Myrle Mathews
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Prelude (1:45 PM) - Kim Hice
Welcome / Scripture / Prayer - Randy Darnell
Hymn - Great Is Thy Faithfulness - Congregation (Matthew Pittman)
Remembrance of an Educator - Cecil Ethridge
Remembrance of a Grandmother - Leslie Stone
Eulogy - Randy Darnell
Hymn - Because He Lives* - Congregation (Matthew Pittman)
Prayer - Randy Darnell
Postlude - Kim Hice
*Tradition - used at every family member funeral
Interment: Cedar Ridge
Charles Lindbergh flew his airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, for the last time on Monday, April 30, 1928.
The plane he had flown for 33 1/2 hours from New York to Paris made it’s final flight that day to Washington DC.
Lindbergh was delivering it to be put on display in the Smithsonian Institution.
That was 95 years, 9 months and 8 days ago.
On that very same day, 750 miles south of Washington, DC and all of the accompanying festivities
In the small Georgia town of Ty Ty,
Henry Walea was probably pacing the floor somewhere in his house
While in the bedroom, Annie Walea was making a delivery of her own.
Little Baby Myrle let out a cry and made her grand entrance into the world.
Annie and Henry held that little baby that day so far back in time that we study it in the history books
And they had no clue how many lives that little baby would touch.
On behalf of the Mathews family, I want to thank you all for coming today.
Your presence is a comfort to the family and a testament to the legacy of this great woman.
She touched many lives - many of which we are not aware.
But she is aware.
I suspect when she arrived in glory with her angelic escort
The halls were lined with people cheering for the one who helped lead them to Jesus.
Psalm 116 reads:
Psalm 116:12-13,15 (KJV 1900)
What shall I render unto the Lord For all his benefits toward me?
I will take the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord.
Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of his saints.
She took the cup of Jesus salvation in faith
And now Jesus has done what He said he would do.
Jesus took Ms. Myrle home.
And we could not be happier for her.
Let us pray:
Bless you Lord, that you looked with compassion upon sinful humanity
And you made a way for our sins to be forgiven and for us to have life everlasting.
Bless you Lord, that with a grace we cannot comprehend, you reached out to a little girl way out in the country in Tift County
And you called out to her.
She heard your voice and she followed you right up until the time she finally followed you home.
Great is your faithfulness, O God my Father
All that Myrle needed your hand has provided.
Great is your faithfulness, Lord unto Myrle
Unto us and unto me.
Bless you Father, for you are so good.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
“Great is Thy Faithfulness” - Congregational - Matthew Pittman
Remembrance of an Educator - Cecil Ethridge
Remembrance of a Grandmother - Leslie Stone
The TEL Sunday School class had a get together on April 23, 2015
I think TEL stood for Timothy, Eunice and Lois
You’ll find those names in 2 Timothy 1:5 “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
The apostle Paul reminded young Timothy that his faith was passed from his grandmother Lois, to his mother Eunice
And then to him.
There were a lot of grandmothers and mothers in that class
And they all had the goal of passing on their faith.
I was invited that day - I got to attend several of their get togethers and I got to take a picture.
Seated around that table on that Thursday at the Brick House were:
Mira Sammons, Janet Marchman, Jackie Smith, Gwen West, someone I can’t quite make out, Sylvia
Across the table was Marilyn Sauls, Jane Jackson, Bobby Bentley, Earl and Yvonne Bonds and VaraLee Greene.
And at the head of the table was their teacher, Ms. Myrle Matthews.
Seven of them are with Jesus
And the Brick House has been closed for a while.
But the legacy of faith of that crowd lives on is us just like it did with young Timothy.
Ms. Myrle was a sho’ nuff farm girl.
Raised around Ty Ty Georgia, she grew up on the farm and was expected to do her chores.
In fact, this is where her work ethic had it’s roots.
There was a day when she and the kids were walking to school and they came upon a rattlesnake.
They were rightfully frightened and ran back to the house.
Granddad was there.
He went with the kids to where the snake was an promptly dispatched him on to glory.
And then he escorted the children on to school.
No time for trauma or the licking of wounds or cowering in fear
It was simply another day with another challenge.
We don’t know the date or the name of the church - it has been a while.
But Ms. Myrle heard the story of Adam and Eve’s sin and how we’ve all inherited it there.
She heard the story of Jesus - born of a virgin, laid in a manger.
Crucified, buried and resurrected.
She heard the story of His ascension into heaven
And His promise to return one day.
And she realized in the depths of her being
This story of Jesus isn’t a story.
It’s truth and she believed it with all of her heart.
She trusted Jesus as her savior.
