“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I will do my second funeral in as many weeks tomorrow. To say it has been a busy couple of weeks is to put it rather mildly. But that’s nothing compared with what these two families have been through. And that’s not because the passing of these two great ladies was itself unexpected or particularly difficult. Both were expected and blessedly peaceful. Rather, it is because the days between a loved one’s passing and the funeral service are exceedingly busy. This is especially true when a loved one has spent their life pouring into others as Mae Brooks and Judy Tucker did. You have to manage all of the various details of working with the funeral home to put together the service on top of all of the outpourings of love and care from friends and family and neighbors. You wouldn’t necessarily trade any of that away, but it’s a lot. The real process of grieving doesn’t really begin until after the funeral is over. What has me writing this morning is the fact that these two funerals are almost like carbon copies of each other. Let me tell you about why and why that’s such a good thing.

Mae Brooks spent her life pouring into others. She did it for 100 years, 58 of which were spent as a widow. While raising four incredible children and enjoying a whole gaggle of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of whom are a fitting reflection of their matriarch. They faithfully took care of her to her to her end, making sure she was able to stay in the home she had lived in at 10th and Main for almost 75 years. She was an institution in Oakboro unlike any other. When she closed her eyes on this life only to open her spiritual eyes on Jesus in the next moment last Monday morning, she finished her race through a life well lived.

Judy Tucker spent her life pouring into others. She did it for 80 years, the final 10 of which were spent slowly losing the battle against Alzheimer’s disease. No one wins that battle. But in the 74 or so years she had before she just couldn’t do like she had before, she did everything. For everyone. All the time. There is hardly an organization or institution in Oakboro or Stanly County itself that didn’t feel her impact in some way. And when things got particularly hard near the end, her faithful husband of more than 60 years, Larry, demonstrated a faith and courage and commitment to the vows he made and took care of her, keeping her at home where she finally closed her eyes on this life and opened them on Jesus this past Tuesday morning.

When we did Mae’s service last Saturday, we were prepared for a crowd. The family wanted to hold the service in our old sanctuary building that we don’t use for worship anymore because we’ve outgrown it. That was fine, but when her daughter told me that was their plan, I responded with, “Now, Linnie, you know that room isn’t going to be big enough to hold all the people coming to this thing, right?” She said, “I know, but that’s where Mama wanted to do it.” So we made it work by opening up our much larger fellowship building where we do meet for worship each week for overflow. And when the day arrived, the old sanctuary was packed to the rafters 30 minutes before the service even started. There wound up being a fair sized crowd in the overflow space as well, just like we expected.

When I was talking with Judy’s son, Wes, our dedicated music director and someone who has poured himself faithfully into at least as many things in the community as his mom did, and always with the faithful help of his wife, April, about the service, he said they wanted to plan it in the old sanctuary as well. With the fellowship building available as overflow. I suspect that we will see people in both buildings once again.

How is it that these two remarkable ladies, institutions both in this community, could draw such a crowd? Over the years that I have been in Oakboro, I’ve done three other services in particular that stand out as absolutely packing our building out. How does someone draw such a crowd in their passing? Having an affable, gregarious personality certainly helps, but just because someone is an extrovert doesn’t mean they’re going to draw a crowd for their funeral. No, it is only the people who spend their lives pouring into others. That’s what Mae and Judy did. They did it in different ways and in different places, but pour out they did.

Mae did it by spending the forty years or so she had in retirement hosting Bible studies and prayer groups and discipleship groups in her home. Judy was a professional volunteer for more than 50 years. She was involved in everything. These ladies loved and served everyone. They rejoiced with those who rejoiced and wept with those who wept. More importantly, they followed Jesus closely and sought to live and love like He did with everyone around them. They taught their children to love and serve the Lord and all of them are faithfully doing just that. They showed their grandchildren what faithfulness looks like, and they are striving to walk that path as well. Like it says of the excellent woman in Proverbs 31, their children – and not just the biological ones – rise up and call them blessed.

When Paul was nearing the end of his second letter to Timothy, he knew his own end was nigh. “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.” He didn’t face this reality with insecurity and fear, though, but with hopeful confidence that he had done well along the way. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Someone might object that this was a rather prideful thing of Paul to write, but it wasn’t. It was honest. He had spent his life seeking to follow Jesus faithfully and well and he was rightly and humbly proud of the work he had done. That’s okay to acknowledge when it’s true. And we know it’s true because others affirm it to us and about us and the Holy Spirit Himself confirms it in our Spirit. That “well done, good and faithful servant” is a message we start receiving before our final end arrives.

When we have spent our lives serving Jesus and pouring out His love into those around us, we can rightly have confidence in the reward He has promised us we will receive for such efforts. Paul certainly did. “There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.”

Mae and Judy are poised to receive that crown of righteousness. For now they are waiting for that day with Paul himself. And which “day’ is that? The day Christ returns and rewards all those who served Him faithfully and well, who “have loved his appearing” with life and new bodies in the great resurrection from the dead when all those who have placed their faith in Him will be like Him in new bodies that are fit for eternity. These two godly women are so poised now in the presence of Christ because they spent their lives serving Him. They spent their lives loving others like He did. One crowd has already come out to celebrate it, and we are preparing for another crowd tomorrow morning.

If you want a crowd to gather and celebrate your own life when your end arrives, the pattern here is as clear as it could be. You need to love and follow and serve Jesus. You need to be invested in a local church, living out your faith with and through that body in practical, meaningful, intentional ways. You need to invest heavily in the Scriptures and prayer so that your relationship with Jesus is always growing and your spiritual gas tank is always full. You need to pour into the lives of others from what God by His Spirit has poured into your own life thanks to your investment in the Scriptures, prayer, and the church. You need to avoid major moral failings by practicing the righteousness of Christ everywhere you go and intentionally cultivating habits of righteousness in your personal and private life as well.

If that sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. But it’s not something that’s out of reach for any of us. The reason for that is that we don’t have to do it on our own. We do it in the context of the church community we invest ourselves in. More than that, we do it with the constant and abiding help of our Savior and Lord, Jesus, who is far more invested in our success in these matters than even we are. And we don’t do it all at once. Mae Brooks didn’t become Mae Brooks everyone came out to celebrate last Saturday in a day. Judy Tucker didn’t become the Judy Tucker we are all going to celebrate tomorrow morning in a day. They became those wonderful women slowly, over time, by making small, daily investments in their kingdom accounts. That is something you can most certainly do. And when you do, like these ladies most definitely are now, you’ll be glad that you did.