GENESIS  32:3-12, 22-28
JOHN  15:1-5

Gordon E. Ellis
June 20, 2004

MORE   GOOD   NEWS   FROM   LAKE   MOORE:  Jamal’s Funeral

            Well, it’s been a QUIET week in my hometown, Lake Moore, that tiny village of 300 that sits on the MAP where Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire all CONVERGE into a single DOT.  It was NOT a quiet week for Pastor Peters, however.  On MONDAY when he got a call from old BERTHA MAE, asking him to OFFICIATE at her great grandson’s FUNERAL, down in BOSTON.  And he didn’t even hesitate.  He said, Yes, of course, Bertha Mae.  HE would do ANYTHING for that woman.

            Now, I’ve talked about Bertha Mae BEFORE, but it’s been a while.  SHE is the MATRIARCH of Lake Moore, though you wouldn’t KNOW it to LOOK at her.  First, she’s OLD, the second oldest person in TOWN, behind Ben Johnson.  Born in 1910 to POOR, African-American SHARECROPPERS in the South, Bertha Mae is the ONLY African-American person LIVING in Lake Moore, and the only one there’s EVER been as far as anyone can remember.  Bertha Mae is also obese, and needs a WHEELCHAIR to get around.  BUT, even though she is ALL the things that our SOCIETY tends to SHUN, there’s something ABOUT her that MAKES the people of Lake Moore LISTEN to her.

            MAYBE it’s because they know her BACKGROUND.  You see: WHEN she was a young adult, Bertha Mae LEFT the South and moved to New York City.  She supported herself as a skilled SEAMSTRESS.  And BECAUSE she was EXCELLENT, her business was SECURE and STEADY.  By the standards of the 1930’s, she made a VERY good living.  She even owned her own small HOUSE.  She kept close TIES to her family, and made a lot of FRIENDS.  SO, LIFE was pretty GOOD for Bertha Mae; she was quite COMFORTABLE.

            The only PROBLEM was that Bertha Mae could not SETTLE DOWN to living a “comfortable” life.  Something INSIDE of her was CALLING her, beckoning her.  And that SOMETHING would NOT allow her to be satisfied UNTIL she GAVE it all AWAY.  And FINALLY, she DID.  She OPENED her small HOME to HOMELESS children.  She called them her “Little Ones”.  They were KIDS whom either DEATH, or LACK of LOVE, had rendered “ORPHANS”.  But with Bertha MAE, they not only found a “HOME,” but they ALSO found LOTS of LOVE.  And HER love was SO overwhelming that it somehow unlocked THEIR ability to love and care.  And SHE became their MOTHER.  She NURTURED them, she TAUGHT them, and she DISCIPLINED them, AS if THEY were FRUIT of her very OWN womb.  BLACK, WHITE, RED, YELLOW – it DIDN’T MATTER to Bertha Mae.  She LOVED them ALL as if ALL were the SAME and ALL were HERS.  In ALL, 27 children called Bertha Mae “MOTHER,” even though Bertha Mae never bore single ONE of them, nor ever got MARRIED.

            Well, ALL her “ADOPTED” sons and daughters have long since grown up.  In fact, EXCEPT for TWO who were KILLED, one in the KOREA and ONE in VIETNAM, they’ve ALL become parents themselves, and MOST are now GRANDPARENTS.  For YEARS, in fact, Bertha Mae traveled around the Northeast, VISITING all of her children and grandchildren.  And even NOW, she may be DISABLED, and pretty much STUCK in Lake Moore, but she’s STILL the MATRIARCH of a HUGE family: 22 living children, 61 grandchildren, 74 great grandchildren, and 4 great, great grandchildren.  And believe it or not, they ALL visit her in Lake Moore at LEAST once a year.   WHY?  Because EVEN as OLD as she IS, Bertha Mae is a JOY to visit.  After all: she NEVER stops LOVING and GIVING.

            SO, HOW did she happen to move to LAKE MOORE, of all places?  Well, ONE of HER boys RETIRED to Lake Moore from New York City a few years ago.  By THEN, Bertha Mae was pretty much DISABLED.  SO, HE gave her a HOME, because she’s always LOVED the view of the LAKE, with pretty Mt. GRACE in the background.  And, SO most days in the spring, summer and early fall, you can FIND Bertha Mae sitting on the DECK in her wheelchair, TAKING IN that GLORIOUS New England view -- and THINKING and praying, and USUALLY smiling.

