Monday, July 14 at 6:00pm John MacArthur went home to be with the Lord and he is now in his presence.
“So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” 2 Cor. 5:8
This past Sunday in our Christology class we studied Christ and Eternity. So for this post I thought fitting to recount John MacArthur’s life as he is now in eternity. If you want to read a longer recounting of John’s life, read Albert Mohler’s excellent article.
How John’s Life Impacted My Life
Already on Facebook there have been countless tributes to John MacArthur. As I read through them, I was encouraged in each story of the way John impacted so many. Here I want to do the same, recognizing the grace of God in my life because of John and Pat.
Trimming MacArthur’s Tree’s in the 90’s
The world knows John from his preaching and writing. But many might not know John and Pat is their modest home life (and modest life it was). Driving past their home, you might not think that anyone of significant lived there. They had a simple yard, a small pool, and trees all around. These trees are how I enter the story. In the early 1990’s they hired my dad “Pete the tree man”, to trim their trees. From 1990-1997 my dad did their trees on a regular basis and I would go with him to help. This is the first example of kindness and grace the MacArthur’s showed. For one, they always chose to hire church members for any work they needed around their home. For two, so many times while we were working, Pat would come out and offer to buy us lunch at In-n-Out. Their generosity and kindness was unmatched to any tree job I have ever done. This was particularly shown when Pat had a car accident and was wearing a full head hallow because of her neck injury. Despite wearing a hallow, she still came out to buy us lunch! John and Pat were often home together. John first loved his wife and family, despite his global influence, he showed his love for his Savior by prioritizing loving his wife. Often when Pat needed something, she would walk around the house or yard yelling “Johnny”. He was a man globally known, but to Pat, he was her husband to help her around their home.
Gardening for John and Pat
Our family moved to Wisconsin 1997 and in 2002 as a collage student I returned to attend Grace church. To work through my collage years, I started a gardening business. Sure enough, the MacArthur’s heard about it and hired me to be their gardener. Again the generosity of the MacArthur’s is remarkable. Twice a week I was at their house for a couple hours mowing the grass, weeding the planters, and trimming the shrubs. Gardening is a simple job, but the MacArthur’s were always extravagant in their kindness. Countless times Pat brought me lemonade, sodas, or snacks. Many times when I would do a project she would either make me a sandwich or buy me In-n-Out. Often while picking up the monthly payment, they would have me in because it was cooler then waiting on the front porch. Every time I interacted with them, they made me feel like I was the most important person around. The job and relationship I had was their gardener, but they treated me like a brother in Christ.
Many Summers, when grass and shrubs need the most attention, they were super flexible with trips I went on. There was one Summer I want on a short-term mission trip which they contributed too! They loved to have a well kept landscaping, but they did not let that get in the way of a kingdom focus. They followed Jesus in caring for everyone who God brought across their path. Clearly John MacArthur was a busy man faithfully serving the Lord. But he followed the Lord’s example and never treated anyone as an interruption. Every interaction he had with me, he would show kindness and intentionally use whatever moments to encourage me to use my life for the kingdom of God (Mark 1:21-39; 2:1-5; and 3:7-10).
There was once a large patch of grass that was overly shaded and had died off near their front door. As a surprise for Pat, John asked me to replace the dead patch with new sod. On the scheduled day, I arrived early to install the sod. John was gone that morning and Pat came to find out what was going on. She was delightfully surprised. Later that day, John arrived home and came out to check on the project. As we were talking, he asked what happened when Pat came out. Not thinking much of it, I told him she was happy with it. But he wanted to know every detail of how she responded, so he said “and…”, he was waiting for me to tell him the full story of how she reacted to his surprise. Those two were like two peas in a pod. They showed expressions of love for each other through their landscaping! John was powerful in his preaching, gently helping people embrace hard truth. But behind this strength was a heart of love for his wife and family.
John’s Intentional Chat’s
This is where John has impacted me the most. There is about a dozen memories I have that John intentionally came out to chat while I was working in his yard. Sometimes it was to ask about the landscaping, but many times he came to spend a few minutes just to spur on my faith. This blows me away. These little talks will stick with me for my whole life. I can’t recount the exact details of each conversation, but I can tell you they were always forward focused. They were driven with questions regarding future goals. How was I preparing for future ministry and service in the church? He would ask about my family and relationships. Then months and years later, he would remember from the previous conversation and ask follow up questions. Many times, of the 400 books and publication John published, he would bring out a new book as a gift. One books he gave me was “Quest for Character”. Whether he had a specific character issue in mind, I am not sure, none-the-less he was gently helping me address character issues in my life. In the pulpit John often said that the Apostle Paul was his hero. John followed Paul’s example well in 1 Cor. 9:22-23.
“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” 1 Cor. 9:22-23
John Performing Our Wedding
Nicki and her family also knew John through the years, so when it came to officiating at our wedding, we asked John to marry us. One day I called him on his cell and he answered while golfing. He was more then happy to marry us and told us to schedule everything with his secretary. He did meet with me once before the wedding, but Nicki and I did premarital counseling with other Elders at Grace Community Church. Surely John has done many weddings through the years and it was a blast to have him do ours. We had the wedding at a home just a mile from John’s house and we were honored as John and Pat also joined us at the reception. The funniest part of our whole ceremony was at the end. We had finished with the vows, and the last part of was to pronounce Mr. and Mrs. Sam VanDyke, but there was no place for him to say “you may kiss the bride.” So after flipping through his notes, not seeing what was next, he closed his book and just said “seal it”, which I promptly obeyed while the crowd burst out laughing.
After that fun and joy filled night, I continued as his gardener for six more months before moving to the central valley to be closer to Nicki’s family. Through-out the following 4-5 years they continued to call me to work on landscape projects and trees in their yard. It was almost as a gesture to care for us and see us start strong in our marriage. This again cemented in my heart the example of a giving couple caring for everyone who crossed their path.
In one of John’s recent book, he wrote how so many people in Los Angeles have so much stuff overflowing in their houses and garages, that they need to rent storage units to keep it all. The MacArthur’s did not have this problem. Often time’s I was in their garage to adjust their sprinkler timer and their garage was mostly empty. One day, sitting in the corner of the garage was an old couch. Again, in an overly gracious way, they gave us the couch (we had that couch for many, many years…). This was how they were, giving over and abundantly, even to their gardener. John lived out what he preached.
Jesus in Matt. 25:31-46 tells of the separating the sheep from the goats in His final judgment. What is curious is the criteria Jesus uses to separate the sheep from the goats. His criteria was not mighty acts of valor, like King David’s mighty men. His criteria was not not brilliant intellect like Solomon’s wisdom. He didn’t even mention money as a basis for entrance into the kingdom of God. Jesus told those he was judging:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” Matt. 25:34-40
John MacArthur is a name spread all around the world on publications and his 3,000 sermons listened to by millions. But that is not why John is in heaven right now. John is in heaven because Jesus loved him. And as a response to Jesus love, he showed love to others.
“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
John and Pat often would have people in their home for meals and events. People like John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and so many other evangelical legends that have moved millions to follow Christ. But that did not keep them from giving a drink, feeding, clothing, and caring for the least of these. There are so many days I plunge through life, convincing myself I don’t have time for the people God has brought across my path. Whatever work I have in front of me takes priority over caring for my family or caring for strangers. That is not the life John lived. John was deeply devoted to his wife. Ever person that crossed John’s path was a divine appointment for him to show the love of his Savior. This is why I believe his ministry was so powerful. This is why each sermon he preached was so compassion filled and urgent. He was greatly loved by Jesus, so he loved greatly.
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