Funeral For "A Martha"

FUNERAL FOR “A MARTHA”

*************

MAY 17, 2010

SCRIPTURE

John 14:1-4

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

How can we sum up someone’s life that we love? How do we take all the happenings, experiences, character traits, and personal passions and share them with others? Many times we take a look at another person, and for us we look at Scripture, and say that our loved one embodies so much of what was expressed by another. For ***********, she has been described as Martha, one of Jesus’ dear friends, from Luke 10.

Luke 10:38-42

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

I would like to share a thought with you about Martha that many times is overshadowed in this passage. Jesus tells Martha that Mary chose something better, but to be honest, what she chose was not wrong in anyway. Martha chose to serve her Lord with hard work. Martha chose to serve her Lord by providing hospitality so that He could share with His disciples.

What Martha chose to do was express her faith in Jesus Christ through quiet service.

******* was such a person.

What Martha chose to do was express her faith in Jesus Christ through hospitality.

******* was such a person.

What Martha chose to do was express her faith in Jesus Christ through hard work.

******* was such a person.

James 2:14-24

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”

I think that the world will miss people like ******* who are “do-ers” of their faith and of the Word. Her faith on the inside was matched by her kindness and service on the outside. As you celebrate the life of *******, may you remember her faith. May you have no doubt about her current state of being. She is with her Lord. She is enjoying the reward of Heaven. And also as you celebrate, may we learn from her example that we must “do” and act on our faith and not just talk about it.