On Tuesday morning of this past week, I received the following letter from the Ortlund family:
Last night, at about 6:30, Anne Ortlund entered the presence of the King of kings. How she longed for that moment when she would see her Savior face-to-face!
Blessed are those who die in the Lord . . . for their works do follow them. And, what incredible "works" she and Ray shared over their many, many years of faithful ministry.
While she missed by one month her 90th birthday on earth, December 4th she'll be celebrating in heaven, rejoicing in the realization of the true Christmas story.
Anne served here at Lake Avenue Church for 20 years while her husband, Ray, was senior pastor. When I visited her recently, she told me that LAC is still her church. And I told her, as I have said several times from the pulpit, that no one is in the heart of our church family as deeply as Anne and Ray Ortlund. Our sense of identity, values, and mission are still significantly shaped by what happened during their ministry among us. The three priorities for a church family—Christ, the Body of Christ, and the world—still direct our decision making. Churches like ours do not have specific "saints" who are venerated above other church family members. However, if we did, Anne would have been our saint. I told her that I sometimes call her "St. Anne." With her beautiful and humble spirit, she counseled me not to do so very often.
It is ironic that Anne's home-going has arrived just as we come to Jesus' letter to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1–6. That church was a church with a great reputation. In their past, the Christians in Sardis had experienced tremendous movements of God's Spirit. Sadly, their spiritual vitality was all in the past. When Jesus wrote, the Church in Sardis was spiritually dead. As I look at it, Ray and Anne Ortlund are a big, big part of the global reputation that LAC possesses. Churches should celebrate God's work among us in our pasts. However, as Anne made clear to me in my last visit to her, "Greg, please build on what God has done. Do not rest on it!"
My prayer is that this weekend will mark a fresh beginning of a work of God among us. Jesus' words will guide us.
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
