Sleep, Child, In Peace
Sermon
Life Everlasting
The Essential Book of Funeral Resources
Object:
For a young girl whose death involved drugs
Sleep, Child, In Peace
1 Kings 19:11-13; John 11:28-36
This is the part of the service where, in a normal situation, I or someone else would read an obituary. We would list the date of birth and date of death, parents, siblings, children if any. It is also the time in the service where, in a normal situation, should a family member or friend desire to do so ... we would hear a personal eulogy; a statement of the meaningfulness of the life lived.
This is not a normal situation. There is a cloud hanging over us, a cloud which I am going to address, but first the family has asked that we remember Rhyna as a child, as a little girl, and as a young woman surrounded by a family ... who loved her deeply.
They want us to remember the "air of excitement," the life and vitality which was hers. They want us to remember the joyful exuberance which oozed out of her in her love of music, especially the guitar ... and opera! She has a number of recordings of Carmen.
They want us to remember her outspoken nature manifested in an eclectic choice of clothing, in her singing and tap dancing down the hall at school, and in her passion as a collector of lost animals and lost souls -- cats and dogs -- and friends.
And they want us to remember that she was a "buddy" to her sister-in-law and especially to her nieces. Mya, who is four, was especially close to Rhyna.
Her brothers, David Trey, Paul, and Kris, want us to remember her as the little sister who substituted as a football during their childhood games, who was Trey's "show and tell" when she was six weeks old, who played with their Lego's and matchbox cars, read their hotrod magazines, and became very protective of them: her sister-in-law and potential sisters-in-law all had to pass her inspection!
Rhyna's family wants us to remember the girl who, as a six-year-old after a daycare field trip to the courthouse, wrote a letter to an attorney asking if she could sue her parents for an increase in her allowance! It was a well-reasoned argument, indicating wonderful ability, a sharp mind, and potential.
Rhyna was more than a statistic, more than an object for the evening news, more than a lightning rod for our outrage. Rhyna was a daughter, a sister, a child of God. She will be missed. The family asked that we remember that part of her. And we need to remember those better days ... for they help us to reason through the unspeakable tragedy which has befallen us.
We are in a war. Language is important: this is not a "problem," we're in a war. We don't have a drug "problem" in our schools. We don't have a drug "problem" in our community. We have a war. And the war is not with drugs as much as it is with evil. We are in a war with evil.
There are casualties in a war. This past week, four people (three of them teenagers), have died in the war with drugs. Four casualties, countless victims. We're all victims in the war.
And there will be more casualties. For evil is powerful. Its power lies not in unpleasantness but in its very appeal. Evil is attractive. It is seductive. It is unrelenting and remorseless. (And) it has you targeted for destruction. It takes youthful exuberance and the desire of all young people to stretch their wings and be "independent." It turns that against you ... and it will destroy you.
Make no mistake about it. Do not discount your own susceptibility. Do not ever think that it would never happen to you. It could. It can. And it will. Evil has you targeted for destruction. Rhyna's death proves that beyond all doubt.
But all is not lost, there is hope. For the God whose Word was made flesh and lived among us, the God whose light shines into the darkness so that darkness cannot overcome it, that God is always present with us. And God, through Christ Jesus, loves us.
When Elijah looked for the Lord, the Lord was not found in the cacophony of sound or in the great powers of nature. The Lord was in the "sheer silence" of Elijah's own heart. God is always present. God has given us a wonderful gift, the ability to choose; even the ability to choose evil. Regardless of our choices, however, God never, ever, leaves us. God is always present.
And God loves us. Just as Jesus loved Lazarus and wept at the sound of sorrow at the loss of his friend, Jesus loves us and weeps with us this day, at this service. Jesus loves us when we're good. Jesus loves us when we're not. Jesus loves us as we struggle. Jesus loves us as we grieve. Jesus loves all of us all the time. Jesus loves Rhyna, and is with her right now.
As we leave this house of God, taking with us our grief ... and a sorrow so great that we cannot bear it alone ... we need also to take with us this word of hope: The God who is ever present is also the God who loves us.
In our worship, we affirm that in life, in death, and in life beyond death, God is with us. Hold on to that as if it were the anchor which grounds you in reality: In life, in death, and in life beyond death, God is with us. That is the message for those of us who remain and who will go on about the business God has given us to be busy with. We are not alone. God is ever present. God loves us.
But what about Rhyna?
There is not a lot that can be said with any certainty about the afterlife. But the presbyter, John, writing in his "Revelation" tells us that we can take some comfort in those who are with God. For speaking about those who are before the altar of God, John writes:
They are before the throne of God,
And worship him day and night within his temple,
And the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
The sun will not strike them,
Nor any scorching heat;
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
And he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
We have no need to worry about Rhyna, she is in the company of her God who will comfort her, love her, and care for her -- this day ... and forever more.
