More than 2,000 people, the vast majority of them Protestant, filled the pews of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Tuesday evening to bid a final farewell to a man whose unique brand of intellectual preaching, writing and speaking changed their lives.
Thousands more watched the service streamed online.
For 28 years, Dr. Timothy Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, a congregation he founded in 1989. His goal was to transform the city and bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a metropolis that the rest of the world may have thought was more of a den of iniquity, spiritually speaking, than a city ready for a revival.
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But Keller lived by the mantra that God loves cities, because in cities, especially New York, a plethora of God’s image bearers reside. Every color, creed, age, shape and size live here. It’s a land ripe for planting seeds of faith.
And his teaching ministry helped nurture Redeemer into a church with a weekly attendance of over 5,000.
Keller’s specialty, said his longtime friend, Glen Kleinknecht, was “listening to people who were most opposed to his faith.”
He transformed lives because he heard people’s wants — and provided what they needed.
Keller died on May 19 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 72.
He was buried within three days of his death, in St. Michael’s Cemetery, not far from LaGuardia Airport.
That meant thousands of church members and followers never had an opportunity to come together to grieve and mourn their loss until Tuesday evening.
The fact that his service was at one of the most iconic Catholic cathedrals in the world is testament to Keller’s ecumenical appeals to make the Gospel, not denominations, central to his teachings — “we are all part of the Body of Christ.”
Cardinal Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, greeted the Keller family and welcomed all who came to celebrate Keller’s life. Dolan called Dr. Keller “a man we love and admire.”
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It was an odd and yet triumphant gathering of all Christ’s followers as some of the great hymns of Protestantism were sung under the hallowed columns of one of Catholicism’s most majestic cathedrals. And yet, despite all the historical strife of schisms and a Reformation in the Christian Church, there was no discord.
That’s because of Timothy Keller and all that he was: a humble, brilliant, theological person who loved Jesus and served his calling to bring others to know the Gospel.
Among those who gave their remembrances, none were bold-faced names; there were no celebrities or prominent politicians.
Instead, there were just friends to whom Keller introduced the truth of Jesus.
Graham Howell, a silver-haired man, met Keller in 1975, in Hopewell, Virginia, at Keller’s first preaching job. Howell said he wasn’t a particularly religious man but that “my marriage was on the rocks. I was desperate.”
So he figured that seeing a pastor would help. Tim Keller counseled him and talked with him.
He said, “I left the office with hope.” But ultimately, he said, Keller opened his eyes to what he really needed.
Said Howell, “I went to church believing what I needed was a repaired marriage, but what I needed was a new heart.”
Good friend Kleinknecht was part of the group with Keller that began to plan for a new church in Manhattan back in the late 1980s. Keller didn’t intend to be the preacher. But eventually it became clear that Keller was the best choice.
Kleinknecht said he told Keller, “Tim, I think God is calling you to be a pastor in New York.”
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Keller’s ability to tap into God’s silent sovereignty made him able to draw from other sources outside Scripture.
The memorial service program, along with several verses from the Bible, also included quotes from 16th century poet George Herbert, 19th century evangelist Dwight L. Moody, and Keller’s favorite, C.S. Lewis, the 20th century British writer, scholar and Anglican theologian.
Keller’s brand of teaching and preaching taught thousands if not millions to make faith a personal relationship with Christ. Instead of treating faith as an accessory like a designer purse or luxury goods, Keller help people understand that Jesus Christ was life itself, the authority under which all other loves and likes in life are molded.
Pastor and author Sam Allberry gave the homily, detailing how Keller’s ability to serve was a product of his love for Jesus. The tributes poured in — not about Keller’s accomplishments but about “Tim’s character, as father, pastor and friend.”
Keller, a best-selling author, speaker and preacher, could have used his influence to created power for himself but didn’t. He remained humble and always put the focus on serving others.
“Keller,” said Allberry, “was full of Jesus.”
Keller had the ability to see into a scriptural passage — the ideas were so profound, yet when he explained them, he made them seem so simple and obvious. He was able to help modern-day listeners understand how it applied to them.
Case in point. One of the most controversial stories of the Old Testament is certainly Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac, the son that God has promised through which Abraham would be the father of many nations, that his descendants will be more than the stars in the heaven.
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In Keller’s sermon of Oct. 30, 1994, “Abraham and the Test of Faith; Commitment, Undivided Heart,” he spoke to the heart of problem, that “God’s commands seem to contradict His promises.”
Keller then applied that Scripture to modern-day struggles, particularly on the issues of sex and sexual identity.
The sacrifice of Isaac is not just the near death of a beloved son, but the archetype of an offering up of something we love more than life itself.
That “God’s commands” will sometimes go against every feeling we have of what’s right or wrong for us.
That giving it up will feel like death.
But Abraham, said Keller, “reasoned” that God could raise Isaac from the dead. And God did, spiritually speaking, by stopping Abraham from the sacrifice at the last moment.
Keller pointed out in the sermon, “You haven’t been tested … until you get in a situation in which your wisdom contradicts God’s wisdom.”
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He added, “If you can define God … only in terms of affirming your deepest feelings, you don’t have a god … You have a projection of yourself, a projection of your own heart, if you don’t have a God who crosses your will.”
Said Howell, “Tim Keller was a gift to all God’s creatures, for such a time as this.”
Keller has died, but his influence continues to grow. His sermons are available for listening at Gospel in Life.com. His books sell worldwide.
Keller’s preaching is only the beginning. It’s a talisman, a countercultural movement against the idols of modernity.
