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4: A Homily

for

Lola Harvey

(A Heart Condition)

Easter Season

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Job 1:21 (NRSV)

This morning we have gathered to pay tribute to a departed loved one, Lola Harvey. We have gathered to express our grief and to sense the supportive, loving presence of God. We acknowledge our sadness but celebrate the gift of her life. We acknowledge that our grief and pain are real, but we also affirm our faith and hope in life everlasting and in the goodness of God. Job wrote, centuries ago, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Let’s see if we can draw some comfort from this text.

The Lord Gave/Gift

All life is a gift. We acknowledge that everything that we have comes to us as a gift from God. God is a loving creator. God has given us life as the most wondrous gift. We pause today to thank God for the years that we have shared with Lola, for the joys, hopes and blessings. We know that she loved life and rejoiced in it. But life is always brief, even at its longest and to see Lola’s candle extinguish so quickly has been difficult.

The Gift of Happiness

Family and friends focus today upon the many years of happiness they shared with Lola. Friends and family spoke about her sense of serenity, peace, and contentment. She was a strong person, but a giving person who was always reaching out to others. She expressed her gift of life through love. She was a loving wife. She and Wilson shared sixty-six years of marriage together. She was not only his wife but soul mate and best friend. There was an absolute trust between them. She was a supportive and a loving wife in the finest sense of that word.

She was also a loving mother. She made her home a place where not only her children felt comfortable and loved but so did their friends. It was a place their friends wanted to come after school and games. She was always there for her family. She took care of them with love and devotion. Her grandchildren were a great delight in her life. She loved them and expressed it in so many ways.

Lola was also a caring person. Those who knew her well always saw her as a tender person, concerned for others and their problems. She was also always doing for others. She was completely unselfish and supportive of all of her family. Her sisters said she had been like a second mother to them. She was a great influence on all of her family. Her sisters said she may have been the smallest in size but she was the biggest in influence.

She welcomed everybody into her home. She was always willing to stretch out her hand and her food at mealtimes to include others. She loved her church and was always there for Sunday School, worship and on Wednesday night. You knew how supportive she was of her church by her faithfulness in attendance. She lived her faith by her action and faithfulness.

In one of Lola’s devotional books she had included a leaflet entitled “Life’s Little Instructions.” Let me read some selections from that which are certainly symbolic of her attitude toward life and which I think greatly influenced her:

“Compliment three people everyday.”

“Watch a sunrise once a year.”

“Treat everyone you meet as you want to be treated.”

“Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.”

“Become the most positive, enthusiastic person you know.”

“Be forgiving of yourself and others.”

“Say thank you a lot.”

“Rekindle old friendships.”

“Be the first to say hello.”

“Make new friends but cherish the old ones.”

“Be there when people need you.”

“Never underestimate the power of love.”

“Start and end each day with a prayer.”

These words are instructive of Lola’s philosophy of life and exemplify her attitude toward others.

We also celebrate the gift today of God’s salvation. Paul says, “Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.” One of Lola’s favorite passages was John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Today we are sure that Lola shares in this eternal life because of her deep faith in God. In her own very quiet personal way, she committed her hands in absolute faith and trust to God.

The Lord Takes Away/ Grief

The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that for everything there is a season, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to laugh and a time to cry. Job knew that, just as God gave the gift of life, so suffering and death were also a part of life. Today we acknowledge that life is filled with seasons that come and go. We are now passing through the season of winter with its coldness, damp rain and freezing weather. We are on the dawning of springtime. We have already seen buds breaking forth on trees, flowers pushing up toward the sun and grass beginning to turn green. The warmth of springtime is upon us. Soon the seasons will move on. There will be the heat of summer and then, later the dazzling colors of fall. Seasons come and change and move on. They are a part of the mystery of life. Birth and death, laughter and pain, joy and grief, are also a part of life

