Janet Carter Schwarz Memorial Service
May 17, 2019 (died May 6)
Obituary: Janet Carter Schwarz, 54, of Wichita, KS entered into the presence of her Lord and Savior on May 6 following a courageous battle with brain cancer.
She was born August 18, 1964 to the late Betty Jean (Crouch) and Billy Roy Carter of Dallas, TX. Beloved wife of Frederick Kipp Schwarz, Jr. for 31 years, loving mother of Frederick Kipp “Trey” Schwarz III (Oklahoma City) and Benjamin James Schwarz (Seattle). Beloved sister of Carey (Donna) Carter of Dallas and Barbara Ratcliff (Terry) of Los Angeles. Beloved daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt, co-worker, and friend.
Born in Dallas, Texas, Janet graduated from Appalachian State University in 1986. Her life centered around her faith in God, her devotion to her family and friends, and service to her church and community. She was involved in Bible Study Fellowship for eight years where she was a substitute teaching leader. She also served in Boy Scouts and the PTA at Central Christian Academy. When confronted with her cancer diagnosis last year, she affirmed that God had equipped her for this difficult journey as she had followed Him all of her life.
Janet is survived by a dedicated and loving community of friends who surrounded and supported her and Kipp during this difficult fight. She will be remembered as the “light” of Kipp’s life, as Trey and Ben’s wonderful mother, and as a brave woman who in the face of a grim diagnosis, faced it with Kipp and her faith in Jesus Christ, one day at a time.
Message: Janet’s death leaves an immense void in the lives of her family and close friends. And believe me, she had close friends. I can’t recall anyone who has had a more faithful cadre of friends to walk with her and Kipp through the valley of the shadow of death than the group I call the “Northsiders.” You know how longtime church attenders can be prone to sit in one area of the sanctuary for many years and not intermingle that much. Well, the Northsiders always sit over there on the north side of the church during second service, and they are always the last to leave. Kipp would occasionally refer to those of us who sit on the south side as “an unreached people group.”
Well, it’s been great to hear from a number of the Northsiders in this service, and it’s especially encouraging to see them sitting right here in the middle. Maybe some of them will be converted and join the rest of the Body.
I want to direct your thoughts for a few moments to a very familiar passage of Scripture which is often read at memorial services. Unfortunately, familiarity sometimes breeds contempt, or at least a yawn. A fresh look is what we need, and I think that often comes best through asking some simple questions of the text. I want to read three verses from John 14 and ask four questions. Jesus is speaking to His disciples and says,
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Question 1: Why do hearts become troubled? Well, that’s pretty easy to answer regarding the disciples here in John 14. As evident from the previous chapter, just a few hours previously Jesus had told them that one of their most trusted colleagues would treacherously betray Him, namely Judas Iscariot. Then a few moments later Jesus told their leader, Peter, that before the sun would come up the next morning, he would deny Jesus three times. And, perhaps most discouraging of all, Jesus let them know in no uncertain terms that He would be leaving them very soon and they would not be able to accompany Him. These men ,who had abandoned their livelihoods and sacrificed everything to follow Jesus for 3 ½ years, are devastated at the thought of losing the One in whom they had placed all their hope to free them from hated Rome and to re-establish God’s kingdom through his chosen people.
We, too, have many things that trouble our hearts—economic uncertainty, political division in our country, broken relationships, violence in society, unfaithful friends. And of course, we who are gathered here this morning are undoubtedly most troubled by the loss of a dear friend and the pain this family is going through. No wonder as it says in Job 5:7, “Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.”
Question 2: What is Jesus’ solution to troubled hearts? He tells them to stop one thing and start another. First, they are to stop letting their hearts be troubled. Now on the surface it almost seems like He is mocking them. When you’re depressed, the last thing you need is for someone to tell you stop it. But notice that Jesus follows up that negative command immediately with a positive one: “Trust in God; trust also in me.”
The phrase “trust in God” should probably be translated as an indicative rather than an imperative. He is saying, in effect, “You do trust in God; now put that same faith and trust in Me.” Jesus is claiming deity here, friends. He’s saying to His followers that it’s not enough for them to believe in God, nor is it enough for them to view Himself as a great Teacher, a miracle-worker, and a faithful friend; they must put the same faith and trust in Him as they do in the God the Father.
Question 3: What does Jesus want us to trust Him about? Well, His focus here is on our eternal destination. He speaks of a place He calls “my Father’s house.” During His earthly ministry He spoke of the great temple in Jerusalem as His Father’s house, but clearly that was only a shadow of the real Father’s house, which is a reference to Heaven. Jesus tells us there are many rooms there. You’re all familiar with the King James rendering of “many mansions,” but that translation was colored, I believe, by the descriptions of heaven in Revelation with its streets of gold and pearly gates. The term Jesus uses here actually refers simply to an abode, a home, a place to rest. The emphasis is not on how fine a place it is but rather on the fact that there is plenty of room there. No one will be turned away for lack of space.
