[Propertalk] Funeral homily

[Robert P Morrison]

Inasmuch as it may interest you -
I don't preach this Sunday, our Deacon gets to play with the Trinity!
I have the "second part" of the funeral homily tomorrow morning,
however. The man who died - Paul - has a nephew who's a pastor in a
community church in Washington State, so he's going take the first
part of the homily to talk about Paul's life, and then I'll add this,
based on the readings and the six years in which I knew Paul.
Happy weekend!
Bob

	A MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR PAUL D MINSHALL

	THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY 21st MAY, 2016

	ISAIAH 25:6-9 PSALM 23

	1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-26, 35-38, 42-44, 53-58

	JOHN 6:37-40

	 What does it mean to be alive? Pastor Rob gave us a pretty good
picture of what life was about for Paul.

	 A poet wrote,

	 You start dying slowly

	 if you do not travel,

	 if you do not read,

	 if you do not listen to the sounds of life,

	 if you do not appreciate yourself. 1

	 This sounds as if it could have been written for or about Paul. He
really enjoyed travelling, whether literally, or figuratively, in his
mind, taking in thoughts about different locations from the comfort of
an arm chair. And if there’s one thing he missed out on doing, it
would have been another visit to Alaska to visit great grandchildren.
But then, Paul knew that there were some things that one never gets
around to doing. That’s what the prophet Isaiah tried to get across
to his listeners. That’s what lay behind Paul’s comments to the
early Christians in Corinth. Life isn’t necessarily fair. In fact,
it’s filled with difficulty; it’s filled with disappointments;
it’s filled with things which frustrate us and make us angry.
Neither the prophet nor the apostle want us to think otherwise. They
know that tears, that cries of pain and irritation, that anger will
all be a part of our lives. If this were not so, then the prophet
would have no need to say that “God will wipe away the tears from
every face,”

	 We know that Paul – Paul Minshall, not Paul the apostle – was
very frustrated by the fact that nothing more could be done for his
deteriorating eyesight. We know that he was frustrated by the fact
that he was moving a bit slower. Yet, while Paul didn’t appreciate
what was going on in this part of his physical life, we know from his
attendance faithfully at Church, from his participation in the life of
the congregation, that, somehow, Paul was able to reconcile himself to
this part of aging. Just like the rest of us, he was aware that change
was part of life, especially in the life of a follower of Jesus.
We’re all asked to deal with this as a part of our daily routines.
Yes, Paul believed that he was accompanied by God in whatever he was
doing. He expressed this both verbally and in writing. But while he
accepted this in faith, he knew that that didn’t mean there would be
no questions, that he wouldn’t have to wrestle with problems.
Indeed, if there WEREN’T questions, if there WEREN’T doubts, then
faith wouldn’t be necessary.

	 So Isaiah and Paul, poetically, talked about faith, talked about the
hope that we have from God that, no matter how much we cry and sigh
now, there WILL be an end to everything that dispirits us, and that
after waiting with confidence and working through the problems of this
life we WILL be wrapped up in the joy and exuberance of God.

	 Many people talk of life as a voyage on the ocean, and Paul was no
exception. In fact, the simile of being in a boat, of leaving one
shore and not being able to see the other one, yet trusting that it
was there and the people would arrive there safely; this simile was on
his mind a lot. He talked about this. He wrote about this. He wrote
both to and about his brother, Rich, after he died. He talked about
Rich being with Jesus, and he talked about his own journey, not yet
that far out on the ocean, although he knew that he’d complete the
journey and be reunited with Rich and his sister, June, at some point.

	 Just as Isaiah described, Paul looked forward to the banquet which
awaits all of us. He didn’t bother to think about or plan the menu.
The good thing about Paul’s faith was that he knew that whatever was
there would be so enjoyable that it would be worth the wait, worth
even the diminished abilities of his physical body. Nor did Paul spend
a lot of time worrying as, apparently, the Christians in Corinth did,
about how we’d be in God’s bearer Presence. Spending time trying
to determine our height, our weight, or any other characteristic, as
the apostle pointed out, was simply a waste of time. Again, just as in
the menu at God’s banquet, so trying to second guess God about the
appointments of how God’s reign would be celebrated would simply be
a waste of time.

