A Heritage of Faith, Hope, and Love

Nana’s Eulogy

 Heritage is the word that comes to mind when I think about Nana, my beloved grandmother. As I reflect on her life I think of what remains, those things she left behind as a legacy to the generations.  As I gathered photos, scoured boxes, and thumbed through journals and pictures, I relished the moments of life we shared together. I found myself coming to the realization that the things she left behind were not so much temporary but eternal. “And now these three things remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV).

The most significant “heirloom” I found represents in totality the legacy of faith Nana left to each one of us: a Bible dated December 25, 1968 presented to her daughter, inscribed with the words “With all of my love.” God’s Word is not only representative of Nana’s faith, but also of the hope she shared and the love of God she received for her own through the blood of Jesus Christ. Through the years, Nana testified to God’s faithfulness. I recall a story of a time when she and Papa were down to nothing and she wondered how she would feed her family.  That evening, her neighbor invited her and her family for dinner. She often noted this praiseworthy deed of the LORD.

A letter she wrote reveals the hope she had through prayer. She writes, “Keep up the good work of prayer.  If you want or need anything, the LORD is the one to call upon.  He may not answer the way you wished for, but it will be much better.”  Our hopes and dreams were her hopes and dreams.  On the day of my wedding, she wrote, “I have faith that your love will grow with each passing year. This wedding is so very special I have to pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming.”  Her hopes and dreams for us did not die, they remain in Christ. In another letter she wrote, “I started out with two girls and they made it great for me with all these little children to love and watch grow. It is great to see the fancy little things they do and say.  I want to be with the family often as I want these little ones to know who I was.  Our children need adult attention.” She writes, “The world is full of violence and crime.” Because these three things remain: faith, hope, and love, our little ones will know Nana and her hope for them will be echoed down through the generations.

 My Nana’s defining characteristic was her sacrificial love for others and more specifically her children. Photographs reveal the deep love she had for her little ones.  These pictures hold within them the eternal truth and reality of God’s love.  Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me.”  Looking back on the years, I think of my Nana and her simplicity, her trusting nature, and child-like persona as an example of child-like faith. She didn’t just enjoy being with the children, she was one and she would do anything for any one of them.  We were the joy of her heart and she loved us with the love of Christ.

“And now these three things remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV).  Nana shared with me that she was assured of her salvation and that it was her hope for each one of us to take possession of our eternal inheritance: the faith, hope, and love that is only offered to us through the blood of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God’s grace. Nana told me, as we shared our hearts about the LORD, that she wanted the song, “Jesus loves me” played at her funeral service so that someone else might come to believe in His Name. She knew that our heritage, our whole inheritance, our salvation, is wrapped up in truly taking hold of and believing these three words, “Jesus loves me.”  Please sing the song “Jesus loves me” with me in honor of Nana as we think about the words found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Return to the Dust

“May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works” (Psalm 104:31 NIV).

Have you ever thought of Fungi as a servant of God?  Indeed, it is!  When living things die, fungi serves as a decomposer and life-producer to fulfill God’s Word.  Consider God’s Word when He speaks about His creatures through the Psalmist, “…When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground” (Ps. 104:29-30).  You see, living things die, they decompose (bodies break down) and Fungi help “organic matter” return to the dust.  Then, Fungi bring nutrients to the ground so that it can produce again (renewing “the face of the ground”).

In Job 1:21, Job cries out, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the Name of the LORD be praised” (NIV).  Fungi reflect this truth.  These unique creatures play a key role in breaking down “organic material” by taking the nutrients it needs (also giving nutrients to the earth) so that the soil may produce new plants revealing the truth that God renews “the face of the ground.” Consider a fungus that grows on a dead tree.  Fungus breaks down the tree’s wood so that the tree crumbles away.  The soil is now left with nutrients to grow new plants.  The old is gone and the new is come (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).  God’s resurrection power and manifold wisdom is seen here and displayed in all the earth in the simplest yet most profound ways.

Fungi are one of the planet’s most important decomposers and recyclers.  God uses them to balance the cycle of life here on earth.  Without them, once living things would “pile up” and “cover the earth” but God has ordained that they play a part in the renewal of “new generations of life.”  How great is God’s Name in all the earth.   Fungi certainly sing of His greatness. “All the earth bows down to you; they praise to you, they sing the praises of your Name” (Psalm 66:4 NIV). What other revelations of God’s truth do you see woven in the story of the Fungi?

Bibliography:

Dr. Alvin, Virginia, and Robert Silverstein. “There’s a Fungus Among Us.” The Kingdom of Life: Fungi. New York: Twenty-First Century Books, 1996.

Pascoe, Elaine. “Fungi and Decay.” Fungi. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003. Print.

Opposition: A True Test of Faith

“When Sanballot heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed.  He ridiculed the Jews” (Neh. 4:1).

Sanballot was governor of Samaria, the region just north of Judea where Jerusalem was located.  Sanballot may have hoped to become governor of Judea as well, but Nehemiah’s arrival spoiled his plans…Sanballot tried to scare Nehemiah away or at least discourage him by scorn, threats, and bluffs” (NIV LASB Commentary, Neh. 4:1). Jesus speaks of those “who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received” a precious faith as hated by the world (Jn.17:14 NIV).   We, as New Testament believers will, at times, face our own “Sanballot.”  How we respond to anger, the incensed, and ridicule determines our victory or defeat in the battle. We will either stand on our faith, believing, speaking, and acting in a way that brings glory to God or we will stand on the “anger, the greatly incensed, and ridicule” of our enemy.  God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness”  (2 Pe. 1:3 NIV).  On which will we stand?

Lord Jesus, Help me to stand on Your Word as I resist giving way to opposition. In You, Amen.