On December 28, 2024, my dear grandma, Barbara Dill, went home to the Lord. Our family and friends mourned our loss, celebrated her life, and gloried in her God together yesterday at her memorial. I was entrusted the privilege and responsibility of preaching the Word of God there for family and friends. I offer my sermon here in hopes it would honor grandma, possibly do you good, and ultimately bring God glory.

Having had some time together to consider the life of my grandma, Barbara Dill, I am sure you’d agree with me that she was a wonderful woman, worthy of many great titles and honors. But there are also many things that could never be said of her; many things she was never accused of being.

Punctual. There is vacation time, Hawaiian time, and grandma time.

An Early Riser. Compared to grandpa waking up at godless hours when it was still dark, grandma always made my high-school-self feel good to know I wasn’t the only one who liked to wake up in the wee hours of the early afternoon.

A Great Cook. Let it be said that she never lacked effort in the kitchen. She had unique culinary techniques like putting loads of sugar into spaghetti and calling it “German.” However, she made some mean cinnamon sugar toast, could pour an excellent bowl of cereal, and scooped ice cream like a demi-god.

What Barbara’s Family Called Her

Like I said, there are many things one can indeed say about Barbara. Her were some well-known and well-earned family descriptions of grandma.

We Called Her a Sweet Tooth. As a kid, I could always depend on grandma to have the goods and deliver the goods as long as she was willing to share her stash.

We Called Her a Collector. She wasn’t a collector of specific things, but all things. Ask her sons about her love affair with storage units, boxes, and holding onto priceless treasures like a 1976 issue of Better Homes and Gardens just in case her grand kids one day wanted to peruse the latest style of shag carpeting.

We Called Her Generous. A faithful, if not forgetful gift giver. No child or grandchild of hers ever went without a birthday card or gift, even if it was 8 months later.

We Called Her Selfless. With exaggeration, I can’t recall hearing, seeing, or sensing grandma putting her needs or desires above the needs or desires of others. Her preferences always took backseat whenever the opportunity to care for someone else arose. She forgot herself as she loved her people.

We found that many wonderful descriptions fit Barbara like a glove.

What Barbara’s God Called Her

But, we weren’t the only ones who could describe grandma. As she knew well, God had names or descriptions of her as well and she knew them well.

God Called Her “Saved.” To apply the words of Ephesians 2:8-9 to grandma: “(Barbara was saved by grace) through faith. And this not (her) own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that (she could never) boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). Grandma lived on the other side of God’s rescue.

God Called Her “Beloved.” Again, later, Ephesians says of believers in Jesus: “Be imitators of God, as beloved…” (Eph. 5:1). Isn’t it amazing, in Christ we are not endured by God, put up with by God, or begrudgingly cared for by God, but we are loved by Him. Why was grandma so lovely? Because because she was loved by God and she knew it well.

God Called Her Daughter: The same verse adds one more glorious reality of a Christian’s identity: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children…” (Eph. 5:1). Barbara’s great claim wasn’t that she was made by God, saved by God, or used by God – as true as those are – but her greatest gift and the primary identity she knew personally and put on display throughout her life was this: Barbara was a daughter of God most high.

There are more names God gave Barbara, but not less.

How Did She Become Those Things?

You may be asking, “How could someone obtain such a place in God’s heart?” How can one be saved, beloved, and adopted by God? Thankfully, God answers that question all over the Bible. For an answer, let me read from Ephesians 2:5-7.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:5-7

Did you see the good news? In this passage, there are three great truths that help us understand how someone is saved, beloved, and adopted by God.

(1) Our Problem

The first truth is we must recognize our problem, “We were dead in our trespasses.” This is the bad news that we must realize if we get anywhere near the good news we need. We’ve all turned from God and died because of it. We were made to live by know God, love God, and enjoy God, but we all decided to go our own way. Like a flower plucked from the ground or a laptop unplugged from the wall, once we detached ourselves from the source of our life, we died. Sin isn’t sickness. It’s death.

(2) God’s Solution

You may think, that’s terrible. It is. You may also think, then we’re hopeless: dead people can’t do anything about their deadness! And you’d be right, if we didn’t have the second truth here in Ephesians is God’s solution: God has come to rescue us through Jesus. Paul describes God’s rescuing work in three ways: through Jesus Christ he has made us alive (2:5), saved us (2:5, and raised us to life (2:6). By sending Jesus to take our place, pay our deserved penalty on the cross, and rise again to life, God offers the solution for all our greatest needs.

Sin has made us dead, Christ makes us alive.

