Betty Dean Funeral

My name is Hans Rasmussen from The Denver Church of Christ.

On behalf of the family, I would like to thank all of you for coming out today.

I’m honored to stand before you to conduct this service.

When someone we love dies unexpectedly, there is a tremendous amount of shock.

When a mother, sister, grandmother, a friend is suddenly no longer with us, it can trigger very strong reactions, emotions, and questions.

We are here today to find comfort in the truth of Scripture, and especially to surround Betty’s with our love, our faith, and our prayers.

There are some people in the Bible who we know instantly at the sound of their name. Names like Moses, Esther, Peter, Mary and Paul. Yet there are people whose names we don’t know yet their actions changed history, the little girl who told Namaan the great Syrian General how to be healed, the little boy who shared his lunch with the disciples so that Jesus could feed 5,000, or the woman who used her hair to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and her perfume so that Jesus could teach us the heart of forgiveness.

Though we do not know their names, their actions are emblazoned in the Christian hall of fame.

God creates some people who are to become well known in the world, and God creates some people who to be very special in the world. Now some would say it is better to be well known than to be special, but I think when we come to the end of our days, we’re not looking back to see how well known we were, but rather were we special in the lives of others.

When death is staring at us in the face, we do not usually take great pride in our degree from Harvard or Yale or in our position as executive vice president, nearly as much as we do from a grandchild saying I love so much, you were there with me at every game and I’m going to miss you, or from a person who could  say, when I was hungry, it was you that saw to it that I got a meal and for that I am grateful.  Or the vast number of people who could say that they were encouraged by a card from Betty for no reason in particular.

Betty Dean was not created by God to be somebody whose name would be in the headlines or in neon lights, but she was amazingly special in the way that she has touched the lives of others.

We sometimes forget, that no matter who we are, what we have done, or who we have become, we all started out in the hands of God.

The day she passed she was reading this Psalm with Shelly.

For the Scripture tells us in

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (, NIV)

God knew that Betty was going to be special from the moment she entered the world on April 6, 1942, because He intended for her to be special. While knitting her there in her mom’s womb, God gave her a heart of compassion for the needs of people, He gave her the gift of hospitality to offer to the world, he put in a sense of humor to bring smiles to the lives of others, and the gift of encouragement to fill others with hope.

She lived a full life of loving and bringing joy to people, and serving the community, yet we all feel like she was taken too early.

I don’t know this, but I picture Betty looking down from paradise seeing all the people that she blessed, helped, called, served and ultimately loved.  I picture God showing her all the good that she has done and all the lives she has impacted.

We on the other hand, can simply take it for granted way to often that we will always have each other around, and we fail to appreciate the incredible special people that God places in our lives. We even make the mistake of thinking that we ourselves have an indefinite number of days ahead of us that we can control and determine, but I can tell you with certainty, unless Jesus comes first, we shall all surely die and we will die in times and methods not of our own choosing.

The Scriptures tell us that there is a way that seems right to a person, but at the end of it is death. If we are all living in order that we might some day die, then we should do a reality check to find out if we’re going to be prepared when we get to our final destination.

If we’re living simply for status, money, degrees or fame, keep in mind none of these things go out with us when we leave this world. They may make you feel important, but they won’t make you special. Our money will be left in the bank, our degrees will hang on a wall, our fame will be forgotten, and our status will not impress Jesus who is the ultimate Judge of everything

Betty has had a lot of special relationships with a lot of people in this world. But our greatest reason for hope and for joy today is that she had a relationship to Jesus Christ.

For we as baptized believers have the promise from Jesus himself when He said "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

I do not understand the ways of God, in determining the length of our years or the number of our days. We like to think the good will live a long life and the rest will have short lives. But God never said that’s the way it’s going to be.

God said something far more encouraging and filled with hope. It says in Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. God knows something about death and its purposes that we do not.  Betty was one of the special saints of God.

God said her death was precious in His sight. God knows that Betty’s  death was not in vain. We may want an answer from God, and that’s okay. Maybe it will lead us to acknowledge who God is and what God is expecting of us. Betty knew God created her, God walked with her, and God called her to a place prepared for her .

In the bible it says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Do you realize God loves us all, but death will be the final separator between those who are living for Christ and those who are not. It’s not matter of who was good and who was bad. We all were bad, and God wants to give us all the same chance he gave to Betty . If we do not know Christ, we are condemned to eternal death.

Sometimes we don’t understand when we lose the special people in our lives. But somehow like the apostle Paul, Betty could declare the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Jesus has gone forth to prepare a place for each of us. But like Betty , we must make a choice. None of us know the day nor the hour when we shall leave this world. Christ has died on our behalf that we might have life.

We simply need to follow God’s plan the plan the Betty followed as well. Of having faith that we are sinners in need of a savior, Jesus. We then need to repent of our sins, not simply saying we are sorry, but aligning our thinking with the Gods thinking. We make the good confession that Jesus is Lord, no longer our will and our plans, but we will follow Jesus.

And then we seal that commitment in the waters of Baptism. that is where we participate in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So we too can be raised again to new life in Christ Jesus.

Her decision made her not only special, but also important. For her fame of eternity in heaven will be remembered for generations after the important people of this world have long since been wiped from the pages of history.

Betty’s decision made her not only special, but also important. For her fame of eternity in heaven will be remembered for generations after the important people of this world have long since been wiped from the pages of history.

To those who do not know Jesus Christ, Betty will only be a memory. It will be a great memory, but still just a memory. For those who do know Christ, Betty is waiting to meet us. For the word of God clearly states, " Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men and women who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

According to the Lord’s own words, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left at the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and

the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. Our God is faithful.

Burial Service.

says

17 “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.

18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Revelation 1:17–18 NIV

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

  “Because I live, You shall live also.”

John 14:19 NIV

19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

Revelation 14:13 NIV

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

1 Corinthians 15:51–55 NIV

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

1 Corinthians 15:51–55 NIV

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.

O death where is thy sting?  O grave, where is thy victory?”

Betty Dean not here.  She stands in the presence of the Lord, the same Jesus who said to the dying man on a cross “…TODAY YOU SHALL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” The body that lies before us is but the earthly tabernacle, the house in which Betty lived among us for a time.  Tenderly and reverently, we commit that house to the grave, to God who gave it, waiting for the day when both the spirit and the body shall again be united at the coming of the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 NIV

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

COMMITTAL PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we thank You this day for Your precious, eternal, and unchanging Word.  We thank You that You are, to us, the Rock of Ages and the great I AM.

In the midst of our natural sorrow, we thank You for Your supernatural comfort and grace.

In the face of death, we thank You for Your gift of eternal life.

In the face of separation, we thank You for the eternal reunion we so eagerly anticipate.

We thank You for Betty’s life here on this earth, and we recognize that the ashes that lies before us is not  betty, but rather the house in which she lived.  We acknowledge that Betty is rejoicing, even now, in Your very presence, enjoying the blessings of Heaven.

Father, we commit her ashes to the earth, from which our bodies were originally created, and we rejoice in the fact that his/her spirit is even now with You, the Father of spirits.

We anticipate the day when spirit and body shall be united again at the coming of the Lord, and we find great comfort in knowing that we shall forever be together with the Lord.

We thank You Father, that in the days, weeks, and months to come, these realities and the abiding presence of Your Spirit will especially strengthen, sustain, and comfort Betty’s friends and family.

IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.