She was baptized in the pond at Whiddon’s Mill in Tift County.
I found a picture online of the place taken in the 60’s.
You should Google it and let your mind wander
And see a cute little farm girl named Myrle as she walked into the water with her preacher
Who placed her under the water a sinner
And raised her to new life washed whiter than snow.
This wasn’t a part of Myrle’s story.
This is the bedrock.
Her faith was not fleeting.
She followed Jesus and she taught Jesus all the days of her life.
Ms. Myrle’s small, country school days ended with the 8th grade.
All the country kids were packed up and shipped off to the Tift County High School - I suspect it was in Tifton then as it is today.
The teachers and others were concerned for these country girls come to the city.
Would they be behind - could they keep up with the city kids?
They couldn’t have known that they were asking the wrong question.
Instead of can the country girls keep up with the city girls
The better question was could the city girls keep up with the country girls.
Ms. Myrle finished first in her graduating class.
It was Myrle Walea who gave the valedictory address at her graduation service.
She went to college at Norman College in Norman Park, Georgia.
Registering the same day as her was a young man named William Mathews.
He was taking advantage of the GI Bill to further his education
And as he was registering the registrar asked his major.
He told them he didn’t have one.
They said he couldn’t register if he didn’t have a major.
So he pointed to the pretty girl across the room and said, “I’m majoring in the same thing she is.”
And so that day, William Mathews became an education major
And suitor of Ms. Myrle.
I wish they had video.
This elderly lady that just a month ago was spiriting her wheelchair up and down the halls at Lynn Haven
Was once flinging softballs across a ball field at Norman College
And cleaned up quite well enough to be named Miss Norman College.
Wouldn’t you have loved to see that?
I would have loved to see her in the class room.
Sylvia said math was not Sylvia’s strong suit - in fact, it was her nemesis.
She said Ms. Myrle spent many an evening teaching her daughter math
And sometimes it was like tossing pebbles against a wall - it just wouldn’t stick
But Myrle never yelled at her
She never put her down
She patiently worked with Sylvia until Sylvia eventually understood.
I suspect that wasn’t isolated to the school classroom either.
I know Cecil talked about her as a teacher but I do have to tell one teacher story.
Ms. Myrle always put one question on every test that was an absolute stumper as a challenge to her smartest students.
Sitting in the front of the class was one of her smartest
Sitting right behind him was one of her, shall we say, less intelligent students.
When they passed their papers in, the smart boy had written under the stumper question, “I can’t answer this question.”
The boy sitting behind him wrote on his paper, “Me neither.”
You get it, right?
Billy said that life did revolve around family.
Myrle stayed home with the kids until they all started to school
And he said even though both Myrle and Mr. Mathews worked, they didn’t let it take the time away from their kids.
Myrle cooked and was good at it.
And they kids ate what she cooked - no whining that you didn’t like it.
It didn’t work that way back then.
But then time passed and things changed
And like almost every parent’s child I’ve ever talked to
Myrle and Mr. Mathews changed when the grand kids came along.
Whatever the grand kids wanted, that was what they got - it’s a grand parent’s prerogative and a child’s consternation.
You wonder if aliens abducted your parents and put imposters in their places - they never treated you like they do the grand kids.
But one thing that never changed was Ms. Myrle’s love for Jesus and her love for His church.
She made sure her kids were found at church.
And when they were there, they didn’t just see her in a pew
They saw that same work ethic from school play out in the church.
There was a philosophy that held true for her no matter where she was
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
She did serve heartily.
She taught Sunday School for 61 years, from kids to the TEL class.
She taught Training Union - the one thing I don’t know if anyone could get excited about.
She worked in Vacation Bible School - being so devoted that once even her dog got a perfect attendance pin.
He followed her to church
He stayed with her in every class and every activity
And on VBS graduation day, her collie was awarded his perfect attendance pin with all of the rest.
She loved church homecomings.
Back in the day we had them every year
And the kids remembered them making sweet tea, lemonade and deviled eggs.
I don’t know what it is, but deviled eggs at a church pot luck are like manna from heaven.
Homecoming in the Mathews household was a very big deal.
But so was the Young at Heart
Ms. Merle was very devoted to the Young at Heart
Any time the Young at Heart took a trip, Ms. Merle and Mr. Mathews were on the bus, ready to go.
However, the Young at Heart was also the place that recognized there was one verse in the Bible Myrle had to - well - not follow.
We had a Young at Heart Choir.
Psalm 100:1 “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.”
But that verse didn’t apply to Myrle.
I know there are a lot of folks who have “choir voices.”
You know, if they sing with a group large enough their voices get drowned out by everyone else.
