Philippians
1:18b-30, John 16:4b-16
I
Must Go
The first thing we need to say
about Joyce Tucker is that she didn’t want us to have this service. I am looking over at the kids – and Frank –
for some acknowledgement or support.
When Joyce received the news that leukemia had taken hold in her body,
she was aware and prepared for what this would mean. I will leave open the possibility of quiet and
private moments when she might have whispered something different to her
beloved Frank or ever attentive children.
But in every reported conversation, Joyce was straight forward about how
she would face this. She would walk the
path in front of her confident that this was the path which would take her to
where she wanted to be.
“I am not afraid,” she told
me. And there was no questioning that
she meant it.
There was also an unspoken
acknowledgement that perhaps her confidence out shown that of the one
pretending to be her pastor. Perhaps
like many of you, I know what the scriptures say about it being better to die
and be with Christ. But, maybe like some
of you, it is difficult to embrace what we say and have no worry when it comes
to our own death.
But not for Joyce.
I wrote this sermon in advance and
gave Frank a copy. It can be tough for
any of us to hear every word. But I
wanted these next words to make their way into his grieving heart.
The way Joyce talked about waiting
and having one memorial service for the two of them exposed a reason why she
was so confident. Her life and her dying
reminded me of the teachings of a seminary professor regarding the Beatitude,
“Blessed are those who mourn.” We mourn
because we know we have been so richly blessed.
When we are aware of how graciously God has dealt with us our mourning
is turned into rejoicing. Seventy years
of sharing life with Frank allowed Joyce to develop the confidence that God was
good, and that life was good and that whatever God has for us after death must
be good.
This is what the scriptures tell
us, over and over and over. And this is
what Joyce Hiller Tucker knew to be the gospel truth.
Jesus is with his disciples in the
section of John’s gospel we read this morning.
Jesus is about to leave them and they are worried and fearful. Jesus sets aside their anxiety. He tells them it will be alright. Actually, he tells them it will be
better. That surely sounded
ridiculous! How could it be better? It seemed to them an idle tale. But it was better. For them and for all of us.
St Paul writes to the faithful in
Philippi. He practically repeats the
words of Jesus. He speaks of being hard
pressed between continuing to live or dying.
Another seminary professor preached a sermon in which he wondered about
Paul’s sanity! Like Joyce, Paul was
prepared to walk that path which we too often see as a path being forced upon
us. They knew that the way too often
dreaded and feared by others was the way of eternal life for God’s children. It is the path to the fullness of God’s hope
and promise.
There may have been quite moments
or whispers in which Joyce asked for a few more days or weeks or years to spend
with her family. I do not mean to
discount or discredit that. But I want
to learn from her the ability to fear the grave as little as one would fear
their bed. And I would love for her
witness to impress on each of us the call to live life in such a way as to
instill that confidence in others.
The number of persons present when
St Michael (or St Michael’s) congregation was founded is dwindling. Joyce was the last of that bunch who
continued to come to this place in order to encounter her Lord. She occupied an irreplaceable place in our
history and in our midst. It is totally
inappropriate for an Interim Pastor to even try to capture what she and the
others who have recently left us have meant to this congregation. The best I can hope for is to point out the
parallels between the words spoken by St. Paul and by Jesus and the moment at
which this community of faith now stands.
Joyce is leaving us to be with Jesus.
And she is leaving the congregation she has loved and served in our
hands. She was among those who planted
the seeds. We will see how they grow.
Not all of those seeds will fall or
have fallen in the rich soil we would hope.
There have been rocky paths and thorns.
It is our opportunity to see what we will do with that which has been
given to us and that which Joyce has left with us.
I am going to make one more
assertion about Joyce and her saying there was no need for us to gather like
this. As is true for every good and
faithful servant, she didn’t want to be such a fuss about her. So, if she visits you in your dreams or
accosts you in your visions, you can point out to her that while her passing
from life to death to resurrection gave us an occasion, we gathered this day
primarily to give thanks to the God who promises us eternal life and to thank
God for giving us a sister who would help us learn this life-giving lesson. While we will repeat the name of Joyce Hiller
Tucker many times this morning it not only for her that we assemble. We are here to be strengthen and sustained
and encouraged and sent out into the world with the confidence and assurance
which allowed this sister of ours to say, “I am not afraid.”
Amen.
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