SERMON BY VICAR HENRIK BANG-M0LLER ON NILS JORGEN PHILlP-SORENSEN AT HIS FUNERAL FROM SKAGEN CHURCH, FRIDAY THE 29th of JANUARY 2010. 

"Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world" said the ancient Greek mathematician and physicist Archimedes, about 2010 years agomeaning: a firm place.

Archimedes never found that place, neither did any of those, who through history took up his challenge and with great enthusiasm spend their whole life looked exactly for a place so firm, that they could move the world from there. Because the ironical truth is, that such a place does not exist - Archimedes' about 300 years older predecessor, Heraclites realized that, as he completely and without illusions accepted that "everything floats". The irony is totally on God's side and on those who have also realized that fact - only one is firm, God our Lord, and we do not reign over him - but thank God, he reigns over us.

God reigns also over Philip now - for even though Philip through most of his life reigned over a great and worldwide business empire, he was not able to reign over his own death that slowly caught up with him. Of course Philip resisted and refused to surrender - he did - it was his nature to struggle - but one thing is for sure, we all have to die one day - no matter what - and death is not a firm place for a person to stand and move the world - only God, the Lord can do that. 

Today we say goodbye to a rather remarkable life - if Philip was not able to move the world, he certainly was able to move himself - as a matter of facts so much, that he through his life and his work have seen most of the world. 

Philip was born in Malmo, Sweden on September the 23rd 1938 - and his father was just as enterprising as Philip turned out to become. Through his whole life he remained a Swedish citizen, and as a young man he therefore did his military service in the Swedish army - and was named "the best soldier of Sweden" - but let me remind you, that Sweden, at that time, stayed neutral in all matters of warfare! 

Philip also had a musical ear - as a young man he had a jazz orchestra, and he played the trombone - rather well, actually. 

Working was a great and important part of his life, but he never forgot his family, who remained dearly to him. Philip's first wife, Ingrid bore him 4 wonderful children; Anette, Christina, Louisa and Mark - and Ingrid and Philip remained very close and had a fine relationship through all years. On October 4th 1997 Philip and Susse were married in Skagen Church, and the fact that Ingrid and Susse established a fine relationship too, made Philip very happy - actually a strong family relationship was very important to Philip, and he rarely missed an occasion to gather the whole family around him. 

According to Susse, she and Philip had a hectic marriage - one or two might puzzle by that characterization and imagine a turbulent marriage with many up's and down's - but the hectically only describes, that Susse, according to her husband's wishes, accompanied him round the world to visit his many companies - app. 200 days a year - a "flying marriage" you might call it, and this support from a loving wife was invaluable to Philiphe felt uncomfortably if Susse was away - she made him feel happy and safe and probably also rectified a deeper loneliness, haunting deep down in his mind. 

Susse and Philip supported and loved each other very much, and they had a happy and warm marriage. 

However all business decisions he made on his own - in that way family life and business life were separated. As a business man and patron he represented an almost restless creativity, that made him inventive and remarkable with his special gift for telling good from filth. 

He sincerely listened to young people with new and fascinating ideas and never failed to help and support them if needed - he had a flair for good business and felt a great responsibility to all his companies and the people working for him. Internationally Philip's companies employed several hundred-thousand people, and being a decent person, to Philip also meant, that you have to treat your employees in a decent way. 

While growing up Philips children knew a father who was away from home most of the time, so Ingrid, their mother took care of their upbringing - but in the summertime, in Skagen - he became a true father and allowed himself to spend all the time with them - that meant a lot to the children, as does the warm and caring relationship he had to all his grandchildren -Ingrid, Eva, Christie, Karl, Felix, Justine, Alfie, Alysia, Max, Niels, Freddie, Kaspar, Elias and Oscar. Philip loved to have the kids around him - according to him the most important to him was his children and his grandchildren - after them came his work. 

To Denmark and to Skagen, our small part of this country, Philip also has had an enormous importance - it is Skagen's fortune, that he gave so much love and attention to our sunny paradise. And wherever he went, he always spoke enthusiastically about the city of Skagen and the wild and unique nature at this northernmost tip of Denmark. 

He himself used his strength to improve the industry, among other things as a member of the Skagen Harbour board and as owner of the shipyard, Danish Yachts. 

He and Susse also established a close and lasting friendship to Birgit and Alfred here in Skagen, and while being on holiday in the summertime, Alfred was not only his friend, he was also his very best playmate. 

Philip never boasted of his financial success - he got on with all people in a plain and jolly way - a fact I, as a vicar, recently and more than once have felt, when talking about his untimely death. 

2 years ago Philip got cancer, but instead of giving up, he maintained an indomitably optimism and did not really believe, that he was going to die, he only waited for the doctors to do something - there had to be a way out - an unused possibility. His children and especially Susse stood by him all the time, and you all managed to celebrate a nice and lovely Christmas in England - as usually. 

In spite of his strong will for life, Philip had to give in at last - and he died peacefully with Susse's words of love in his ears, and as he closed his eyes for the last time a shooting star appeared in the sky. 

It seems as a remarkable coincidence, that we here in church on the coming Sunday are to talk about entrusted gifts. The parable is of course about Heaven, the last aim for all human - but the gifts, the good Lord in the parable entrusts his servants according to their skills, you can easily compare with the life, we have all been given by God - a life we have to live with responsibility, gratitude and with love towards both God and man. 

Philip was entrusted many gifts, and he managed to use them conscientiously, fulfilling the responsibility he had towards all the people in his many companies, who depended on him and his disposals. 

In God's eyes "he is richest, who gives the most" - he is rich, who lets his gifts work and grow in benefit to other people - our successfulness is measured up in our relationship to other people - in that way Philip too was a rich man. He was sensitive, modest, generous and very emphatic towards others - and more than anybody towards his family. He was able to - and wanted to - do so many things. He was enterprising, inventive and had a strong will, but when it came to his own birth and his own death, not even he was in charge -life and death is everybody's master. 

The Gospel about the crucified and resurrecting Christ, whom also Philip was baptized to follow, preaches life's victory over death -love's victory over evil, sin and senselessness. We do not live to die, but in order to allow the love of Christ to take root in us and make us able to love each other pure and unconditionally. 

Philip is in the loving hands of God now, and from there he shall join the great feast in Gods kingdom, and it shall be fun. God's love in Jesus Christ is the only firm place - everything else floats. And who knows, maybe Philip is allowed to smoke one of his beloved cigars, because in God's Heaven -I doubt they have any restricting smoking-policy! 

In the belief of Christ the resurrecting, we therefore entrust the body and soul of NIELS J0RGEN PHILlP- S0RENSEN to the living hands of God. Amen