Suanne Lane Funeral

Psalm 34 ESV

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

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One of Suanne’s favorite stories from Scripture was in Daniel in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It’s a story of a pagan king who is furious when three God-fearing young men refuse to bow a knee to him. They will only worship Almighty God and this infuriates him. So he threatens to throw them into a blazing furnace…turning the heat all the way up. This is what they say in response:

16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Suanne had quite a few fiery trials in her life, didn’t she. She courageously fought cancer. She did it with a good positive attitude. She trusted in the Lord even in those moments when the prospect of death was so unwelcome. The details were different but she modeled this story in many ways. God is able to deliver me from cancer…but even if he doesn’t…he’s still good.

Another part of that story is true for her as well. After those three young men were thrown into the fire we read this:

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

This is pointing to the presence of the Lord Jesus with them in that fire. He was their deliverer. And that same thing was true..and still is true for Suanne today. This is why even though we grieve we grieve as those who have hope. We had prayed for years for her healing. For many years we received that in shadow form. Now, today, we see that more fully. She has fought the good fight she has finished the race. She is far more alive today than she has ever been. To depart from the body is to be with the Lord. His presence through the fire is even more real to her today. He is her deliverer today as He was for so many years.

One of the things which Suanne wanted me to mention was the beauty of Romans 8. That in Christ we are more than conquerors and that God works all things together for our good. That’s kind of a hard message to swallow at a funeral, isn’t it? Because it doesn’t feel like we are conquering. You’re left wondering—how does God work in cancer? And that doesn’t just say we are conquerors…it says we are MORE than conquerors. To conquer something is to get through it…to endure it…so what does it mean to be MORE than a conqueror?

That’s not invitation for us to swallow our pain and put on a happy face. No we grieve. We grieve the loss of a loved one. BUT it does give us an invitation to hope. And to take all of that pain that we feel in the loss of a loved one and say, “how sweet must Jesus be…that this pain…this very real pain…could some day be considered a light and momentary affliction.”

Earlier we read from Psalm 34. Are those promises true? Has she been delivered? Was she delivered out of the fire? Yes. Today Suanne is ultimately healed. She is completely protected. She is dwelling with the Most High. All of these promises are true.

Having now seen what she has seen and heard the things that she has heard—she would certainly tell us that what really matters is Jesus. She would let us know that our present suffering does pale in comparison to the glory that awaits us.

Suanne would say to those of us that are believers—it’s worth it. Keep pressing on, keep trusting Jesus, every ounce of pain and suffering is worth it. It only makes Christ all the more sweeter. And to those here that may not be trusting in Christ—I am confident that Suanne would encourage you to trust in Jesus alone. He is all that really matters.

Death does not get the final answer here this morning. Jesus does. Build your life upon the rock who is Christ and storms—like death—will not have the last word. Christ will. That was true for Suanne and it’s true for us. She is not grieving today. She is rejoicing with Christ. May he be our hope as well.