Lessons Learned from the Life of Martha Rufenacht
In 2024 Mountain is celebrating 200 years! A long history like that contains so many stories of faithful followers who have gone before us. I recall hearing about John Wesley who is reported to have once preached outside a church, and to better see the crowds and be heard, he stood atop a great tombstone. That is a telling image, because in a real sense, we are standing on the shoulders – or grave markers – of incredibly faithful people who have gone before us…and it enables us better to see the future where God is leading us next.
A dear Mountain saint, who lived and served among us for decades recently graduated to glory: Martha Rufenacht. When you think of families that are core, bedrock, pillar families at Mountain, you think of the Rufenachts.
Martha grew up on a remote mountain in West Virginia, the daughter of a dairy farmer. Despite her isolated upbringing, she was extremely social, and we always knew her as one with many friends who was involved with people – as if her many friendships at Mountain was her way of making up for lost time on the other mountain.
The first Rufenachts came to Mountain around 1875. Their son was baptized at Mountain and then went to help plant Fork Christian Church a few miles away in 1896. Their son was baptized at Fork and came back to Mountain. There are still Rufenachts at our neighboring Fork today. So, because Mountain and Fork shared a preacher and a baptism location, there were six generations of Rufenachts baptized at Mountain! Wow!
Martha’s son Bob commented how his mom always focused on the positive, and remembered the good stuff. She didn’t rehearse the bad stuff. She told the fun stories that made everyone smile and laugh.
It’s easy to focus on good stuff with Martha. I got to thinking about some of the lessons we can all learn from Martha -- whether you are “meeting” her for the first time in reading this, or knew and loved her as so many of us did.
1. Martha said YES. Someone asked her, “Martha could you help out with the finances…count the offering and keep us straight on that for a while?” She said, “YES, I can do that for a little bit”… and did it every Sunday for about 50 years. I guess one lesson is to be careful what you say YES to. And that some of our YESES become the tracks and trails that mark out our life. It’s also a reminder that when you ask someone to serve and be a Difference Maker, it DOES make a difference. And if we do it right, we are pairing someone with an opportunity that fits them perfectly, something they will take seriously, and do with joy, giving them an opportunity to serve meaningfully … like Martha did. Today a whole team of people sort through the offerings people make to God. I think of them as our Martha team. Because every Sunday you could see her walking out the door with the security guys and peoples’ offerings -- because she said YES.
2. Martha had jet black hair to the day she died. It was something I heard her lady friends tease her about. She embraced it and laughed. There is nothing a little hair dye can't cover.
3. Martha molded a family. She was one of the sweetest, kindest, most godly people I ever knew, and married Bill who could be described the same way. Bill was an elder when I was hired, and as we were considering things sent me letters and pictures of people here, answering so many questions. What I learned is how much they LOVED Mountain and how proud they were of what God was doing here. Bill and Martha were people who didn’t complain, didn’t whine, didn’t gripe. They pitched in, they helped, they served, they worked hard. So it’s no wonder their kids all turned out the same way … kind, thoughtful, godly – and they married Christian servants as well. And THEIR kids and now their kids’ kids (Martha’s grandkids and great grandkids) are on the same path. For people like the Rufenachts, serving isn’t an obligation, it’s a way of life, a change of heart, something caught not taught, by modeling it in families. How often I have seen multiple generations of their family serving side by side. And sometimes God shows his blessing by passing a kindness through generations who grow up to love Jesus and understand that greater joy that comes when you say with Jesus, “I didn’t come to BE served, but to serve.” These are saints of whom the world is not worthy.
Bill and Martha Rufenacht
4. Martha taught us to serve. Always. Her life was filled with examples of it. Into her 80s you could spot Martha in an empty New Life Center moving methodically through the rows, chair by chair, restocking sharpened pencils and welcome cards. When she couldn't serve in the ways she once did, she found new ways to serve. What a great example.
5. Martha loved music. Mountain’s growth when we first began to surge was largely because of what we called our Youth Ministry and our Music ministry. She was an amazing pianist. Put the music in front her and she could play it. She loved good music. Music ministry put Mountain on the map, so to speak, and at the heart of it was a killer chancel choir – and Martha was a core part of it. She was also part of many other kinds of music in the church for decades. She played piano accompaniment for a wonderful traveling quartet of male singers called His Harvesters made up of guys mostly from Mountain – with a couple of Rufenachts in there. She taught piano lessons in her home for countless people, including our kids.