Sleep, child, in peace. Amen.
-- William E. LaBarr
Sleep, Child, In Peace
1 Kings 19:11-13; John 11:28-36
This is the part of the service where, in a normal situation, I or someone else would read an obituary. We would list the date of birth and date of death, parents, siblings, children if any. It is also the time in the service where, in a normal situation, should a family member or friend desire to do so ... we would hear a personal eulogy; a statement of the meaningfulness of the life lived.
This is not a normal situation. There is a cloud hanging over us, a cloud which I am going to address, but first the family has asked that we remember Rhyna as a child, as a little girl, and as a young woman surrounded by a family ... who loved her deeply.
They want us to remember the "air of excitement," the life and vitality which was hers. They want us to remember the joyful exuberance which oozed out of her in her love of music, especially the guitar ... and opera! She has a number of recordings of Carmen.
They want us to remember her outspoken nature manifested in an eclectic choice of clothing, in her singing and tap dancing down the hall at school, and in her passion as a collector of lost animals and lost souls -- cats and dogs -- and friends.
And they want us to remember that she was a "buddy" to her sister-in-law and especially to her nieces. Mya, who is four, was especially close to Rhyna.
Her brothers, David Trey, Paul, and Kris, want us to remember her as the little sister who substituted as a football during their childhood games, who was Trey's "show and tell" when she was six weeks old, who played with their Lego's and matchbox cars, read their hotrod magazines, and became very protective of them: her sister-in-law and potential sisters-in-law all had to pass her inspection!
Rhyna's family wants us to remember the girl who, as a six-year-old after a daycare field trip to the courthouse, wrote a letter to an attorney asking if she could sue her parents for an increase in her allowance! It was a well-reasoned argument, indicating wonderful ability, a sharp mind, and potential.
Rhyna was more than a statistic, more than an object for the evening news, more than a lightning rod for our outrage. Rhyna was a daughter, a sister, a child of God. She will be missed. The family asked that we remember that part of her. And we need to remember those better days ... for they help us to reason through the unspeakable tragedy which has befallen us.
We are in a war. Language is important: this is not a "problem," we're in a war. We don't have a drug "problem" in our schools. We don't have a drug "problem" in our community. We have a war. And the war is not with drugs as much as it is with evil. We are in a war with evil.
There are casualties in a war. This past week, four people (three of them teenagers), have died in the war with drugs. Four casualties, countless victims. We're all victims in the war.
And there will be more casualties. For evil is powerful. Its power lies not in unpleasantness but in its very appeal. Evil is attractive. It is seductive. It is unrelenting and remorseless. (And) it has you targeted for destruction. It takes youthful exuberance and the desire of all young people to stretch their wings and be "independent." It turns that against you ... and it will destroy you.
Make no mistake about it. Do not discount your own susceptibility. Do not ever think that it would never happen to you. It could. It can. And it will. Evil has you targeted for destruction. Rhyna's death proves that beyond all doubt.
But all is not lost, there is hope. For the God whose Word was made flesh and lived among us, the God whose light shines into the darkness so that darkness cannot overcome it, that God is always present with us. And God, through Christ Jesus, loves us.
When Elijah looked for the Lord, the Lord was not found in the cacophony of sound or in the great powers of nature. The Lord was in the "sheer silence" of Elijah's own heart. God is always present. God has given us a wonderful gift, the ability to choose; even the ability to choose evil. Regardless of our choices, however, God never, ever, leaves us. God is always present.
And God loves us. Just as Jesus loved Lazarus and wept at the sound of sorrow at the loss of his friend, Jesus loves us and weeps with us this day, at this service. Jesus loves us when we're good. Jesus loves us when we're not. Jesus loves us as we struggle. Jesus loves us as we grieve. Jesus loves all of us all the time. Jesus loves Rhyna, and is with her right now.
As we leave this house of God, taking with us our grief ... and a sorrow so great that we cannot bear it alone ... we need also to take with us this word of hope: The God who is ever present is also the God who loves us.
In our worship, we affirm that in life, in death, and in life beyond death, God is with us. Hold on to that as if it were the anchor which grounds you in reality: In life, in death, and in life beyond death, God is with us. That is the message for those of us who remain and who will go on about the business God has given us to be busy with. We are not alone. God is ever present. God loves us.
But what about Rhyna?
There is not a lot that can be said with any certainty about the afterlife. But the presbyter, John, writing in his "Revelation" tells us that we can take some comfort in those who are with God. For speaking about those who are before the altar of God, John writes:
They are before the throne of God,
And worship him day and night within his temple,
And the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
The sun will not strike them,
Nor any scorching heat;
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
And he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
We have no need to worry about Rhyna, she is in the company of her God who will comfort her, love her, and care for her -- this day ... and forever more.
Sleep, child, in peace. Amen.
-- William E. LaBarr
