With a Word and a Song

What a dear lady we have been remembering this evening; interesting, kind, gentle, funny are some of the ways in which I remember her, and you will add many more.

It seems to me I remember her laughing about meeting up with a garage door shortly before she gave up driving.

But what I am thinking about especially this evening is a project that she and another of our Stephen Ministers undertook some years ago.

They thought that we needed another resource to give to those who are grieving, and so they set about selecting hymns, poems and bible passages that they thought might be meaningful to the sorrowing.

They gathered them and typed them and we printed them into a booklet.

And the booklet has been given to a number of different persons over the years as a thoughtful gift from our Stephen Ministers.

Their names are only listed in the back of the booklet; they were not after recognition, but just providing the resource.

The booklet is not intended to be read through once, quickly, but to be savored a bit at a time, allowing the authors of many generations to speak to us, and to remind us of Christ Jesus and his promises to us.

With all this in mind, it seems entirely appropriate that we look carefully at the hymn we'll sing in a few minutes.

It is one which is appointed to be sung in the service of Prayer at the Close of the Day.

It became a part of the church's treasury in the late 17^th century, and continues since then to have an honored place at the end of day and the end of life.

Listen how it reflects the scriptures and our hope in Christ's promises:

Our first and proper impulse in worship is thanksgiving, for all of God's gifts.

But even as we reach out to accept them, the powers of evil try to snatch them away and harm even life itself.

Thus the first prayer is “Lord, protect us.”

We have come to realize that some of the evil is inside ourselves, for which we need forgiveness.

Thus the second prayer in this hymn is the prayer for peace, the true kind of peace that is not an absence of trouble and conflict, but is the peace when relationships with Jesus and one another are finally put right.

There is so much for us to learn, and it takes an entire lifetime to do it; so that we may live boldly and die confidently.

And each day along the way, the fourth stanza reminds us that we can have rest and refreshment and strength to meet the challenges and heartaches that surely will come our way.

And then the hymn closes as it begins, with praise of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Sometimes we think that Christians of earlier times had it so much easier than we do. Not so!

Of course there have been good times and bad times in every age of the church.

Thomas Ken, the author of our hymn, lived in the turbulent 17^th century England, and several times over he was favored by one king, and then persecuted or imprisoned by the one that followed.

And yet in the hymn before us, there is not a hint of bitterness or disappointment.

Whatever the situation in personal life, church life, or community activities, he continued to trust that God would make something of it.

That is the attitude which I sensed from Henrietta, too.

It became increasingly difficult for her in recent years, especially with the profound deafness that isolated her from so much of life.

Still, there was that smile of hers shining through, springing from her knowledge that the Lord is in charge, even on those days when we cannot see how it is possible for anything good to happen.

And Henrietta borrowed that attitude from Biblical passages like the ones we read a few minutes back.

Can anything tear us away from Jesus' promises?

Paul firmly rejects the idea when he says “...nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”

That is the power of the Word of God spoken to Henrietta and each of us in Holy Baptism.

It is firm, it is true, it is substantive.

Because of that, Paul reminds the church at Philippi to “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

He continues to say that we should “Keep on doing the things that you have heard and seen and received from me,” no matter what the problem that besets us.

This is the kind of faith and life that Henrietta lived.

You have been remembering the various activities and experiences that you have shared with Henrietta over these many years.

May this faith in the Lord Jesus and confidence in his promises be her final gift to you.

As a memento and a tool for your time of grieving, I have available here a dozen copies of the booklet that she and Larue prepared.

If this number is not sufficient, simply call the church and we will be glad to print more for you.

In some ways this is a very sad day, but in an even more important way, we can join St. Paul and Henrietta with a smile and say “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.