1902-1993
Funeral Service - March 31, 1993 9:30AM
Wollaston Church of the Nazarene
Opening Sentences
I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. John 11:25,26
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth; and though this body be destroyed, yet I shall see
God; whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold, and not
as a stranger. Job
Invocation
HYMN
Scripture Lesson # 591 Responsive reading
Solo - I Know Who Holds Tomorrow Marion Janes
One of your favorite passages, I'm sure, and mine, too, John 15 is about LIFE and about ABIDING and about WHO JESUS IS.
"Abiding"
Mary Pavlowa Rankin - in one sense - never had a home to call her own-- at least when I knew her.
When she accepted the Lordship of Jesus, she was not welcome in the home where she lived. [As an adult, Scottie and Mary could have purchased housing, but chose to rent.]
But Mary has not just "gone home" last Sunday, either-- although certainly she is "at home" now with her Lord. What I am saying is that ever since Mary came to Jesus she has been "at home" wherever she has been in these 76 long years since she was fifteen. And Jesus has not only been a spiritual home, He has taken care of Mary as well, and you have been part of that caring.
"My words abide in you..."
I don't think of Mary as a great scholar in the classical sense. But she lived with her Bible, and those words as well as the Word became part of her character, and there was evidence of the central place God had in her daily walk.
Mary had a straight forward approach to life, and that included her faith. She accepted the Lord as a teenager; He changed her whole life; she never wavered in her commitment to Him.
"Abiding" like this..."being at home" has some inevitable results:
BRIEFLY TELL HER STORY... immigrant... teenage conversion... Millers adopt her... ENC... constant... trustworthy (Ed Mann)... touched hundreds of young lives... "collected"... but encouraged!
The wellspring of all spiritual life and Christian love is the assurance of a right relationship with God. - The certitude of belonging, of being accepted... Not incompatible with questing, growing.
Mary Pavlowa Rankin was "at home" in Jesus until the time came for her to "GO and BE at home." And now she has a place all her own-- a place which her Lord has prepared for her.
One more time I have been privileged to go to the "edge of life" as we see it from this side. And I believe it is true! Mary's testimony, that is! Her testimony to the very end was
"God is GOOD!"
Like the old gospel song said, this Christian faith is:
The Best for the living--
and best for the dying--
for all since the dawn of creation..
It drives away doubt
and it never wears out--
The best thing to have is salvation!
Prayer - The Lord's Prayer
HYMN
Benediction
The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you.
The LORD lift up the light of His countenance upon you,
and give you peace. Amen.
Organ Postlude Lambert Brandes