A LIFE THAT MATTERED

By

Pastor Gary Helsby

“On behalf of Beth’s family, I wish to thank each of you for being here today.  Today is a very difficult day – there are many “unanswered” questions about why such a beautiful person, who had so much love for life and who had so much to give, would be taken home prematurely.  Yet, the one thing we can be sure of is we love and serve a God who doesn’t make mistakes and who is not caught by surprise.  He is worthy of our praise and worship.  So, today, the scripture we will put down as a foundation for this “bitter-sweet” occasion is Beth’s life verse…”

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 29:11-14.

OPENING PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We gather here today to remember Beth’s life.  We also gather to say goodbye one last time and celebrate the life that she enjoyed here on earth.  We thank you for each precious moment and memory we have shared with her.  Her life has touched so many in so many different ways.  We pray that your peace and presence will be upon us during this time.

We pray this in the name of your son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Beth’s Birthday Tribute

(Cindy’s editorial note)  We don’t have the actual video tribute which was shown at Beth’s memorial service, but I put together this video tribute on her birthday last year which includes many of the photos which were shown during her memorial service as well as additional ones.  The song in this slideshow isn’t the one played at Beth’s service, but I chose it to remind her family in the years to come that her legacy continues to live on through each of them.   After the video, Pastor Helsby continued his message. )

“I’m not sure if you remember, but the dawning of the new millennium was a pretty big deal.  Y2K brought threats of power grids going off line and all kinds of catastrophes, but as the calendar quietly turned over and life resumed its predictable routines then the world began desperately seeking people of significance.  Time Magazine voted a thirty-five-year-old entrepreneur as the 1999 Person of the Year because of his contribution to the internet world: “.com.”  The very next issue of Time Magazine listed the Person of the Century as Albert Einstein because of his contribution to the world of science.  Also included in that issue was a section called “PEOPLE WHO MATTERED” which included names such as Alan Greenspan, Tiger Woods, Bill Gates, Jiang Zemin.

Today, we interrupt the routines of our lives to remember a life that mattered.  She never made the cover of Time Magazine, but Beth’s life touched me (Pastor Helsby) and I know it touched you as well.  The impact of Beth’s life will live on in our communities and into eternity, none the less, for years to come.  So, today we remember Beth and we mourn the fact that she is no longer living among us, but we celebrate her change of address to the streets of Glory in heaven.

On Wednesday (August 17, 2016), I asked the family, “What do you think Beth would want to be remembered for?”  If you knew Beth even casually, the following answers are not surprising.

1. She had a profound faith and an intimate relationship with God which was deep and authentic. Oh, she would admit that she was far from perfect, but she knew her Savior.  Beth knew she was forgiven by His grace and she wasn’t content to keep that to herself.  Nobody who knew her would question her faith.  She wanted everyone to know for themselves the same kind of joy and freedom she experienced by being forgiven and having a personal relationship with God.

2. She had an incredible love for her family. This love included not only her immediate family, but her extended family as well.  Shoot, when I (Pastor Helsby) stopped by, I was family!  Beth was actively involved in the lives of the people she loved.  She was gifted with the ability to connect with people.  There were times when things were tough for me (Pastor Helsby) and the phone would ring.  It would be Beth on the line saying the Lord had brought us to her mind.  She was obedient to call and find out what was going on and to leave us with a word of encouragement.

You know, when the family was searching for a picture of Beth to include in the obituary, they were having a difficult time.  It wasn’t because there weren’t any to chose from, but rather because so few of them were just of Beth by herself.  You see, she made connecting with people an artform and the photographic record of her life reflects that:

Beth Spear – devoted wife, mother, loving daughter, sister, aunt, friend.

Anyone who really knew Beth knew that she loved them.  She made friends everywhere.  She even made friends in the hard places and difficult times while going through cancer treatment.  She cared for people, people knew she cared, and that drew people into her “family.”

