Committal service for Lura Faye Hoel

 

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Committal service for Lura Faye Hoel

12:00 noon, Friday July 12, 2013

Calverton Military Cemetery, Calverton, New York

Good afternoon. Wait a minute! How can this be a ‘good afternoon’ when we are at a gravesite? It’s a good morning because we know that although Lura Faye Hoels  body of  90 years may today be committed  to the earth, her eternal soul lives on right now in the very presence of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Mom is no longer in any pain and is exactly where she desired to be,  in the presence of her Lord and surrounded by her saved loved ones, including her parents and her late husband, Einar.

The eternal life that began when mom trusted Christ many years ago as a little girl simply continues in a new location. She reached her new location a little after 9:00am three days ago.

She left this body for us to bury and for the Lord Jesus Christ to raise up again at His 2^nd Coming.

Mom lived with a purpose, she died with a peace and she now has a place in heaven with her Savior.

So, as we gather this afternoon, we who are left need to receive, reflect, resolve and respond to God so it may truly be a good morning for us as well.

Receive God’s comfort at the loss of a mom, a grandmother, a mother-in-law, a friend.

This ‘good afternoon’ for Lura Faye Hoel is bittersweet because we love her and will miss her, but those of us who’ve trusted Him personally as she did know with a certainty that we shall see her again, without the infirmities of her aging body.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says this: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.’

Our God is the Father of compassion. He wept at the funeral of his friend Lazarus, he wept over the hardness of hearts of His people, He weeps over and diligently searches for the lost sinner, the one who has so messed up his or her life. He cares for you. He is the God of second opportunities.

We read in Psalm 90, verses 1 and 2: “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born or you gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

We read in Psalm 116, verse 1: ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.’

Today is a time to reflect  on the reality of death and the sure hope of the resurrection.

Physically, mom lived to a ripe age of 90; personally, she was a tender, caring servant of God and her fellow man, spiritually, she was a child of God, who sent His Son Jesus to give His blood for her sins.

We are reminded in I Corinthians 15 that “..flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

Mom needed to die first.

We all have an appointment with death, don’t we? The author of Hebrews says that ‘it is appointed for men to die once and after this come judgment.’

But remember, God has done something about the penalty for the rong’s we’ve committed. He sent a substitute to take our punishment.

Jesus’ blood doesn’t remove the sureness of our appointment with death but it does remove the penalty and judgment of our sins, if we, like mom trust Christ to take away our sins.

Did you know that the name Faye means confidence; trust; and belief?  That’s a perfect name for a woman who put her trust in the finished work of Christ to get her from here to the hereafter, from her last breath to everlasting life.

This is a time to respond by taking a look at our spiritual life. We are all to die and we are all to answer to God for our sins, but, if like mom you’ve had your sins nailed to the Cross of Christ, you can boldly ask and answer this question:

‘Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’

Life is short, but eternity is everlasting.

On her profession of faith, mom trusted the finished work of Christ to pay the penalty of her sins. She knew not to trust her own good works – although there were many of them. As of Tuesday morning, she began enjoying heaven for all eternity.

Jesus said in John 5:24. ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.’

Jesus, later on in John 11 said this: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

Mom believed this many years ago. She confessed Jesus as Lord and stated that she believed in her heart and so she was saved.

As Jesus came up from the grave to live again, we know that all who die in Him, like mom, shall truly live.

Resolve to be encouraged by these words from Rev. 1:17-18, “Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last, I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.’

And this is all because of His great love: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life’ – and God doesn’t lie!

None of us, even Christians, are guaranteed another day, so if you’ve trusted Christ, respond by making sure your life is right with Him, as it was for mom.

Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you for the life and testimony of your servant, Lura Faye Hoel, who we know is enjoying the Savior who gave His life for her. Comfort us as we grieve, but not as those who have no hope -  because we have a sure hope in Christ.

We ask this in the Name of the Only one who conquered death and lives so that we too may live eternally, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In sure and certain hope of the resurrection into eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to almighty God our sister, Lura Faye Hoel and commit her body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They rest from their labors and their works follow them’ - ‘May her memory be eternal’