Matthew …..
This is a cartoon, which has been posted in the church office for years. As much time as Ann spent in that office folding bulletins and just making sure the place was running properly – it is safe to assume she saw it. The cartoon has to elderly women, sitting in rocking chairs. One says to the other, “I'm getting so old that all my friends in heaven will think I didn't make it.”
That joke was funnier, thirty years ago, the first time I saw it. And I think about folks like Ann, whose long life surely means that so many they loved (and so many who loved them) have gone on. If not gone on to be with Jesus, moved away or lost contact or find themselves in other circumstances which make it impossible for them to be with Ann, and all of you, on this day of shared grief; on this day of rejoicing at Ann’s rejoining those who have been waiting for her in heaven.
Another fellow church member shared their concern that his long life meant there would be fewer present for his funeral. “But,” he went on to say, “at least that means they won’t have to experience the pain and sadness too often associated with death.” While Ann surely grieved on the day when Harold died, perhaps her strength of faith allowed her to express similar emotions. “Better me to be the one to feel the pain of saying good-bye, rather than this man I love so deeply.” I am not sure I want to continue this line of thinking when it gets to Harry’s death. The death of one’s children is a hurt too profound for any to make assumptions.
But I will assume that Ann Huffman had the faith to do that, and the faith which assures us that nothing is as wonderful as having persons in our life who will tell us and remind us that Jesus loves me. And knowing how deeply Jesus loves me means my own weaknesses are offset with the awareness that he is strong – oh, so strong.
Weakness of body separated Ann from this community of faith and from the circle of relationships she formed in this congregation. Weakness of body returned her to depending on others to take her where she needed to be. Much like a child, Ann was moved from her room to the dining table. As is true for a child, someone came to tell her it was bath time and to assist her with this task. I am struck by this – realizing the full circle which she traveled. How many children did she take to the place they needed to be? And, I am not merely thinking about Becky and Charles and Harry. How many children did Ann carry to the lap of Jesus where they could feast on the Word of God and be cleansed of their anxiety and worries? This loving servant of Christ is today carried by all of us, to the place where she has carried so many others. We bring her to the loving arms of her Saviour.
The aim of Christian funeral is do that carrying. The reason we gather is to ensure that the one who had through the years so often presented themselves at the Altar of God is once more placed at the door to God’s Kingdom. And as we do so, we become the pupils in a classroom presided over by the one who for so many years had taught us what it means to love the little children, and the fussy children, and most of all the wayward children. The aim of a Christian funeral is to affirm the gifts of our Lord and to assure all those who mourn that it is the Word of Christ which will ease our hearts.
Among those waiting in Heaven for Ann Huffman are some who found themselves there because of Ann. And if Ann’s delayed arrival was a concern to any, they surely were able to set aside any concern for this sister. She was on her way. My personal theology does not buy into the notion that we have some particular task to accomplish before we are allowed to die. But I am heavily committed to the reality that as long as we live, we continue to serve a purpose in the Kingdom of God. Ann’s long life provided the chance for her to see how well she had schooled others. Her years of needing the assistance of others were opportunities for her to see how well her wisdom was taken to heart.
A Christian funeral is also a chance to acknowledge that we have one less servant among us – to do the work of the Lord. No one can fill the void brought on by Ann’s death, but we can commit ourselves to mimicking her way of caring for others, sharing her faith, and striving to bring others to that place where the love of God overwhelms them and convinces them that what they have read in their bibles is true for them, too.
It is the simple lesson, too often only understood by children, which we boldly proclaim this day. Not as a new message, but as the popular refrain which rang out throughout all the days of life for our sister Ann.
Thanks be to God for her life and for the life she has enabled us to live.
Amen.
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