Roberta “Bobbie” Peterson -6/15/22

We are here today to remember and give thanks for the life of Roberta (Bobbie) Peterson. Bobbie was a member of my congregation for 19 years and attended for a while before that. In those nearly 20 years I learned that Bobbie had her priorities right. She loved the Lord passionately. When I asked her if she had any passages she would like read at her funeral she already had them written down.

Psalm 62:6-8

6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress where I will not be shaken.

7 My victory and honor come from God alone.

He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

8 O my people, trust in him at all times.

Pour out your heart to him,

for God is our refuge.

Psalm 67:1-5

1 May God be merciful and bless us.

May his face smile with favor on us.

2 May your ways be known throughout the earth,

your saving power among people everywhere.

3 May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

4 Let the whole world sing for joy,

because you govern the nations with justice

and guide the people of the whole world.

5 May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

Isaiah 41:10

10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.

Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Bobbie lived her life trying to praise the Lord in all things. She is now where she always longed to be.

Let’s pray,

Father, we come to you today as the author of life both here and in eternity. We come to worship and adore you. We also come asking you to comfort us in this time of loss. Remind us of the blessing that has been ours to know, love, and to be loved by Bobbie Peterson. Remind us of your promises and help us to hold them close. Stimulate our devotion to You because of our presence here today. We ask in Jesus’ name.

[Song]

*****

When you were around Bobbie Peterson you knew you were around a classy lady. But you also quickly knew she was not at all aloof. She didn’t think she was better than anyone. She was down to earth and cared about people. She was one of the kindest people I have ever met. Whenever we got the chance to visit, a few hours were going to go by quickly. They were always precious times.

Bobbie graduated from New London High School and then from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh with a degree in elementary education. She only actually taught for one year because she married Dr. John Peterson on August 24, 1952. There is some question as to who was smitten with whom first. The story is that John was working for his dad in the clothing store in Burlington. Bobbie came in with her two brothers and John was smitten. As I heard the story, he flirted a little but to no avail. John ended up rooming with Bobbie’s brother at college. He learned that Bobbie was supposed to go on a blind date but it didn’t work out so John suggested to her brother that he invite to visit, and he would take her out. The rest was history.

Here's where the story gets interesting. Just last week I asked Bobbie, “So who was smitten with the other first, you or John?” Bobbie thought for a while and said, “I think I was smitten first.” That is the sign of two people who were meant to be together.

Bobbie worked as they traveled in Iowa City and after John’s service in the military in Durham North Carolina where John finished his schooling. She did the bookwork for John’s Oral Surgery office at home.

She enjoyed life. She like water coloring, cross country skiing, fly fishing, and reading books. She was a member of the Fine Arts League, PEO, Kings Daughters, the Burlington Golf Club, a board member of the Salvation Army and was a member of the Union Church in La Harpe for the last 19 years. Bobbie gave freely of herself.

Bobbie loved her girls. She would tell you it wasn’t always easy, but she counted her girls among her greatest blessings. She adored her grandchildren, great-grand-daughter and her many nieces and nephews.

Grand-daughter Elise remembers Bobbie flying with her from Indianapolis to Chicago. They stayed at the Ritz-Carlton. From there they went and spent a magical time at the American Girl store. She also remembers decorating Christmas cookies (her favorite being gingerbread cookies) She loved her Swedish meatballs and the generosity at Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas cookies, Bobbie made a bunch of cookies one year for the Ladies Auxillary Bake Sale at the hospital. She made them early and froze them. When she needed them for the bake sale she dug the container out of the freezer and found that Nena and Maia had eaten them all! She was LIVID. She was so mad she called the hospital and had them pull John out of a surgery because of an emergency! She told what had happened. He said “This really doesn’t count as an emergency.” Bobbie, “O well it most certainly is an emergency . . . now I have to take store bought cookies to the bake sale and I am mortified!”

Arie also loved the Christian traditions and as he got older he loved the long talks about the stock market over wine. Just recently Bobbie asked Arie to buy her one of those bit coins on her 92nd birthday. She said she would pay him back. Arie said, “Ummm . . . Granny, it’s $47,000.00!

Bobbie took such good care of John. His back hurt so much of the time. When John died, Bobbie missed him greatly.

It was a big decision to move from her home, but she was so glad she made the move. She was blessed with wonderful neighbors in the Hartman’s. She looked forward to her 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. glass of wine with Jeanette and so appreciated the times she was invited over for dinner.

Bobbie always was involved in a Bible Study and was devoted to her personal Bible reading. She was wonderfully generous to the church and also to me. She was my greatest cheerleader for my writing. She was constantly promoting my books, and buying them for others. I appreciated her support more than words can express. When I went through a divorce, she ached with me. When I met my current wife, she celebrated with me and was eager to meet her. She could have been critical about the divorce and disapproving of my remarriage,(sometimes church people can be pretty judgmental), but she was not. She was just my friend, and I will always cherish that fact.

She was a serious person, but she also had a great sense of humor. She was not above a playful dig now and then. When the Hawkeyes were playing the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Outback Bowl in 2009 the Hawkeyes were up 21-0 at the half. Bobbie called her son-in-law at halftime and asked when South Carolina was going to put the A team in? She could dish out and she could take it.

Bobbie did not hesitate to ask questions or to express her opinion. She told at least one person that it would be beneficial for them to get plastic surgery! And you didn’t have to wonder about her political leanings . . . it was going to come up in the conversation. She was almost as fervent about her politics as she was her faith. But I liked her passion and straightforwardness.