Seems Myrle’s wouldn’t drown out.
So with every Young at Heart Choir musical
There was the choir all decked out and singing
And there was Myrle, in the rocking chair on the side of the platform, reading the Narration.
That was best for everyone.
But whether it was at school or at church, Myrle instilled in her own children
And I suspect with everyone she taught
That they were a part of something bigger than themselves.
Billy said that his and Sylvia’s desire was to make sure that their parents knew they respected them
And Billy said there was no worse feeling in the world than to think he had disappointed his parents.
We’ve lost that in our culture.
It’s really an abdication of the fourth commandment: Exodus 20:12
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Respect isn’t borne out of fear you will get a beating if you don’t perform.
That type of respect is borne of a recognition of the love the parents have for you
And the recognition that they hold their children in high esteem and therefore they expect the best from their children.
Because they’ve given their best to their children.
There were no excuses
Either you did or you didn’t
But your desire was to do your best and make the family proud.
Billy and Sylvia - and Fay - you honored Ms. Myrle well.
I’m certain the family is very proud today.
So time is a cruel task master.
Our minds always think we are young
Then we look in the mirror and don’t see what we saw when we were Mr. or Ms. Norman College back in the day.
Time robbed Ms. Merle of her mobility - but it didn’t slow her down.
She could make a wheelchair scream.
And time robbed her of the use of her mind.
But it didn’t rob her of her dignity.
Whether she was hand ringing the bell to call the kids in to the Griswoldville School house
Or whether she was in her wheel chair with her pretend puppy Sandy at Lynn Haven
There was an air of regal dignity about Ms. Myrle.
Her mere physical presence projected an air of dignity
Not a haughtiness or arrogance
But dignity - as Billy put it - that je ne sais quoi - that quality that can’t describe
But is there.
It wasn’t a quality that made you feel uncomfortable
It was a quality that made you want to be your best.
And that’s not a bad thing.
That’s not a bad thing at all.
Just over two weeks ago she took a spill and really messed up her arm.
She was in agony and that’s when the Lord told her it was time.
She quit eating and drinking because it was time to go home.
And just before 10 o’clock last Friday night, Ms. Myrle Walea Mathews very quietly
Very peacefully went home.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: Give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
Behold, O God our shield, And look upon the face of thine anointed.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Myrle Mathews trusted in the Lord
And she was greatly blessed by Him
And we were greatly blessed for having known her.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
“Because He Lives” - congregational - Mathew Pittman
Let us pray:
Thank you Jesus, for the grace you showed us through Ms. Myrle Mathews life.
From before time began, you purposed in your heart that you would create a woman who by her sheer presence made people want to be their best.
What a noble and wonderful characteristic.
You made her a leader but you made her a servant
And we can’t wait for our day to be with You and see the throngs of people walking the streets of gold
Because Myrle Mathews taught them about Jesus.
Thank you Lord for loving her - and us - so well.
Bless your name, Jesus.
Amen
Graveside
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
I suppose this is true of every child that ever loved their mama.
No matter how old they get
No matter how much weight they gain or lose
No matter how much their hair might get thinner, or shorter or grayer
No matter how much their skin wrinkles
How weak their grasp
How slow their gait
They always see their mama.
They remember the hugs
The smiles and laughs and tears.
We might see them wobble and stop sometimes.
But there is never a moment that our mothers are not beautiful to us.
Ms. Myrle outlived her body.
95 years, 9 months and 8 days.
That’s a long life.
I joke all the time, when you hit 50, things start falling off.
And things fell off.
And yet, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
God is her crying, her pain, her death.
There are no more tears in her eyes.
Now she can see clearly and think clearly
And truly for the first time in her existence, she sees what is truly real.
She’s had the best homecoming she’s every attended.
But she didn’t cook a thing.
She’s attended the great marriage supper of the Lamb.
He’s welcomed His bride home.
And He’s saved a place for us.
Let me encourage you, please follow Jesus.
As Bob Dylan sang, “you’re going to serve somebody.”
Might as well serve the Lord.
Ms. Myrle did and it has made all the difference.
10. Please pray with me:
We commend into thy hands of mercy the soul of this our sister departed Myrle
And her body we commit to the earth, beseeching your infinite goodness, to give us grace to live in your fear and love and to die in your favor
So that when the judgement shall come which you have committed to your well-beloved son,
Both this our sister, and we, may be found acceptable in your sight
and that we receive that blessing, which your well-beloved son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear you, saying
Come you blessed children of my Father: Receive the kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the world.
Grant this merciful father for the honor of Jesus Christ, our only Savior, Mediator, our Advocate and our Friend.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
