Funeral Sermon for Agnes Tannehill based on Revelation 7:9-17
This Sunday here at the church, as
will be the case at many churches, we will observe “All Saints Day”. And as a part of that observance, during the
morning’s prayers, we will name those individuals of this congregation who have
died over the past twelve months; we will give thanks to God for those brothers
and sisters in Christ whose course has been run; who have fought the good
fight, who have finished the race, who have kept the faith. And of course this morning we gather here
because there is one more whom we will remember; one
more who will be included in those prayers.
Today we gather here to mourn the death of a beloved mother,
grandmother, sister, friend. Today we gather to lay
to rest the earthly remains of our sister, Agnes Helen Tannehill. And for that reason many tears have rightly been
shed and no doubt will continue to be shed.
But today though we mourn, we can also
rejoice, can’t we? We can rejoice for a
gift from God in the person of Agnes who touched many a life. A person who loved her
family and who was loved in return.
A person with a wonderful sense of humor – a warm smile and that little
wink that let you know that she was on your side. Today we rejoice and thank God for all that
Agnes meant to all of us – and especially to you, her family.
But today we can also rejoice for notice
that I said that Agnes’ name will be read at our “All Saints Day” observance
this weekend. Of course normally we hear
that word ‘saint’ and we think of some extraordinary person who led an almost
“out of this world” kind of life. A life that
For in our reading for this morning
from Revelation, chapter 7 – a reading that is read on All Saints Day – John is
given a vision of a great multitude that no one can count, people from
every nation, tribe and language standing before the throne and in front of the
Lamb. And what John sees there in that
vision, is God’s people
in heaven. That is, he sees God’s saints
gathered around the Lord God’s heavenly throne.
And what made them to be saints
worthy to stand before God in heaven? To
be counted among God's saints? Well in
our reading John is asked regarding this great multitude, “Who are they, and where did they come from?” And John answers, “Sir, you know.” And then
this elder with whom John is speaking says, “These
are they who have come out of the great tribulation, they have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” That’s what makes a saint, isn’t it? Being washed in the blood of the Lamb. Being cleansed of all stain and blemish through
faith in Jesus - the Lamb of God - who shed His blood on Calvary’s cross. Tha'ts what makes a saint.
And for that reason, I will be so
bold as to say to you today, that there in that vision that John is given of
God’s saints, there’s Agnes. She’s there
in that great multitude, standing before the throne and in front
of the Lamb. She’s there where every tear has been wiped away and where God
shelters His people from every harm and danger.
She’s there - her soul, that is, even now. She's there. And how is it
that she is there? How is it that I can
dare say this? …
I don’t know how many of you have
ever been to Shady Brook, but if you have, then you know there’s not a whole
lot out there. And though I understand
that it used to be a bit more of a happening place with a grocery store and
barber shop and even a train station, it’s now a pretty small place – a church,
the parsonage, maybe another old building or two. But in that little place
something big happened. Something so big in fact that it turns our mourning on this day
into rejoicing. Something so big happened
there that though today we mourn the fact that a sister has succumbed to the
wages of sin, today we can also rejoice that another saint of God has joined
her God around His heavenly throne. For
you see, at that little place, Shady Brook, a saint of God was made on
And by His grace, the Lord God kept that
saint of his – Agnes - in her baptismal faith for well over 87 years as she
walked among us and as we were blessed for having known her. God kept her in the faith, and He has now
taken her out of this valley of sorrows – out of this ‘great tribulation” as
John heard it described in our reading, and to Himself where there are no more
tears. …
This past weekend Diane and I were
talking to Agnes and of course we were talking about Jesus and what He did for her
by dying on the cross for her sins and how heaven is her home. And during this Agnes said in almost a
question although I think it was probably more a statement of great
anticipation, but she said, “I’ll be able to see.” And Diane said, “Yes, you’ll be able to
see.” Obviously her poor eyesight has
been a great source of struggle over the last few years. But you know what, Agnes now sees perfectly. As a saint of her God – gathered around His
throne, her soul taken into His loving arms, Agnes now sees. She sees her Savior, she sees those fellow
saints who are gathered with her around her Lord’s throne. Her soul is with the Lord, and she now sees.
But that’s not it. For Agnes’ faith – the faith she was baptized
into, the faith she confessed throughout her life – wasn’t just a "you die
and your soul goes to heaven and that's it" sort of thing. That’s a part of it – but that’s not
all. For Agnes also confessed throughout
her life that she believed in “the resurrection of the dead.” Something I emphasized to Agnes over the last
month or so was to remember the words, “Jesus lived and died for me.” That’s what gave Agnes that peace with which
to walk through that valley of the shadow of death. But Jesus didn’t just die for the sins of
Agnes and of you and of me – He also rose again. And as a result, this body, this baptized body of one of God’s saints
will rise again also. These eyes that
have closed in death, will open again with life and
they will see perfectly. They will see heaven, they will see Jesus face to face. …
But I must also say that in my
conversations with Agnes over the last couple of years, I know it was her hope
and her prayer that she will see all of you also there in heaven. Agnes of course loved her family. All of you
meant the world to her. I could tell that from her stories she would tell and the
way she would show off her pictures of you.
And so one thing that was on her mind was that desire and concern that
all of you know that same Savior that she knew.
And so out of respect for Agnes, this
dearly departed saint of our God, I would like to leave you with those same
words that I left Agnes with over our last several visits. Never forget – especially when you walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, when you get to those gates of
heaven – never forget that Jesus lived and died for you. You see that is the faith of God’s
saints. That was Agnes’ faith, and as
was Agnes’ prayer, I pray is your faith as well.
May the Lord bless you and keep you
in His grace in Jesus, Agnes’ risen Savior, and yours as well. Amen.