In the Name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I didn’t
have the honor of ever meeting Jeanne, but after reading the beautiful tribute
from her daughter Nancy and talking to Nancy about her mother, I wish that I
had met her. Listen to some of the
things that Nancy wrote about her: “Throughout her life, Jeanne enjoyed
laughing for the sake of laughing, being with her family, playing the piano,
discussing politics, traveling the world, oriental décor, sitting in the sun,
sipping Old Fashioneds (always muddled), reading The New York Times every day,
eating Brie and crackers and avoiding snow.”
What I
learned about Jeanne is that she did not take life for granted. She loved life, she laughed, she cried, and most
of all she cared. She did not walk
through life with an apathetic and self-centered spirit, but in touch with the
reality of this world that includes not only laughter but also hurt.
One of
the stories that I heard from Nancy was about a stand that Jeanne took against
racism in late forties or early 50s – a time when it was not an easy position
to take, most especially for a woman. “During
her nursing training at Skidmore she took part of her clinical training at
Johns Hopkins University in the Obstetrics Department. After returning to Skidmore, she wrote an
impassioned letter to the President of the College recommending they discontinue
the association with Johns Hopkins because of the blatant racism she witnessed
there from the Caucasian doctors towards their African-American patients. Skidmore subsequently moved the program to a
different hospital.”
Jeanne
believed in equal rights. She advocated
for equal rights for women. Being a
person who overcame the odds with as much education as she had in a time when
women’s rights was largely still only a dream, she did her part to make the
voices of women heard.
Nancy
talked about Jeanne’s love for politics too.
She wanted so badly to see this election through to the end. What a different world she got to experience
right up to the very end. A world where
a woman had the opportunity to become the president of the United States of
America – the fruit of every advocate for women’s equal rights in this
world. I’m sure the very reality of this
put a smile on her face. But at the same
time, I have no doubt that she realized that the world really wasn’t all that
different. Still women are treated as
less than men, still people are treated differently just because of the color
of their skin.
The
world needs less silence and more advocates like Jeanne in this world. It truly doesn’t matter whether your blue,
red, or independent. When you view the
world through the lens of faith, you cannot help but to see every human person
as one who deserves dignity and respect – as one who has been fearfully and
wonderfully made by her Creator and Redeemer. You all got to know and live life
with someone who left you a legacy. Don’t
stand silent in the company of racism, sexism, or any of the other hateful ‘isms’
of this world. Do your part. Let your voice be heard. Jeanne’s story is testimony that you can make
a difference.
One of
my favorite pieces of Scripture in all of the bible is 1 Corinthians 15. It names the Christian hope “to a T.” Here
Paul teaches us that bodily existence matters.
How we live in this world matters, not only for this life, but for the
future world when God makes all things new at the resurrection of the
dead. Listen to what Paul says in verse
58: “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the
work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.”
What
Paul is saying is that the work that Jeanne offered for good in this world is
not wasted. It is not all for
naught. And the work that you and I
offer for the good of this world will not be wasted. N.T. Wright tells the story of what it must
have been like to build a great cathedral back in the days before we had the
technological advancements in construction as we have today. Imagine you’re a mason worker. You work hard each and every day building for
a cathedral whose final product you will never see. You labor, you sweat, you hurt…you put your life’s
energy into the building of this cathedral.
You could lose heart…what’s the use?
Will this thing ever be finished?
But when we walk into these grand cathedrals that still stand today, we
know that the mason worker’s labor was not in vain as we behold the
beauty.
It’s the
same for the kingdom of God. Work for
justice. Be a voice for the oppressed
and voiceless. For equal rights…for the
ethos of God’s Kingdom which Jesus reveals to us – at times it may seem like
you’re stacking bricks but getting nowhere…but the good news of the Gospel is
that each effort for the kingdom of God in this world will not be wasted just
as that mason worker’s labor was not in vain…just like Jeanne’s labor was not
in vain.
That’s
why I like to look at the dash between the date of birth and date of death when
I visit a grave yard. That dash represents
a life of labor that will not have been wasted … one day, when the kingdom that
Jesus inaugurated is brought to fulfillment, it will be as obvious as when we
walk into a cathedral and see the beauty that so many helped produce. The Kingdom of God is brought by much
faithful response to the Son of God’s life, death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit empowers each and every one
of us to build for that future even now.
And we do so surrounded by a cloud of witnesses – those who have gone
before us – who have fought the good fight and now rest in paradise with God,
alive in Christ, as we all await that final day when the trumpet shall sound
and the dead are raised and a whole new world bursts forth into existence.
So be
both empowered and comforted this day.
Be empowered by Jeanne’s life.
Laugh, live, love – take a stand, make your mark. It will not be in vain. God will use every
ounce of effort for the building of His kingdom. And also be comforted, because you are never
alone. The cloud of witnesses now
includes Jeanne’s voice, cheering you on.
Jeanne absolutely loved music. So
I think it’s fitting to quote a hymn in closing. One of my favorite hymns is “For
All the Saints.” Listen to these two
verses from that hymn that describe the relationship between the saints who
strive on earth for God’s kingdom and those in heaven who have fought the good
fight: “O blest communion, fellowship
divine, We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in Thee, for
all are Thine. Alleluia! Alleluia! And when the fight is fierce, the warfare
long, steals on the ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are brave again,
and arms are strong. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Sisters
and brothers, never stop listening for that distant triumph song. The cloud of witnesses urges us on – most especially
when our work is it’s hardest. Thanks be
to God for the hope we have in Jesus Christ our Lord and thanks be to God for Jeanne
and all those who bravely lived into that hope, treading a path for us to
follow. Amen.
