What an occasion! We are here to celebrate the life of our very dear friend A.. What a lovely person she was! My contact with her was far to limited, but the lasting impression left on me was of a very special person, who loved the Lord, and served Him so faithfully. I suppose that the time when I had most contact with A. was at the A o G General Conference. Some years ago I was invited to take on the awesome responsibility of heading up the Stewarding Team, and invited J. to help me, and A. was asked if she would do an important job. It was to work as part of the support team, ensuring that there were refreshments available for the Team. Some people would not have seen this as an opportunity for serving the Lord, but A. did. It wasn’t long before she had put her stamp on it! She was willing to serve those who served. What a gracious lady. Everyone loved her, as with the others on the support team, she ensured that she was there to serve. I am truly convinced that this apparently simple act of service helped towards making the Conference a success! I could say much more, but there have been tributes from others, suffice it to say that it is Heaven’s gain.
As I was waiting on the Lord for a ‘Word’ to share with you on this occasion of mixed feelings, I was really impressed in my spirit to consider these wonderful words.
Philippians 1:21 – 23
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. [NIV]
For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don’t know which is better. 23 . . . . Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go and be with Christ. That would be far better for me. [NLT]
When I began to meditate on these words, I thought they were so fitting for this occasion. While A. lived, she lived for the Lord. Now it is certainly better for her. She is with the Lord she loved so much, receiving the ‘well done’ from the Saviour.
As far as James is concerned we pray that “to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour” for him.
For me to live is Christ - Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. When we look at what has been accomplished in this brief time in Tanzania, we must agree that it has been fruitful service. Could we pause and consider our own fruitfulness? We will realise that some fruit bearing is more apparent than others, but we should all seek to be fruitful, and we can only be fruitful if the life of Christ is flowing through us. Writing to the Galatian Christians Paul says “that life which I now am living in the flesh I am living by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who in love for me, gave himself up for me”. Here is the secret to being able to say “For me to live is Christ”. As we look back to the life Anneli lived, it must be apparent that she lived it by, “the faith of the Son of God”. For her to live was Christ.
My text goes on to say “to die is gain” or “dying is even better”.
How can this be? Paul was so convinced of this fact that he says to the Corinthian Christians “as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So our aim is to please him always, whether we are here in this body or away from this body”.
To understand what this means, we need to grasp the great truth that knowing Christ is really wonderful. Sometimes we confuse knowing about Christ with knowing Him! I know something about Her Majesty the Queen, but I do not know her. A. Knew Christ! She knows Him even better now! “to die is gain”. In the company of the angelic host, and the saints who have gone on before, she now sees Christ in His glory, and is able to worship Him as she longed to do while with us on earth.
What comes as a challenge to us here today, is that while we celebrate the fact that A. is able to do this in an unrestrained way now, she also lived a committed life of service while on earth. She lived the truth – “for me to live is Christ”. Now she enjoys the truth “dying is even better”. It is better because she live Christ!
Where do we fit in? Are we living for Christ now while we have the opportunity? Are we allowing the Christ life within us to live out?
At this time of parting there can be sorrow, but weeping is only for a time. Let me give you a precious promise from the Psalmist,
“In His favour is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”. [Psalm 30:5]
Joy is coming! A. knows it now. J., you will know it! You who mourn, you will know it! Let the Christ life in you live out and you will know it, for Jesus promised to give us His joy.
At this point I would like to draw your attention back to Paul’s words
“it is probably more necessary for you that I should stay here on earth. Because I am sure of this, I know that I shall remain and continue to stand by you all, to help you forward in Christian living and to find increasing joy in your faith”. Philippians 1:24 & 25 [JBP]
Paul was so looking forward to the joyous experience of being with Christ, but he was willing to remain serving the Christians on earth so that they would grow in maturity, and increase in joy.
The day will come when we will leave these mortal bodies. If we know Christ as our Saviour we will be with Him, and then we shall begin to understand these words. Until then, let us determine to serve the Lord through our service to others. We look once again at A’s life and see it as a life of willing service, now she is reaping the reward of that service. The day will come when we who know the Lord will also stand before Him and receive the rewards of our service. This must leave us with a determination to do even more for our wonderful Saviour.
I must, in closing, assure you J., of my personal support for you as you continue your ministry for the Lord, and I believe I speak for our fellowship at H.. We will continue to support you and rejoice with you as we receive the news of your labours for the Lord.
We have good memories of A., and we also have good expectations for the future in Christ.
