Introduction
1. I want to express to Reta’s family our deepest sympathy in the
loss of your beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
2. But we are also here to join with you in celebration of her
homecoming! For I believe there is a joyous reunion taking place
between Reta and many friends, relatives, and especially a man
named Glenn. Let alone the warm greeting she is receiving from
her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If heaven is rejoicing, how can
we not also celebrate and rejoice?
3. About a year ago, while Reta was here visiting, she dropped an
autographed copy of her autobiography to keep in our records for
our church history. I think we should make it one of this years
Missionary books. It didn’t take long, as I read some of the parts
of the book, to discover a common theme, which was really what I
was looking for. I’ve entitled the theme “A Celebration of
Holiness”, which is the title of my message.
Trans...I believe the Lord led me to the 61st Psalm. (Read) It is
a picture of the life of holiness. Celebrating holiness is, first
and foremost, a life of communion.
I. A Celebration of Holiness
A. Celebrating holiness is communion.
1. I’m not talking about communion as a ritual that we practice,
but rather communion as a daily lifestyle. Prayer is a the channel of
faith that brings about the celebration of holiness.
2. The Psalmist cries: “Hear my cry ... listen to my prayer ... From
the ends of the earth I call to You, I call as my heart grows faint....”
(Vs 1-2)
3. Reta’ first night alone after Glenn’ death. She wrote: “What
has made the difference is a closer, more personal walk with my
heavenly Father who has given me many promises of His constant
presence.” Oh, how slow I have been in recognizing that God truly
is my constant companion. ‘Thank you, Jesus, for giving me time
to become better acquainted with You.’”
Trans...Another picture of celebrating holiness is obedience.
(Vs 2).
B. Celebrating holiness is obedience
1. Vs 2 ... “lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. For You
have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.”
2. Illus... Glenn & Reta’s courting years. They both came to the
conclusion that their marriage may not be God’s will. Maybe they
were not made for each other. She wrote: “I said goodbye to
Glenn with a breaking heart. I also felt a calmness, having obeyed
what my inner self was saying must be done. It was seven months
before we met again. Glenn was gone but him I did not forget.
Thirty-nine years later - we were parted again but Glenn I have
never forgotten.”
3. Illus...The premature birth of Jeremy & Jeffery. They thought
the baby might be lost. Reta prayed: “Dear God, if you can’t save
the baby, please spare JoAnne for David and Rochelle’s sake. But
let Your will be done!” (p-138)
4. This is celebrating holiness in the difficult places of life.
Trans... Celebrating holiness also means commitment to His
Church.
C. Celebrating holiness means commitment
1. Vs 4 - “I long to dwell in Your tents forever and take refuge in
the shelter of Your wings.”
2. Illus...Obituary: She was a member of the Pleasant View
Church of the Nazarene until it became the Kenmare Church of the
Nazarene. Reta: “I held every office in the church except organist
and pastor.”
3. At the age of five, she wrote of the Nazarene Church coming to
Velva. “My parents were hungry for spiritual food. Soon Papa and
mama experienced a new life in Christ. Mama once said, ‘I’ve
always done my best to live a Christian life but I don’t believe I was
ever really born again.’ They were so happy in their new found
experience.” This was 1910.
4. We live in an age of fast foods and quick fixes. We come to
church or join a religion looking for a quick fix and when it doesn’t
happen we think there is nothing to this. But the kind of religion
that Reta and her parents had relationship with Jesus Christ that
brought with it a holy lifestyle. For Reta, the earthly part has
stretched almost a century of time. It wasn’t a quick fix but an
eternal fix! She found the River of Life that quenches and satisfies.
5. With that kind of commitment you can say: “Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in
the house of the Lord forever.”
Trans...Celebrating holiness involves our heritage from the
Lord.
D. Celebrating holiness involves our heritage.
1. Vss 5-7 ‘...You have given me the heritage of those who fear
Your name.”
2. Quote Bible: NIV 1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no
ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love him"--
3. That is true for this life and for eternity!
4. Children are a part of that heritage. Psalms 127:3 “...Children
are a heritage, a gift from God.”
5. Reta relates about her mother: “My mother was a very humble
person, dedicated to the Lord. Her needs and wants were few, but
she was a giant in prayer.
6. At her bedside before she died her mom said: ‘Children, I’ll wait
at the eastern gate for you.’
7. If children are a heritage then Reta was rich indeed. Six
children; 22 grandchildren; 26 great grandchildren; and 3 great,
great grandchildren.
7. We are to ‘teach our children the statutes of the Lord, handed
down from one generation to the next.’ That part is taught but
there is also a part that must be caught and that is what I am calling
‘Celebrating holiness.’ That is the part that must be experienced
and lived out.
Trans...The last part of the picture is found in Vs 8.
Celebrating holiness means a life of praise.
E. Celebrating holiness means praise.
1. Vs 8 “Then I will ever sing praise to Your name....”
2. Reta’s life reflected the life of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
3. Reta’s life displayed a spark of the divine that reflected her
Lord.
4. She never tired to promote it, but it was very contagious! Her
children caught it, her grand children, even to the 3rd & 4th
generations..
5. I believe that this life will remain contagious for along time to
come.
Conclusion
1. Reta prayed, ‘Thy will be done’. Which means she trusted the
sovereignty of God. If you are here today, you are here by design.
2. Use this moment in eternity to examine your own celebration of
holiness or lack of it. What about your communion ... obedience
...commitment ... inheritance ... and your praise?
3. Just as Reta’s parents life changed in a moment in time at an
alter of prayer, so yours can also!
4. That spark of the Divine is still available to who so ever will.
5. You can enter into a journey of celebration that your mind
cannot even conceive of everything that God has in store.
