Wyvonne Byers - 7/3/19

We come together this morning to mourn the loss of Wyvonne Byers. But we also gather to give thanks for her life and to renew our hope in life beyond the grave through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is in the Bible that we the words of Jesus,

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4And you know the way to where I am going.”

5“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me

In Psalm 73 we read,

I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

24You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

25Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

Wyvonne believed these truths, In fact, she COUNTED on them. Wyvonne did not want a big deal made at her death because she knew she was no longer here . . . she had gone to be with the Lord. That happened suddenly on June 28, 2019 she had recently turned 70 years old. Her homegoing leaves a huge emptiness in the lives of her family.

Let's pray together,

Father, this is all kind of surreal. The reality of what has happened has not yet really sunk in. This morning we ask you to help us to remember and celebrate this woman who so enjoyed life. Thank you for her spirit, her laugh, and her love. Grant us comfort from the truth of Your Word we ask in Jesus' name.

ELVIS SONG

I did not know Wyvonne except to wave at her if I was walking down the street and she and Ike were on the porch. As I have listened to people talk and read about her life, it makes me sad that I did not know her. I know I would have liked her.

Wyvonne was born on April 29, 1949 to Loyd L and Nancy Moore Breiner. She was the youngest of 14 children! In other words, she didn't have to go far to find someone to play with. On her 17th birthday she married Ike Lavern Byers. They were young and they didn't have much money, but Ike says the thing he loved about her was she was happy with life as it was. She didn't need fancy. That didn't matter to her. She was happy being just a simple country girl. They had hard times and their great times but for 53+ years they were committed to each other. People may have told them it wouldn't work but that only made them that much more determined to prove them wrong.

Derik remembers watching the movie Dirty Dancing with his grandparents. Ike told him that he met Wyvonne out in the woods dancing on a log just like in the movie. They all got a good kick out of that and now that is what they think about every time they watch the movie.

Ike and Wyvonne had a great time together. There was lots of laughter in the home. They loved early Rock and Roll and were big fans of Elvis. Like any couple, they would get mad and go silent. After a little while of such behavior one or the other would say, "Are you through pouting?" That's when the fight would end, and they would soon be best friends again. They told each other when they got married that they would stay together through the good times and the bad and they meant it. They didn't understand why people gave up so easily today.

They farmed 40 acres. They had three children and loved to go to the Drive-In. Wyvonne would make pizza and popcorn for the show. Later they sold the farm and moved to La Harpe to be close to Wyvonne's mom. As a mom, Wyvonne was great. She was the one you wanted to talk to for the most sympathy. She was always there for you.

Wyvonne liked to do lots of things. She loved to paint landscapes and other scenery and enjoyed the painting program hosted by Bob Ross. Olivia remembers learning how to use oil paints with her grandmother as they watched an old Bob Ross tape.

Wyvonne also loved to cook. She liked having holiday meals: Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas were all times when she would make a feast for whoever came for dinner. Sometimes it might be ten people, another time it could 2 or better. She loved being the hostess. Everyone remembers her Oyster Dressing and sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top.

She loved spending time with her siblings. She enjoyed going to year sales, and flea markets. She learned to like fishing. She liked planting flowers. She enjoyed her dogs. Loved pecan pie and like to crochet. She also loved to mess with you. When Ike or someone else would plant flowers, she would constantly tell you they were too far apart or too close together; too deep or too shallow. Sometimes she was saying this from across the yard! If you asked her why she was so particular she would confess she was just messing with you. She was not above using the hose to her advantage. Elijah remembers a time when Ike was backing up and hit a huge Ice Cream Cone. He remembers he and Grandma laughing for a long time. She laughed about what a nut she had married.

She loved playing with the Grandkids. She was thrilled when the kids would come stay with her. She took Olivia to the pool, went on walks and ate ginger snap cookies together. Grandma and Grandpa would also take her out on the country roads and let her drive. She just recently met Isaiah her great-grandson.

She was really looking forward to the family reunion last Sunday. She didn't make that reunion but had a much bigger reunion in Heaven.

Wyvonne had tough times physically. She suffered with COPD for seven years. She had a fall five years ago on the basement stairs that beat her up pretty bad. But she was a tough lady. She had a wonderful forward-looking spirit. If things did not go well, she accepted it with the attitude of, "this happened, so we need to adjust and move on." She did not like drama and yelling. She said life was too short to shout and be mad. She didn't keep score. She valued people who were genuine and honest; the very kind of person she strove to be.

