Funeral Sermon - Winnie Grimes (Granny)

Opening:

We gather together on days like this with both a sense of sadness and a sense of joy. We are sad because the lady, Winnie Grimes, that we Called mother, aunt, sister, grannie, or “Mrs. Grimes” is no longer with us. She is and will be missed. We will miss her smile, her wit, her stubbornness, her tenacity, her wisdom, her listening ear, and her company.

We are joyful though, because we know that after a long hard journey, she is finally home.

When we come to moments like this we are reminded that this is not the way that things are supposed to be. The pain and sting of death was not God’s original intention. Granny was a women who was well acquainted with the fact that the world is not what it should be.

Grannie was a woman who knew loss and she knew that this was not the way things are supposed to be.

Grannie shouldn’t have lost her husband so early

Grannie shouldn’t have lost her husband so early Grannie shouldn’t have lost her hearing Grannie shouldn’t have lost her ability to think and reason

Grannie shouldn’t have lost her hearing

Grannie shouldn’t have lost her ability to think and reason

She should not have had to suffer the way that she did.

These moments, for all of us, Bring up questions of Why? Why us? Why here? Why Now?

I often wonder if Granny asked these questions. I think she did. Even though she may not have articulated them to many of us. I believe she had figured out how to come to grips and come to peace with the disappointments and losses that life dealt her.

Transition: You see despite all of her loss and all that life dealt her, she never lost her faith in Jesus and she never lost her joy. Oh, she had days of sadness and she had moments where life bothered her. She had moments of anger and bouts with bitterness - Just like anyone else would have.

But underneath all of this, underneath all of her life - There was a steadiness. Where did this come from? What enabled her to stay steady as a rock in the face of trouble and problems?

I think that Grannie knew a few things about life that helped her to stay steady in the midst of great pain, suffering, and adversity.

Grannie knew that God was going to be faithful.

She knew that her family loved her and that she loved her family

She knew that this world that she saw was not all that there was.

Transition to points: With this in mind, these things in mind, I’d like to go to scripture and reflect today on things my grandmother taught me. Things I think, in some way or another she modeled and taught to many of us in this room.

Granny taught me how to pray (Jesus teaches HIs disciples to Pray)Granny taught me there was always room at the table (Jesus eats with Sinners and tax collectors)Granny taught me how to sacrifice for others (Jesus’ example)Granny taught me there’s more to life than what you see (Revelation)

Granny taught me how to pray

In the Gospel of , Jesus’ disciples come and ask him to teach them to pray.

Luke 11:1 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

The disciples had Jesus as their example and teacher. I had my grandmother. It’s one thing to read words about prayer, it’s another thing to watch and learn from someone who actually knows how to pray.

I can remember as a very young kid spending the night with granny and she would be on her knees by her bed crying out to God.

I would go to Church with her and she almost always responded to the altar call either to pray with someone or to pray herself.

One of the things that struck me was that she would cry when she prayed. As a kid, I equated this with real praying. In my mind, if you didn’t cry when you prayed, you weren’t doing it right.

I was thinking about this some time ago, and I thought about how the Bible tells us in that Jesus is interceding for us.

Romans 8:34 ESV

34 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.

He’s praying for us. And I wondered to myself if he cries when he prays?

I think he does

I think in moments like this he’s praying comfort for us and I think he weeps. I think he sees our pain and our struggle and I think he weeps over it.

The shortest words verse in the Bible is in and it simply says “Jesus wept.” Jesus is at the tomb of Lazarus, His friend. Jesus, according to the story is about about raise Lazarus from the dead, but before he does that he weeps. Why is he crying?

Some say that it’s because of the unbelief of the people.

I don’t buy that for a moment. I think he’s crying because he feels the pain of losing a friend.

So I think when Jesus sees us in moments like this, he identifies with our pain and our loss and he weeps even as he prays.

John 11:35 ESV

35 Jesus wept.

Granny, when she would pray, would so identify with what she prayed about and the people she prayed for that it would move her to tears.

Granny knew how to “pray through” as they used to say.

Granny is a reminder to us that there is a God who wants us to cry out to him on a regular basis.

It’s also a reminder to me that there is a

Granny taught me there was always room at the table

Granny taught me how to pray (Jesus teaches HIs disciples to Pray)Granny taught me there was always room at the table (Jesus eats with Sinners and tax collectors)Granny taught me how to sacrifice for others (Jesus’ example)Granny taught me there’s more to life than what you see (Revelation)

If Jesus was known for prayer, He was also known for eating. Jesus, in the Gospels is constantly eating with people. In fact, his eating often gets him in trouble. For Jesus’ everyone was invited to the table.

This was also true of my grandmother. There wasn’t a time that I came to her house - even if only for a moment - when she didn’t offer me food. I’d try to turn her down, and she’d always say, “Everyone’s gotta eat.” While she piled two more helpings of spaghetti on my plate.

She always thought I was too skinny and it was her God-given duty to fatten me up.

I remember Christmas, birthdays, and other special occasions where people gathered together at her house. There was always room at her table and if you showed up she was going to cook you something.

This is the truth of the Christian Faith - That Jesus has invited us to the Table. That if we have an emptiness and a hunger in our lives, Jesus invites us to His table.

Granny taught me how to sacrifice for others

Back around 2002, my family left a ministry position and we weren’t quite sure where we were going. So Granny agreed to let my family move in with her for a little while. We thought it would only be a few weeks, but it turned into a 6month period of time.

My grandmother during that time not only welcomed us into her house, but she gave her up bed..for 6months she slept on the couch every night so that my parents could have her bed. You got the feeling from her that she was glad to give up her bed so that someone else could be comfortable.

This was granny - willing to serve and sacrifice for the sake of those around her.

She gave of herself as a Sunday School teacher, a pastors wife, a Missionette leader, and so much more. Many of you in this room are here today because granny gave time and energy and at times even finances so that someone else could be blessed. She gave up time and a seat in her car to take young people to Church - and some of those young people are in ministry today.

This is what Jesus says to his disciples in

John 15:12–13 ESV

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Granny taught me there’s more to life than what you see

One of my grandmother’s core convictions was that Jesus’ was coming soon.

You heard this from her a lot. She lived it like it was a reality.

She knew that this world was not all that there is and that one Day Jesus would make everything Right

In Revelation we are told, Jesus is going to make all things new.

Revelation 21:1–5 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

There will come a day when all pain, sorry, suffering, and brokenness will come to an end.

Jesus will make everything right.

Tim Keller Says that, “The resurrection of Christ means everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost.”

Grannie knew that this was not the end. That death was not the end. That this world was not her final destination. Today she is rejoicing.

Granny taught me that God is always faithful

One of the greatest lessons I learned by watching the life of my grandmother, was that God is always faithful.

Through all of the ups and downs of her life, in all of her pain, through the loss of her husband, and the loss of her hearing she never lost sight of the fact that God is faithful.

One of her favorite scriptures is a reminder of that.

Psalm 37:25 ESV

25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

I think today, as we remember Granny, she would want us to remember the goodness and the faithfulness of God.

A God that will one day make everything Right

A God that sacrificed himself for us

A God that invites us to His table

A God that hears us when we pray

These are things, I Think Granny would want us to remember. This is the message she taught with her life.

Funeral Sermon - Winnie Grimes (Granny)

Intro

Points

Conclusion