Pain and Suffering

For many of us today there is a sense of shock that this good woman has slipped away so quickly. We acknowledge that we can not understand all of the mystery of life or death. Suffering and death have no easy word. There is not just one right word for such a time as this. Nevertheless, we continue to affirm our faith in the goodness of God even in the face of death. We will rest upon the conviction that God’s love is eternal and strong. God created life out of his love and God sustains life. I do not know why God has created the possibilities of heart trouble and cancer. They are part of the universe God has created. Without the possibilities of suffering and pain, there could be no possibility of growth or maturity. We do know, however, that God does not deliberately send suffering and pain and grief upon us but like a small child we place our hand in the hand of God and lean upon God with trust and strength.

Lola acknowledged her trust of God as she faced her surgery. I spoke with her on the Thursday before her surgery and sensed her fears and yet also her strong faith. Her faith enabled her to know that God was there with her. She leaned back upon God and trusted that his way was good, even if she did not get well.

We acknowledge that death is real and our grief is real. We know that it is okay to cry. Jesus stood by the grave of Lazarus, his friend, and he too, wept. Crying is a normal part of our grief and God understands our sorrow. But we do not weep as those who have no hope. We weep in the assurance that the grave is not the end, but there is life beyond death.

We know that God and friends today are walking through the dark valley of grief. We come to this valley of grief however, armed with the assurance that God is present with us. Sometimes in our deepest valleys we are able to find the presence of God. In the midst of our despair, pain and suffering, God is ever present. God has promised us in Romans 8, that nothing separates us from his presence. We grieve, but we grieve with a sense of trust in the presence of God, who is there with us in this wilderness place.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord/ Glory

We affirm that physical life is not the end. Lola had a strong faith in God and we rest in confidence today that God has prepared a place for her. Lola often opened her home to other people and welcomed them. This reminds me of Mary and Martha and how they opened their home to Jesus. It was in the home of friends like this that Jesus said the word, “I am the resurrection and the life.” The words of Jesus assure us that death is a passageway from this life to the next. Death is not a dead-end but it is a birthing from this world to the next world. Death opens a door from the physical world to the eternal world.

Lola trusted God and put her hand in God’s hand. In quiet faith she leaned back and trusted in God. Just as a small child in a dark room reaches out to hold the hand of his mother or father, so today we know that Lola has reached out her hand in the dark valley and grasped the hand of Jesus, our Lord, who has led her through this valley to life eternal.

When a person moves from one city to another we encourage them to transfer their letter to another church. Today, Lola has transferred her letter from the church mortal to the church eternal, from First Baptist Church to God’s eternal home. We recommend her to God with great joy. We know that Lola’s good influence will continue. Her influence will not be concluded with her death. She may no longer be with us and we know that the joy and happiness she brought will be missed. Nevertheless, she will be long remembered. In a Dennis the Menace cartoon, Dennis is playing on the floor with a toy truck and looks up at his father as his mother leaves the room and says, “Did you ever notice that Mom’s smile stays here even when she is gone?”

That will also be true with Lola. The impact of her smile, unselfish attitude, service, love and devotion will continue to be felt long after she is gone. Her influence for good, joy and radiance will leave an afterglow among us. Life will be different without her but her influence will still be felt.

Just as Jesus assured Mary at the grave of Lazarus that he was the resurrection and the life, today we trust this same Christ in faith and affirm that death is a birthing from this life to the life beyond where there is eternal life. In this Easter season, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul reminds about the truth of the resurrection. He affirms that what is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor but it is raised in glory. It is sown a physical body and it is raised a spiritual body. Death is swallowed up in victory. Thanks be to God for the victory he gives us through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Eternal Father, bind up the broken hearts today with the balm of your presence. Draw William, Carl, Sally, the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sisters and other family members and friends close to yourself. May they sense your shepherding care and presence in the days ahead. May the memories of the good life with Lola and the assurance of life everlasting give to each of us in this hour comfort and courage. Amen.