There is one event in Beth’s life, which I believe illustrates the depth of her feeling for her family.  In a conversation with her sister-in-law, Cindy, during her last hospital stint, Cindy asked Beth, “Is there anything you REALLY want to do – a “bucket list” type thing?”  Without hesitation, Beth said with tears in her eyes, “I really wanted to shop for wedding dresses with each of my daughters.”  Knowing that cancer was going to take away the opportunity to wedding dress shop at the appointed times, Cindy arranged for this last wish to occur at David’s Bridal shop immediately upon Beth’s discharge from the hospital before they left town to go home for the last time.   A week before Beth passed, she arrived at David’s Bridal in a wheel chair.  Knowing the circumstances around this wedding dress viewing, the staff went above and beyond to make this a special and private time for Beth to wedding dress shop with her daughters, Stephanie, Sarah, and Suzie and her daughter-in-law, Erica.  Beth loved flowers and so Cindy brought flowers for Beth to pass out to each of the girls as they came out of the dressing rooms and the girls had a corsage for Beth to wear.  There were giggles and laughter amid sorrow and tears.  A photographer recorded the memories which will be cherished for a lifetime.

3. She loved her home. There was just no place like Beth’s home.  It wasn’t fancy, and it didn’t have the “latest” whatever, but it was warm with love and it was filled with laughter.  There was usually a puzzle in progress or a game in the works.  Anyone could drop by anytime and they would be welcomed.  I think her unwritten motto was: “There is always room for one more.”  When the church had a missionary or a guest speaker and accommodations were difficult to find, there was always the Spear household.  I know the kids were kicked out of their beds more than once to make room for an additional guest.  The “guest” may have started out as a guest, but they ended up being “family” when they left.  Maybe this is how the term “bed and breakfast” originated.

4. She was not a complainer. Even when things were tough, money was tight, farm work and household chores needed to be done, the treatments weren’t working, etc., Beth didn’t complain.  And, even if there were things to be done and you stopped by, Beth had the ability to make you feel like you were the most important person in the world.  Beth had some rough spots in life, but complaining – well, that just wasn’t part of what made her Beth.

5. She had a “servant” heart. Beth was never happier than when she could go out of her way to do something for someone else.  When I needed something special for a church service, the first person I called was Beth.  She would always give it a try and often she would go so far beyond my expectations that I hardly recognized it as my idea.  Her servant heart was always at work sometimes even to the point of exhaustion and damage to her own health.

6. She had quite a sense of humor. Beth loved to laugh, and she enjoyed making others do the same.  During her hospital stays, her room was seldomly quiet.  Up and down the hallway, laughter could be heard coming from Beth’s room and from the family waiting rooms.  Beth knew how to smile which brought joy to others.

7. She was not traditional nor ordinary. Beth loved the new and different!  When I wanted to do something different in church, I would run it by Beth and she would become excited about it.  So, even today in celebration of her life, Beth wanted to be sure we didn’t have the standard, tried and true, cold cuts, cheese, and salads.    Today, we will remember Beth and celebrate with ice cream!  One can hardly think of Beth without having ice cream come to mind.  She loved the stuff, and in the days when cancer was stealing her appetite, ice cream was there as a familiar friend.

In summary, Beth never made the Time Magazine list of “people who mattered,” but she touched lives around the world.  She touched your life and she touched my life.  She loved Jesus and that kind of life matters for eternity.  “You know the world is a better place because Beth was here.”  Beth is gone now from the struggles of this life and that leaves a big, empty space which needs to be filled.  She leaves behind the challenge for us to live life with eternity’s perspective.  This is the challenge which each of us needs to pick up and live daily.

So today, Beth, we say our earthly farewells to you.  We commend you to the keeping of our Lord and we look forward to the day when you are standing on the shore smiling and welcoming us home.  Amen.

Special Music – You Raise Me Up

(This song was performed by Troy Charbonneau accompanied by Cindy Broadbent.  We don’t have a video of this performance, but you can watch the You Tube version at the posted link.)

