Judy Magner Memorial Message
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| Judy with daughter Debbie |
The next morning I bought a newspaper; low & behold
PCC was on the front page above the fold. There’s nothing like that kind of
free, positive publicity, but I had no idea where that would lead. A few weeks
later I got a call from someone I knew, but was not a member of PCC. He invited
Sandy & me to meet him & his wife for dinner. At dinner they quizzed me
about my commitment to PCC… was I in for long-term. I said, yes I was. They
told me they’d seen the article in the paper & wanted to help the church
buy property. I remember thinking, “That’s nice; it’s time we started a
property/building fund. Maybe this will be a little jump-start.” They leaned in
& said, “So we’re committing ½ million dollars over the next ten years to
your property fund.”
My whole body went numb & for once in my life I was
speechless. Before I could say anything they added, “And we want this to be
anonymous.”
They were true to their word… and some. I don’t know what
the final amount was, but the giving didn’t stop after ten years, and we were
able to purchase this property on Pfenig Lane & build this church. That
couple received no public recognition for their gift, no plaque on the building
with their name, no special reserved seating, no banners with their pictures,
no adulation, no applause, only the quiet whisper of God, “Well done good &
faithful servants.”
That story reveals all you really need to know &
remember about Judy Magner. Don’t for a moment think that Judy’s only way of
expressing her faith was in financial support of this congregation. Nothing
could be further from the truth. In fact, I’d guess it was way down the list in
her mind, if there was such a list, of ways she served God. I sat with her
family last Saturday night and listened as they described a woman who was a
doer, a devoted, intentional, faithful, consistent, industrious, courageous,
selfless, authentic Christian woman who lived what she believed. She married a
military man. That meant frequent moves. At every military base they were
stationed she volunteered at the hospital. She continued to volunteer at St
David’s Hospital in Austin as long as she could.”
There’s a long string of cards at the Magner home from so
many who were touched, encouraged, and loved by Judy. I guarantee you they all
had received cards from her long ago. She lived to give & bless & serve
& sing Happy Birthday to her grandchildren & send cards… things you
actually touch, open, read, & save. For Judy every card sent was a material
expression of her love. She took time to find just the right card for every
occasion. Her granddaughter Tracey told me she received the same exact birthday
card 3 years in row. It was the right card for her. After listening to her
family I think the Lord gave me the right Scripture for Judy… one she lived.
Think of this passage as card from God & Judy to you.
Philippians 2:1-11 (The Message)
“If you've gotten anything at all out of following
Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a
community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you
care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be
deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your
way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be
obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend
a helping hand.”
“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of
himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that
he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all.
When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status
of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an
incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he
lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and
the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. Because of that obedience, God
lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that
all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and
buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise
that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.”
Judy Magner, your wife, your mother, grandmother, our
friend, was a one-of-a-kind masterpiece created by the Master Himself. This
beautiful, unique individual will be missed. No one can take her place. There
will be a gap in our lives, a hole in our hearts that cannot be filled by
anyone else. It is right & appropriate to grieve the loss of one created in
God's image. But Judy was more than that… she was redeemed by the blood of
Jesus, a genuine baptized saved by grace through faith, follower of Christ,
servant of the Almighty, daughter of the King of Kings. And oh how she served
her Lord.
She did not live for herself, to advance herself, to grab
the spotlight whenever possible. She lived the words of the apostle: “Put
yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your
own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” When I
asked for one word that characterized Judy’s life, her grandson Andy was the
first to speak up: “Devoted, what you do when no one is watching.”
Her daughter Dawnette added: “She was selfless &
devoted w/out any need or desire for recognition. She was able to adapt to
every situation… never complained about the pain she endured for the last 6
months of her life.”
Not everyone wants to be in the story if she (or he)
doesn’t have the starring role, but that wasn’t Judy. If Judy had been an
actress she would have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Role. She made
everyone around her feel like the star. There is nothing more Christ-like than
living a humble simple life that puts the needs of others before our own needs.
For Judy, it was always about others, never about her. So you will miss her!
You will miss her calling on your birthday to sing to you, her laugh, her right
on the mouth kisses, the way she made you feel comfortable… even if it meant
not expressing her pain or discomfort, the way she listened… as though your
life were the most important life in the world, her honesty that sometimes
seemed a bit blunt when you had a full plate of desserts, her courageous sense
of humor in face of impending death that enabled her to wake up each morning
& announce, “I’m still here! I’m not dead yet!”
That courage & strength is her legacy to you. It’s
not this building… it is you her children & grandchildren & friends. It
is her courage & strength founded upon faith in Christ our Lord that will
enable you to grieve with hope, and carry on with joy.
You know the promise of Christ our Lord… the promise of
resurrection and the life everlasting. You know the Scriptures. Dwight Moody:
“One day soon you will hear that I am dead. Do not believe it. I will then be
alive as never before.”
Judy Magner died last Thursday night; and she is alive as
never before. She is fully engaged, singing her heart out in praise before her
Savior & King.
A huge part of Judy’s story was a story of true love. Her husband Leon referred to Judy as “the prettiest & most gracious of them
all!”
To Leon, her husband, who was smitten the first time he
saw Judy in her penny loafers & Pea-Coat, who held on to his true love
& treasured every last moment with her, I give you the immortal words of
Wesley, no not John Wesley, the hero of “The Princess Bride”: “Death cannot
stop true love, it can only delay it for a while.”Leon, may God give you the faith, courage & strength to endure the delay as you look forward to the glorious reunion.
C.S. Lewis lost his wife to cancer: “To say the patient
is getting over it after an operation for appendicitis is one thing; after he’s
had his leg amputated it is quite another. After that operation the continuous
pain will stop. Presently he’ll get back his strength and be able to stump
about on his wooden leg. He has ‘got over it.’ But he will probably have
recurrent pains in the stump all his life, and perhaps pretty bad ones; and he
will always be a one-legged man. There will be hardly any moment when he
forgets it… At present I am learning to get about on crutches. Perhaps I shall
presently be given a wooden leg.”
So perhaps the key to surviving grief is asking God, not
for an answer to the why question, but for peace and strength to live with a
wooden leg. Knowing Judy, I think she’d say, “Get on with your life with faith
and hope… even if it’s with a limp.”
Her death was as inspiring as her life. Last Thursday
evening her breathing was labored, but she was in no pain & in relative
comfort in the hospital bed in her living room surrounded by her husband &
her 2 daughters. Monty was on the way. She’d been alert & had waved
good-bye to Mike & me when we had left earlier in the evening. A couple of
hours later Debbie said she was going to the drug store to pick up a few
things. Judy opened her eyes and said, “Card.”
Debbie said, “You want me to pick up a thank you card for
you at the drug store.”Judy shook her head no and said, “Card”.
Debbie understood, “You want me to get you a card right now, from the house?”
Her mom shook her head “yes”.
Debbie found a thank you card & handed to her mom. Judy pointed at the card… she always was a card-person… looked at the faces around her bed & made a sweeping gesture with her finger pointing at them all… her way of saying, “Thank you.” Then she removed the oxygen tube from her nose. Debbie & Dawnette said, “No mom, you have to leave this on.”
She shook her head firmly no. She insisted on removing it. A few minutes later she was gone.
I’m certain when she entered paradise into the presence of the Lord, Judy’s first words were the same as her last words with us, “Thank you!”
May God give us such courage & grace when we walk
through that last valley of the shadow.
