Janie Fox Funeral
1. Memories
Memory is a sweet gift. The Bible speaks about God remembering people. As he remembers them, grace flows towards them. It was Nehemiah whose prayer is recorded at the close of his book in the OT. He prayed, "Oh, God, remember me for good." Remember the good things about my life.
When a loved one passes we are so often filled with memories. We see people sometimes that we have not seen for years. We look at pictures we have not seen in years. We remember things that we have not thought about for years. We cry. We laugh. It is bittersweet. I think if we could hear the voice of Sister Fox this morning she would be saying like Nehemiah, "Remember me for good and in loving memory, do the good things that I did..."
I saw the Foxes at a birthday party that we hosted at our church a couple of years ago for one of their granddaughters. It had been some time since we had seen one another and when I saw them, memories of my childhood began to flood my mind. Good memories. Then on a Sunday morning not too long ago, I was delighted when they showed up at our church to visit. It was like a family reunion.
My brother Joseph was there and he told me how he was standing there, no longer the tiny boy that he had been when we stayed Sunday afternoons and weeks out of the summer as children at the Fox's home in Pasadena. He was a full-grown man with the beard to prove it. He said that he was talking to Brother Fox and he told him she was there. So he stood in the aisle as Sister Fox walked in front of him. As he stood there looking down at her as she looked at him like he was a crazy man he said, "Are you going to give me a hug." She yelled "my baby" and hugged and kissed him like the father in Jesus's story of the prodigal son had when he returned home.
She knew how to love. The Bible tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love. And she loved everyone that she met well. The Fox's were members of the church that we attended as children. They used to live across the street from the church. It was in the church at Jacinto City that she received the baptism of the Spirit and was baptized. It was there that she worked hard and involved herself in the work of the Lord. It was there that she experienced the miracle-working power of the Lord in her own physical body. As she worked for God, she always did it with a smile. It was a labor of love.
When I was a child they returned to the church in Jacinto City and almost like clockwork my brother and I began spending time at their home. We were skinny and she was determined to fatten us up. She would feed us, and feed us, and make sure that we ate. Many people remember her cooking. He fajitas. The traveling dinners that our youth group would have annually during the Christmas holidays. The tamales that she made to sell for fundraisers. And it always seemed to involved young people. She had a heart that was big enough for every young person. She bore the fruit of love and her labor was a labor of love.
The Bible tells us that whatever our hand finds to do, we should do it with all of our might. And she did that. When I spoke to Brother Blackburn yesterday evening, he said she reminded him of the woman Rebecca in the book of Genesis. When Abraham sent the steward of his household to find a wife for his son Isaac, he met Rebecca at a water well herding sheep. When he asked her for a drink, she gave him a drink and then drew water and filled up the watering hole until the camels were watered as well. She made sure everyone had enough. That's how Sister Fox was. To her own family. To Lonnie. To Donald. To Laura. To her husband, the love of her life, who she met while they worked together at the rice factory. [No wonder Brother Fox cooked such amazing rice. :-)] She labored in love to make sure everyone had enough to eat. She cooked, she prepared, she served. All out of love, and with everything within her.
Remember her for good. You have memories with her that are all your own...
Yet, we do have questions.
2. Questions
We have questions, some of which we may never know the answers to, but we have precious memories, good memories. This is the hardest part of the human experience. Death is called by Scripture our enemy, the last enemy. There is this sense inside of us that this should not be, that we were meant to live forever. We do not understand. We are like Job whose story is filled with one question after another, one "Why?" after another.
At the end of Job's questioning of God after he had lost all that was dear to him, God shows up in the whirlwind and speaks to Job. God does answer Job's questions but does something better. God asks Job a series of questions. He points Job to the wonder of creation and is just present with Job. Job makes a statement at the end of his story. He says that he has heard about God all of his life, he has even spoken about God, but now he can see God. Something shifted about his perspective on life.
Psalm 23 says it well:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
In the first half of this beloved Psalm David speaks about God as being far out there somewhere. But, in the middle of the Psalm, in the valley of the shadow of death, he changes the way he speaks about God. No longer is he speaking of God as someone out there, he says, "Thou art with me."
Like Job he realizes, I don't need answers right now. This is the hardest part of the human experience. I just need God.
God comes to us in so many ways. For many of you, God has come to you at different times in your life through Sister Fox, Janie, Juana, mom, grandma. Her Spirit-filled life, labor, and love were the hands and feet of the Jesus whose name she bore through her baptism.
She walked with you through some things. God is wanting to walk with you through this.
I think if she could speak to you today she would say, "Child, God is not far away, He is near." His Spirit is here. Talk to Him."
He is here with you. He loves you. His love for you is evidenced in the love that He showed to you through her life...
3. The Answer
The last conversation that I had with her was in the altar area at Springs of Life Church in Deer Park. She came to the front and we prayed together for a few things. But the thing most heavy on her mind and heart were her children and so together we prayed and we felt God's Spirit move and touch. She wanted God to be near each of you. And He is. She wanted you to be the hands and feet of Jesus to one another as she was to you.
They say that the greatest form of flattery is imitation. There are probably some things that you already do subconsciously because of her influence. Some good things. But, what would the world and family be like if you were intentional about taking up the good things of her life and saying, I'm going to follow her life of faith... I'm going to love fervently. I am going to labor to show it. I'm not going to let anyone around me go away hungry or empty of love. I am going to remember her for good...
Remember her for good. Let's pray.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we need you. This is the hardest part of the human experience. We know that you experienced it yourself and you beat it through your resurrection. But, Lord we are still here and this hurts. We need the Promise of your Spirit to come to us and be near to us. Please, Lord as we navigate the weeks, and months, and years ahead, be near us. Talk to us and help us to talk to you. You are the Answer. You are the Presence. The fourth Man in the fires of our lives. Help us to follow the example of this precious soul that has gone on before us so that one day we can be with her where she is, and where you are in your Glory. In Jesus Name.
