This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the funeral of the wife of one of my professors. I did not know her well, but her husband has been a source of great encouragement and growth for me in the past year. Attending was painful in some regards, especially since she was quite close to my own mother’s age. But this funeral was different than almost any other I have attended. I have to say I learned a lot about life and about what it looks like to truly love Jesus and chase after him during that hour- long service.

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

Unlike most funerals, or even funerals of Christians that I have been to, this was called a “homegoing celebration.” Wow. If only I lived that way-- that I have not yet been to my true home.

Before her daughter-in-law gave a eulogy, three missionaries that the woman had worked with spoke. Because of this woman’s life and work, the name of Jesus was being proclaimed around the world, through organizations that partner with local missionaries. It seemed weird to me at first, because weren’t eulogies supposed to be sweet, poignant stories about the deceased? Instead of being stories about the woman we came to honor, these people told stories about Jesus and the work He had done through these organizations. It turned out that these were stories about the woman who had passed away-- but she had lived a life so intertwined with her Lord that it was impossible to distinguish His work from hers.

How incredible is that-- the example of a life lived fully in surrender, marked by triumphant successes and painful disappointment, but always lived with eyes fixed on Heaven. Throughout the ceremony, everyone that spoke reiterated in some form or fashion how the honoree insisted that even in death, “Jesus is all that matters.” This homegoing celebration was truly all about Jesus.

Jesus is all that matters.

Jesus is all that matters.

I do not know why it took the funeral of a beloved professor's beloved wife for that point to finally hit home with me. I had never heard that said so succinctly and so directly before. Such a statement takes away the opportunity for the fickleness of humans to take over. Jesus isn't "one of the things that matter" or someone that "matters some of the time but not always." No. He matters. He alone matters.

One of the final speakers at this service offered up another statement that really moved me as well. He spoke of the blessing that this woman had been to her husband, her children, and her grandchildren. He spoke with conviction that even though this incredibly faithful woman was no longer walking the earth, the footsteps she left behind will continue to lead others to the cross. How many of us can say the same?