His Harvesters - traveling quartet
Lifetime member of Mountain and current elder Mark Richardson adds: “Martha took on the challenge of directing the youth choir for over 10 years. Although she was probably the exact opposite of the untamed, wild spirited teenagers she was leading, she possessed a combination of leadership and humility that allowed her to both laugh at herself AND discipline us kids into a prepared and proficient choir that toured the country, recorded albums, and impressed and ministered to so many. She let us call her "Ruf" and get our mischief out during rehearsals, but she was all business when it came to performances. She put up with us because she loved us, and we followed her because we grew to love her. What a role model we can all learn from!”
Worship Pastor Eric Olson adds: “Over the years I heard many stories of Martha’s love for and involvement in music. In 2003, when we were making some significant and sometimes difficult changes in worship, Martha could have pushed back at the changes. But she didn’t. She ALWAYS supported us, was encouraging to me personally, and greeted everyone with a smile. She was a beautiful, godly person. I still have much to learn.”
Worship Pastor Eric Olson
All of this is a good reminder, how good Christian music is an important part of sustaining us, comforting us and teaching us. Whether you’re musical like Martha and can play or sing, doesn’t matter. Many of the most solid, faithful, long-term saints I know have relied upon good Christian music as a part of sustaining their faith. May we all seek out times of music and worship – far beyond the few songs we sing together on Sunday – to make it a regular part of our diet like she did.
6. Martha was our Mountain archivist. She held onto artifacts, articles and things of historical importance relating to Mountain. Her family just delivered a few boxes of valuable memorabilia that tell the story of Mountain, which we will display so others can benefit during out 200th anniversary celebrations. She reminds us that remembering things from the past helps us remember our identity today. That helps us know how to move into the future. She was one of the living links to Mountain's past.
She didn’t just collect boxes of stuff, Martha loved to tell the stories. As we begin our 200th year, it illustrates how stories make up a community. And now one more of our story tellers is gone So we need to do all we can to tell the stories of God's great work through this great church so many more know the story, feel part of the story, can tell the story and live out the story that God has for us here.
Bob Rufenacht - Martha and Bill’s Son
Martha and Bill’s son, Bob Rufenacht, was one of the very first hires I made way back in the day at Mountain. We were growing rapidly and needed help. Bob was already leading and serving in so many ways. He knew everybody and everything and it just made so much sense. He was involved in bible studies and groups, missions, and worship. Over the next many years, Bob filled many roles on our staff, like a utility player for Mountain – including operations, finance, IT, worship, and so much more. He was always eager and ready with his gifts to do what was needed. Like his mom.
Bob shares: “I’ve been reading a Joshua Chamberlain biography. Civil war hero, governor of Maine, president of Bowdoin College. He had a habit of writing to his mother on his birthday. In one of his letters later in life he thanked her for giving him, ‘a strong constitution and a cheerful mind.’ I thought that described mom quite well.”
"Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints." Psalm 116:15
I’m old enough and eccentric or eclectic enough, that certain hymns reduce me to tears about every time I hear them. One of those is “For All the Saints.” It’s a song with great and grand lyrics that lift my spirit and I’ve sung it at the funerals of people I love and respect. And also…everyone needs to hear some good pipe organ once in a while. Check it out here
Let me share some of the words. I commend the whole thing to you as a devotional sometime.
Verse 1 begins:
For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed;
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I love Verse 3 which says:
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
You may not have known Martha in this life, and others of us worked alongside her and marveled at her ministry for decades. But we are ALL part of a blessed communion, a divine fellowship. And when we are feebly struggling along we remember that now Martha is shining in glory…and she, along with others, are cheering us on from the cloud of witnesses. This is real ya’ll! And it encourages us so much!
So I was thinking there may be someone who is a bit weary today, or having a hard time latterly. Or just tired. Or realizing, “Gosh, I’m struggling in my walk with Jesus or just trying to keep up.” And verse four speaks to us when it says:
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Because thinking of how others have fought the good fight and are now enjoying the presence of Jesus makes our hearts brave again and our arms strong for whatever we have to do.
The final two verses remind us that one glorious day we will assemble with friends and family of faith from all over the world, earth’s wide bounds, coast to coast, with all the saints in a huge triumphant array as our king of glory passes by…and in that moment, with our earthly struggles behind us, we will together praise his name, Father Son and Holy Ghost. And Martha will be at the piano.