	 Paul understood this. He didn’t get himself tied up in knots about
the details of what was going to happen. He accepted Jesus’ words at
their face value – that he and all of us, friends of Jesus, would
never be forgotten but would be drawn together in Jesus’ company.

	 By accepting this, and by living this out in his life, Paul gave an
example to me and to everyone else he met, whether here among the
congregation, or wherever else he was. Other people were so important
to him. He didn’t simply NEED company, he thrived in it. He sought
it out at every opportunity he could take, so that he could share his
experiences. He had travelled. He had read. He had listened to an
incredible richness in the sounds of life. And he appreciated himself.
So he was able to share. As that poet suggested, by doing this, which
included talking about his faith, and trying to make sense of what he
read in the Bible and what he discussed with others; by doing this,
Paul LIVED. He didn’t simply exist; he LIVED so that others’ lives
would be touched, and enriched, and made a bit easier.

	 Alan shared that over the last months and weeks, Paul had read and
marked both passages in the letters to the Corinthian Christmas and
also some of the Psalms. These, and the act of reading them and
mulling them over, were THAT important to Paul. He was thinking ahead,
not just for himself, but for us also.

	 One of the brothers who lives in community in the Society of St.
John the Evangelist, in Cambridge,

	Massachusetts, wrote the other day, “What we are to become — and
that is already envisioned in the heart of God — and what we are
becoming through the ‘daily visitation’ of the Holy Spirit,
animates us, transforms us even now.” 2

	 In other words, what God has in mind for us, what God wishes for
each of us, gives us the courage to face up to whatever struggles,
whatever sadness and grief, whatever tears, whatever angers, we may
have right now. But, as we celebrated at Pentecost a couple of Sundays
ago, each and every day God’s Spirit visits us to renew us and to
guide us so that we can take whatever steps may be necessary so that
we can enjoy each day.

	 Yesterday, in the cartoon panel, “Calvin and Hobbes”, the young
boy Calvin said, “Here I am, waiting for the bus. Eleven more years
of school to go. Then college, then maybe graduate school, and then I
work until I die. What kind of a world is this?! You only get five
years to be a kind?? What about exploring and discovering and playing?
Those things are important to!” To which Hobbes replied, “Well,
you still have afternoons and weekends.” Calvin rejoined,
“That’s when I watch TV.” 3

	 Isaiah, Paul, Jesus – none of them said that we should expect life
to be a picnic, or that it would be all TV watching or even running
through the fields and lying on the grass, resting on a tree. Nor did
Paul look for that. He knew that life was work. But he knew also, that
life with and in Christ brought and would continue to bring joy and
fulfilment, until the ages of ages.

	 So in that faith – Paul’s as well as the faith to which we’re
each called – in that faith, we will learn to deal with the sadness
of partings as we entrust Paul into God’s care.

	 Thanks be to God for Paul’s faith and service!

	NOTES:

	[1] Attributed to Pablo Neruda. See
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj7stvplenMAhUS52MKHYa2DhsQFgg7MAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.middlewaysociety.org%2Fpoetry-108-you-start-dying-slowly-by-pablo-neruda%2F&usg=AFQjCNFQSIk5Z64tEbgNHYOGtQ5XZeeKuA
[1]

	2 Br. Mark Brown Society of Saint John the Evangelist [2]
http://ssje.us4.list
manage.com/track/click?u=344ed142b391b2b520df4080c&id=e4f7ae1426&e=d3bff814a3
[3]

	3 “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson, April 18, 1988
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/04/18?utm_source=ch-fb&utm_medium=socialmarketing&utm_content=quotes&utm_campaign=social
[4]

Links:
------
[1]
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj7stvplenMAhUS52MKHYa2DhsQFgg7MAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.middlewaysociety.org%2Fpoetry-108-you-start-dying-slowly-by-pablo-neruda%2F&usg=AFQjCNFQSIk5Z64tEbgNHYOGtQ5XZeeKuA
[2]
http://ssje.us4.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=344ed142b391b2b520df4080c&id=4d195c0c63&e=d3bff814a3
[3]
http://ssje.us4.list%20manage.com/track/click?u=344ed142b391b2b520df4080c&id=e4f7ae1426&e=d3bff814a3
[4]
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/04/18?utm_source=ch-fb&utm_medium=socialmarketing&utm_content=quotes&utm_campaign=social

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