Midweek Musing- 6/6/2024

This week I attended the funeral of a 15-year-old who lost his battle with the disease of depression. It was a tragic event and there was deep mourning among all those who knew and loved this young man.

I appreciated the difficult task of the pastor in providing comfort to the mourners. As the young man was African American, the service was called both a funeral and a “homecoming.”

Much of the pastor’s focus was on the promise we have in the resurrection and the hope we have in that great family reunion that is awaiting God’s children.

Additionally, the pastor did a wonderful job of pointing out that nothing in scripture condemns folks for suicide, and while not God’s will, that death itself was never part of God’s original creation. He also noted we don’t talk about folks who die from other diseases or accidents, many of which result from poor choices (diet, exercise, addictions, bad decisions, etc.), being “sent to hell.”

He reminded all in attendance that the grace Jesus gave could be defined as undeserved, unmerited, unearned, and yet freely given favor which redeemed all God’s children.

One of the most powerful moments in the service occurred when the young man's grandmother he had lived with for a number of years spoke. In spite of her grief and deep mourning, she spoke eloquently of the love of God even in hard times that we cannot understand.

Additionally, she spoke of our call to love always, reminding us that we never get a chance to do over and go back in time. She noted even a smile could make all the difference in someone's life. She said she would not look back with blame or regret at this tragedy and encouraged everyone else not to do that either.  She prayed that all who were there who might be suffering eternal struggles would reach out to someone for help and hold on, because there were so many people there including her who would want to help.

I was amazed by both her grace and inner strength. I wondered just how she was able to stand there and speak of love despite her very evident pain.

Later, I recalled the following story about Rev. Arthur John Gossip. Rev. Gossip told this story in his preaching, sharing how we can get though the torrents of pain which accompany the vicious, soul-shaking losses we all sometimes experience in life. I think he describes what the young man’s grandmother was relying on during both her eulogy and what she will need to continue to rely upon in the days ahead. I also hope these words will serve as a reminder of that which we can lean on when those hard days arrive.

As I mentioned, A. J. Gossip was a preacher, but also a scholar, chaplain, teacher, and writer. It is said he was one of the most gifted orators of his time. He lived in Scotland more than a half–century ago.

He noted two events in his life that deeply impacted his work.

The first was as a chaplain in the trenches during World War One where he once buried over one hundred soldiers, many of whom he knew, in a long mass grave. He stated the horrors of that war never left him.

The second was the loss of his beloved wife who helped him spiritually recover after the war. He later noted her death and the grief that ensnared him following her passing almost took the heart completely out of him. But he found the solace that God alone could give.

One Sunday not long after her funeral, he preached a sermon entitled “When Life Tumbles In, What Then?” Addressing his parishioners, he said, “You people in the sunshine may believe in the faith, but we in the shadows must believe it. We have nothing else.”

Then he testified: “There is a Presence with us, a Comforter, a Fortifier who does strengthen us, does uphold, does bring us through somehow from hour to hour and day to day. And as the days go by, what grows upon one more and more is the amazing tenderness of God.” (Gossip’s sermon is found in his book, The Hero in Thy Soul, 106.)

I believe it is that presence who holds up all who mourn and are in pain and provides the comfort only the grace of God can give.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Alleluia Amen.