Char's Funeral

I met Char just shy of 5 years ago when I was called to serve here at Community as an associate pastor. It took me a little while to get to know her well, but I quickly began to see that Char was a unique lady. She always seemed to have a different point of view than most people. She looked at things differently than I did. I always appreciated that.

Char would have told you that was because she was eccentric. She knew she walked to the beat of a different drum. But the more I got to know Char the more I realized that it wasn’t necessarily her personality that made her different from others, though it played in. It wasn’t her life experiences, though that was a factor for sure. I saw three things in Char that made her so unique.

1. Char was faithful

Char was faithful to her church. Many church folk can find themselves looking for reasons to stay home. Well, if I don’t get the grass cut this morning, it’s gonna be a week… Well, this headache is pretty bad. Well, I’ve got so much work to get caught up on. Well, it sure would be a nice day to be on the river...

Char didn’t think like that. Char got up on Sunday mornings, fed her dogs, and got to church no matter what! I can remember asking our Sunday School class to pray for Char after one of her major surgeries on her head. A big thing I asked our group to pray about was that I knew it would be tough for her to miss church so long. But lo and behold right as the service was starting, here she comes in the side door! Everyone would have understood if Char had stayed home that day, but she came out.

Char took seriously the passage from Hebrews that says...

Hebrews 10:24–25 CSB

And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Char did not neglect the Sunday gathering! She lived this verse out the 3 plus years I was here. And this idea wasn’t a law for her. She didn’t come to church out of obligation. It wasn’t out of guilt. It was out of true love for her Savior, Jesus, and her love for her church family. She didn’t want to miss a single Sunday.

But faithful also means FULL OF FAITH. And that’s what I remember most about Char.

This summer at the church I pastor, we have been studying through the book of Ephesians. We finished up this 8 week study today by looking at when Paul tells his readers to put on the armor of God.

As I was reading back over that passage on Friday and Saturday for last minute prep, I read verse 16 and thought of Char...

Ephesians 6:16 CSB

In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Through Char’s life, there were lots of flaming arrows that were shot to attack her. And most of us would have folded under the pressure. But Char had such great faith, that it served as a shield to protect her. No matter the diagnosis, she kept that chin up. No matter how many times she had to move because of issues, she BELIEVED full well that God would look after her.

That faith coupled with one more thing got her through...

2. Char was tough

She had been through so many difficult things in her life, but she just kept on trucking! The physical, emotional, and financial hardships she had endured were enough to take most of us out. But she seemed unmoved by it.

Steve and I have a memory together about Char that I can share with you now. The whole time I served here at Community, Char had some sort of health issue. It was a roller coaster the whole time. And I remember multiple times Steve telling me and Drew, Char just isn’t looking good. I’m worried about her. But she would get through that and be back to her normal self. A couple years ago, when Char first realized that the cancer was back and pretty serious, Bro. Steve told me, “This may do Char in. It sounds pretty bad Heath.” I don’t remember my comment, but Steve says I said something along the lines of, “Steve, you’ve said that 10 times in the time you’ve known Char. I figure she will outlive us both!”

That’s how tough of a woman Char was.

But Char was also

3. Char was an Encourager

Bro. Steve and I talked on the phone this weekend about Char. And that was one of things that he mentioned about her. He said, Even when I told a really bad joke and nobody else laughed, Char was there to support her pastor! She would give a big chuckle!

She also peppered in several amens and “that’s right”s during each sermon. She was always listening, which y’all who get up in front of others and speak no how much eye contact and listening makes you comfortable as a speaker. But she would carry it to the next level and come up to you on Sundays after service or during the week she would drive by just to tell you how much she appreciated the work we did for the congregation.

Char was such an encourager, she loved to help other people. Steve had told me early on, don’t give Char anything you want her to keep. Because the moment she sees someone in need, she’s gonna give it away!

Char didn’t have the means to buy gifts for people, but she like to give of her time and her effort for others.

She always wanted to give us gifts as her pastors, and I can remember one particular Christmas. She decided to do something nice for Steve. She brought in her famous poinsettia. She had kept this thing alive for years. It was huge. It was given to her during one of her difficult health seasons and it was something to keep her mind focused. Most people’s poinsettias don’t last through Christmas, but Char had kept hers for years!

So she said she wanted Steve to keep it through Christmas in his office. Steve was very appreciative. He knew Char was giving one of the best gifts she could. She told Steve, “All you have to do is water it and pray for it.” I remember Steve asking, “Pray for it? The plant?” Char said, “Yep! That’s how it has stayed alive for so long.”

Every day, I would come in and more and more leaves were laying on the ground. I asked Steve if he had been watering it, he said yes. I asked if he had been praying for it. We then had a theological conversation over whether praying for a plant was even worth our time and whether it would have any impact on the situation at all. I don’t think Steve prayed for it.

By the time Christmas rolled around, it didn’t look good. Steve may have started praying by then! He was worried he had killed this plant. I remember telling him, Char has had this sucker for years and kept it alive. You’ve had it two weeks and you’ve killed it!

Char came into Steve’s office to get it the week after Christmas. I had to slip in there to hear the conversation! Char asked Steve if he had been watering it. He said yes. Have you been praying for it? Steve said, Char, well I don’t know how much you pray for it, but I have prayed for it some. I don’t guess it was enough.

Don’t you know, Char carried that thing home, I thought surely to throw away. We asked several months later, and she told us she had nursed it back to health. I asked her, how’d you do that? She said PRAYER. She smiled and walked away. Of course that’s getting back into her faith there!

But as faithful as she was to pray and love that crazy plant, she was multiple times over faithful to pray and lover her church family. She lived out the passage...

1 Thessalonians 5:11 CSB

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

Char was gifted at encouraging others and building others up. She, better than most other believers, was living this verse out daily!

Char was faithful. Char was tough. And Char was an encourager.

And she would be mad at me for saying all these nice things about her today. But I will end with exactly what she would want me to say...

Char was not godly person she was because of genetics, live experience, or personality. Char was able to impact others lives because her life had been impacted. Her heart had been changed by the God of all creation.

You see, Char, just like all of us was a sinner. All of us make mistakes. We sin. And because of that sin, we cannot be in God’s presence. He is holy and we are sorry sinners.

But Jesus came to earth in the form of a baby boy. He lived a perfect life, never sinning one time. And at the end of his thirtyish years of life, he gave up his life for us! Though he didn’t deserve death, he took it. He died the death we should have died. And the Bible says that when he died, he took all our sins within his body. The punishment for all of your sins against God have already been paid. Because Jesus died for you, you can be saved from your sin and be made right with God. Jesus not only died for you, he was also raised to new life on the third day!

The Bible says that to experience that salvation, we are to repent and believe. Repent means to turn with God’s help from our sin to God. And believe is about placing our faith in Jesus’s death and resurrection as the answer for our sin problem.

Char had done this. Char had turned from sin and placed her faith in Jesus. Was she perfect? NO! Not at all. But she had been redeemed by Jesus’ shed blood and is now, I believe, experiencing a newness of life in the physical presence of Almighty God!

Today, you too can turn from your sin and believe in Jesus.