On behalf of the family of Loretta *****, I want to thank everyone for joining us in this home going memorial celebration for Loretta … and though today can be a difficult day, I believe Loretta would encourage us to begin with our thoughts directed heavenward, recognizing our reliance on the giver and source of life:
Take time to listen to these words from Psalm 91. I know that Loretta loved the Psalms. And I have a suspicion that this Psalm would have provided much encouragement to her during her battle with cancer over the last year. Reading from the New Living Translation:
1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished.
9 If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
14 The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”
MESSAGE
Loretta was special to ghis church. Her value and influence on the church can hardly be exaggerated.
Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized Sunday morning as the most segregated time of the week in America. Dr. John Perkins said that while we profess our belief in "every tribe, and language, and people and nation" gathered before the throne for eternity, we have settled for an "apartheid church."
In January 1993, Loretta along with her sister, crossed that racial line and became members of "the white church" at First Christian Church of Chicago. Since that Sunday, the church has never been the same.
"And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. So comfort and encourage one another with these words."
(1 Thess 4:13, 14, 17)
There are three messages of comfort and encouragement for all of us that Loretta would want us to hear from this passage of Scripture. They are three words that she would share with us. One message for everyone; a message for those who share her faith; and a message for those she wishes to share her faith:
The message for all of us: Be comforted, I am with my Lord.
Someday Christ will come again. That time it will not be as a babe in a manger, not as a sacrificial lamb. He will be as a victorious Redeemer – breaking through the clouds. On that day he will gather all of those who have committed themselves to following him to enjoy their presence with him throughout eternity – the way that we were created to.
Yet, Loretta has the advantage. Loretta no longer has to wait. Today, she stands in the presence of her Savior and Redeemer – She’s with the Lord.
This was the principle message that Paul wanted to share with the Thessalonian believers. It is alright to experience grief at the passing of a loved one. However, there is no need to be overwhelmed with sorrow for those who have died.
Paul is making a direct contrast in these verses. On one side are those who see death as the end. The curtain has fallen. There are no encores, no curtain calls. The end is the end. Death is the final period on the stories of our lives. This perspective is the one that Paul describes as those who have no hope.
You, see, some of you today, might have entered this building thinking, “That’s it. It’s over. Loretta’s story is finished … Period.”
However, there is the other group in Paul’s contrast … those who understand that the period is only a pause in a story that goes on an eternity.
It is that hope expressed in Psalm 91: I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation. More days here on earth would have been celebrated by Loretta, particularly if they allowed her to see her to daughters grow into godly young women. However, her hope was not just for more days here on earth. Her ultimate hope rests in an eternity with the God she loves.
Here is the part of the story that we currently cannot see.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was all gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people. He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.”
(Rev 21:1-4)
This is Loretta’s big glimpse into heaven … and what makes it noteworthy. Some might say that disease and sickness and death themselves have passed away ... that Loretta will no longer fight a disease as her own body wages war against itself. Others might see in it the deliverance from pain both emotional and physical. But those are all results of being in the presence of God.
Now I want you to imagine this, the moment that Loretta took her first breath in Heaven the Lord was right there to welcome her. The first image she saw was the Lord Jesus Christ. He was there with His arms wide open to receive her in to that great mansion that He has prepared for all His children.
Loretta has gone to be with Jesus.
The second message is this. This is the message for Loretta’s brothers and sisters in faith: Be encouraged, we’ll meet again.
Did you hear that message in the scripture? Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.
For us the real pain of grief in Loretta’s death is that we won’t be seeing her on Sundays, at birthday parties or family holiday gatherings. There won’t be any more visits to any of the numerous other places we had the opportunity to enjoy her presence.
But for those of us who are part of Loretta’s family of faith. We have all of those things to look forward to again, when we join her in paradise.
Finally, the message for those who have not yet come to faith: Be full of hope, you can believe as well.
Today, we are celebrating Loretta’s life. Hers is not the only life Loretta was concerned about. Loretta would definitely echo Paul’s those opening words from Paul to the Thessalonians: I don’t want you to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
As recently as a few months ago, when Loretta was feeling battle weary, Loretta was saying that one unfulfilled dream that she had, an undying hope that she possessed was that those family and friends who were still far from God would be brought into new life in Christ, a transformed life … a life lived to the full ... And that her faith and hope in God would remain strong as an untarnished example that would light the way for them to follow.
If you are still outside of faith in Christ, here is the message Loretta wants you to hear: “If God’s grace could reach me, no one is beyond the reaches of God’s love.”