            It’s going to be a DIFFERENT kind of funeral, Pastor, she said.  Young Jamal wouldn’t have anything to DO with CHURCH.  BUT, he was a REALLY sweet kid.  He just had a HABIT of hanging around with the WRONG crowd.  And it makes me so SAD that this has HAPPENED to him.  Well, at the funeral home on Thursday night, Pastor Peters realized that if Bertha Mae’s heart is now cracked in two, the boy’s MOTHER’S heart is like a crumpled HEAP.  After all, SHE’S the one who brought Jamal INTO this world with SO much HOPE, just 17 years ago.  The funeral director CORNERED Pastor Peters and said: you know, Pastor, THIS is going to be a HUGE funeral, and we EXPECT some trouble.  Jamal was just RIDDLED with BULLETS, and the Boston Globe reported this morning that this was a GANG-RELATED shooting.  In fact, there are 2 police officers in my office who would like to SPEAK with YOU about it.

            Pastor Peters tried NOT to be NERVOUS, but when the TWO of them, as if ON CUE, flipped open their I.D. badges, he felt his heart speed up.  And then, he felt unusually IGNORANT when they gave him a quick LESSON about GANG warfare.  Now, we fully expect rival gang members to be at the funeral tomorrow, they said, and we’re concerned about a REVENGE killing.  However, we’re here to ASSURE you that WE will be working very hard to maintain safety INSIDE the church.  We’ll also have 8 squad cars doing extra patrols around the neighborhood.  AND, a SWAT team in UNMARKED vans will be standing by directly BEHIND the church.  But we’d like YOU to wear this bullet-proof VEST under your ROBE, Pastor.  Would that be OK?  As Pastor Peters looked at the canvass BAG they were handing him, ALL he could THINK of was Jesus giving INSTRUCTIONS to His disciples as He sent them out: Take NO bag, NO tunic, NO sandals, NO purse.  And he was SURE that a Kevlar VEST would be INCLUDED on that list.  He had VISIONS of the vest BULGING awkwardly beneath his robe.  And he politely said, No thanks, Officers.  I guess I’ll take my chances.

            Well, the next day at CHURCH (a HUGE church compared to what Pastor Peters is USED to) the officers were BACK, BOTH with radios and small weaponry beneath their jackets.  And when the mourners began pouring in, the air became VERY tense.  From the sacristy, Pastor Peters could SEE the officers in the back, EYEING each and every guest that arrived.  And just before the service was about to begin, Pastor Peters went to the back of the church, just in time to see a GANG leader and his bodyguards step out of a car.  One of the officers elbowed Pastor Peters and said: You’re looking at the most DANGEROUS man in this city right now.  And he showed Pastor Peters the art of spotting a GUN holster under a pricey suit.  Then, he pointed to another kid standing against the wall.  He said, Jamal’s killer hasn’t been identified yet, but THERE’S the leading SUSPECT.  He’s one of the Pall Bearers.

            Well, for 2 HOURS before the funeral, Pastor Peters had WATCHED as shrieking friends and silent mourners with cold, distant faces ALL filed past Jamal’s body.  He watched them dump everything from BULLETS to lavish gold necklaces into Jamal’s mahogany casket.  He’d seen the more serious wailers COLLAPSE on the carpet with dry heaves.  He’d seen how the funeral director and his associates were turning WHITE with fear.  And NOW, it was HIS turn.  And HE was absolutely TREMBLING inside.  He’d NEVER felt this way before in his LIFE.  He looked out over the nearly 600 people who PACKED that church.  He saw the two police officers MOVING into position, one behind the organ, and the other in the back balcony.  He had predetermined TWO things about this funeral.  First, the service was going to break ALL records for BREVITY.  And second, he would conduct the ENTIRE service from behind the pulpit, as if a half-inch of oak plywood would PROTECT him from gunfire.  And AS he stood there, clinging to the PULPIT, his knuckles WHITE, all of a sudden he was ASKING himself: WHAT in the world do ALL these people, in their VARIOUS stages of RAGE, want to HEAR from a WHITE pastor, who didn’t even KNOW Jamal?  And as far as I know, the GANG members here don’t want anything to DO with church.  WHAT in the world am I DOING here?

            BUT, Pastor Peters had ALSO resolved, and promised Bertha Mae, that he would PREACH the gospel with EVERYTHING in him.  And SO, just before he began, he looked over at HER.  He was SURE she saw the FEAR on his face, and she was SMILING at him, TRUSTING him to DO what he had PROMISED to do.  She looked SO peaceful, just as she had all morning long.  She seemed to TAKE all this in STRIDE, probably because she LOVED her great grandson so THOROUGHLY, and because she loves GOD so PURELY.  And Pastor Peters THOUGHT to himself: If only I could ABSORB just a FRACTION of the PEACE, and the FAITH, that resides in this woman.  Then maybe the WORDS of my sermon will ALL fall together.  And he closed his EYES and tried to just SOAK up her SMILE, and her CALM sense of PEACE.