FUNERAL MESSAGE

As we gather here today to remember the dear and precious life of Beth Spear, I call it “bittersweet.”  It is bitter because there are emotions of great sadness.  Sadness not for Beth because she is in a far better place away from cancer treatments and pain, but sadness for us because we have lost a dear loved one.  Today is also sweet because there is great joy in knowing that because of Beth’s relationship with her Lord Jesus Christ she is already in his presence for the scriptures say:

⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” – 2^nd Corinthians 5:6-8.

So, today is a day of celebration.  A celebration of a life well lived.  A life that is just beginning in God’s house.  The scriptures hold some incredible promises for those like Beth who have a real and authentic relationship with God.  Let me read a portion of scripture to you from John 14:1-6:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions;^[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.^[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.”⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The First Promise to Christians is that we don’t have to fear death. Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.”  We are troubled when we don’t know what is going to happen when we die, but Jesus has taken the fear out of dying.  Jesus has conquered the grave and death so there is no need to fear our eternal future.  That is what the Easter season is all about – us not being afraid of death.

We are troubled when we view death as an end instead of a beginning.  2nd Corinthians 5:1 says, “ For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  If we take God’s word seriously then we know that Beth’s life is not over.  As a matter of fact, it has just begun.  With all of the things she is seeing and experiencing, I’ll bet there is purple everywhere.

The Second Promise is Jesus Prepares a Place for those who accept Him: Our place in heaven.  What has he prepared?  Revelation 21:4 tells us, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Heaven is a placee with no more sorrow nor crying.  No more hurts nor disappointments.  It is a place where the frustrations of life are replaced with unspeakable joys.  It is where the pains of life aren’t permitted, and the failures of life will no longer control us.  A place with no more pain.  Do you realize heaven has no handicapped parking places?  There are no pharmacies and there is no need to fill a prescription.  Heaven doesn’t have hospitals, hospice homes, nor rehabilitation centers.  The days of aches and pains for Beth are over.  The trips to the doctors have ceased and all of her pain is left behind and not even remembered.

The Third Promise is that Jesus personally receives us. Imagine this, the moment that Beth took her first breath in heaven, the Lord was right there to welcome her.  The first image she saw was her Lord, Jesus Christ.  He was there with His arms wide open to receive her and welcome her home as the scriptures tell us in John 14.

The Last Promise is that there is only One Way to enter heaven. Jesus said to Thomas, “Thomas you say you don’t know the way to heave, but you do.  I AM the way, the truth, and the life.”  More than anything, Beth understood this.  She understood that without a relationship with the Savior, there would be no hope of heaven.  She understood that Christ came to take away the sins of the world and that included her sins.  She believed in the greatest promise given to all of us which is found in three simple verses:  ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but^[a] have eternal life.¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

CONCLUSION: 

I think Beth would want to know that everyone here today had made that same decision to accept Jesus and walk with God.  Please make sure before you leave here today that this is a reality in your life.  None of us have any guarantees that we will live to see tomorrow.  What if you wake up tomorrow and find yourself at the gate of heaven with Jesus himself is standing there and He asks you, “So, why should I let you into heaven.”  What will you say?  It’s not complicated.

We must realize that sin separates us from God.  Romans 3:23 states, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  We must ask God to forgive us for living that way.  1^st John 1:9 assures us, “⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  We must confess our sins and ask Him to come into our hearts and be our personal Savior.

Romans 10:13 says, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  It isn’t a one and done kind of deal.  If you accept Jesus as Lord, then you need to determine to live in fellowship with Him.  If you want to know more about this, please take time to talk with me about what it really means for it to be well with your soul.

Special Music – It Is Well With My Soul

(This was performed by Troy Charbonneau, Amanda Hiersche, and Emily Broadbent accompanied by Cindy Broadbent.  There wasn’t a video of this from the funeral, but you can watch the You Tube version by clicking on the link.)

CLOSING PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We once again thank you for the life of Beth.  We thank you for all the lives that she has touched and the memories that she has left us with.  And, now Father, we ask that you comfort the many family members and friends that have gathered here.  Help us to always remember the frailty of life.

Now, may the Lord bless and keep you.

Amen.