Bunch-Johnson Funeral Home
The Reverend Rob Lee
“But
now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O
Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you
are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the
rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not
be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your
God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Will you pray with me?
Oh God,
source of ultimate truth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray.
You know our needs before we ask them and our ignorance in asking. Grant that
as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity.
Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and of death. Help us to live
as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished,
enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that in living or dying, our
life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to
separate us form your great love. Amen.
The 15th century painter
Rogier Van Der Weyden has a painting entitled, The Deposition of Christ in which the painting depicts the lowest
point in the story of humanity. The painting shows a dead Jesus of Nazareth
being brought down off the cross after the crucifixion. What’s fascinating
about this painting isn’t the image of Jesus, that part is prototypical. What
makes this painting unique is the other characters in the scene. Each of these
figures in the painting uniquely shows a different reaction to the death of
Jesus, some in anger, some in terror, some in horror, and some, most notably,
in sheer and utter sadness.
I suspect Van Der Weyden if were alive today
and painting the scene of this moment he too would paint a similar picture. We
come this day in anger, in terror, with questions, but most notably in sheer,
utter sadness at the death we have experienced. A death that happened far too
soon, and with so many questions we are left to wonder, can anything good come
from this? Can we get up tomorrow and begin to heal?
The answer my friends, comes from
Isaiah the 43rd chapter in the Hebrew Bible. “Do not fear, for I
have redeemed you, I have called you by name and you are mine.” Not only that,
but the prophet goes on to say “When you pass through the waters, I will be
with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk
through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
Whenever an unexpected death
happens, we are left with the question of “why?” But I think if we take a
careful look at the text we see something. The God of the prophet Isaiah, the
God I have come to know does not promise that we will not face trouble or
trials or even death itself. But what the prophet does say is that we will
never be alone. Dear family, today you are not alone. You are surrounded by
love and a community that wants you to know that you are cherished. These days
ahead will be hard but you can take comfort in knowing you will never have to
face what’s ahead alone. There has been countless outpourings of love and
support and you can cherish that in the days, weeks, months and years to come.
But I must warn you, in the days
ahead don’t let people offer you superficial truths or half-answers. God did
not need another angel in heaven, God did not will this, God did not have a
part in the untimely death of your wife, your mother, our friend. The God we
know isn’t like that. But don’t hear me wrong in thinking that God is absent.
It’s quite the opposite. God confronts sudden tragedy with sudden mercy and
sudden grace.
God has called and God has redeemed
Leigh Anne for she was one of God’s beloved. And God too brings all of us with
the apostles, saints, sages and martyrs into subjection under Christ. In the
book of Hebrews it is clear that Christ’s coming to the world did not end
tragedy or despair, his coming did not end the pain of death or the hardship we
now face with Leigh Anne’s departure. But instead it gives it context. It
reminds us that there is nothing on earth that can challenge the ultimate truth
of love and light in this world. For God has called us all by name and we are
God’s.
My favorite theological ethicist,
the Reverend Dr. Samuel Wells has these profound words to say, “If it can’t be
happy, make it beautiful.” Nothing about this tragic loss of life at too young
of age can be happy. Nothing about any death is happy. But our response, how we
go forth into this cold, dark world in light of this death can be beautiful. We
can begin to cherish the time we have, we can live like there is no tomorrow
and laugh like Leigh-Anne did in so many situations. I think she would be proud
that we are continuing her celebration at Marty’s Pub after this. I think what
better way to celebrate a free spirit than to continue a celebration outside
the confines of a chapel.
Dear friends Dr. Marcus Borg, the
late great 20th century Protestant theologian once said about death,
“So, is
there an afterlife, and if so, what will it be like? I don't have a clue. But I
am confident that the one who has buoyed us up in life will also buoy us up
through death. We die into God. What more that means, I do not know. But that
is all I need to know.”
Today we stand buoyed up. We paint the
picture that Van Der Weyden painted of our different shades of grief, some in
anger, some in despair, some in sheer utter sadness. Some of us even mutter the
question “What kind of God would do this to us?” but then we look around, and
we see the community that surrounds us and loves us and we know, that God is at
work, redeeming, restoring and resurrecting even us. Keep painting as Van Der
Weyden did, keep expressing your grief and your anger. God is a big boy and can
handle it. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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