Sin has brought just judgment upon us, Christ saves us from that penalty.

Sin has buried us, Christ alone digs us out and raises us. Christ did not come to make bad people good, but dead people alive.

Some people have told me Christianity is a crutch, but my response is, “No, I needed much more than a crutch, I needed CPR.” God has given us spiritual CPR in Christ. In Christ, God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.

(3) God’s Motivation

What has motivated God to do such a thing? That’s the third truth. Verses five and six say that it was not our goodness that made him act, but God’s mercy, God’s love, and God’s grace. No one is saved because they’re lovely, but only because God is loving. The only thing we bring to the table of our salvation is the sin that needs to be forgiven. God, in his great love, grace, and mercy, has offered us exactly what we did not deserve.

What Goal Does God Have in Saving Sinners?

Notice, our text doesn’t end there. What is God’s goal in all of this? What is he seeking to accomplish? In verse seven we’re given one reason for why God did saves sinners through Jesus.

“So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:7

God has saved us in Christ so “he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” God saves us so he may show how rich his grace is through being kind to us in Jesus. God saves sinners to show the world something of himself.

Think of a trophy. A trophy is something that is earned by someone who is excellent at something. In my house somewhere there is a box of wrestling trophies that display the skill I once had as a wrestler. Those trophies show the athleticism I once had, “This is how good, strong, and skilled Dana was at wrestling.” Notice, trophies aren’t meant to be praised, but to bring praise to the one who earned them. Trophies show off something of the one who obtained them. In the same way, believers in Jesus are God’s trophies. Through their new life, believers say to the world:

“Look at how wise my God is, look at how kind my God is, look at how good my God is, look at how patient my God is in how he saved and how he cares for ME! After all I had done against him, look at what he has done for me!”

Like trophies, Christians point away from self to the One who earned them in hopes that other sinners like us would also turn from their rebellion, trust Christ to save them from sins, and be made new by his grace just as we’ve been. In sin, we say, “Look at me!” In Christ, we say, “Look at Him!”

A Trophy of Grace

That’s what leads me to point out the last name God had for grandma: she was his trophy; earned by Christ to show off his grace for all to see. Barbara’s life was not of her own making, but God’s work in her. The reason she was a blessing to us is because she was blessed by God in Jesus. Who she was was a result of whose she was. She was his “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:10). His power created her. His grace recreated her. His death paid for her sin. His Spirit made her alive. His Word guided her beliefs and her behaviors. His love sent her to us that we may be warmed by her, cared for by her, and through all of that point us back to the One who won her. What this means is this: if you’re thankful for Barbara, you have Jesus Christ to thank. She was his trophy.

In her life, she showed off God’s grace. The same is true of her death. One of the times my girls and I visited her in hospice, she looked at them with loving, confident eyes and said. “Always remember: Jesus loves you more than grandma does and grandma loves you so much.” She loved being his trophy.

Her trophyness is perfectly captured in one of the last moments I shared with her. By the kindness of God and my wife, I was able to take a day and spend about six hours with her in hospice. With the medication she was in and out with sleep, but one time she woke up, saw me sitting there with my Bible, and said, “Dana, read me Scripture.”

“Which one, grandma?”

“Psalm 139”

I read it and after about three seconds of silence, she commanded, “Romans 8:28-30.” I flipped there and read aloud. A few moments after that she said, “Isaiah 41:10” and there I went. Then, when I finished, she ws quiet for a moment and then recited from memory: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

“Now you’re just showing off,” I smilingly thought to myself. I took the chance and read the whole section that verse was found in. After I finished, she recited another passage from memory, “Be anxious about nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests known to God…” And I, willing to engage in a little Scripture memory sparing session completed the text from memory, “and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Then silence. I thought to myself, “That is exactly what God is doing right now for her and I, guarding our hearts and minds by his peace even as death looms.

Finally, like a woman well-versed in conversation with God, grandma moved from hearing God’s Word in Scripture to offering her words in prayer, “Dana, pray for the family that they may have peace.” Even in the final days of her life, she could not help but point to the One who saved her, exalt in his grace, and love others from that overflow.

Barbara could be called many things by us, was called many things by God and among those names, may we all remember her as God’s Trophy. Her life and death was God’s eighty-nine yearlong sermon to us all where he proved time and time again how gracious he is to those who trust in Christ. As we remember this dear woman, let our gaze continue upward to look to the One who made her the woman she was. She was, after all, his trophy.

If you’d like to read my grandpa’s (Barbara’s beloved husband) memorial sermon, you can here.