Graveside Service, Ft. Sam Houston, Dec. 7, 2009, for Louise Kinchen
In this time of my mom's departing (the passing of Louise Ann Kinchen) I think we can be mindful of five profoundly significant things.
1)
First we are mindful of my precious mom’s life.
Louise is best remembered as a faithful and loving wife, a wonderful mother; a sweet grandmother, and as an especially beautiful Christian person in every shining facet of what the words "beautiful" and “Christian” mean.
All my memories of my mom are consistent.
In wondering about some things to say about her today, I think of the fruits of the Spirit that are listed in Galatians 5:22-23. My mom consistently manifested the fruits of the Spirit. I'll quote the passage now,
"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; ..."
What I just read really does sum up, “Lou,” my mom. Everyone here who knew her, recognizes exactly what I mean.
My mom followed Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. She recognized, and told me early on, that no matter how loving, patient, kind, and good we are, the only way we can be good enough to God is if we have the goodness of Christ put into us. I believed her when she told me that then; I still believe that same truth now. I preach it from the Bible as the whole message of faith in Christ as Savior, Forgiver, Friend, and Lord. But the point I want to make right now is that my mom lived that message. She was a walking testimony of that message.
It is partly because of my mom, that I am a pastor.
My mom’s faith was contagious. She infected others with her steadfastness in her trust of the Lord in the midst of trials. She touched everyone deeply with bushels of that sweet tasting fruit--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
So, first we are remembering Louise--my mother, the amazing grandmother, the beautiful woman, and a precious child of God in Christ.
2)
Secondly we are mindful of the sadness we feel in losing a loved one. In Ecclesiastes, we read that there is;
"... A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn ..." Ecclesiastes 3:4
And so the time is here for weeping. It is the time to shed tears as we mourn the loss of our dear Louise.
3)
This leads me to the third thing we are mindful of in the passing of my mom. It is something that we all expect. It is the expectation that we all have from childhood:
We all know we are going to die someday.
Mom's departing confronts us with this sobering reminder in a stark way. It slaps us in the face like a wake up call that has a dizzying affect. And so, in this time, we are forced to contemplate our own existence. We are forced to reevautate our ambitions; our goals; what we have been valuing--where we have been, and where we are going. My mom's passing is a wake up call to consider the bigger picture of where we stand with our Creator, and then, the bigger question;
What we are going to do about it with such a short time left on this planet?
Jesus asked the pointed question:
"What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but loses his soul." Matthew 16:26
The Spirit urges us in Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5 to be redeeming the time--to be buying it up--purchasing it--because there's not as much of it left as we pretend that there is.
So, we are reminded of the expectation that we seldom entertain with our thoughts as we get all wrapped up in the daily concerns of life:
We really are conceived, and born, to die in this world.
4)
The fourth thing we are mindful of at that this time, as we remember Louise; as we mourn, and as we consider the inevitable; is that this is also a time to have joy in our hearts as we rejoice with mom that she is experiencing perfect peace and pure happiness with her Savior for eternity. She would want us to be doing that. When we rejoice, what we are doing is rejoicing along with her as she rejoices with us from a better place. We have joy in our hearts because Jesus said,
"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that those believing in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
We rejoice because even though my mom’s body is dead, her soul is alive in a better existence. The Father has called His child home to live with Him.
God says in Psalm 116;
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones." Psalm 116:15
The question is: Why?
Why is the death of those whom the Lord loves precious to Him?
Because God knows that physical death is really the transition to life that is so abundant, so beautiful, and so amazing, that there is nothing in this world that even comes close to comparison.
So we should rejoice, but we rejoice with my mom in her rejoicing, and along with her, we rejoice with God, Who rejoices to have his child with Him.
5)
And lastly, we are mindful of one more important expectation, and that is that the Bible assures us that through adoption into God's family through the blood of Jesus Christ, by His grace alone through faith alone in His finished work alone, we have not said goodbye to Louise forever. The Lord assures His children that we will see her again. We will always know her. We will talk with her. We will laugh with her. We will sing with her; and we will worship God with her in His presence when time for weeping, mourning, and tears, will be no more.
We read in Revelation 7,
“They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:16-17Amen
