On Tuesday, I conducted the funeral of a saint. You won't recognize her name. In fact, only those who knew her closely really knew anything about her. Even her obituary revealed little about her life. I will paraphrase it for you. Florence passed away this past weekend at the age of 91. She loved and served the Lord faithfully. She is survived by a sister, a close friend and several neices and nephews. Florence lived in anonymity. What is striking about this woman was her faith. She loved and served the Lord faithfully. While others want to stand out and be noticed, Florence chose to live a quiet faith, that was filled with gentleness and kindness and love. She preferred to serve the Lord in unnoticed ways. Those who testified to her living faith at the funeral spoke of the qualities of faith that go unrecognized today.
Hebrews 11 names many heroes of faith by name. That list includes Abel, Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, Gideon, Sampson, to name just a few. But then in verse 39 we read about "others" who also died in the faith. Who were these "others"? We will never find out in this world. They lived their lives in anonymity and died in anonymity. But the writer wanted us to know that there are"others"!
Take heart friends, your kind deeds. gentle words, expressions of love, and faith in Jesus Christ is not forgotten by God. You are among the "others" if you have placed your faith in the Son of God.
Heb 12:1-2 NIV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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