Funeral
Sermon by Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson, for Myra Ethel Anderson, based on Ruth
1:16-19a; Rev 21:2-7; Matt 11:28-30 & Jn 11:25-27
We
are gathered here today to remember the life of Myra Ethel Anderson; to find
comfort and support in one another’s presence and in God’s presence and God’s
word for the loss of Myra; and to give thanks to God for Myra as we commend her
into God’s eternal care.
One of the things as a pastor that I like to
encourage folks to do is plan their funeral arrangements—so that when the time
comes, the family is not second-guessing what their loved one wanted or did not
want in a service. Myra certainly took that to heart, as she met with me back
in January of 2005 to plan with me what she wanted in her service. So hopefully
we are doing our best to comply with Myra’s wishes here today.
We all have memories of Myra, and knew her
in one way or another. I came to know her as her pastor at Grace Lutheran Church.
She enjoyed attending the worship services at Grace, and served on council for
a time. Myra and John also enjoyed coming out to the monthly Grace suppers.
When I think of Myra, I think of the four Bible passages that were read
earlier.
I think of the story of Ruth and Naomi. In
particular, I think of their trip from Moab to Bethlehem. In those days, travel
could be dangerous for at least a couple of reasons. You could be in trouble if
you did not have adequate food and drink with you for the journey—it took
careful planning to bring enough food and drink along or to know where you
could find it along your journey. Travelling could also be dangerous because of
the criminal element. Sometimes robbers were just waiting for vulnerable travellers
to rob, beat up or even kill. So travel could be dangerous in those
days—especially for women. Yet we learn that both Ruth and Naomi were willing
to make the journey from Moab to Bethlehem. So it is most commendable that they
were women of courage, and had a sense of adventure to undertake such a trip.
When I think of Myra, I also think of a
woman who was courageous and had an active sense of adventure or curiosity. So
to show her courage and active sense of adventure or curiosity, she liked to
travel. Myra enjoyed travelling, often with her sons, to such countries as:
South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and even China, other
Asian countries, Europe, the U.S. and Central America. When I think of Myra, I
recall conversations with her about a wide variety of topics where her curious
mind travelled to enjoy a wide variety of interests, including: genealogy,
history, aboriginal culture, and upholding human rights and freedoms in a
democratic society thanks to organisations like Amnesty International, of which
she supported, as do I.
Myra’s many travels awakened an interest in
genealogy and history. She thought that she might be a tenth generation
Canadian, since her ancestors arrived in Quebec in the late 1700s. She also may
have been a descendent of someone who arrived on the second ship after the
Mayflower.
Now, by the grace and mercy of our LORD, God
has taken Myra on her final trip, her final destination to the country called
Heaven—and what wonderful adventures await her there! I’m sure that her active
sense of curiosity will be fully satisfied in that land of eternity.
Which leads me to the next passage from
Revelation. I gather, from what family told me, that the last several months
were rather difficult for Myra and for you as a family too—as she suffered from
her illness and her once active life was slowing down and coming to an end. So
it is good news that now she is with God who will wipe every tear from her
eyes. For her, death is over, mourning and crying and pain are over. One day,
if we too place our faith and life into God’s hands, we shall join Myra in that
place where our tears will be wiped from our eyes; where illness, death,
mourning and crying and pain shall be over for us too. That is our hope as
Christians who believe that the powers of life and love shall defeat the powers
of death and evil.
In the meantime, for all of us who remain in
this life, Jesus gives a wonderful invitation in the gospel passage from
Matthew: “Come to me, all of you who are carrying heavy burdens, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.” Some of you may know this, the yoke, if
it fits well on animals, evenly distributes the weight of the burden so they
can pull it much easier. So the image of Christ’s yoke lightening the heavy burdens
of life is a comforting one. Yoke can also symbolize the learning and teaching
of God’s word. Some teachers can be taskmasters and lack empathy or compassion
for their students so they weigh them down with heavy burdens. Jesus is
different, he is humble and gentle at heart, so instead of giving his followers
a heavy burden of sternness, judgement and legalism, he offers them grace,
mercy and love. Our souls can find rest and peace, and a joyful love of
learning God’s word, trusting in such an understanding and caring teacher as
Jesus. So it is for Myra, she is now resting and peaceful, the illness that was
so heavy for her has been removed thanks to Jesus. I expect that she also
joyfully loves what she is learning now in her new state of being.
Now we come to our passage from John’s
Gospel and claim the promise that Jesus offers for Myra, for you and for me: “I
am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even
after dying.” What a wonderful promise this is! A promise worth believing and
staking our lives on it. God, through the Person of Jesus our Messiah has acted
in an ultimate and definitive way by raising Jesus from the dead. One day,
Jesus promises those who believe in him that they too shall share in a
resurrection like his; life with a capital L; life eternal.
May we all be granted the gift of faith to
believe in Jesus’ promise as we live in the hope today and in the future of
resurrection life. Amen.
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