Funeral Sermon - Cheryl E. - Selections from John 14

The disciples are upset. Jesus is talking about leaving them, and it feels as if they were just finally hitting their ministry stride. Like three years went by in a blink of an eye with this one they call their master. It seems too soon. He has to be wrong, right?

But Jesus is trying to prepare his disciples for what is to come. He know that his death is imminent. He wasn’t talking about leaving the ones he loves in a philosophical sense or as some far off possibility. Death was coming far too quickly. 

I don’t know if we can ever truly be prepared for the death of one that we love dearly - one that the disciples loved as dearly as Jesus or one that we loved as dearly as Cheryl. Sometimes Jesus’ words to his disciples seem empty in the face of our grief. Empty against the chasm of all that we have lost. And yet, they are words of hope found in the promises of faith.

First, Christ is telling his disciples that he is leaving us to prepare a place - a place that we will call home. It is a place that Jesus himself will escort us to someday. A place that is made just for us - painted in our favorite color. A table set with our favorite foods. A place just right for us.

I have found myself the last couple of days wondering what the place Cheryl is in is like for her. I see it as brightly painted walls that frame pictures of her favorite people and favorite moments. Large swatches of fabric and rolls of quilt batting. The sound of the hum of the sewing machine, that Cheryl sits at while she hums her favorite hymns. In this place, Cheryl no longer feels pain. There is no more crying. She gets to fill her days doing what she loves, in a place prepared just for her, for the glory of God. A place that Jesus escorted her to himself, when she took her final breath. I find hope in such an image and hope in such a Lord that promises to prepare a place for us. 

Second, Jesus tells his disciples that he won’t leave them alone. Jesus knows the heartache that can come from being separated from the ones you love. Just a few chapters before this passage of promises in the Gospel of John Jesus felt the pain of the death of his friend, Lazarus. He wept at his grave. He cried with Mary and Martha over the pain of their lose. But this pain was not the final word for Jesus. It was not what he was leaving his disciples with. He promised to send them an Advocate, the Holy Spirit to teach them, love them, and remind them of the message of Christ. 

We too are not left alone, even in the midst of our grief. We have the Holy Spirit present with us, even now, as we proclaim that Christ’s death was not the final word and that through him we have victory over the grave through Jesus Christ. That Cheryl has victory over death that came far too soon. So today we gather together in our grief while we look forward to the hope we know Cheryl had. We gather together bound by the same Holy Spirit that Jesus spoke to his disciples about, to give us hope and peace, especially during this time.

And Jesus also blessed us with this community. For we have not been left to grieve alone, though surely we will each grieve in our own way. The promise Christ makes in today’s passage is two fold - the gift of the Holy Spirit, to bring Jesus to our minds, and to remind us that we are to follow the way of Christ laid before us, but also the promise of community. A community that remembers. A community to comfort and support one another.

Time and time again when I visited with Cheryl she would say that she was not afraid to die, that she had a deep sense of peace since the diagnosis and “it is well with her soul”. She just wanted her kids to be okay. To take care of each other. To love each other. The last time we spoke with each other we were talking about the Ensminger family Christmas party. She commented that she used to be surprised when people would comment on how close and loving the family was, because it was just the reality she lived in. It something she took for grant it. But this is a family that truly gets what it means to take care of each other. To love each other.

I hope and pray that you never lose that. That even during this time of grief you reach out to one another for love and care. Reach out to all of these friends and family members gathered to grieve with you, not just today but in the weeks and months and years to come. For this is one of the gifts that Jesus promised us - that others will walk through life with us, even and especially during the valley of the shadow of death. 

We’ve gathered together as this community today in the face of sorrow to mourn one that we cannot believe is no longer sitting right here with us. We’ve gathered together to witness to who Cheryl is, what memories we have and how she has impacted our lives with her quiet faith. And we gather together to fulfill Cheryl’s wish, that we take care of one another in the love that only family and friends can truly have for one another. 

There is one final promise that is found in this scripture passage for us this afternoon. Jesus tells his disciples “I do not give as this world gives.” We live in a world brothers and sisters that has such heartbreaking things as cancer and death. As suffering and pain. But that is not what Jesus gives us. Christ gives us a hope that we will be reunited someday. I believe with all of my heart that we have the ability to be reunited with Cheryl and hear her laughter and share her sense of humor. I believe that we will be reunited and talk with her about the things that the Besties did and the beauty of her time with you, Steve. I believe we will pass around pictures of grand-babies as she brags about them and talk over cups of tea about what we appreciate about one another. To share together in all that Cheryl loved. For this is what Christ has prepared for us to enjoy with Cheryl.

But until we live into the reality of that hope we gather together to grieve and to remember. To look forward to that great day when we will be reunited. To talk about what we loved about Cheryl. To remember who Cheryl believed in. And as we gather as this community of love, may we feel, even for just the briefest of moments, the peace and presence of the Holy Spirit that Christ has promised us. Amen.