A sermon for the funeral of Mary Andrews
January 18, 2025
Readings: Psalm 23, Matthew 5:1-10
Today we gather to give thanks to God for a wonderful lady. We gather to pray; to support her family, friends, and all who mourn. And we gather because we have a sure and certain hope that nothing, not even death, will separate Mary or any of us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because Mary was baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, she is with Christ even now, held in his arms of mercy, peace, and love.
Mary didn’t think she was the best Episcopalian. Her religious history was a banquet. Even as she worshiped in the Episcopal Church, she still held on to that Pentecostal identity. I liked that about her. As someone who grew up Pentecostal myself, we bonded over our shared religious history. She liked that I had been Pentecostal. Maybe it made me a little less boring in her eyes. The truth is Episcopal preachers can bore the snot out of you.
I don’t think Episcopalian Pentecostal–or Pentecostal Episcopalian–is a contradiction. While it’s not a label I would embrace, I will say that to be Pentecostal is about more than denominational membership. At its best, it is a way of being in the world. To be Pentecostal is to be unafraid to go where the Holy Spirit leads; to listen for the Spirit’s voice; to obey when called. To be Pentecostal is to know that the Holy Spirit has authority over your life–and to embrace that.
Well, that was Mary. She listened; she followed; she obeyed. She did not do so perfectly. She, like me and you and every person on this planet, was a sinner–but a sinner redeemed by the mercy and grace of God. And even if the road was windy, she would follow. Even if the path was dark, she would follow. Even when fear was all around, she followed her Lord.
Sometimes, the Holy Spirit spoke to her through random people at the store. “I like you purse,” or “I like that shirt,” or “I like that piece of jewelry,” they would say. And she would give it to them, usually immediately, no questions asked. “Give to everyone who asks of you,” Jesus commanded. Mary answered. Generosity is easy when we live in the life of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes, the Holy Spirit spoke to her through her children. When Maria and Jacob sang in churches that were different for her, she went along. The Spirit called her to worship with her family, so she went.
Sometimes the Spirit speaks with conviction, calling us to account, opening our eyes. When the Holy Spirit spoke to her like that, challenging her to change her ways, her thinking about someone else, well, Mary answered. She answered over and over again, even when it was hard. She answered, in part, at the warming and cooling shelters, providing for the most vulnerable. She knew where they were; she loved them through it.
In this way of being–of listening, responding, obeying God’s call, following where the Spirit leads–in this way we find the secret to wisdom. Mary’s favorite verse (or one of them) was Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give your your heart’s desire.” We delight ourselves in God by living in the power of the Spirit, like Mary, seeking to be responsive to God’s call in ordinary obedience. And we find that the desires of our hearts are purified, changed, renewed, transformed, so that we desire nothing more, nothing less than God, and the healing, goodness, peace, joy, love, grace, and mercy of God.
As she was dying, Maria prayed another psalm with her mother, Psalm 23. The Lord is my Shepherd. The psalmist writes that God leads us in paths of righteousness. At least that’s what we read. Except that’s not quite what the psalmist says in Hebrew. In Hebrew, the psalmist says that God leads us in roundabout ways that end up in the right direction. Like the children of Israel wandering in the desert for 40 years, God leads us through this life. And sometimes it feels like we’re going in circles. Sometimes we don’t know the path in front of us. But God leads, and we follow as faithfully as we can, and we end up home.
Not too long ago–too short was her time at the end–the Holy Spirit called one more time. The Spirit called our sister home. And Mary was not afraid. With peace in her heart, blessed assurance at the last, and faith in Jesus, Mary followed like she always had. And on the other side of that valley of the shadow of death, she found green pastures and still waters. She is there now, a table spread before her forever, with goodness and mercy on her head as a crown. And my friends, the Holy Spirit takes us homeward, too.
Storied Grace 