Funeral Eulogy for Betty Jean Reeves
John 14:1-14:6
Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.
Joh 14:2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.
Joh 14:4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.
Joh 14:5 Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You go, and how can we know the way?
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.
Betty Jean Reeves, a daughter, a mother, an aunt, a sister, a cousin, a friend, (known too many of us as momma, the countless friends of her son Danny and I am proud too count myself among them) and a child of God. Today we celebrate the home going of one who decided to let Jesus Christ make a difference in her life. It’s something how we see death as a time for sorrow and for grief, in that we are saying good-bye to someone we love. God shares in our suffering and grief in that the Lord knows the loss that we feel. Remember how the suffering of His dear friends Marry and Martha touched our Lord Jesus when Lazarus died and moved Jesus to tears, even though He knew with all certainty where Lazarus had gone. God gives us a special hope in moments like these. I pray that the family and friends of Betty find the hope, which only the Lord can give in times like this.
God has another view by which He looks at death. It says in Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Let it be known today that something precious happened in heaven, Tuesday morning when Betty breathed out for the last time. Betty found freedom from the body that was keeping her from serving the Lord in the way she wanted to serve. Today she can once again sing the praises of her Lord Jesus Christ. We have a reason to be happy for her on this occasion.
Betty’s death was precious, because she died in the Lord. My friend’s death has a date set for us all, but that date will only be precious if we die in the Lord. All of life is a journey to death. It takes some of us longer than others to reach our destination but we eventually will get there. Some of us take fancier and more prestigious routes than others, but the final exit is still at the same stop called death.
Once we reached that stop, the issue becomes whose waiting for us to give us directions on the other side. Jesus said, "I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also." There’s nothing like having a guide when you reach unfamiliar territory. We can rejoice in knowing that while we were all catching a little sleep Tuesday morning, Betty had a guide leading her into the presence of God."
Some ask if God is loving, why is there death. I see it as, because God is loving there is death. Can you imagine what a burden it would be to have to live life in the way we know it forever? What it would be to have pain in our bodies, unforgiveness and bitterness in our soul, or to be stuck at the bottom of poverty forever. God has seen all the evil, and the madness, and the pain that goes on in the world and God decided that at some point this must stop.
That point is death.
God has always wanted to be in a close relationship to human beings, because that is why He created us. But God is holy and righteous. Once we did wrong as human beings, the penalty for that wrong was that we were to die. God’s holiness would destroy us if we attempted to be in His presence with wrong in our lives. That is why God does not dwell with us as He did in the beginning of time. Our behavior brought about the separation.
God loved us to much to leave us alone, and God knew there was nothing we could do to pay the penalty for the wrong we have done. That is why Jesus Christ entered into the world. Jesus offered himself as a payment for the wrong that we have done. It is through Jesus Christ, that we find the forgiveness and mercy of God. To receive it, we simply acknowledge, yes God I know that I have done wrong and deserve death for it. I ask your forgiveness of my wrong and I accept the work that Jesus Christ has done on my behalf. I give my life to serve Him in appreciation of the work He has done for me.
Going to heaven is not a matter of having done more good things than bad ones. Going to heaven is dependent on whether you died having accepted the work of Jesus Christ or not. Betty’s death was precious, not because she lived the holiest and most moral life possible. Her death was precious because she died in Christ. When she died, God smiled and said, "that’s one of mind, take her to the mansion my son Jesus has prepared. We’ve been expecting her."
My friends if you were to die today, would God say the same about you. If God would not, then you are living your life in vain. The only decision that you make, that will still be affecting you personally 200 years from today, is the decision you make as to whether or not you have chosen to follow Jesus Christ. For only what’s done for Christ is going to last.
We rejoice in knowing that Betty Jean Reeves’ living was not in vain. Jesus had made a difference in her life. From the very beginning of our lives, God is at work in us whether we know it or not. He gives us gifts, personalities, and temperaments to be used to make this world a better place and to lead others to Himself.
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Betty has been a lot of things during her life. A daughter, a mother, an aunt, a wife, a sister, a friend, a co-worker, a grandmother, and a church member. But the greatest of all relationships that Betty has been involved with, is that Betty has been and forever will be a child of God.
Like the apostle Paul, Betty’s life has not been lived in vain. His word of encouragement to us found in the Scriptures in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 " the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
For those who die without knowing Jesus Christ as their own personal savior, Betty Jean Reeves’ will forever be just a special memory. But for those who die as she died, in the Lord, Betty Jean Reeves’ is expecting to see us on more time. That one more time is going to last forever for the Scriptures tells us 1 Th 4:13-18 Brothers and Sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men and women, who have no hope.
We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According 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.
For 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. After 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. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
I leave you to day with this true story may it comfort you hearts.
A young child was diagnosed with a terminal disease. The parents knew that he would die soon. The child as well knew that his death would be soon. One night he was sitting in his mother’s lap watching television with her. He looked up into her eyes and said, “Mommy does it hurt to die?” The young mother was overcome with grief and had to leave the room for a moment to gather her emotions. She stood in the bathroom and prayed, “God what can I tell him?” She felt that the Lord gave her a word for him. She went back into the room and said, “Honey do you remember how so many times you have fallen asleep in front of the television and then the next morning you wake up in your room? Well I will tell you what happens. When you go to sleep your father comes in and with his strong arms he picks you up and carries you into your room. And then the next thing you know you wake up in your room. Well death is just like that. When you die, you fall asleep and Jesus Christ gathers you up in His strong arms and carries you to heaven. And then you wake up in another room!”
Are you ready? It is my prayer and hope you can say along with Momma Betty I am ready! You can be. by knowing Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life!
Let us pray.
