Funeral Sermon

 Funeral Sermon for Dennis Fly

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

A couple of summers ago, we planned a special service where members of Family of God could vote for their favorite hymns, and the “winners” would be sing and heard one of the Sundays in August.. I joked that everyone should write their name on their ballot, so that we knew people only voted once. As it turns out, this is how I discovered that Denny voted…. three times...and each time for different hymns (even though some of them do overlap!). Some of his voting selections were used in the prelude and postlude for today’s service.

Denny’s approach to voting for his favorite hymns – enthusiastically all-in - reveals the kind of person Denny was. That man never seemed to slow down, not for one second, all through the course of his life. He was a force of nature. No one and nothing could stop him – not from planning and building what seems like 90 percent of this church building, not from popping in on a weekday to fix something wrong with the carpet, not from having connections to nearly every single person worth knowing within a 10 mile radius.

While nothing could stop his spirit, we all know that the breakneck-pace of his life often took a toll on his body… and often his relationships. And many time it felt like no sooner had he conquered one hurtle, only to be faced with another, and knocked off his feet – sometimes literally – once again. Here was a man who looked suffering and hardship in the face many times… and it showed. Denny was stubborn. He had opinions. He had been hurt and let down, over and over and over again. And somehow he kept going, sometimes in ways that took my breath away.

Whenever I talked to Denny this past summer what he said frustrated him the most was just sitting on his “cotton-picking back doing nothing,” not able to be at home, not being able to take care of and look after Sandee. Looking at those same four walls of that room for the past six months probably made him long for the rooms he wanted to be – at home with the people he loved and those who loved him. If possible, making a latte.

While Denny spent his life building – building walls and rooms and homes, mostly for other people – Jesus was preparing a room and a home for Denny. While Denny was building the pews and furniture … and the CROSS in THIS very room, Jesus was preparing a place for him.

As Denny described, he was once assisting during worship, when after the service his mother asked him why there was no cross above the altar. The next week, his mother suddenly passed away. As Denny sought a way to honor his mother’s memory, weeks and months passed, and the beginning of the season of Advent brought inspiration – a star in the shape of a cross, the like Star of Bethlehem. But the Star Cross seemed to need something… So, from a restoration project his parents had helped with, wood from an oak barn received new life in the shape of a larger cross.

In Denny’s own words, he described this special cross this way: “The Star enlightening the Shepherds and Wise Men, to come to witness the Birth of Our lord Jesus, the Christ Child, then a space in time reflecting the life and work of Jesus, and following to the heavy cross being carried by Christ to his Crucifixion and death and then after 3 days, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!” with an exclamation point.

When Jesus was eating his last meal with his followers, in that upper room just before Jesus’ death, his disciples were worried about what the future would hold. Jesus reassures them, for his is going to prepare a place for them. In God’s house, there are lots of room, he tells them. Not only will there be a place prepared for them, but Jesus himself is going to lead them there.

Jesus’ promise is not just for his disciples at the time Jesus walked this earth, but it is for all people at all times. This promise was present for Denny during his life and in his death. This promise is for you, right here and now. Jesus always makes a way, and makes room for us, just as Jesus prepared a place for Denny, after a lifetime of preparing places for others.

We cannot prevent setbacks, but we aren’t alone in our struggles and grief. We cannot defeat the power of death over us, but Jesus can. And Jesus did, by dying on the cross and rising again. Jesus took the sting out of death. He overpowered it, conquering it with the power of his love. Even though those we love still leave us, we trust that in sharing in Christ’s death, we also share in Christ’s resurrection.

This same God who promised to walk with Denny through his hills and valleys is the same loving God who promises to walk with US through our own valleys of shadow and grief. God does not let us tread this sorrowful path alone. Our loving God sent his son Jesus to travel this path ahead of us and with us, so that we may someday join him in sharing eternal life with God, as Denny done before us.

Today, in this hour of sadness and grief, we commit beloved father, grandfather, and friend Denny to the care of God, the author of his life. Though this earthly song has now ended, the song of his legacy plays on. The music of his life is now joined with the heavenly chorus. I believe that we might hear him singing, with the heavenly host, the words of one of his favorite hymns,

God’s word forever shall abide, no thanks to those who fear it. 

For God fights by our side, with weapons of the spirit.  

Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child, or spouse,

thou life be wrenched away, they cannot with the day: The Kingdom’s ours forever.

We are God’s forever. Denny is God’s forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.