Ralph Vaughn Funeral

A Quiet Hero

In Matthew 7, Jesus is teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about how you can recognize those who are truly his disciples by the fruit that their lives produce. He says, “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” And, in that sense, in the sense of bearing fruit that reflects the image of Jesus, I’m here to tell you that today we’re celebrating one of the quiet heroes of Iron City, one of my heroes. Ralph wasn’t loud, but his life was forceful. He didn’t live in the spotlight, but his faithfulness was still obvious. He didn’t seek titles, but he always sought out the work to do. And, that’s why as I thought about how to celebrate his life today my mind went to Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

In Ephesians 2, Paul is explaining to the Church at Ephesus how they were saved by Christ and who they now in Christ. He wants them to see that they were not saved by anything that they did. Their good works did not and could not save them. They were “children of wrath” who were “living in the passions of (their) flesh”. That is, they were rotten to the core, and they couldn’t do enough good works to undo the corruption of their very nature. So, Jesus had done it all. They were saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. So, when we get to verse 10, Paul is summarizing this reality in the first part, and then he’s showing what it leads to in the second part. And, this is important this afternoon because it helps us to make sense of Ralph’s life — who he was and what he did.

What a Work of God!

When Paul says that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,” he’s not talking about when we were first formed in our mother’s womb. He’s talking about when we were “born again” with a new heart and a new nature through the power of the Gospel. He’s saying that we’re an entirely new creation. People should look at our lives and say: “What a work of God!” Only God could’ve made such a new man out of that former man.

That’s Ralph’s story. I can still vividly remember being a teenager here at Iron City more than 20 years ago and hearing the whole church abuzz with the news of Ralph’s salvation. I remember being struck by how unusual and remarkable it was to baptize someone’s granddad. But, what I couldn’t have realized is on that day, we were all gaining a grandad. That’s what has stuck out to me most as I’ve talked with the family over the last few days. They all testified by saying, “What a work of God!” Ralph became a new man — a new husband, a new daddy, a new granddaddy, a new neighbor. And, he became the “pawpaw” of Iron City Baptist Church. What a work of God!

What a Worker for God!

And, that’s what leads to the second part of what Paul is saying. He says that we were “born again”, “created in Christ Jesus” for something, namely, good works. That is, works are not the root of our salvation. That’s God’s grace. But, though works are not the root, they are the fruit of our salvation — the good fruit that we talked about in the opening from Matthew 7. And, it’s interesting the way that Paul says it. He says that God has prepared good works for us to before we even know him so that we might receive these good works from God as a gift. That is, the works that accompany the Christian life are gifts from God to us through which we testify to how good and great He is to us. It all begins with everyone seeing us and saying, “What a work of God!” But, then God works in us in such a way that we come to the end of our lives and everyone says, “What a worker for God!”

In this way, Ralph was both richly blessed by God with a gift of many works, and he was a blessing from God to all of us. The enduring image that have of Ralph comes from my time here 16 or 17 years ago as the youth pastor. I can see it like it was yesterday looking out the window of my office and seeing Ralph pass through on a lawn mower that was far too small for the size job he had. He prided himself on keeping the church grounds immaculate, and, now, all these years later I’m able to better appreciate what an enormous undertaking that was. But, Ralph never did it frantically, always steadily. I know of firsthand numerous widows that he’s cared for and people who were down on their luck that he would look out for. Ralph (and Mary too!) just did what needed doing because God had gifted him to do it. What a worker for God!

What a Great Theologian!

But, I want to leave you with what I think may be a less expected way of thinking of Ralph. Ralph wasn’t just a great work of God or a great worker for God. Ralph was a great theologian, too. Now, I feel certain that he would’ve been uncomfortable with me calling him that, but I want to show you why I say it. In 1 Corinthians 15, we find some of the richest theology in the whole Bible as it’s concerned with the resurrection. And, it ends with some of the words that are most hope-giving for moments like today when we miss our loved ones that God has called home. But, I want you to see where Paul lands this hope:

1 Corinthians 15:50–58 ESV

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Paul says, “Death has lost. Its stinger has been broken off. Its defeat is certain.” So, that’s how we can grieve as those with hope at services just like this one. But, notice where he lands in verse 58. He says, “Because death has lost, because this life is not all there is, because the resurrection is true, because the stinger has been broken off, abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain, knowing that you are living for another life and another kingdom and a greater reward.” Why did Ralph live the way that he did? Because he was a great theologian. He really understood the gospel and the power of the resurrection. He didn’t have to live as though his reward was today. His reward was yet to come. What a great theologian!