A Place of Rest and Guidance
The Psalm says: “The Lord makes me lie down.” We find in this moment of grief our rest, peace and refuge in the presence of God who is here with us. “He leads me.” God gives us guidance and a sense of direction. The shock of grief leaves us puzzled and confused and we are not sure we can feel God’s presence. But we have to remember that God’s presence is not based on feelings. Sometimes we are low because of our grief and God is ever present to guide us, strengthen us and walk with us into the days that lie before us.
God’s Renewal
The Psalm says: “He restores my soul.” You need to look to God to find renewal, reinvigoration and strength to help bear you up.
A small boy was struggling one day with a heavy log, trying to bring it to his father to be used in the fireplace. Finally, he stumbled and dropped the log.
The father said, to the young son, “Why didn’t you use all of your strength?”
The small boy, a bit hurt, said, “But Dad, I did.”
“No! No! you didn’t,” the father said, “You did not ask me to help you.”
This is the great truth of the Psalm. God is with us. We can’t bear this grief alone, but God is present to help you. God is with you. God offers companionship, a sense of His presence. We know that we are never alone.
Walking through the Valley
The Psalm says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley.” The Bible often uses “walking’ as a word to describe the different aspects of life. In Genesis it states: “Before whom my fathers did walk” (Genesis 48:15). “Ask the good way and walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:18). Micah reminds us, “Walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). “Walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). “Walk worthy of your vocation” (Ephesians 4: 1). “Walk worthy of the Lord” (Colossians 1:9).
We pause today to remember the walk of Myrtle Bates. For 85 years she walked the good life among us. She experienced, like all of us, good times and difficult times, happy and sad moments, joys and sorrows. But through it all, she was a good woman. We thank God for her life. Today we express our gratitude for the years we shared with her as family and friends. But, even at its longest, life is still brief. We know life will be different without her and she will be missed but we are thankful for the many years that she walked among us. Today she is survived by two sons, seven grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
We observed her walk and the way she lived. Myrtle was faithful in her church attendance until she became older and ill. For 20 years she was a Nursing Associate. She enjoyed this work and was good at it. She worked with Southeastern General Hospital until she was 72. She was good hearted to strangers and enjoyed being with older people. She admired her mother and talked about her a great deal. She was serious minded and devoted to Wilton. She was a good woman of religious faith. Myrtle’s influence will continue to be felt by family and friends through many years to come.
The Valley of Shadows
In Palestine there is a valley known as “The Shadow of Death.” It is a frightening place for sheep and for people. It is a fierce place with steep slopes and rugged terrain. Often, in Biblical days, there were robbers waiting to pounce on people who came through there or to steal the sheep. This valley of the shadows is indeed frightening. Look for a moment at this valley of the shadows. Shadows often hide and distort reality. The pathway through grief may look dark and gloomy as it did through the Shadow of Death Valley. But we have to remember the emphasis is on the word through. We pass through those shadows which distort the reality which is before us.
Remember that the shadows themselves have no reality. A shadow is not real. Remember, wherever you have a shadow, there is light shining behind it because there can be no shadow without light. The shadow is the resultant gloom caused by something between you and the light. Remember that the shadows vanish when you face the light. If we stay in the shadows of grief, we will feel low. When we walk toward the light, then the shadows will disappear. They fall behind us. Let us turn and look toward the light of God’s presence which shines in our face to remind us that death is not the end. The key emphasis, I think, in this line is “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” We walk through the valley of the shadow of grief today assured that death is not the end. Myrtle has gone to be with the God she loves. The shadows of grief are for a moment. We need to remember that the light of God’s love shines on behind us and we have the assurance that death is not the end.
Years ago when I was in school, I remember preaching in a small mountain church. I got there and it was night, and in the winter months, it was dark and dreary. As I pulled up in my little Ford before that church, it seemed dark, lonesome and dreary. As I walked toward the church, I thought this is, indeed, going to be a depressing service. I assumed since I saw no light that there would not be many present for the service. But when I opened the door, light flooded out toward me from the church that was filled with many lights and filled with people who had gathered there to worship.
On this side of death, it may look gloomy and sad to us, but when the door of death is opened, light floods into our lives and the shadows disappear. The light of God’s presence sustains us and we walk into the eternal life that God has prepared. Myrtle has gone to that land of light. She no longer is in the land of shadows. She has found the peace of God. May God come into our lives to give us a sense of peace and rest and may we find comfort in knowing that for her, she has gone from this life to dwell in the eternal realm that God has prepared.
Alfred Lord Tennyson has expressed his faith in life beyond death in these beautiful lines in his “In Memoriam.”
Strong Son of God, Immortal Love,
Whom we, that have not seen thy face,
By faith, and faith alone, embrace,
Believing where we cannot prove;
Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:
Thou madest man, he knows not why,
He thinks he was made not to die;
And thou hast made him: thou art just.
We have but faith; we cannot know;
For knowledge is of things we see;
And yet we trust it comes from thee,
A beam in darkness; let it grow.
Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before,
But vaster.2
O God of Light, we come to this moment of death, expressing our grief at the loss of this good woman, Myrtle Bates. We thank you for her life among us, for her faith and hope. Encircle the family now in the arms of Your love and give them the assurance that death is not the end. May they know that truly we walk through valley into the land of eternal life that you have prepared. May Your comfort, peace, love and grace abide in the hearts of the family both now and forevermore. Amen.
2 Alfred Lord Tennyson, “In Memoriam,” James Dalton Morrison, editor. Masterpieces of Religious Verse (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishing, 1948), 327-328.
3: A Homily
for
Phyllis Cave and Brandon Shaw
(Murder and Suicide)
Romans 8:18-27
At