FUNERAL MESSAGE for Leola Williams
We have a long-held tradition here at Liberty – that I’m sure isn’t anything unique to our church. every Mother’s Day Sunday, we take a moment to recognize and honor the mother with the most children present. And also – the oldest mother present. Well, at 91 years of age – you can probably guess WHO was honored for being our oldest mother here last Mother’s Day. When you reach that hallowed age – you don’t have a lot of competition left. Of course, Leola didn’t always hear what was being announced – and she might have struggled to understand everything I was saying. But I knew I could always count on Cynthia (her daughter) to make sure we knew who the winner was. Whenever I got up to, “Are there any mothers who are 90 – or older?” – Cynthia was sitting back there in the corner doing one of these (POINTING). We had a special present all nice and wrapped. And when you’re 91, we don’t make you come to the front of the sanctuary to receive it. We have one of our ushers come and get it – and personally hand deliver it to you.
And I remember Leola – so beautifully dressed, and perfectly color-coordinated as she always was – standing to receive her gift while everybody in the sanctuary gave her an ovation. That was one of my lingering memories of Leola as I was preparing for her memorial service today. I thought – there’s going to be a new champion crowned on Mother’s Day next year. She won’t be here to defend her title anymore!
And you know, it might seem kind of odd to you. I have to admit that I’ve never done anything that even remotely resembled an “object lesson” during a funeral service before. But as I was preparing for this service today – I had a picture of a common item that I just couldn’t get out of my mind. And strangely enough, that item was one of these (HOLD UP RUBBER BAND – AND STRETCH IT). I hope you can recognize it if you’re sitting back a few rows. It’s a rubber band.
And I wish I could make this illustration sound really spiritual by reading some Psalm or Proverb about rubber bands. But the only problem is that – rubber hadn’t been invented yet when the Bible was written. So you won’t find any mention of it – even in the Living Bible – because I looked. Now, I found a reference to Sampson snapping the ropes that Deliah tried to tie him up with. And I found several references to “God stretching forth his arm. . .” But I couldn’t find any mention of a rubber band in there.
But I think why I kept getting this picture of a rubber band in my mind whenever I thought of Leola – was because they shared a common characteristic. In rubber bands we call is “elasticity”. You know, elasticity is the ability a rubber band has to stretch – and then return to its original shape. You can just stretch and stretch a rubber band – and it’ll keep coming back to its original shape time after time.
But what we don’t always see – is that every time you stretch a rubber band – it weakens it – just slightly. You may not see it. It may return to its exact same shape. But every rubber band has only so many stretches in it – before it finally snaps. It may take me all day – or it may take me only a few dozen times. But eventually – I’m going to exhaust the elasticity in this rubber band – and it’s going to snap. I guarantee you.
And you know, Leola was a lot like that rubber band. Only with people – we don’t usually refer to that quality as elasticity. The dictionary has another synonym by that word – that better applies to people. When it’s people who keep bouncing back time-after-time – we call it “resilience.” Leola was stretched so many times – being in-and-out of the hospital – I think we just assumed she’d always bounce back again. But we didn’t notice that her body was getting a little weaker every time it was stretched. She wasn’t as resilient as she’d always been before.
You know, the Bible does say, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16) And it does says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) The Psalmist declared, “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)
And James asked – and answered – the question, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
And you see, the Bible may not use the words “elasticity” or “resilient” – but it certainly wants us to understand that these bodies aren’t going to be around forever. We’ve only got so many days. . .years. . .stretches. You don’t know how many that’s going to be. I don’t know how many that’s going to be. All the doctors in the world don’t know how many that’s going to be. But one of these days – you and I aren’t going to bounce back anymore. No matter how resilient we’ve been. One day – all the stretch will have been exhausted. And we’re going to leave this world – and stand in the presence of God.
The only real question is – will you be ready when that day comes? I have a comfort and an assurance that Leola was. She kept bouncing back. We wanted and expected her to keep bounding back. But she was ready when there wasn’t any bounce left.
Like I said – I’ve never used anything like that to make a point in a funeral service before. And maybe I never should again. But it just seemed appropriate – given Leola’s reputation. She could have been nicknamed the “Comeback Kid” – after all the time she’d defied the odds. . .predictions.
But you know, I had another image in my mind as I was preparing for this service. And I assure you – this one does come right out of the Bible. I can’t hold this one in my hand – or hold it up for you to see today. It would be kind of impossible for me to do. But that image that also kept coming to me was of the sun. And I’m sure that all of Leola’s family knows exactly why I thought of the sun. Because they all know that whenever the sun was out – Leola thought that’s where she ought to be too. They told me it didn’t matter if it was freezing outside. If the sun was shining – she thought she ought to be outside on the front porch. She was drawn to the sun – like iron to a magnet.
And when I thought of how much Leola loved to be outside in the sunshine – I thought of how much she’s going to love heaven. Because there won’t be any cloudy days there. In fact, there’s not even going to be a sunrise and sunset there. The Bible tells us that it’s going to be perpetually lit – by God’s own presence.
Listen to the description of heaven that John wrote in the Book of Revelation. In Revelation 21:23-24 it says, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.” And Revelation 22:5 declares, “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.”
And when I thought of Leola’s love for being out in the sun – and I remembered those verses from the Bible – I also thought of the words to a great old gospel song. The title of the song was, “City of Gold”. And the lyrics say:
There’s a city that looks o’er the valley of death,
And the glories can never be told;
There the sun never sets, and the leaves never fade,
In that beautiful city of gold.
There the King, our Redeemer, the Lord whom we love,
All the faithful with rapture behold;
There the righteous forever shall shine as the stars,
In that beautiful city of gold.
Every soul we have led to the foot of the cross,
Every lamb we have brought to the fold,
Shall be kept as bright jewels our crown to adorn,
In that beautiful city of gold.
There the sun never sets, and the leaves never fade,
In that beautiful city of gold.
I don’t presume to know what Leola’s doing in heaven right now. But I’m pretty sure that whatever it is – she’s enjoying every moment of basking in the Son. Not the S-U-N – but the S-O-N. She gets to enjoy the light of Jesus’ presence forever and ever now.
There’s many wonderful songs about heaven – besides the one I quoted a moment ago. Another one that Brian is going to share in closing our service this afternoon is one of my all-time favorites. It’s entitled, “Beulah Land”. Brian, would you come?
Song
Closing Prayer & Benediction
