One of the greatest privileges of being a church leader is to be invited to conduct a funeral service for those who have died and to give testimony to their life of faith and witness. Yesterday I conducted the funeral of a dear friend and a passionate Christian. Edith Walker had moved from Denton, north-west of England, to Anglesey some ten years ago with Martin, her husband. They joined Emmanuel, the church I help to lead, right from their first week on the island and both of them have played a central part in its life. Edith’s greatest gift was encouragement – a vital gift in any church these days. Below is something of what I said in the service yesterday – in testimony to such a wonderful person.

Her favourite words from the Bible were from Psalm 91, which – opens like this: ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust.’’ Those words were not her favourite because of some sentimental, sugary feeling – they were her favourite because she lived them and experienced the truth in them. This is what Edith did – she dwelt in God’s shelter. She snuggled herself right under his protection. Her faith wasn’t based on some intellectual understanding – though she did have that; it wasn’t based on other people’s experience – though that too was important to her. Rather, it was based on her personal relationship with her Heavenly Father. She knew Jesus as a friend. She was full to overflowing of the Holy Spirit.

She did dwell in that shelter, and she did say, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust.’ More than anything else about her faith, it was trusting God that stood out. Consistently she trusted God. That is the thing that I want to highlight today – her consistent faith, her consistent walk with God.

There were a number of contradictions in her life. All her friends know as a very warm, open, and welcoming person. Martin says about her, ‘Edith was a hugger.’ And when she hugged, you knew that you had been hugged! But I did detect a degree of shyness and a reticence in her also. Especially maybe with people she met for the first time. She wasn’t the first person to greet a new visitor to Emmanuel on a Sunday morning. She would hold back a little at such times. But once she got to know you, then the warmth, and the welcome, and the hugs, and the conversation would flow with ease. Those two aspects – the shyness and the friendliness – side by side.

Another aspect of this contradiction was in her abilities. She was a very capable person in many fields. And yet I don’t think she had much in the sense of self-confidence. She had a very creative side to her – seen in the stained glass work that both she and Martin did at one time, and in the garden. Obviously very capable - but she never really talked about these things; never displayed any sense of great self-confidence.

I mentioned earlier that while her faith was not based on intellectual understanding but on a relationship with God, the truth is she did have that understanding. She may not have had much in terms of formal education after leaving school, but she certainly had the ability to. But again I’m not sure how aware of that she was. She had a mind that was as sharp as a knife. She had a voracious appetite for bible teaching, listening to hours and hours of teaching CDs. She was brilliant to preach too! But again, she held back a little from sharing the knowledge she was building up, more willing to listen to others than share.

One area where there were no contradictions whatsoever – was her faith, her walk with God, and the values that stemmed from that. She was a person of deep faith. As I’ve said, she trusted God. She trusted God for her eternal salvation but also in the here and now. And there are two aspects for which she had particular faith:

First she had faith for physical healing. The first time she had cancer her faith was strong and determined. I was at Emmanuel when they both stood up to share the news. The prognosis was bad, very bad. But she declared that her faith was strong and that she believed that God would heal her. Later the prognosis was changed and after considerable treatment she was healed. And her testimony from that period was that God had brought her through, giving her comfort and strength and healing.

This time also she held out hope for healing. She trusted. She prayed. She got others to pray for her. She held firm in her faith.

Secondly, she had faith for provision. She knew a God who provided all her needs. In Northern Ireland, where she worked part time in a home for women who had suffered domestic violence, she claimed certain state benefits as was her right. But she came to the conclusion that she should give up an aspect of this provision and trust God. Well soon afterwards her employer – out of the blue – decided to offer her additional payment for the work she did and it was almost exactly the amount she had given up. This was a story she repeated a number of times with us – because for her it was a defining moment, when she knew that she could trust God for provision.

Edith had a passion for her faith; a passion in worship; a passion in maintaining her relationship with God; a passion for church; and a passion for her Christian friends.

And she had a depth and maturity of faith. I saw that depth in two ways. The first was in the way she would put friendship first. There are a number here today who have benefited greatly from the way Edith opened up her life for them. She was a listener; she had wise counsel; she was a good friend. And she placed a high value on friendship. There were times when I found myself in disagreement with her over some aspect of theology and church structure. And she felt strongly about some of these things. Very strongly. But she would not allow those things to come between us and our friendship. And in that respect she reflected the very heart of the Christian faith – it’s not about theology or structure but about love, friendship and relationship. She knew that and she lived it.

The second way that I saw the depth of her faith was in the recent illness that eventually took her from us. The way she walked through this illness was the greatest witness possible to her faith and to the depth of relationship with God. Yes, she prayed for healing, had faith for it, really believed it would happen. But it didn’t. And when we saw her in hospital when the bad news had come, she said, ‘I’m not scared, but I am disappointed.’ Disappointed because the healing, this time, had not worked; disappointed because what she hoped, prayed, and trusted for had not come to pass; tearfully disappointed. But in that disappointment she did not let it affect her relationship with God; did not take offence at God; did not blame God. Rather she still trusted; still loved; still had a passion for God. Here – more than anywhere else - the depth and maturity of her faith shone very brightly indeed.

She knew of a God who loved her no matter what. She knew of a God who sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for her. She knew of a God who raised his son to life again on the third day. And above all else she knew that because of her trust in him, she too would and will experience resurrection on the last day.