I’ll always look up to you, Grandpa.
Eulogy for Dr. John C Vander Stelt (4.5.1954 – 9.19.20) read at his Celebration of Life Service on September 24, 2020
I am blessed to have been formed, shaped, hugged a little too tightly, and loved by my grandpa for 22 years. There are a lot of things that I feel like I missed out on as his health started to decline — conversations about what I have been learning in my seminary classes, learning more about his life growing up in the Netherlands and Canada, his travels around the world, the people that he met, the issues he spoke out against, the classes that he taught (oh, to have been one of his students!), talking about the content in his book.
I remember being downstairs in his study at Bailey’s Grove and him pointing out all of the people that he has met over the years — some that are here today and others that have passed on as well. It was moments like those that I wished that future generations beyond myself could be present for. It seemed almost sacred, the work that my grandpa was set apart to do. And honestly as a younger child, I didn’t always see or understand that fully until I began my own studies in seminary.
One thing that I’ve always admired about my grandpa was his unshakeable faith. He is so sure that the God we serve is a just, loving God. That the God we serve is not particular to the country we reside in, but one that moves and breathes throughout all nations, tribes, and tongues. That the God we serve teaches us to intentionally love our neighbors and also our enemies — and love them well.
“It’s not a question about scholarship.” I remember my grandpa saying in a conversation back in 2018. “It’s not a question about theology. It’s about how we live out our theology in the way we talk, move, and exist.”
In the conversations we had leading up to his death, I remember him always mentioning how worried he is about the state of this country and this world, and how worried he is for future generations. I tried to assure him that actually I’m pretty hopeful for my generation and future ones as we continue to speak out against the injustices that surround us — as we continue to ask questions of what is being taught and think more intentionally about how we are shaping future generations.
I feel like pieces of my life are an extension of him and I’m sure many of us who knew him could say the same. The past two years taking classes in a maximum security prison have uncovered a whole new understanding of the gospel and of who Jesus was here on this earth, one that I think Grandpa would’ve loved to discuss and unpack and challenge and learn from and give input to. Even this past year, Micah 6:8 has come up as the grounding verse for my seminary class and is the name of the place that I currently work, Love Mercy Do Justice. To see the verse in his obituary and hear it read aloud at his service is only affirming of the calling God has placed on my life and I believe all of our lives — to continue to seek the Kingdom here on earth that is for all and pursue a just, loving God.
Over the last few days since hearing of Grandpa’s passing, I’ve been imagining him walking into heaven’s gates, seeing God and throwing up his signature “shalom” sign, heading straight towards Abraham Kuyper with a few points of discussion and a list of questions. I know when I walk through those gates, I can’t wait to see my Grandpa again and be able to bring my own points of discussion and list of questions to him.
Until then, let us continue to seek the Kingdom here on earth that is for all and pursue our just, loving God.