Furthermore, this eternal home is one prepared especially for Jesus’ followers. Hell, the Scriptures tell us, is a place not prepared for human beings at all but for the devil and his angels (demons); humans will be strangers there and will never feel at home. But heaven is a place prepared for us. Its environment, its activities, its pleasures, its worship will be perfectly suited for redeemed people and their unique needs. Now, of course, there’s much more we would like to know about the place called heaven, and other Scriptures do fill in some of the details, but that’s not where Jesus goes next.
He tells us the most important thing there is about heaven: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Friends, Jesus is coming back; He wants us to trust Him on that. And when He comes back it will be to take His followers to be with Him. [Notice the flourish of pronouns in that sentence. “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.]”
What do you think of when you think of heaven? Is it streets of gold; is it the absence of tears; is it uninterrupted peace; is it reunion with dear friends and family who have gone before? Those are all legitimate desires, but what really makes heaven “heaven” is the presence of Jesus.
Stop and think for a moment about the most important person you have ever met—was it a governor, a rock star, a hall of fame athlete? How did that person’s presence make you feel? You felt really important, didn’t you? Your heart rate increased; you were probably sweating. You couldn’t wait to tell your friends about your encounter.
Four months after the attack of 911 I found myself sitting five feet from President George W. Bush, the most powerful man on earth, for an entire hour, as he talked to a small group of pastors in St. Louis about our nation’s security. I got to ask him questions and even had my picture taken with him. At the moment I thought I had died and gone to heaven. But, friends, the glory of that moment was fleeting; the photo is somewhere in the basement.
I realize today that that experience is NOTHING compared to the privilege I will have of one day sitting in the presence of Jesus of Nazareth to behold His beauty, to sing His praises, to ask Him questions, to hear His explanation about things that we do not understand, like “why did cancer have to take a special lady like Janet in the prime of life?”
Fourth and final Question: How can we know for sure we will arrive at this amazing destination? Well, that very question is posed and answered in the immediately following verses. Jesus says to His disciples, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” After all, He had given them sufficient information and instructions that they knew, or should have known, where he was going, i.e., back to the Father in Heaven by way of the Cross. But Thomas, one of the disciples, protests that he doesn’t quite get it. He says, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Thomas is one of my favorite disciples. He is pejoratively called “doubting Thomas,” but I prefer to think of him as “honest Thomas.” He’s willing to admit his obtuseness while the other disciples are often trying to act like pious know-it-alls.
To Thomas’ question, “How can we know the way?” Jesus answers, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That simple statement, “I am the way,” is incredibly profound. Think about it this way. Suppose you are in a strange town and you stop and ask for directions, and the person says, “Take the third light on the left, turn south for ten minutes and then take a right two miles before you get to the second bridge?” Chances are you will be lost before you get out of town. But if the person says instead, “Come on, I’ll take you there!”, in that case the person is the way, and you cannot get lost.
Earlier in the Gospel of John we read these profound words, “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Janet believed in Jesus with her whole heart. Therefore, though she has died, I can assure you she has not perished; she has eternal life.
But how can I be so sure? I think that’s a fair question, because as wonderful a person as Janet was to those who knew her best, she was not perfect. She probably had flaws most of us do not even know about. So do I. So do you. But so what? If eternal life depended on how well you measure up to perfection, friends, there’s not a person here who could be confident of going to heaven. In fact, we could all be confident we were not going there.
Janet Schwarz’ eternal destiny does not depend upon her character or her accomplishments or her faithfulness as a wife, mother and friend. It depends only on the character and accomplishments and faithfulness of Jesus. He who was without sin died on the cross for Janet’s sin and provided her the gift of eternal life. You, too, can have the gift of eternal life by placing your full faith and trust in Jesus.
One more truth and we’ll be done. Jesus not only died on the cross; he rose from the dead, and because He lives you can face tomorrow, knowing your dear wife, mother, sister, and friend is alive in the presence of Jesus and one day you will see her again, free of cancer, free of pain, free to celebrate the presence of Christ for all eternity. Thanks be to God!
Prayer: Our heavenly Father, we approach Your throne of grace in sorrow but not in anger; in grief but not in hopelessness. We do not grieve as those who have no hope. We have every confidence that Janet is with you and that those who are members of your spiritual family shall see her again when Jesus comes.
We ask for a special measure of your strength and comfort in the lives of Kipp, Trey, and Ben. We pray also for the rest of her family and friends Janet has left behind. Cause them to feel your presence surrounding them and sustaining them.
Bless Kipp’s brother and his wife, Drs. Jim and ________ Schwarz for their great medical care, other family members for their presence at critical times, and the Northsiders for their deep and abiding love for their friends, Kipp and Janet.
Thank you for the promises in your Word that the separation of death is not final for believers, because our Savior rose from the dead and will, in like manner, raise us up that we might spend all of eternity together in your presence. We ask it in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.