Funeral for Shirley Mellon

Shirley Started with Little

Shirley loved to smile and laugh. She was always a light in any room she was in. She was the type of person that you could test a good joke on or tell a story to, and she’d love it. So, it might surprise you to know that she started out with very little growing up. Joe said you could see the chicken through cracks in the floors of the house she grew up in. She usually had food to eat, but often not enough. Like Paul writes in Philippians 4, she knew how to be brought low. She knew how to face hunger and need.

In one of the last times that Shirley and I spoke, I read Romans 8 to her, and she told me it was one of her very favorite passages. It was written to Christians who were struggling, Christians who might not have enough material possessions to feel adequate in such a prosperous society. It was written to minister to Christians who knew some of the hardship that she had known. So, he writes:

Romans 8:31-35 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”

God Gives Us His Best

Paul writes to remind those struggling Christians: It may not feel like you have much when you look at all of the people around you. They may have the home that you want or the car that you want or a life that seems better. But, God has not been stingy with you. He has given you even more than that. He has give you his very own Son. He’s given his best. He “did not spare his own Son” and He will “graciously give us all things.” The houses will rot and the cars will rust and this life will eventually end, but the love of God given to you through Christ Jesus is a gift that will only grow sweeter and richer and more joyous as you go. So, for those who know Christ, and Shirley knew Jesus, we have been given far more than we could ever hope for.

A Lot of Love to Give

That’s how Paul remained content with little, and that’s why Shirley as she did gain more remained humble, loving, and generous. You see, Shirley had a lot of love to give because she had received so much love from her heavenly Father. That, Joe, is how you can be married to someone for 63 years and still love being with one another. Sharron and Sherri, that’s how she always had more love to give to you.

Her “Kids”

I guess as often as I talked to Shirley she talked to me about all of her “kids.” It could be Sharron and Sherrie or her grandkids or her great-grandkids. Shirley always had a heart for kids. She wanted them to know that she loved them. She wanted them to be okay. She wanted them to know Jesus in the way that she knew him. It was all that she talked about.

Shirley knew, firsthand, how unimportant all the things you can have here and now can be. She knew that they didn’t matter. She knew that what mattered was knowing firsthand the love of Christ that will never abandon you. Paul keeps going:

Romans 8:36-39 “As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Hardship Doesn’t Win; Jesus Does

Paul says that those who are in Christ are “more than conquerors.” And, what he means is that despite what they may face, despite what hardships they may know, despite what sadnesses and setbacks they might experience, God will make sure that they will persevere all the way to the end. They will be proven victorious through Christ. Poverty won’t win. Sickness won’t win. Sadness won’t win. Not even death will win. Because Christ has won.

She’s More than a Conqueror

It’s easy for us to see this casket this afternoon and feel like Shirley has lost, to feel like we have lost. But, Shirley persevered to the end. One of the last sentences I heard her speak was: “I love God.” And so, today, we see with the eyes of faith that in this moment, at this time, because of Jesus she has not lost; She is more than a conqueror.

She Knows in Full

The main point of this passage is that “nothing can separate you from the love of God.” Right now, in this very instance, there’s no separation at all between Shirley and the love of God. Her faith has been turned to sight. She sees and knows in full. Praise God for the victory of Jesus!