Williams Funeral

Memorial for Richard “Dick” Williams

OPENING SONG

GATHERING

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also.

GREETING

Friends, we have gathered here to praise God and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the life of Richard “Dick” Williams. Read obituary…

Richard “Dick” Williams was born on September 7, 1942 in Sand Springs, Oklahoma to Elnora (Brown) Williams and Floyd Thomas Williams.  He passed away on August 19, 2023 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He was married to Margaret (McGlothlin) Williams on October 26, 1973 in Long Beach, California. He was the owner and operator of Williams Lawn Service.

Dick loved his family the best way he knew how.  He was devoted to his wife, Margaret, telling her early in their relationship “I choose you” and he never moved from that commitment.  He wanted his children to be strong and independent, and so he taught them to have a strong work ethic, how to work with their hands, and how to make do when times were lean. Besides his family, Dick’s two passions was running their family farm and doing genealogical research.  One of his delights was to help people search through endless records to discover missing links in their family tree or re-discover part of their lost family heritage.

Dick is survived by his wife, Margaret; one daughter, Amanda Farris and husband Matthew of Lake Tenkiller, OK; two sons, Sean Williams of Fort Smith, AR and Thomas Williams and wife Missy of Mena, AR; grandchild, Zack Fields of Mena, AR; one sister, Joyce Burns of Scotland, AR; and many other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and two brothers, Marcus and Robert Williams.

We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss. May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow hope, in death resurrection.

PRAYER

Eternal God, we praise you for the great company of all those who have finished their course in faith and now rest from their labor. We praise you for those dear to us whom we name in our hearts before you. Especially we praise you for Dick, whom you have graciously received into your presence. To all of these, grant your peace. Let perpetual light shine upon them; and help us so to believe where we have not seen, that your presence may lead us through our years, and bring us at last with them into the joy of your home not made with hands but eternal in the heavens; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SONG 2

WITNESS – Invite others to share about Dick

SERMON – To Be Absent from the Body is to be Present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-8)

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-8

Some of my earliest memories are of our annual campout during family reunion at Lake Murray in Oklahoma every summer.  While other families had nice campers – with air conditioners – we were a tent family.  You may remember the kind of tent I’m talking about.  It was made by Coleman – or course – and it was this canvas contraption held up by a perplexing array of aluminum poles.  When dad would dump it out of its storage bag, I had no idea how it could ever become something we could sleep in – but he managed it somehow.

Over the years the family tent began to show its age.  No telling how many seasons it had been used before I have memory of it, but with each passing season the canvas became more washed out of color, it became thin in spots, it’s rain-repellant coating had long worn out – evident every time it rained, which seemed like every time we went camping.  It had developed holes where wear or misuse had taken a toll.  It was old and worn out.

Then one day dad came home pulling behind this amazing box on wheels.  I had no idea what it was, but it must be wonderful become it was wrapped around with shiny aluminum.  To my delight, I discovered that it was a new tent – on wheels!  It didn’t have the modern conveniences of air conditioning or a refrigerator, but it was new.  You didn’t have to sleep on the ground anymore.  The beds were actually comfortable.  And when it rained, you didn’t wake up in a puddle!  It was amazing.  The old tent had been thoroughly upstaged by the new.

This is something like what Paul is trying to describe in the passage I read.  Using tent as a metaphor for our body, he says there is a time this bodily tent will wear out.  Because of the curse of sin, they don’t last forever.  Yet this is not a point of despair for Paul; on the contrary, it is a point of great relief. For while these tents must wear out through use, God is making something far better for us.  Not a tent on earth, but a house in the heavens.

Here the believer groans.  We long to be clothed with this new heavenly dwelling.  We groan in an earthly tent that, because of sin, feels the effects of injury, disease, and age.  We groan to be unclothed from this earthly body, not so that we are without a body, but so that we may be clothed with a new body.  A better body.  An eternal body.  To say it simply, God has in mind a great upgrade for all who are in Christ.

And so, Paul says, we can have confidence.  We can be confident that when this bodily tent has finished its purpose we will be ushered into a new dwelling, one that exists in the very presence of God.  Right now, Paul says, while we are in this body we are away from the Lord.  But we can have absolute confidence that when we are finally away from this body, we will finally be present where our heart’s true how resides – with Jesus.  Speaking of the glorious reunion that believers will share in God’s presence, Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “Therefore, encourage one another with these words.”

Margaret shared with me Tuesday that she, along with two of her closest friends, have all been bereaved of their husbands in the past six-week period.  All three share in this common grief of losing their life partner and of learning how to navigate the uncertainty of a future that looks very different.  Several weeks before Margaret’s first friend lost her husband, during a time of prayer, Margaret sensed the Lord preparing her heart for the future.  The Lord spoke to her that he was going to begin calling these men home.  Their journey was over.  It was time to trade their worn tents for an incredible upgrade.  Then the Lord went on to give her this hopeful encouragement we read in our passage this morning – “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

The Lord is so merciful to give us assurance in these times of grief.  As a pastor, I can’t tell you how many testimonies I’ve heard over the years of people receiving special encouragement from the Spirit of God when facing the loss of a loved one.  Yes, God’s word says, we are confident that to be away from the body is to be present with the Lord.

We recognize our loss today.  We grieve appropriately for the temporary loss of relationship that in this case lasted 49 years.  But the Lord also offers us his hope.  First, that our loved ones who have died in the Lord are with him.  We need not worry about them.  And second, that when our time comes, we too will be ushered into God’s glorious presence with them – and what a reunion that will be.  Therefore, my friends, encourage one another with these words.  Amen.

SONG 3

COMMENDATION

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Dick. Acknowledge, we humbly ask you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive Dick into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints of light.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

God of love, we thank you for all with which you have blessed us even to this day: for the gift of joy in days of health and strength and for the gifts of your abiding presence and promise in days of pain and grief. We praise you for home and friends, and for our baptism and place in your Church with all who have faithfully lived and died. Above all else we thank you for Jesus, who knew our griefs, who died our death and rose for our sake, and who lives and prays for us. Please join me as Jesus taught us to pray…

THE LORD’S PRAYER

DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.