Hers is a love story. She loved her husband and he loved her. She loved her kids, her siblings, and was willing to love anyone else. She liked the song "Baby, I'm amazed by you" by Lonestar. She said it reminded her of the relationship she had with Ike. Her life was full, her love was great, her imprint on the lives of those around her was even greater.

SONG BY LONESTAR

In John 11 we read the story about the death of one of Jesus' friends, a man named Lazarus. Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha. They loved Jesus greatly, but they were a little disappointed Jesus wasn't there to heal their brother after He had healed so many others. When Jesus arrived he had a conversation with Martha,

23Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24“Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”

25Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

27“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

What happened next was incredible. Jesus told them to open the tomb in which Lazarus was buried and he called for Lazarus and Lazarus walked out of the tomb! It was a dramatic way to underscore the fact that death is not the end of the story. Jesus proved that even more dramatically by His own resurrection. A FACT for which there is very strong evidence.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that the resurrection of Jesus is the reason we have confidence in life beyond the grave.

It is important to note that the Bible doesn't say EVERYONE will go to Heaven. In fact, the Bible teaches no one will go to Heaven because they are good (as so many people seem to believe). The reason is: God's definition of "good" and our definition of "good" are vastly different. In the book of Romans Paul writes, "there is none that is righteous, not even one."

Frequently, people say to me, "I hope I have been good enough to make it to Heaven when I die." I always tell them the same thing: "You haven't been!" At this point I am generally given a shocked or angry look. Then I explain, "I'm not good enough either. And that's why Jesus came."

You see, even if I only sinned (which is when we do something contrary to what God has told us to do) three times in a day (which would be a really really good day for me!). And if I could sustain that level of performance for a week, that would still be 21 sins in that week or 1,092 sins in a year and over 65 years that would be 70,980 sins! And that is if you never had a really bad stretch in your life.

If you had that many parking tickets, you would likely find yourself in jail. How much greater should the judgment be on sin and rebellion? It would not be unjust, it would be very appropriate.

This is why Jesus came. He came to rescue us. He gave His perfect life as a payment for our sin. And this sacrifice is sufficient for ANYONE who puts their trust in Him. And that is the good news we call the gospel.

God offers us forgiveness if we will put our trust and confidence in Christ instead of in ourselves. This is not just saying a prayer or telling people you believe in God. This is putting all your hope in Him and asking him to help you follow Him the rest of your life!

Much like Ike and Wyvonne's marriage, believing in Jesus is a commitment of the highest level. It is a commitment to trust what Jesus did and what he tells us to do.

I believe this is what Wyvonne did. It is true she and Ike did not attend church. That wasn't because they didn't believe, it was because they lost faith in the church - not Christ! They went to a Pentecostal church for a long time, but that church ended up leaving them disappointed in the church, and distrustful OF the church. Wyvonne and Ike have faith!

Because of this, I believe Wyvonne is more alive now than ever before. I love the picture created by C.S. Lewis of Heaven in his series of kids books called "The Chronicles of Narnia". At the end of the books, the main characters all die and meet in Heaven.

There was a frightful roar and something hit me with a bang, but it didn’t hurt. And I felt not so much scared as—well, excited. Oh—and this is one queer thing. I’d had a rather sore knee, from a hack at rugger. I noticed it had suddenly gone. And I felt very light. And then—here we were.” “It was much the same for us in the railway carriage,” said the Lord Digory, wiping the last traces of the fruit from his golden beard. “Only I think you and I, Polly, chiefly felt that we’d been unstiffened. You youngsters won’t understand. But we stopped feeling old.”

“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan (who represents God in the story) softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. (C.S. Lewis The Last Battle)

I hope this is the perspective you have as you sit here today. I hope and pray you have made a commitment to trust Jesus as Your Savior and leader in your life. For if so, this is still a sad day, because you will miss someone you love, but it is not a day of despair, because you will see Wyvonne again, and when you do, her smile will be bigger than ever and life, will be richer than we ever dreamt it could be.

SONG

Will you pray with me one last time,

Father, from time to time someone comes into our life and changes us forever. That was certainly true with Wyvonne. We thank you for bringing her into our lives and we commit her now to you.

I pray for this family. Their loss is great. I pray for memories that remain dear, stories that continue to be shared, and a hope that is found in You that will not diminish, but only grow with the passing of years. Thank you for making it possible for us to be forgiven. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for our sin so we could be made alive. Please help us to continue to trust until that day when you welcome us home to the reunion held at your house that will beat all reunions ever held. Amen.