{"id":479,"date":"2013-04-23T13:43:25","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T18:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=479"},"modified":"2014-11-25T10:17:58","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:17:58","slug":"funeral-for-sandy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/23\/funeral-for-sandy\/","title":{"rendered":"Funeral for Sandy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 10:38-42<\/p>\n

38\u00a0<\/sup>Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39\u00a0<\/sup>She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord\u2019s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40\u00a0<\/sup>But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, \u201cLord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.\u201d 41\u00a0<\/sup>But the Lord answered her, \u201cMartha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42\u00a0<\/sup>there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.\u201d [1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Bishop Hanson said recently; \u201cAt times like this it can be hard to trust the power of God\u2019s life-giving promise in Christ. That is the work of the Holy Spirit for which we pray, \u2018May it be so.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex, Chad and Sydney, you are here today, not alone, but with family, friends and fellow church members of your mother Sandy.\u00a0 Her sudden death has left so many of us in shock, disbelief, grief and sadness.\u00a0 As we go forward in our days, there may be times when we think of Sandy and begin to grieve again, have anger, sadness and even joy.\u00a0 Sandy was a devoted disciple of Christ.\u00a0 We all know how busy she was just in church.\u00a0 Sandy, like Christ took care of people, she was responsible for the pizza for confirmation, filled the candles, ironed banners and knitted prayer-shawls.\u00a0\u00a0 Today we have prayer-shawl that Sandy knitted for others.\u00a0 Please, pass this one around and think of Sandy as you touch and smell it.<\/p>\n

Like Martha in our text today Sandy has been busy in her life.\u00a0 Even in her last week Sandy was busy, busy in her fight to get well.\u00a0 Now, like Mary it is an opportunity for Sandy to relax and be with her Savior, our Savior.\u00a0 We do not believe that death is the end, but a beginning of a new chapter of our lives.\u00a0 Although it may be difficult at this time for many of us to see this, we know from the words of Jesus, that Mary and had chosen the right path in her faith, the one that now allows her to be with and attentive to the words of Jesus, which He said, \u201cwill not be taken from her.\u201d\u00a0 Yes, now Sandy has that opportunity to be with Jesus, the one that sits at the right hand of His Father, our Father, God in heaven.<\/p>\n

When we go throughout the coming days, there may be things that remind us of Sandy but these are opportunities to remember her in her life with Christ.\u00a0 In Sandy\u2019s life, the Spirit was always present just like the Spirit is also present with us in the things we do.\u00a0 It may be difficult sometimes to feel this presence and we may have doubts.\u00a0 Today…. we may even have doubts, and doubts are normal, they can be a normal part of grieving and faith.\u00a0 It was Paul Tillich a famous theologian who said,\u00a0 \u201cDoubt isn\u2019t the opposite of faith, it is an element of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hear these words of wisdom as given by the Celtic people.<\/p>\n

Walking with Grief:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do not hurry<\/p>\n

as you walk with grief;<\/p>\n

it does not help the journey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Walk slowly,<\/p>\n

pausing often:<\/p>\n

do not hurry<\/p>\n

as you walk with grief.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Be not disturbed<\/p>\n

by memories that come unbidden.<\/p>\n

Swiftly forgive;<\/p>\n

and let Christ speak for you<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

unspoken words.<\/p>\n

Unfinished conversation<\/p>\n

will be resolved in Him.<\/p>\n

Be not disturbed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Be gentle with the one<\/p>\n

who walks with grief.<\/p>\n

If it is you,<\/p>\n

be gentle with yourself.<\/p>\n

Swiftly forgive;<\/p>\n

walk slowly,<\/p>\n

pausing often.<\/p>\n

Take time, be gentle\u00a0as you walk with grief.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Jesus was gentle with both Mary and Martha when he visited their home and the same Jesus is still gentle with Sandy who suddenly took ill. But the illness doesn\u2019t get the last word, Jesus does. Although we won\u2019t see Sandy serving with single-minded determination here at church and with her family, we know she sits at the foot of Jesus and that… will not be taken from her.\u00a0 This is our hope, the hope in the\u00a0resurrection.<\/p>\n

We lift these words to you Oh Lord and ask that you help us to recall these words when we need them most.<\/p>\n

And let all of God\u2019s children say,<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n
\n
\n

[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version<\/i> (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Lk 10:38-42.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a> Celtic Daily Prayer: From the Northumbria Community<\/i>, 1st ed., rev. and updated (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2002), 225\u2013226.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 10:38-42 38\u00a0Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39\u00a0She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord\u2019s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40\u00a0But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,28,10,12,36,83],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-479","6":"format-standard","7":"category-death","8":"category-eternal-life","9":"category-jesus","10":"category-lossandgrief","11":"category-promise","12":"category-sermon"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-7J","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3416,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2025\/04\/16\/martha\/","url_meta":{"origin":479,"position":0},"title":"Martha","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"April 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"4-12-20255th Wednesday of Lent Luke 10:38-42 (NRSV)","rel":"","context":"In "Death"","block_context":{"text":"Death","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/death\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1690,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/11\/baptism-of-our-lord-baptism-is-important\/","url_meta":{"origin":479,"position":1},"title":"Baptism of our Lord, Baptism is IMPORTANT!","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"January 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Baptism is IMPORTANT! 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