            Well, before he knew it, his 13-minute funeral service was OVER, and Pastor Peters slipped out the pulpit DOOR.  Since the police had asked the family NOT to hold a graveside service, HE was officially DONE.  A small FIGHT broke out amongst SOME who wanted to have the casket RE-OPENED.  SO, the police CLEARED the entire sanctuary, except for Bertha Mae and her immediate family.  She and Pastor Peters exchanged GLANCES and smiles.  And later, when he went over to her in her wheelchair, she reached up to give him a HUG.  As he bent down to CLAIM it, she WHISPERED in his EAR: Pastor, you’ll NEVER know WHAT this has MEANT to me.

            And Pastor Peters replied: No, Bertha Mae, I may NEVER know what this has meant to YOU, but I DO know what THIS DAY has meant to ME.  And I believe it has CHANGED me.  It has forced me to DEAL with MYSELF when I am in UNCOMFORTABLE settings.  You know: all THROUGH this experience, I have felt like JACOB going to meet ESAU, when he wrestles with GOD at Jabbok River.  The poor guy is SCARED to death, trembling in his boots.  BUT, when someone JUMPS him, from out of NOWHERE, his FEAR turns into PURPOSE.  And I’d like to THINK that that was true for ME as well.  You know: AS I was preaching today, I was thinking that maybe, just MAYBE, Jamal’s friends MIGHT be even more SCARED of the CHURCH, and its potential for GOOD, than I’VE been of THEM these past 2 days.  And I wonder if THEY aren’t MORE nervous about what God MIGHT say to THEM than I have been about their reaction to ME.  You know: when Jacob WRESTLED with GOD at the Jabbok River, HE didn’t RECEIVE a clear VICTORY.  BUT, he DID discover a NEW capacity within HIMSELF for RELYING upon GOD.  And quite frankly, Bertha Mae, THAT’S what I’ve been discovering in MYSELF through ALL of this.  I looked over at you today, and I tried very HARD to absorb some of the PEACE that resides in YOU, and in some of the OTHER grace-filled people I see here.  But THEN, I realized where it COMES from.  It COMES from your deep and abiding RELIANCE upon God.  Well, from NOW on, I am going to LEAN more CONFIDENTLY upon God, JUST as YOU do.  And THEN, I’ll be able to FACE so much MORE of life, just as you HAVE.

            Bertha Mae LOOKED at him for a moment, and THEN said: Pastor, I have to tell you: when I get scared, I remember what JESUS said about the VINE and the BRANCHES, and how He said that HE is the VINE, and WE are the BRANCHES, and that APART from HIM, WE can do NOTHING.  You know: I think about that a LOT, especially LATELY, with LIFE getting to be as SCAREY as it IS.  And I find that the scarier LIFE gets, the MORE I want, and NEED, to CLING to the VINE, to cling to JESUS.  The scarier LIFE gets, the MORE I NEED to focus my attention, to focus my HEART and my MIND, on my LORD, and on being in COMMUNION, in ONENESS, with GOD.  And SO, I find I go to church more.  I look forward to receiving COMMUNION more.  I PRAY more.  I read the GOSPELS more.  I think about GOD more.  And I want to spend more TIME with people who are doing the SAME thing.  It’s like the scarier LIFE gets, the more I WANT, and NEED, to CLING to the VINE.  And I even picture the VINE holding ME.  I picture myself being HELD in the BIG, warm, loving ARMS of GOD.  And do you know something?  When you can SEE yourself being HELD in the big, warm, loving ARMS of GOD, there is NOT MUCH that can SCARE you anymore.  I mean: THEY could even KILL me, like they killed JAMAL, but WHAT does it matter?  GOD would STILL be HOLDING me in those big, warm, LOVING arms, JUST like God is holding JAMAL right NOW!  You know, Pastor, I realized a LONG time ago that whether we DIE when we’re 5, or whether we DIE when we’re 95, doesn’t really MATTER all that much.  NEITHER is a very LONG time when you’re talking about ETERNITY.  And ETERNITY is God’s GIFT to us!  SO, I figure that I can have PEACE just as long as I keep clinging to the VINE, and the VINE is holding ME.

Pastor Peters said, That’s a BEAUTIFUL image, Bertha Mae.  And then, he EMBRACED her, and they HUGGED for the LONGEST time.  He KNEW the hug wasn’t for HER sake, but for HIS.  And he just let himself be ENGULFED in her big, warm, loving ARMS, and PRETENDING he was in the ARMS of GOD.

            Well, THAT’S the Good News from Lake Moore, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the CHILDREN are ABOVE average.  AMEN.

My thanks to my colleague, Peter W. Marty, for parts of this sermon: A Different Kind of Funeral, Christian Century, October 17, 2001.