
The next step was giving God all the recognition in life. John was a man of many talents, many gifts. But he knew that these are meaningless, even futile, without his partner Jesus, and it was just logical that if Jesus is the reason for his life, then so Jesus is the one who deserves credit for the successes of life.
“Praise the Lord, O my soul” was not just the title of his autobiography, it was his motto in life. Praise the Lord for all the things He provides, both good and less desirable. During the war, working in a hospital, he found God’s presence, and even then learned of God’s power and grace. And he praised God. Praise the Lord for all the things He provides, success in school, a journey that led him to a new land, a wonderful loving wife who would be a partner in his Calling – a fitting partner, as it were, as if the two were created by God with His plan in mind that they would be united as one in marriage. That is what Christians believe, isn’t it? Their meeting was not an accident – it was planned by God himself! Then John was blessed with a loving family: Praise the Lord for his blessings!
John did indeed live the 103rd Psalm. He praised the Lord, he did not forget the many benefits, the many blessings, the many gifts he received.
He was cognizant and attributed to God all that he experienced in life. And indeed he was healed of his diseases, his life was redeemed so that he received not only the proverbial “threescore and ten”, not even “fourscore” years spoken of in the 90th Psalm, but more!
When other men his age faded away into retirement, John began a new career as a seminary Professor – his strength and zest for life was indeed “renewed like an eagles”! And life was good, because Jesus was always his companion.
Early in life he had pondered the question: “What would happen if we would voluntarily take up our cross, and follow him?” John struck out on that path – but he was not alone, because he knew that Jesus would always be with him. John got his answer: It was a difficult life, but a wonderful, full life – never ceasing to be a challenge, but never a time when the Lord was not there to make the burden bearable; always the Lord was there!
“Praise the Lord, O my soul; and all my inmost being praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”. Psalm 103: 1-5
Indeed John not only read and kept these words in his heart, he lived his life with the power found in these words. He even created a mini “Eagle Theology”, as he called it: “Christian life is running; those who take it as a promenade will soon be dead tired and quit. But those who run in a goal-oriented fashion as an eagle will soon enter a new realm of the air with different laws and new opportunities.” That new realm with different laws and new opportunities that John referred to was this: We are freed from the debilitating bondages of sin by newness of spirit in Christ; We are freed from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of Christ; We are freed from the wisdom of the spirit of death – man’s wisdom – by the wisdom of the Spirit of Life – Christ’s wisdom. John’s Eagle Theology, the many benefits, and the power it indeed offers in life were real to him and sustained him.
I experienced the power of this faith this past year, as I visited him in the hospital, then at home. John was seriously ill, but there was never a complaint concerning his illness. The illness was his “Cross” to bear – and gladly did he bear it, and again, he was NOT alone!
The “Eagle Theology” was his life story, and sustained him in the difficult times. Aging makes no difference, John said, as he quoted Psalm 71:18: “Even when I am old and grey, do not forsake me, God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come”. On his sickbed he praised God – not just for his many blessings in life, but for the trials he was even then enduring! Yes, Isaiah 40:29-31 said it right: “He gives strength to the weary.” And John believed and knew that the words of Lamentations 3:22 applied to those who believe: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail.”
John experienced difficulties and pains in his life, as well as joys. His own personal health was often an issue; His wife Lorraine left him at an inopportune time; He had to do what no parent wants to do – he had to bury his daughter Sarah. But he continued to Praise the Lord with all his heart.
John held of extreme importance the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism: “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” that I belong not to myself, but to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”
And this is what The Rt. Rev. Dr. John Butosi did; “Wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”
To John we bid farewell. “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the LORD, everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.” (Psalm 103:19-22) AMEN
Rt. Rev. Koloman Karl Ludwig, Bishop Emeritus
(Upon notification of Dr. Butosi’s death, the Dean of the Theological Seminary in Debrecen notified Ann and Jim Ballas that during his years as Professor in Debrecen, Dr. Butosi had returned all his salary to the Seminary and established a Scholarship Fund for seminarians, which totaled over one-half million dollars.)
Present at the funeral of Dr. Butosi were Rev. Ervin Betts, U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Leila Havadtoy Gomulka, Retired U.S. Navy Chaplain Captain Gene Thomas Gomulka, Rev. Dr. Alexander Havadtoy, Rev. Leslie Martin, Rt. Rev. Louis Medgyesi, Rev. August Molnar, Rev. John Olson, Rt. Rev. Bela Poznan, Bishop, and former Synod Presbyter Lehel F. Deak.
Related posts: