1 Corinthians 15:54-58
Rubie Campbell
Gaither Tape Playing
Introduction
I want to read to you a passage from the book of 1 Corinthians.
“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
This morning we have come together in this service to celebrate and honor the life of Rubie Neva Campbell. Born on April 12, 1915, Rubie was born the daughter of Robert and Ada Myers in Brinker, Texas. She grew up learning the values of family and hard work, and brought those values to her marriage to Elmer Campbell on June 8th, 1935. During 62 years of marriage to Elmer, those values were put to the test, as she would rise early, getting her husband ready for work, then getting each of the kids up and going before she would spend the day doing chores and cooking around the home, all before she worked the evening shift at the Wichita Falls State Hospital for more than 30 years.
I admired what I knew of Rubie’s life as she told me of years of working, raising a family, and going into retirement. I knew her to be a very meticulous woman who took great pride in herself and in what she had. She loved her family, and on occasion would express concern for one of you over some thing that she found to be important. As you have shared with me and with one another, your mother was a fighter: a fiercely independent woman who had a great love for God, for her church, and for life. As I prepared for today’s services, I came across a poem that reminded me of your mother. It is called the Bravest Battle.
The bravest battle that ever was fought
Shall I tell you where and when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not,
It was fought by the mothers of men.
Nay, not with cannon nor battle-shot
With sword, or nobler pen;
Nay not with eloquent words of though
From mouths of wonderful men.
But deep in a walled-up woman’s heart
A woman who would not yield,
But bravely, silently bore her part –
Lo! There was the battlefield!
No marshalling troops, no bivouac song –
No banners to gleam and wave –
But, oh! These battles, they last so long –
From babyhood to the grave.
Yet faithful still as a bridge of stars
She fights in her walled-up town.
Fights on and on in her endless wars,
Then, silent, unseen, goes down.
Oh, Ye, with banners and battle-shot
With soldiers to shout and praise,
I tell you the kingliest victories wrought
Are won in these silent ways.
Oh, spotless woman, in a world of shame
With splendid and silent scorn,
Go back to God as pure as you came
The queenliest warrior born.
Joaquin Miller
Rubie was preceeded in death by Elmer in 1997, and is now survived by her two sons, Elmer Lynn Campbell of Garland, Texas; and David Campbell of Bloomington, Indiana; by three daughters, Jacqueline Wyatt of St. Charles, Missouri, Karla Bassett of Denison, and Mickie Ruffin of Milton, Floridy; one sister, Betty Hood of Tulsa, Oklahoma; 15 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.
Rubie passed from this life into eternity on her favorite holiday, Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005, at Homestead of Denison. She was 89 years old.
As I have thought about the passage I read to you earlier, I believe that there are few passages in all the Bible that give us cause for celebration as this one does. There are three things God would have you to notice from it that will help you through this time.
First, God Wants You To Know That You Should Celebrate Rubie’s Life
Paul has been discussing how each of us experiences at least one kind of birth, and for believers there are two births. There is a corruptible body, a physical birth that each of us experiences, and with that birth, there is a life. Each of us is given the gift of life on earth to spend. It has been rightly said that life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want, but you only get to spend it once. Your mother spent her life, and you have as a result a lifetime of memories and thoughts to fill your hearts and minds.
You really are a fortunate family, for yours was a loving mother. It may not have been shown in ways that others express love, but as you think back over the long years, each of you will remember varying and distinct ways that your mother demonstrated the love and care she had for each of you and even for others who were close. Rubie was a woman who demonstrated love not just in words, for words in a sense are meaningless unless there are actions to back them up.
Whether it was the duck-like walks you talked about carrying your father’s lunch to him, where you would sit in the grass and have lunch together, or the meals she took time to prepare for you before having to go to work herself, Rubie’s life represents a day gone by really, and she represents a life that should be honored and cherished.
I had the opportunity to be your mother’s pastor for about the last four years. For the most part, she has stayed at home, wherever she decided to land at the time, and as she dealt with failing health she was always the optimist, believing that there would be another day, another opportunity, another visit.
Rubie was a great joy, and I know that the life she shared with you will be greatly missed. The opportunities to crawl in bed with her, or to talk on the phone with her, or to pack up her things and move her have passed, but the memories do not have to. Celebrate the life of your mother, and I would even encourage you to create a memory book of photos, of stories, of favorite memories and other such stuff. When you are feeling down in time to come, and you will, pull it out and share a laugh, enjoy the memories, and pass on a great heritage of a wonderful mother with your children and grandchildren for years to come.
The Second Thing You Can Celebrate Is Her Witness
For too many people, the sad reality is that the first birth is all that will be experienced. For those who are wise, who realize that the end of this mortal life is death and that death without Christ is to spend an eternity in a place called hell, there is a second birth – a spiritual birth. Paul said that this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality. Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God, only those who have been born again.
Jesus Himself said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
You can celebrate the witness of a godly woman this morning, for she was a child of God. Rubie was not perfect – she had her faults and shortcomings. The Bible describes it this way, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” There is nothing bad about admitting that you are a sinner. In fact, it is bad not to. Every one of us is born in sin, and without Christ we have no hope. Rubie realized this and chose to admit to herself and to God that she didn’t measure up to God’s standard of perfection which is Jesus Christ. She didn’t stop there though, for she placed her faith and trust in Christ and asked Him to save her, and He did, and her life was a reflection of the salvation she experienced.
Celebrate your mother’s witness – her Christian witness. It is a heritage for which you can be proud. She didn’t just talk about Jesus, she showed her love for Him through her prayer life, through her faithfulness in church when she was able, by serving and so forth. The testimony she leaves us is truly worth celebrating.
Lastly You Can Celebrate Rubie’s Victory
What is this victory that you can celebrate? It is the victory of immortality. Death is not the end for the child of God. Someone has said that those who have been born once will die twice (physically and spiritually), but those who are born twice will only die once. When the thief on the cross cried out to Jesus, He said, “Today you will be with me.”
Today Rubie is with Jesus. She has passed from death to life. She is present with her Lord in a place where there are no more tears, no more worry, no more medicine, no more pain or cancer, no more hospital beds, no more straps, no more walkers. Today she can walk and run the streets of gold without running into anything, she can go in and out of her mansion without having to call for help, she is at last settled in a home from which she’ll never want to move, and she is there because she made her decision for Christ while she still had the opportunity.
I know this is a funeral service, but I don’t want to close without saying to you that life is full of uncertainties, and the time of your death is one of them, but just as your mother experienced the victory that comes in Christ, so can you too if you have never done so. Paul closed that great passage with these words,
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Please bow with me as we close in prayer.
