Memorial Services for Mrs. L. M. Judd
A Report of the Memorial Services for Mrs. L. M. Judd of Zion, Illinois Conduc t ed by Hans R. Waldvoge l ON May 31, 1959, Mr s . L. M. Judd of Zion, I l l inoi s , answe r ed the c a l l of he r Ma s t e r to highe r s e rvi c e . The l a s t sur -vivor of the s enior group of mini s t e r s a s soc i a t ed wi th Ma r tha Wing Robinson* in the mini s -t ry of the Fa i th Home s of tha t c i ty, he r de a th ma rks the c los e of an e r a . Known to a lmos t a l l the r e ade r s of BREAD OF LIFE) e i the r pe r -sona l ly or by he r a r t i c l e s ( some of whi ch appe a r ed unde r the pen-name of “Aunt Ma rg. i e ” ) , the de t a i l s of he r fune r a l wIll be of spe c i a l int e r e s t to many in thi s and othe r l ands . At Mr s . Judd’ s expr e s s r eque s t thi s s e rvice wa s in cha rge of Pa s tor Hans R. Wa ldvoge l . A congr ega t ion of about thr e e hundr ed, many of them f rom a gr e a t di s t anc e , ga the r ed to pay the i r l a s t r e spe c t s to thi s ve t -e r an mini s t e r , June 3. Inc luded among the many mini s t e r s pr e s -ent we r e the fol lowing who pa r -t i c ipa t ed in the s e rvi c e : Rudolph Ka l i s of New J e r s ey gave the invoc a t ion; Cha r l e s N. Andr ews of Vi rgini a r e ad the Sc r iptur e ; Jos eph Wannenma che r of Milwauke e pl ayed a violin solo, “The Holy Ci ty” ; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mitchell of Kenosha , Wi s -consin, s ang in the qua r t e t , “Ten Thous and Time s Ten Thous and” ; Ruth Brooks of Zion a c -compani ed for the va r ious mus i -cal numbe r s a s well a s for the congr ega t iona l s inging; Anton Da rms , the s enior mini s t e r of Zion (now in hi s nine ty- f i r s t ye a r and s t i l l ve ry a c t ive ) , gave a br i e f but be aut i ful t r ibut e to hi s f r i end of a lmos t s ixty ye a r s be for e pronounc ing the benedict ion; and Roy M. Gr ay of Ar i -zona pr ayed a t the c eme t e ry. The pr e s enc e of so many mini s t e r s , too nume rous to ment ion all of them by name , and the manne r in whi ch the s e rvi c e wa s conduc t ed gave i t mor e of the a tmosphe r e of a convent ion than of a fune r a l , a c cording to the opinion of many. As Chr i s t wa s worshipped, He Hims e l f dr ew ne a r , mani f e s t ing Hims e l f a c cording to Hi s specific promise a s given in a me s s age in tongue s and int e rpr e t a t ion: ” I f you will agr e e to be looking up ins t e ad of looking down, I will l e t a s t r e am of l i f e be flowing through thi s me e t ing tha t eve ryone in the pl a c e sha l l pa r t ake of. Thi s i s My word. ” The ent i r e congr ega t ion joined in s inging one of Mrs. Judd’ s f avor i t e hymns , “May J e sus Chr i s t Be Pr a i s ed, ” a t the beginning of the s e rvi c e and “Bl e s t Be the Ti e ” a t the close. In addi t ion they uni t ed in pr a i s e , wor ship, and songs whi ch we r e int e r spe r s ed throughout the me e t ing. Thus indeed i t wa s a t ime of life-giving bl e s s ing and edification. In hi s r ema rks Gordon P. Ga rdine r , edi tor of BREAD OF LIFE, told how Mrs. Judd s e emed to di s r ega rd the inc ident s of he r na tur a l life, for she r ega rded he r spi r i tua l l i f e a s wha t r e a l ly ma t t e r ed, e spe c i a l ly the pr ivi -lege tha t wa s he r s to be one of ” tha t r e a l ly br i l l i ant cons t e l l a -t ion of mini s t e r s ” -Elde r and 4 Mrs. Eugene Brooks , Mr. and Mrs. George A. Mitchell, Mr s . Eva Legge t t , and Mrs. Ma r tha Wing Rob:nson. “For a l l of us who a r e s t i l l in thi s woe ful e a r th, we ought to t ake inventory today, ” dec l a r ed Pa s tor Hans Wa ldvoge l in hi s ma s t e r ful t r ibut e to Mrs. Judd and cha l l enging s e rmon. “We all ought to r a i s e our Ebe -nezer. We ought to smi t e upon our bosoms and we ought to a sk our s e lve s a ve ry pe r t inent and holy que s t ion: ‘Wha t have we done wi th the bl e s s ing tha t we have rece:’ved through Mrs. Judd and through all thi s cons t e l l a -t ion of s a int s tha t we r e ment ioned ?’ “When God s ent Hi s gr e a t vessel, Mrs. Robinson, to thi s c i ty, He s ent he r wi th a ma r -ve lous me s s age , and a round he r , God appoint ed l e s s e r l ight s . And, a s we he a rd awhi l e ago, they formed a ma rve lous cons t e l l a t ion in the sky of thi s l a s t gene r a t ion tha t i s doomed for de s t ruc t ion exc ept they r epent . They a l l s ent for th tha t s ame ma rve lous l ight . Many didn’ t follow tha t l ight , but thos e who followed have found the Sun of r ight eousne s s . Tha t ‘ s my joy today. “Beloved, when God brought me into thi s c i ty and into touch wi th Mrs. Judd and Mrs. Robinson and Elde r Brooks and Mrs. Brooks and a l l thi s cons t e l l a t ion, I wa s in da rkne s s , I wa s flounde r ing. God wa s beginning to call me into the mini s t ry. I t wa s an uncha r t ed cour s e for me. God wa s c a l l ing me into a wa r f a r e wi th enemi e s tha t we r e not c a r -nal, but pr inc ipa l i t i e s and powe r s in he avenly places. I soon di s cove r ed some thing. I found out tha t he r e wa s the Word of the l iving God in e a r then vessels, spoken ove r l ips of clay. ” I am so gl ad to know tha t God does spe ak ove r l ips of men. He ha s neve r told me anything tha t ‘ s not in the Bible. But when God spe aks through the powe r of the Holy Ghos t , He Bread of Life, July, 1959 conf i rms the Bible. He make s i t live in your soul. He make s i t to be come mor e personal. We a l l have s tudi ed the Bible. The r i ch man had s tudi ed Moses, but i t neve r oc cur r ed to him tha t he ought to obey the commands of Moses, whi ch, i f a man obey, he sha l l l ive in them. “And i t wa s a ve ry int e r e s t ing expe r i enc e for me to make when I f i r s t got in touch wi th Mr s . Judd. Somehow God us ed Mrs. Judd pa r t i cul a r ly to me, pe r sona l ly. One t ime I wa s in a home and Mrs. Judd wa s the r e . We we r e a l l s e a t ed a round a t abl e and pr e s ent ly God began to spe ak. When I he a rd people ge t t ing wonde r ful me s s age s , I s a id, ” I wonde r i f thi s i s r e a l . ” ( I had s e en so much f a l s e . I had s e en f ana t i c i sm. I had me t prophe t s who proc l a imed thems e lve s to be prophe t s . ) ‘God, I am going to put out my fleece. The Bibl e s ays , “Whom the Lord love th He chasteneth.” , “Eve rybody got a wonde r ful me s s age , but do you know, I wa s the l a s t one to ge t spoken to by the Lord, and God thr e a t -ened me wi th de a th i f I didn’ t ge t down? St r ange , I wa s the only one. But thank God for Mr s . Judd. She wa s f a i thful ly de l ive r ing to me, not he r own words , but the words of the living God. I t made me so happy and i t made me so s ad a t one t ime – s ad, be c aus e God had to cha s t en me l ike tha t , and happy, be c aus e now I knew i t wa s God tha t spoke f rom high he aven. “Af t e r tha t , i t wa s my pr ivi -l ege to pr ay wi th the s e vessels, pa r t i cul a r ly wi th Mrs. Judd, e s -pe c i a l ly a f t e r God had s ent me to Brooklyn. God us ed thi s pr e -c ious ve s s e l aga in and aga in to spe ak to me words of fire. Would to God eve ry theologi c a l s emi -na ry had such t e a che r s ! Would to God eve ry Bibl e s chool had such t e a che r s ! “The Apos t l e Paul s a id, ‘We have thi s t r e a sur e in e a r then ve s s e l s , tha t the exc e l l ency of the powe r may be of God, and not of us . ‘ Some peopl e l ike to c r i t i c i z e the e a r then ve s s e l s . They live c los e to them and they s e e the f aul t s and they c r i t i c i z e the inf i rmi t i e s and the we akne s s e s and the l a ck of c apa c i ty. Tha t i s wha t happened to the Apos t l e Paul , and a l l tha t we r e in As i a we r e turned away f rom him, but wr i t ing to the The s s a -loni ans , he s ays , ‘We c e a s e not to give thanks for you, be c aus e , when you he a rd the word of God of us , you r e c e ived i t not a s the word of men, but a s i t i s in t ruth, the word of God. ‘ “Be loved, we ought to s t and he r e today and s e a r ch our he a r t s l ike the r i ch man in hell. I f you had l i s t ened to the word of God ins t e ad of c r i t i c i z ing the ve s s e l ! I f you had r e cogni z ed the day of your vi s i t a t ion! I t rus t we have . I t rus t we know tha t the r e i s but one way .
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