3/1/07 - Micky Strever Funeral - 1 Peter 5:10-11

STRONG, FIRM, & STEADFAST
- Something we can never be
- Something we will always be

A funeral is a reality check, isn’t it? It’s a time of self reflection. It’s an event that forces people to stop and think. Because although we are at the funeral of Mickey Strever, I know that you cannot help but think of other people in your life. Who will be next? Another friend? Your mother? Your father? Your spouse? Your child? Yourself? Because the sad fact of the matter is: every single person on the face of this earth will die. And although you know that, a funeral makes that crystal clear. It doesn’t matter how strong-willed a person is. It doesn’t matter how firmly they are planted in the hearts of their loved ones. It doesn’t matter how steadfast they are in their way of life. No one is strong enough, no one is firm enough, no one is steadfast enough to avoid death. And as we sit here with Mickey lying in front of us - we cannot deny that death is something we will all one day face.
Did Mickey have a strong will? Sure she did! She fought and she battled and she persevered amidst innumerable setbacks. And she did it all with an incredible amount of patience! And yet we are at her funeral. Was Mickey firmly implanted in the hearts of those around her? Sure she was! That’s why you’re here. That’s why flowers have been sent. That’s why cards have been written. She loved, and was loved in return. But now we are at her funeral. Was Mickey steadfast in the way she went about her life? Sure she was! She was a Christian woman who acted like it. She lived and talked and walked a life that showed what she believed. But even that, even though she lived a good Christian life, we are now at her funeral. Why? Because Mickey was flawed. And so am I. And so are you. Each one of us has a major flaw. We are all saturated with sin. We do things we shouldn’t and don’t do things we should. Sin infects everything we do and everything we say and everything we think. And so no matter how strong or how firm or how steadfast we are - no matter what kind of life we live - we will one day suffer the effects of sin. We will one day be lying in a casket at our own funeral.
Mickey knew that. Mickey knew this day was coming. She knew that she wasn’t strong enough or firm enough or steadfast enough to escape the inevitable. But she wasn’t worried about it either. She wasn’t worried that she couldn’t save herself from the effects of sin, because she remembered words of Scripture like these: “The God of all grace [has] called you to his eternal glory in Christ” (1 Peter 5:10a). Mickey knew this funeral would not be the end! Mickey knew that death was nothing to fear because Mickey knew she would go to heaven! Not because of what she did on this earth. Not because she led such a good life. But because the God of all grace brought her to faith in Christ.
That means that her sins that have all been forgiven. Every one of them has been forgiven, every one of them has been wiped away, every one of them has been erased, every one of them has been covered in the blood of Christ. She believed that Christ was her Savior from her sins and the blood that he shed on the cross was for her. And it was. And it’s for you, too. Christ’s blood is for you. Christ died on that cross, suffering unexplainable pain so that you wouldn’t have to. So that you wouldn’t have to experience the ultimate punishment for sin: hell itself. Christ took that punishment for you, he suffered the torments of hell on that cross in your place. He wanted you to be in heaven with him so badly that he went through all of that to make it happen. Because you cannot do it by yourself. You are not strong enough or firm enough or steadfast enough to earn your way to heaven. The only way anyone is ever saved is because of God’s grace.
We just sang the famous hymn: “Amazing Grace.” Amazing grace - how sweet the sound - that saved a wretch like me! Grace is God’s pure undeserved love. A love that asks for nothing back. A love that loves despite what we do not to deserve it. It is far greater than a love between a mother and child or a husband and wife. It is a perfect love. Incomparable on this earth. But that is the only way wretches like us could be saved! We cannot earn it. We don’t deserve it. There is no way to pay him back. We simply have to thank the Lord for loving us when we are so unlovable.
Mickey thanked the Lord for loving her. She knew she didn’t deserve heaven. She knew she couldn’t earn it or pay him back. And so she lived her life in the knowledge that the Lord had been good to her purely out of his grace.
I met Mickey for the first time eight months ago when she was lying in a hospital bed. And since then I never talked to her, I never saw her, I never had a devotion with her outside of a hospital room. In fact, I rarely saw Don unless he was standing right next to her. It has been a long haul. Not only for these last eight months but for years before this. There has been a lot of setbacks, a lot of pain, a lot of suffering. But that is exactly the reason why the second part of the Bible passage I read before is so fitting for Mickey and Don and their sons and anyone who knows them. Listen to these words of Scripture: “After you suffer a little while, [the God of all grace] will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10b). Mickey definitely suffered for a little while. You may even say it was a long while. But no matter what Mickey suffered, no matter how much pain she endured, the God of all grace has now restored her and has made her strong and firm and steadfast! Not here on earth, of course, but in his eternal home. Mickey is now in heaven. She is no longer lying in a hospital bed. She is no longer hooked up to machines. She is no longer weak. She has been made strong. She has been made firm. She has been made steadfast by the God of all grace himself. And so she is standing and smiling and singing once again the praises of her Savior. The one who called her to be his very own child through baptism. The one who called her to faith in her Savior. The one who took her from this life of sin and into the glories of Paradise - all because he loved her with no strings attached.
And so as we hold a service here during a time of painful separation, Mickey is just beginning an eternity of joyful celebration with her Lord. A joy, an ecstasy, that will never end. I pray that every single one of you here will one day join her and the rest of the saints in this wonderful celebration. I know Don will. I know that he will join Mickey in celebrating the wonders God has done for them. Not because of how he lived. Not because of who he is. But because of the one in whom he believes. I know that he believes and trusts in Christ as his Savior. The same God who restored Mickey to Paradise. The same God who will restore Don with her.
I cannot read his heart. But I have heard from Don in whom he believes. I cannot read your hearts. And from most of you I have not heard out of your mouth what you believe. But I pray that the Lord has worked faith in your heart as he has done with Mickey. I pray that no matter what you suffer on this earth, no matter how weak you may become, no matter what your last days bring, that you will always trust in the Lord to restore you. I pray that you believe that Jesus’ blood has covered every one of your sins no matter who gruesome or how many they are. I pray that you believe this so that when the time does come for your funeral - the message will be the same as that of Mickey’s funeral: She is in heaven. Guaranteed. Because of God’s grace, because of Christ’s death, and because he has worked faith in her heart to believe it. What a joy to know in the midst of sadness! What a bright light during a dark day! What a life to look forward to! Remember this. And listen once again to these comforting words of Scripture: “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”