Memorial for Julie Anderson
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Good Afternoon and welcome to the Memorial Service for Julie Anderson. If you would please stand we will begin our service with a couple of worship songs that the family know to be special to Julie. The words for the songs will be on the screen. Please sing along as you are able.
Singing - “Lord We lift Your Name On High” / “Amazing Grace”
And now we will have a scripture reading by a friend of the family, Bernie Bronkow
Scripture Reading - Psalm 23 / Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Obituary - ? ________________
Message
We are gathered this afternoon to remember the beautiful life of Julie Anderson and the impact that her life has had on each one of us. As a loving wife, mother and grandmother. As a sister, a friend, a neighbor and coworker. As a dear Christian sister to so many here at this Church and other Churches where she ministered through her gift of music, playing piano and always willing to offer a helping hand and a delicious dessert when we gathered together.
And like all of you, I too was shocked to hear of her passing last Tuesday night. Questions swirled through my head as I hopped in the truck to head over to their home to see if I could be of any help. And we wonder lots of things in times like this, but maybe more than anything else we ask the question ‘Why?”
We wonder why now? Why so sudden? Why Julie? Why did her time come so quickly? And at the end of this string of “why’s” is the ultimate question…Why death? Why do any of us have to die?
But to truly understand the answer to the question “Why Death” we have to first ask ourselves and even more striking one. Why life? Why are we here in the first place? This death thing is so troubling, so jarring so sudden but the life question…it is a present, moment by moment experience.
And if you had the opportunity to ask Julie about what made her life so full and blessed, then you would have heard about about many different moments. I hope you take time to share the memory of those moments with each other today and in the days in the come, but because I knew Julie personally and I am standing up here I get to share some of what I heard from Julie.
I heard her give God praise for the extra moments He gave her with Don - even after the doctors repeated told them to prepare for the worst.
I heard of how she treasured her moments with her grandaughter Riata, passing on to her many of her secrets and skills in the kitchen that could otherwise be lost.
I heard the satisfaction in her voice knowing that even after all these years, she could still be a help down on the dairy farm.
I heard the pride in both her and Don’s voice when they in great detail explained to me the magnitude of the latest tree that their Son had safely brought down.
And on and on I could go, and you could too, and you should because the blessings of this life are good to remember and every moment is happening right now. We experience life as a constant and continual forward stream of moments.
But all life had a beginning point. This is of course true for all our lives individually, but life itself began at one point.
Genesis 1:1 (ESV)
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Life has not always been. It had a beginning. It had an originator, a creator. It had a purpose.
Genesis 1:26–27 (ESV)
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Why life? Because the creator God created it. He designed it for his purposes and for his glory.
Genesis 1:31a (ESV)
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
That is the story of Genesis chapter 1 and 2 but the story takes a sharp turn in Chapter 3. It is there where our first parents Adam and Eve rebel against the God who gave them life. Enter the first sin. Enter the first death.
Romans 5:12 (ESV)
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
And Sin and death has been wrecking our lives ever since. As good as our lives can be at times, we still have other times when we know that this is not how this should be. There is something in us that longs for a something better. That longs for a better way to be.
We see this at times in our own behavior when we do things that result in horrible heartache and pain and we see this when others behave badly toward us and we rightly say…This is not right! This is not the way it is supposed to be. And it isn’t.
In Genesis 1 and 2 Adam and Eve lived with God in a perfect world and a perfect relationship, but then they broke that relationship. And that is where we find the answer to the question “Why death”.
But the good news is that death is not the final answer. This is God’s story and He continues to write it. And He wrote the most dynamic plot twist you can imagine.
John 3:16–17 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
And you might say, wait a minute Pastor Dan, how have we been saved when we still have to deal with death. When we still die?
It is only our life in this world that dies. A world that, as good as some of the moments can be, is still corrupted by people continuing to rebel against the God who gave us life. It is no longer just about eating forbidden fruit though. This world is full of all kinds of other ways that people have invented to be selfish, cruel, unkind, cheating, back stabbing, gossiping and on and on.
To live eternally in this broken world is no gift, so God has given us something better. Jesus told his followers
John 14:1–6 (ESV)
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
In Genesis 1 and 2 Adam and Eve walked in the garden with God in the cool of the day. They were in His place obeying His Word and living in His many blessings. But sin made us unable to be with God in his holiness. So we were separated from God and their was nothing that we could do about it.
But God could. And God did. He sent his Son Jesus to pay the price for our rebellion against Him so that we can be with Him again. And so when Jesus tells his followers this, one of them asked the question that probably everyone was thinking:
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Because I had the privilege of knowing Julie, I know that she knew the way. She knew and loved Jesus and she trusted in Him for her eternity. Because of that she is right now in the place that God the Father has prepared for her.
C.S. Lewis tells this great story about walking into a garden shed on a sunny day. It was dark in the shed, but because the shed was old there were streams of light that were beaming through some of the cracks in the walls of this shed. And if you have even stopped to look at something like this, you know how the sun can reflect off all these little particles in the air in such a way that it looks like they are dancing in the beam. It’s a beautiful sight.
This is what all those good memories about times with Julie are like. Beautiful memories of moments that seem to shine and dance against the darkness that we may feel in the loss. And it is good and right that we reflect on those things during this time. That we enjoy them for the moments that they are, but there is more that they can lead to.
I began this message talking about one thing that we all have in common is that we are here because Julie’s life has made an impact on us in some way in the past. But the truth is that her life can still make an impact on us from here on out. Because as we reflect on the beauty of the many beams that are shining in her life, like the ones in the dark garden shed, we would be remiss if we didn’t follow them up and out of the darkness to their source.
The the source of light. To the source of life. To the one that Julie put her trust and hope in for all eternity and who I know she would want you to do the same.
To the only on who can save us from an eternity of darkness, The Lord Jesus Christ
Hebrews 2:3 (ESV)
3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
Please pray with me.
I invite you to stand as we sing a traditional hymn that tells the great story of the salvation that was purchased for you and I.
SINGING - “Old Rugged Cross”
BENEDICTION
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
CLOSING PRAYER