Remembering Ross

This week I said a final goodbye to a good friend, Trevor "Ross" Tooke.  As I looked at him as he lay peacefully in a casket before his funeral, I didn't need words.  I smiled through teary eyes.  After battling brain cancer for many years, he was finally a man who embraced eternal rest with His Saviour Jesus Christ.  Ross will always be an amazing man.

I had the great privilege of getting to know Ross when I accepted he and Joan's offer of hospitality.  I had accepted the offer of pastoring Calvary Chapel Sydney and needed a place to stay for two months.  During that time I was afforded a special view into the life of a man I love, respect, and admire.  Ross took me on as a project of sorts, happily teaching me the intricacies of Australian pronunciation, lingo, and culture.  While under the wing of Ross you learn a lot of things:  how to clean a pool, how to make a proper cup of tea, handle a BBQ, and to show love through service.  Every time I have a cup of English Breakfast I remember my mate Ross.

If I could use three words to sum up the heart of Ross, it would be "love through service."  When I arrived in Australia in October 2010, the prognosis for Ross was not good.  His second brain operation had been an initial success, but that stubborn tumour was back again - and growing fast.  Between going in for scans and treatments, Ross toiled away on my immigration paperwork.  We spent hours driving from open house to open house, submitting applications, looking for a place for my family and I to rent.  He would sit at his computer for hours, looking at property listings while Poncho soaked up the rays by his side.  Let me tell you, no one wants to do those things even when perfectly healthy!  But that was Ross.  He could have done anything but paperwork.  No one would have blamed him.  But even after his third operation, Ross kept plugging away.  Love through service, even when life was brutal.   

I always loved to hear the stories Ross would tell.  One of my favorites was when he had come home very late from work and the house was dark.  Joan would always wrap up a plate for Ross to eat when he came home.  As he felt around he found a plate of biscuits (cookies).  "These biscuits are rather ordinary," Ross said to himself as he choked it down. (In Australia, the term "ordinary" is used to describe something which is poor or lousy.)  It was only after finishing the biscuit that Ross realised he had just eaten one of Poncho's dog treats!  Ross had a very dry, quick wit.  I once asked him to describe his sense of humour in a word.  Without hesitation Ross said, "Australian!"

1 Corinthians 4:2 says, "Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful."  Ross was one of those faithful stewards.  The love of Jesus Christ came out of his life in such practical ways.  Because he set his love and faith upon Christ, Ross is one of the jewels spoken of in Malachi 3:17:  "They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."  I love you, Ross.  You ran well.  Until we meet again in the presence of our Saviour, may I follow your example to be about the LORD's business.