Grandma Jacobs Funeral Service, 5/15/10

Here is the sermon I'm planning on giving at my Grandmother's funeral service, 5/15/10:

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So often, at funerals, we speak of the Kingdom of Heaven. We say things like “We know she’s in heaven” or “we have hope for an eternal heaven.”

But today—because of the amazing woman we honor today… I want to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven my Grandmother brought to us—here and now, in this place.

Sure—she is held in the arms of God in the Kingdom of Heaven…
But today I call out the times Ruth Miller Jacobs became the arms of God here and now. The arms that now hold her are the very arms she became- for us.

I can remember my Grandmother embodying the Jesus she followed. She did not simply claim to be a Christ follower—she became the kind of person who was the answer to people’s prayers to the Christ she followed. It is one thing to tell people you’re praying for them. It’s an entire other thing to actually allow your life to become the answers to people’s prayers. My Grandmother became the answer to my prayers more times than I can count… and I’m confident for most of you as well.

My Grandmother became the kind of person she called us to be. She lived a life of love and hope.

Ruth Jacobs very life redeemed creation. Her entire life was an offering to God—renewing and restoring the brokenness and darkness around her.

She sent cards. And even mastered email and facebook (thus making her a 91 year old rock star). :)

She donated money. She supported missions.

She loved people.
Church kids would give her big hugs and she loved on them—becoming the very presence of Christ to each child she touched.

She played music- she sang.

Her eyes were always fixed on her Lord.

She read her bible—knew most every line.
Her heart was shaped by that Word.

Ruth Jacobs was the matriarch—the pillar, the stronghold of the family. She lived her life on her knees before the Lord and her heart before her family.

She emptied herself—giving up all of who she was—to become who Christ was calling her to be (and who she was created to be).

She became redemption.
She lived out renewal.
She embodied restoration.

I don’t know about you—but people like my Grandmother cause me to want to live the same.

I look around the world and I see destruction. I see pain. I see abuse. Sin and selfishness have destroyed everything.

I feel sorrow. I hear sobs and tears. The world is a mess.

People are hungry. Starving. Suffering.

Masses are lonely. Hurt. Rejected.

I, myself, have experienced extreme trauma—(like many of you, I’m sure).
I know darkness. I am well acquainted with the depths of despair.

But women like my Grandmother did too.
Her college roommate was killed in a car wreck.
She lost her parents.
She buried her husband.
My Grandmother breathed in the stench of pain and suffering.

But- she chose to live differently than the pain and suffering around her. She chose to live a life that called forth the Kingdom of Heaven here and now. A life that breathed back out—hope and love.

My Grandmother lived redemption.

And today—as we celebrate her and say goodbye… we watch as her life is offered before God.

What an offering!

Some may give money. Some may give time.

This woman’s whole entire life was a beautiful offering to God—a life lived in a way that called forth life from the ashes.

I want to do the same.
And I call all of you to do the same too.

Live redemption.
Call forth restoration for the destruction here and now.
Become the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let your arms become the arms of God for the world.
Breathe out hope.

The same arms that hold Ruth Jacobs—are the arms you can become.
For God needs a body here on earth—and you can become that body.
Love the hurting.
Support the weak.
Become the answer to people’s prayers.

Follow the example of my Grandmother—
Who followed the example of her Jesus.

Become who you were created—too, just like we saw Grandma become.
So when you find yourself no longer breathing in the stench of the world’s pain—you might be able to have those who love you say your life was an offering—hope and love breathed out on the world.

I know I am who I am—tenacious and strong as I am—clinging to hope and love as I am…
Because of this woman. Her prayers—her embodiment of Christ—her presence.

And with her gone—t he world needs the rest of us to pick up that spirit- that gift- that hope… and keep on breathing restoration, redemption, and renewal.

This woman didn’t just love—she became love.

Go and do the same.
When you suck in the stench of a destroyed creation with the effects of sin burning your nostrils… breathe back out hope.

Choose to become the answers to people’s prayers.
Nothing else would honor this woman more than to continue the legacy of her life and choices.

So let’s go from this place- proud.
She got it right.
I can hear her Lord whispering “well done,” “well done.”

May we hear that same whisper on our lives.
And may we too—bring the Kingdom of Heaven here and now.



Let’s pray together—
Lord God—
In your great mercy—hear our prayers.
Be honored by the amazing life of this woman.
Breathe life, love, and hope on us—where we feel absence and despair from losing her.

We’re not afraid o admit—we so desperately need you.
Our lives are a mess. Pain is overwhelming us right now. We miss her.
Minister to us.
May someone become your body for us—here and now, to hold us in your arms and whisper love.
We need your comforting Spirit.

And Lord—as you comfort—change us. Purify us. Make us holy—able to love—able to live redemptively like my Grandmother.

May (when we take our last breath)—people know we loved you and breathed your love and hope out on the world.
May we become who we were created to be and may our lives be an offering to you—of where we restored and called for the renewal and redemption… where there was only sin’s destruction.

We ask all of this in your name.
Amen.