The Reverend Robert D. Friend November 27, 2006

Funeral Homily for
The Reverend Doctor Rufus Josephus Womble

Let us make no mistake about it. Though we are filled with much grief, we are here to celebrate. Several months ago when Rufus' heart was beginning to give out and he was preparing himself to be with God I visited him at his home. He said he had something to share with me. What he had was his entire funeral service written out. He picked the lessons. He picked the music and he wrote at the end of his notes (quote) "Make my service one of praise to God for his goodness, mercy and love. Sound a note of joy and victory" and almost as an afterthought he wrote, "a little bit of humor would be good."

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who preach the Gospel" reads Isaiah 7:1. Rufus was a beautiful man and a faithful preacher of the gospel. When I first came as rector to All Saints some five years ago I was prepared not to like Rufus. I was pretty wary of preachers who were also healers and I wondered what would a man with an old timey name like "Rufus Josephus" would be like. But Rufus became a father figure to me in many ways. My own father and Rufus were about the same age, their birthdays only a few months apart. I can remember a time a few years ago when Rufus shared with me his ministry, and he spoke to me as a father would do to a son. Just a few weeks ago he spoke to me of being prepared of going to be with God and I told him I felt like Elisha to his Elijah. Now Rufus has been taken up to be with God and at a time like this there are words which must be shared.

Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, he graduated from North Carolina State where he played football, baseball and basketball. Though he graduated with a degree in accounting, he was destined never to become an accountant. He spent three years teaching high school in Roxboro and the matriculated into Virginia Theological Seminary from which he earned a Masters of Divinity in 1940 and was ordained into Episcopal ministry. Eventually that seminary would recognize his gifts and confer a Doctor of Divinity degree on him. He went back to Roxboro to serve at St. Mark's Church and served also at Christ Church in Milton, North Carolina. A chaplain during World War II, he settled in Richmond as rector of the Church of the Epiphany until 1958. He was then called to Little Rock, Arkansas to be the rector of Christ Church where he served until 1980. In Little Rock, Rufus had a daily T.V. show for more than 20 years. After his stint in Arkansas, Rufus returned to Richmond and has been associate here at All Saints with a special ministry with the International Order of St. Luke for which he has served at one time as International Director. I am aware that there are people here today representing each of those pieces of his life.

It was the result of an experience of healing in his own life, that he took up the healing ministry and made that his particular mission. But, I believe, he was only interested in the healing ministry as a way of pointing to Jesus. Not like other healers, Rufus never ever claimed any special power of healing for himself. Never. He was energized with the power of our Lord and every week reminded us at the prayer rail that it was not our healing power but God's healing power in which we were participating. He was interested in everyone who came through the door for healing prayer. He prayed with young couples who were told they could not have children. He prayed with those who had broken relationships. He prayed with those in spiritual darkness. He prayed with those who had dramatic and debilitating physical problems and in every case he brought the healing and comforting word of God into the lives of God's people in a fresh and powerful way. He lightened their load and where there was not a cure there was deeper understanding of the love of God and the fellowship of his people. I have actually had people say to me in all seriousness, "At the end of my life when I finally meet God face to face, I expect him to be something like Rufus." I always wondered how Jacque, Rocky, Carol Lou and the rest of his family felt about that kind of adulation. They knew the stubborn side of Rufus that could become irritated. I can remember him cautioning an intercessor once, "Don't say such long prayers. It's not about you. Its about Jesus." I mentioned Jacque. I never knew Lucy, Rufus' first wife who helped him edit his booklets on healing, but there was a special relationship between Jacque and Rufus. There was so much love and affection there. To put it simply, they adored each other.

Despite the many people who loved him and that was just about everyone who knew him, I found Rufus to be a very humble man, almost self-deprecating. He did not want people paying attention to him. He wanted them to pay attention to God. Rufus was always smiling, always positive. He made everyone around him feel loved by God. At the end of many homilies Rufus would say, "If you don't remember anything else I've said today, remember that God loves you…"

There is no way I can explain how much he will be missed by the Order of St. Luke which meets here in the chapel every Thursday morning. Rufus was instrumental in getting this ministry going and has been a faithful chaplain and leader for it lo, these many years. Not only did he preach here but he would take his message of the healing Christ on the road and led hundreds of healing missions around the United States and around the world. He came to know doctors and ministers everywhere. His message was always the same, - "Expect a miracle… God loves us. God wants us to be whole and healthy. By the ministry of Christ through the Holy Spirit we have access to that healing love of God." And, of course, Rufus became famous for his use of "Riso-therapy" in his preaching, healing through laughter. He would always say, "If you can laugh you won't get sick or if you are sick and you can laugh, you will get better faster." He always told three jokes to open his homilies and often, if you can believe it, at funerals. I remember one of his favorite jokes about a wildly gesticulating preacher he told at a funeral, - "Jesus is up in heaven with the Father (pointing to the sky) and you know who is down there" (pointing to the earth). "At the end of your life, all of you who believe in Jesus will end up in heaven, (pointing toward the sky). If you don't believe in Jesus, you will end up down there" (pointing toward the earth.) "Now, I don't know about you, but when the roll is called up yonder (pointing to the sky) I'll be there" pointing toward the ground. Oftentimes I would get tickled by seeing Rufus telling a joke and start to laugh before he had gotten to the punch line.

Rufus was one of those unique Christians who would not let anything stand in between him and his Lord. He believed like fury. He was steadfast in his belief. He was courageous in his belief. He was certain of his belief and he was contagious in his belief. What a witness to the Lord, Jesus Christ, this man became to all of us who knew him? He made us all into better Christians. He believed like fury.

After each session of the laying on of hands and prayers for healing on Thursday mornings Rufus would return to his pew and lead us all in a prayer of thanksgiving, what has become known as the Victory Prayer and I would like to use it as I end this homily. Please repeat after me.

Thank you, Father, for your healing love at work within me.

Thank you, Father for your healing love at work within the other people here.

Thank you, Father, for your healing love at work in the lives of those for whom we have interceded.

Thank you, Father, for your healing love at work in our nation and throughout the nations of the world.

Thank you, Father, for the assurance of victory!

I love you Father!

I love your Son, Jesus!

And I love your Holy Spirit! Amen.

Rufus loved the Father. He loved the Son. And he loved the Holy Spirit. And now he is with them. Thanks be to God. AMEN.