Ms. Yvonne's Funeral Service

It is a privilege and an honor to serve you and this family today. (Let’s pray)

Many times, when you walk into the hospital room or the living room, or bed room, of those who are on that eternal threshold… you wonder about their spiritual life, and you wonder about the spiritual lives of the others who are in the room with you.

You wonder about the spiritual condition: Do they have life? Do they have peace with God through Christ? Are they saved from their sins and are they resting in the hope that comes from our Lord and Savior?

Sometimes you only see the pain and despair. Sometimes you see only confusion and or anger.

But sometimes… Like Wednesday night… In Ms. Yvonne’s bedroom… You hear pain and grief, and you hear prayers, people speaking with God, like they know Him. And you hear hymns being sung as if there was some reality to them. Songs like these:

1. Going Home, I am going home. There is nothing to hold me here. I’ve caught a glimpse of the Heavenly land… Praise God, I’m going home.

2. What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, and I’ll look upon His face, the One Who saved me by His grace, and He’ll take me by the hand and lead me to the Promise land, What a Day, Glorious Day… that Will Be.

What does that communicate to you? What does this family have today? What do we all need today? Peace and Hope.

It is my prayer, the prayer of Romans 15:13, that the God of Hope will fill you this day, with all joy and peace as you look to Him and trust Him this day… that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Listen: Today is a day to celebrate the life of Ms. Yvonne. Today is a day to honor her, a day to sing and praise God. It is also a day and a time to grieve, to cry, to comfort and console.

Grief indicates that you have loved, that you have treasured, and cherished this woman and family… And now… Because your loved one is not here… you hurt.

This is good and right. It points to the reality of love and to the reality that you have loved.

But as you grieve… you can find and have hope and peace. Through these times, you can find and have strength.

There is a peace and a hope that will carry you through. There is a strength to be found that is beyond this world… Who may possess it? Isaiah 40:31 – Those who hope in the Lord will be renewed in their strength… These will find an Anchor for their souls.

Where is this Peace and Hope to be found. Ephesians 2:14 – Christ Himself is our Peace. Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3, that Jesus is His Living Hope… A hope that will not die or fade… A hope that is eternal.

This Hope will hold you. How? Because the Christian Hope is a Person.

And when I walked into the room on Wednesday night… Isaiah 41:10 was on display: Do not fear, for I am with you do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand… The Lord is Good… and He will uphold you until the end.

Ms. Yvonne and this family has grief and pain today… but there is a peace they have come to know through the Perfect Love of Christ… that has driven out the fear that death brings.

Jesus has taken away the fear of death and they now see it as a tool/the means to be used to bring us from this life into the next - To change our zip code.

For now, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

They did not know, Ms. Yvonne did not know why it took so long before the Lord took her… But they did understand that the Lord’s timing is perfect… and that He is always Good.

We do not always know what is best. Sometimes our best wants and desires are not what is best for others… It may be best for us, but not necessarily for others.

But this is the best for Ms. Yvonne. She is receiving the best, her best life, Christ’s life now in God’s presence. The body remains with us until the fulness of time, but the spirit is absent from this body and is now present with the Lord.

In knowing Ms. Yvonne, in this short period of time… I do not think for a moment that she would encourage you to have a pity-party over her, or to set your faces downward, as if we should feel sorry for her condition and her present situation…

Her present situation with myriads of angels, streets of gold, gates of pearl, dwelling places in the father’s house… where Jesus has prepared a place just for her… She is worshipping Him there, right now.

I think she would say… “Weep for yourselves… but don’t weep for me. I have received the reward of faith. I have finished the race… I have my prize… And I am not hurting anymore… There is no more pain. Yes, it is your loss… But it is my gain.”

Oh, she had a peace that surpassed understanding and a hope that held her until the end.

As I was listening to some of the younger men speak about Ms. Yvonne… “I wish we could take her fishing one more time. I wish we could do this and that for her. I wish we had more time…” They just wanted to put another smile on her face and to experience the joy of fishing with her…

May we all make the most our time today, and love like no tomorrow. May we all remember to invest well into the lives of our family members and prioritize our lives accordingly so that when the day comes we shall have no regrets…

May the Lord remove the deception that blinds us to the people who are around us, that need love… May the Lord remove the deception and thought… That we have all the time in the world… To make things right, to get things right, to forgive, to love, to visit, to hug…

Oh, dear loved ones… redeem the time and make the most of it… for as long as you have it.

Ms. Yvonne spent a lot of time caring for others, serving for others, taking care of children and husbands. She spent a lot of time praying and reading her Bible… All of these things she did not regret.

She was even going to take the time to teach me how to quilt… She was going to lay material out for me to get started, just before she got worse… And began experiencing a great deal of pain.

“Ryan, what do you say about all of that? What do you say about why people have to go through so much pain?”

Going back to the quilting: I believed that learning to quilt was going to be a painful experience. I believed that I was going to hurt myself with the needle. I believed that I was going to fail. I believed that Ms. Yvonne was going to become indignant and impatient with me before it was over. I couldn’t see it all come together…

I couldn’t see all the pieces coming together. Ms. Yvonne could see it. She could see beginning to end. She could see herself helping me, and helping to make it a masterpiece… I couldn’t see it.

No one wants to live in pain, no one wants to go through pain, and no one wants their family members to suffer with the pain… And I can’t answer all the “why” questions...

But, what we do know is that we have a good God who has made us, formed us, and has saved us by Himself and for Himself. He sees all the pieces. He knows what He is doing. He knows how to walk us through and get us to become His masterpiece. He can see it all, from beginning to end…

God is good and He knows what He is doing. Our present sufferings in this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that Ms. Yvonne is receiving…

She didn’t understand all the pieces. I don’t understand all the pieces. We don’t understand all the pieces of life… We are merely called to trust the Savior who does understand… and trust Him until the end…

And the peace of God will be upon you… And you will have hope and strength as you abide in His love.

Please understand… Ms. Yvonne is not in heaven today because of her love and care for others. She is not in heaven because she was perfect… She was not perfect. She is not in heaven today because she and her husband served the church and gave all that they had at times to build the church…

Ms. Yvonne is celebrating in heaven today… Because of the Living Hope and the Prince of Peace that came into this world, lived the prefect life she could never live, took her place in judgment, and died on a Cross for her sins… And her hope was in Him alone for salvation.

This is what she knew… And this Hope was an anchor for her soul all the way until the end.

What about you? Do you have this hope? Do you have this peace? Are you making the most of time?

Start by turning to Christ. Start today by returning to Christ. Start today by loving like Christ.

May the God of Peace be with you all. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.