I loved to see her laugh. I had the impression I must have been a little different from some of the Pastors she had known before. I would catch her off guard with something I said and she would just giggle. Even last week when we both knew it would probably be the last time I would see her, I told her how glad I was to see her and tell how much she meant to me and then I said, “And you got to see me too!” She burst out laughing and said, “Oh Bruce, you are such a nut!” That last smile and laugh will be something I treasure for a very long time.

I have no doubt that the Lord greeted my friend with the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

****

[Song]

When I thought about passages in the Bible one of the first that came to mind was a passage from Psalm 73.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

I desire you more than anything on earth.

26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,

but God remains the strength of my heart;

he is mine forever. (Psalm 73:25-26)

This seemed to be Bobbie’s feeling about life. She had a strong faith and she wanted everyone around her to know the same peace and forgiveness that she knew. For years, she and John went to different churches because Bobbie didn’t feel John’s church had a strong enough “gospel emphasis.” When the church Bobbie was attending had some problems, she and John made the trek to La Harpe to worship because they had heard us on the radio on Sunday mornings. They blessed us richly by their presence. Bobbie was always the first to encourage both me and my son. I appreciated her passion for others to hear the Word of God.

She understood no one can gain Heaven by being good. The reason for this is that there is “no one who is righteous (or good by God’s definition). In case we missed it, Paul says, “not even one.” That leaves all of us missing the mark by a very wide margin. The result is we stand as enemies of God rather than as friends. Those who feel they are doing pretty well, either don’t understand sin, or they don’t know God.

Suppose you committed just 3 sins in a day (your thoughts, your words, or actions, disobeyed God’s commands). For me, that would be an extraordinarily good day. Let’s say you kept that up for an entire week. 21 sinful acts in a week is pretty good. Suppose you kept it up for a month. Now you are up to 90 sins. At the end of a year that would be 1,095 acts of rebellion against God! And this is someone who is doing impossibly well! You can see why, after decades of this, we would have a debt to God we were hopeless to pay. When it comes time to stand before Him the only just outcome for us would be hell. If you had that many parking tickets your license would be revoked and you would have a hefty fine or some jail time. The penalty for sin is eternal death. Yet, there are many who feel they have surely lived “good enough” lives.

The Apostle Paul writing to CHRISTIANS said,

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) (Ephesians 2:1-5)

The whole point of Jesus coming to earth was to deliver us from our sin-debt and make it possible for us to know the life God created us to live. He did this through His teachings, His sacrificial death (He died to pay for our sin), and then through the exclamation point of His resurrection.

Each of us must reach a verdict on Christ. Either we embrace Him as our rescuer and as the one who will lead us to the life we were meant to live, or we reject Him volitionally or by remaining indifferent to Him. Everyone makes a choice. The choice you make will determine what happens to you when you die. That is the message of the gospel!

Martin Luther spent years trying to purge himself from any sin he could think of only to realize there were likely many more sins he wasn’t even aware of. One day he saw the text that said “The just will live by faith.” That text changed him forever. He embraced the forgiveness offered in Christ and spent his life proclaiming the message of God’s grace.

Lee Strobel was an atheist investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune. One day his wife came home and announced she had become a follower of Jesus. He was furious (maybe not as mad as Bobbie was about the cookies!) and he decided he would set out to prove that the message of Christianity was not credible. He ended up embracing Christ as His Savior and has spent his life writing books about the evidence for Christ, Faith, Miracles, and even Heaven.

My point is, the Christian faith is not afraid of honest questions. A person who is willing to examine the evidence for themselves (rather than just repeat what others have written, said, or taught), will find Christianity up for the challenge.

I KNOW Bobbie would want me to spend less time talking about her and more time talking about the gospel. I know, because that is what she said! I bet she prayed for everyone in this room at one time or another, asking the Lord to bring you to faith in Him!

When Bobbie found out she had this cancer of the blood, she was not upset about it. When I saw her a week ago she told me she was not afraid to die. She said, “I ask the Lord every night to take me home.” The only thing that bothered her was the fact there were some people she loved who she wasn’t sure if they had turned their life over to Christ.

So, on her behalf, I ask you, what do you think is going to happen when you die? If the Lord asked you why He should let you into Heaven what would you say? Would you say, “I didn’t sin that much?” or will you say, “I cling to Jesus who died in my place and now I want to follow Him. Please extend your mercy to me.”

The Bible tells us that we must admit our sin, acknowledge that we believe Jesus died for us and rose again from the dead and then . . . be willing to bet our life and eternity on it. What we are looking at here is the difference between Justice, injustice, and mercy/grace. Justice is getting what we deserve. What we deserve is Hell. Injustice is when we are deprived of something you are due. It would be an employer who refuses to give you the paycheck you earned. Or the citizen who is deprived of due process. Mercy is a gift we do not deserve and did not earn.

Salvation is an extension of God’s mercy. There is no who will receive injustice from God. All who die and miss heaven are being treated with justice rather than injustice. On Bobbie’s behalf I urge you to bask in the mercy of God’s grace!

The Apostle Paul also wrote, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Bobbie Peterson could have easily written those same words.

I hope you will remember her

· As a faithful woman

· A loving mom

· A hands-on grandma

· A woman who cared about appearances

· A smart woman who reached out to others

· A generous person

· A diligent student of the culture around us.

· A woman of prayer and a student of the Word of God

· A Woman who was passionate about life

· A woman who was certain about her destiny.

· A woman we will deeply miss

She touched our lives in many ways. I wonder how many people will be in Heaven because of her? May we hold her memory precious, and may we embrace her faith as our own.

[Song]

Will you pray with me?

O Lord throughout life you give us people who serve as lights to guide our way. Thank you for the light that came from Bobbie. Welcome her and comfort us. Bring your peace and comfort to this family and these friends. Most of all, draw us close to you. Help us to find what Bobbie had.

Amen.