Maxine Maresch Funeral

Reading of the Obituary

Maxine Elda Leah Maresch, 102, Rush Center, Kansas, died Sunday, June 7, 2020, at Rush County Memorial Hospital Intermediate Swing Bed, La Crosse, Kansas.

Maxine was born August 18, 1917, at the family farm southwest of Rush Center, Kansas, the daughter of Jacob Henry and Mary Josephine Barbara (Meyer) Weltmer.  She was a lifelong resident of Rush County, Kansas.  A 1939 graduate of La Crosse High School, La Crosse, Kansas, she worked alongside her husband, Lester as a farm wife and homemaker.

Maxine was a member of the United Methodist Church, La Crosse, Kansas, the Rush County Historical Society, La Crosse, Kansas, Ellis County Historical Society, Hays, Kansas, and the Kansas Genealogical Society, Dodge City, Kansas, Walnut Valley Senior Center, Rush Center, Kansas, and Sixty Plus Club, La Crosse, Kansas.

On June 8, 1941, she married Lester Wolter Maresch at Rush Center, Kansas.  He preceded her in death February 28, 1988.

Survivors include:  one son, Daryl Maresch (Shirley), Nekoma, Kansas; three daughters, Bonita Oliva (Leo), Woodston, Kansas, Sharon Hays (David), Rush Center, Kansas, and Judy Coen, Hays, Kansas; seven grandchildren, Daniel Pabst, Logan, Kansas, Dana Pabst, Jacksonville, Oregon, Michael Hays (Michelle), Eaton, Colorado, Matthew Hays (Kimberly), Perry, Kansas, Nathan Maresch (Shu Hua), New Cambria, Kansas, Jenna Hardy (Nathan), Norton, Kansas, and Timothy Maresch, Miami, Florida; nine great grandchildren; and five great great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; one brother, Claude Weltmer; and two sisters, Fern Davidson, and Ruth Hauenstein.

Message - The Father’s House

Introduction

I normally ask the family what they would like to preach on

this time, I said I am going to preach on this passage I hope that it ok...

I did not have the opportunity to meet Maxine, but Darryl told me about just the other day he was reading this scripture to her

she was comatose, he read this scripture to her and a tear came down her eye

John 14:1-6 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 You know the way to where I am going.” 5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Separation of a loved one

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me

Jesus leaving his disciples

what it means to be a disciple in the first century

they had just told him that they would go wherever he would go, even unto death

the sadness of seeing their master leave them

The loss of our loved ones

death in this world seems so final

no matter how old, we always seem to wish we had another day, another moment, or another

for those who are without christ there is no hope,

but for those of us in Christ, we have hope

When we go through difficult times, we can begin to question our faith.

Jesus, knowing what he is about to go through, tells them… believe in God, also in me

it is in the times of loss that we need to move in closer to God

seek him in prayer, in his word

The Father’s house...

John 14:2-4 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 You know the way to where I am going.”

There is room…

does not mean that there is not an invite list

not everybody gets into heaven

Revelation 20:15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

but it is not because there is not enough room

there is room for all

and the Lord desires all to come to his house… to be with him for eternity.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

There is a room…

it is not just that there is enough room, but you get your own!

I remember as a little kid having to share a room with my sisters.

I hated it… They were always in my stuff, not that I had a lot of stuff…

there were always dolls and stuffed animals everywhere… I wanted sports stuff to be everywhere

When I got into Jr High we moved. I got my own bedroom.

wasn’t perfect, it was just big enough to put my twin bed and a dresser in it

you had to walk through my room to get to the laundry room and I did not even have a door

thinking back, it might have been a hallway

In High school we moved a brand new house… i had a real bedroom for the first time and it had a door

then came college and I went off to school

I came home for Christmas… my room was gone

the room was there but my stuff was all moved into a different room, none of the stuff was in the same place and it was decorated more like a guest room

Jesus prepares a place just for us… we aren’t sharing a room with somebody, and we are not just in a room that is meant for guests to stay in with generic decorations

Jesus prepares a place just for you, to spend eternity with him

How do we get there…

John 14:3-6 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 You know the way to where I am going.” 5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus prepares this place for us, and Jesus takes us to it

we cannot find our way there on our own

Thomas says, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way

Jesus’ response… I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the father except through me

This sounds narrow minded… that there is no other way to Heaven, but through Jesus

I would like to have a standard maybe that I could measure myself and earn my way

the truth is there is a standard, laws that God has set and we have all fallen short of that standard

but through the death of Jesus on the cross, through him paying our debt he made a way for us to spend eternity in Heaven

1 Corinthians 5:21 He made him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might put on the righteousness of God

I did not know Maxine, but I do believe that right now, she would want you to know the way to heaven, to spend eternity in your heavenly home