Christian Woman Chapel Funeral Service

Good morning. This day can be one of sadness and despair but I am reminded from the start of Psalm 30:5 which tells us, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Here we are at the celebration of life service of someone we loved with all our heart. And we may wonder how we can say this is a celebration. But I think that Ruby would want this service to be a joyous day of celebrating her life, reminiscing about how she touched every person here today, either directly or indirectly. I know she certainly brought light to my life.

The morning after her surgeries, I went to visit with her and pray for her in the ICU. She was so jovial just like always. Always glad to see you. Laughing and joking around. I could tell she was feeling pretty good. But little did either of us know that God had a different plan for Ruby than what we expected at that moment. We wanted her well and enjoying life. But if we look at all of this from God’s point of view, she IS well and enjoying eternal life in a place that is so beautiful, we can’t even describe it with our limited words.

You see, whenever we pray and ask God for help, He answers that prayer in ways that we can’t fully understand. But this I know, God always answers in a way that is far better than what we even ask for.

I have spoken many times on the subject of heaven. I thought it might be good for us to be reminded how beautiful heaven must be. I thought that maybe we can get just a glimpse of what Ruby is experiencing right now. There’s a beautiful old hymn titled In The Garden that gives us that glimpse.

The inspiration for this hymn comes from John 20:1-18. This passage was recorded on what we refer to as Easter Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene came to the empty tomb and looked in and saw two angels in the tomb. One asked her why she was crying. She said because they have taken away my Lord and I don’t know where they have put him.”

She turned to see someone whom she finally recognized as Jesus. He tells her not to cling to Him but to go and tell the disciples what she has seen.

Austin Miles wrote the song IN THE GARDEN. He said he imagined the vision of Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Christ in the garden and wrote this hymn as an interpretation of that encounter. He said, “It was though I was in a trance, as I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary’s life, when she knelt before her Lord and cried, “Rabboni”. I rested my hands on the open Bible, as I stared at the light blue wall.

As the light faded, I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gently winding path, shaded by olive branches. A woman in white, with head bowed, hand clasping her throat, as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the shadows. It was Mary. As she came unto the tomb, upon which she placed her hand, she bent over to look in, and ran away.

John, in a flowing robe, appeared looking at the tomb. Then came Peter, who entered the tomb, followed slowly by John. As they departed, Mary reappeared leaning her head upon her arm at the tomb, she wept. Turning herself, she saw Jesus standing there, so did I. I knew it was He. She knelt before Him, with arms outstretched, and looking into His face cried, “Rabboni”.

I awakened in sunlight, gripping my Bible with my muscles tense, and nerves vibrating. I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the lyrics exactly as it is sung today."

This Easter story is the basis of the faith that we have today. It’s our hope. Without Jesus’ resurrection, we have no hope beyond the grave. We come this morning to celebrate and acknowledge this foundation of our faith. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is historically reliable. Sources outside of the Bible tell us that something happened on that Sunday morning. Many of those sources are unwilling to admit the resurrection, but they admit something happened on that day that changed the world. Because of the resurrection, the church came into existence and the church turned that world upside down. That’s why we’re here today.

Ruby knew and had this hope. I can only imagine what she would think about as she sang the words to the song. Let’s go there for a moment.