Love is stronger than death

Chapel at Episcopal Church Center

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
DFMS Memorial Service for Kerry
May 7, 2020

Wisdom 3:1-5, 9; Psalm 139:1-11; Romans 8:14-19,34-35,37-39; John 11:21-27

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

We gather today as a community of friends and colleagues to remember Kerry. Many of us knew him well and had the blessing of working alongside him for years. Others of us know him only through stories. We gather today to remember him, to honor his life, to give thanks for his work with us, and to celebrate the life he now shares in the nearer presence of our Lord.

Indeed, even in the midst of our tears and grief, we give thanks. Even at the grave we make our song “Alleluia.” We give thanks for the gift of life. None of us has any guarantees of how long we will have. Each day is a blessing. If we are given the gift of years, and even decades in the company of those we love, our joy is all the more.

We give thanks for the privilege of having jobs we love and the opportunity, that sadly can be rare for many people, to do meaningful work. To do work that serves God’s people and seeks to build up God’s Kingdom in this world.

We give thanks for the gift of faith, for the gift of God’s presence with us in our joys and our sorrows. We give thanks for communities of faith, including this one, that deepen our connection to God and to each other. Communities that support us and restore our souls.

We give thanks for the profound truths from our readings today. That the death of our bodies does not mean the end of life. Kerry is with God. We mourn the loss of being able to talk with him or see him, and yet the bonds of love - the bonds of fellowship that connect us to God and to each other are stronger than anything, even death.

This is the profound truth we hear in our reading from Romans today: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As we grieve the sudden loss of Kerry, as we are grieving the loss of other friends and family members in the midst of this pandemic, we can hold fast to this important truth. We are never beyond the reach of God’s love. That love binds us to God and to each other is an unbreakable bond. There is nothing - no tragic death, no pandemic, no challenge, no hardship, no loss, no pain, no struggle where God is not with us. Even death does not sever the connection. They may be beyond the reach of our incarnate grasp, but they have not left the chambers of our hearts. Our love does not diminish. We carry them with us. Their lives, their witness, their faith will continue to inspire and comfort us in the days ahead.

We mourn today. We grieve today. And we give thanks today. For Kerry. For all those we love but see no longer. For the gift of faith. For the sacred truth that Love always has the last word. Always. Thanks be to God.

Amen.