“I believe in the resurrection.”
This line of truth at the end of The Apostle’s Creed is not some winding down of the grand story, nor is it some denouement resloving the climatic events of this adventure; no, it is a not-yet-realized climax of this half-told tale. It is that towards which all of God’s arrows have been pointing all along. Like Job’s declaration, “I know my redeemer lives and on the earth shall stand, and I, in my flesh, will see him.” Or Solomon’s sober discourse, “He has placed enternity in their hearts…” reminding all in the midst of great vanity there is more to come. Or, most astonishingly, Jesus’ own words, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me shall never die.”
The New Testament almost exclusively refers to those who have gone ahead of us as having “fallen asleep.” Oh certainly in the tender, trusted arms of Jesus, but asleep. And this moment of Mother’s passing has been an astonishing revelatory confirmation of this particular fact. I find great hope, even joy, in the marvelous picture given us in Scripture – a picture of a great day of resurrection. A day when graveyards will be emptied and new bodies given. This compelling image causes my heart to beat a little faster because I know there is a day coming when I will once again embrace this lady and feel her very real and tangible arms encircling me as well.
Mother loved well, serverd tirelessly, and created a beauty in every part of the world she touched. I believe it is because somewhere along the way she glimpsed some small vision of what could be, of what should be, and what, one day, in-fact, would be. The brokeness of this world called forth from her not bitterness or hot-headed anger, but rather a broken-hearted, gentle love and care. Many of you here today have known the healing of her presence and the unquenchable, unshakable joy that overflowed into every part of her life. Now imagine, if you will, that joy perfected. Imagine sharing in the wonder of broken things being made whole once and for all. Imagine never experiencing any of those hurts again. This is the vision of which she gave us a small taste through her living.
We could all tell tales that would make us laugh. Tales of spiders. Tales of words honestly mis-spoken. Tales of cards and calls coming at just the right moment. My family delights in telling “Mamaw” stories, and we will continue telling them because they remind us of the gift we were given in this woman’s life. She loved us. She laughed with us. She wept over us. She forever longed to spend a few moments with us, and the day is coming when we will do just that – only those moments will stretch into an eternity full of the broken things now mended.
And on that future day of glad resurrection there will be other surprises that await us. Most we cannot begin to imagine, but one is given to us in a bright, well-lit, properly framed picture. On that coming resurrection day there will certainly be some of the great individuals of history surrounding us; personalities who seemingly turned the levers of the world and walked across its stage in grandeur and admriation. Individuals like Augustine, Luther, Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. But they will all bow in acknoldgement of those who are truly great in the Kingdom of God; those who make themselves a servant. Those considered “1st” in our world will humbly step aside for those who made themselves “last,” those among whom my Mother will be numbered. All those “greats” will acclaim the true greatness of those now before them who will hear “Well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest.” And Mother will then immdiately ask Jesus if he needs anything…some tea? some water? a glass of juice?
And all will be well.
“We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope.” (I Thessalonians 4:13)
The Shepherd's Staff 