“Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’

“‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’” (Rev 14:13, NIV)

On August 1, at the age of 85, Lou Givens rested from her labor. It had been a long and difficult road. Around the time of her 56^th birthday, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer. I was still working on my Ph.D. and Lucy was expecting our second child. As an encouragement to Mom, Lucy and I decided to name our son after two of our ancestors—“Isaac” (one of Lucy’s great-grandfathers) and “Walker” (my Dad’s Father). Since Isaac means “he laughs,” and Walker implies a journey, we told Mom that Isaac was God’s gift to her promising her there is joy in the journey. Though a difficult fight, Mom embraced this journey.

Lou was approved for an experimental study at MD Anderson. We always thought the study was a Godsend, since she went into remission and we had 29 more years with her. Only a decade or so later did she learn that she was the only survivor from the study. She was such a fighter that she not only outlived her fellow patients but even the doctors who conducted the study! In her final decade, she had a number of setbacks followed by recoveries. Through it all, she was a fighter. Starting in February this year, she was in and out of the hospital, rehab, and skilled nursing units. Her last trip to the hospital was at the beginning of July after a mild stroke.

As we consider the struggle of her final years, we recall Paul’s words to the Corinthians, “We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:16-18, NIV) What Lou Givens went through these final years and months is “light” and “momentary” compared to the weightiness of what awaits her.

Lou was released from the hospital on July 30. I had been out of the state the entire month of July, so Lucy and I were excited to come see her the first weekend of August. We drove partway down on Thursday so we could spend more time with her. We got to Beaumont and took her and Dad to lunch. She raved about the meal and we had a great visit. She told us how blessed she had been that her stroke was not severe. We got into the car and started toward home. On the way, however, God called her instead to a different home–her eternal home. After all her struggles, God mercifully took her quickly and painlessly after a very good day.

As she said that last day, she was blessed that last month after her stroke. She was able to have final visits with family, even when we didn’t realize they were the last ones. But she was blessed far beyond that. She was given 29 years after her cancer diagnosis, time to travel with Jimmy; time to watch Christian, Isaac, Seth, Grace, Levi, and Lizzie grow—four of them into adulthood! She even lived to see Jill and I become older than the age she was when she was first diagnosed with cancer. Proverbs tells us that, “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.” (Prov 17:6, NIV)

Lou was a blessing to many who came into her life. Friends from her childhood and early adult years posted on Facebook that she was a great friend. Neighbors and church members from Orange said she was one of their favorite people. One of Jill’s friends said she couldn’t imagine growing up at North Orange Baptist without her. Another said she was one of the best parts about growing up and still remembered the advice Lou gave her in high school—“marry a nerd!” . Several people talked about her being one of the first people they met in Orange when she sold them their home and how they later became friends. One even said, “God used her to bring us to Him when she was our realtor” and we were “moving to Orange.”

Lou found a way to help others even during those final 29 years, reflecting Paul’s statement in Romans 12, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves . . . Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Rom 12:10, 12, NIV) For many years, she volunteered to drive cancer patients to appointments. She would also offer encouragement and counsel to them. One person told me, “She was a good friend and encouraging voice to my mom when she battled cancer.” Another said, “She was so sweet to my mom after dad passed away and was always checking on her. All who knew her were blessed.” Even as her health impacted her ability to travel or get out of her retirement community, so many people—both her age and our age—said she kept up with them and their families on Facebook. Two particular comments best captured the thoughts of many:

• “Your mother was looking after mom and dad from a distance these last few years, which is remarkable knowing how hard she was fighting. I love your mother very much.”
• “Although she was initially my mom’s friend and my friend’s mom, she became my cherished friend as I grew into adulthood. Her genuine interest in my life and family meant so much to me. She kept up with my growing children as they ventured into adulthood. Her kindness and warmth touched me, and you could always count on her to tell it like it is, no sugar coating. I will cherish the friendship we shared.”

A year or so ago, Mom asked me what I thought of cremation. We talked about why she was considering it over burial. She wanted to know how cremation might fit within the Bible’s teaching about resurrection. For example, Paul said in Romans that, “we . . . groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” (Rom 8:23-24, NIV; emphasis mine) Or in 2 Corinthians, he said, “We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.” (2 Cor 5:1-3, NIV) The eternal house in heaven is the risen Jesus, ascended to the right hand of God. The redemption of the bodies of which Paul speaks, while it is heavenly and not subject to corruption, is still a redemption of our physical bodies.

Charles Spurgeon, reflecting on the 2 Corinthians passage, noted that Paul also said that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He said,

Surely that which is the temple of the Holy Ghost shall not be ultimately destroyed. It may be taken down, as the tabernacle in the wilderness, but taken down to be put up again: or, to use another form of the same figure, the tabernacle may go, but only that the temple may follow. “We know that if this earthly house of our tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, external in the heavens.” My brethren, it would not be a complete victory over sin and Satan, if the Savior left a part of his people in the grave; it would not look as if he had destroyed all the works of the devil if he only emancipated their spirits.” (Great Sermons on the Resurrection, pp. 88-89)

So I emphasized to Mom that it doesn’t matter if the body is destroyed in a fire, lost at sea, buried in the ground, or cremated. When Christ returns, God can raise us up no matter what condition the old body is in. As Paul says in Romans, “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Rom 8:11, NIV)

There have been some tears shed. Like Jesus weeping at the grave of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35), it is a natural part of the grieving process to weep at the impact of death and how it cuts us off from the one we love. But as Christians, our sorrow is always centered in the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus was raised to life, so death will not have the final word for those who believe in him. Paul told the Thessalonians that Christians should not

grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who [like Lou] have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thess 4:13-18, NIV; emphasis mine)

We have hope in a savior who conquered death. We are encouraged by the belief that Christ will return, and when Christ appears, Lou—along with all Christians, both dead and living—“shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2, NIV) Lou will be raised in a resurrected body to live in a renewed creation—liberated from sin and suffering. She will breathe deeply for the first time in years.

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. . . . I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:1-4, NIV)