Funeral for Janice Jones

Janice Jones was one of the very first members of this congregation that I ever met. After I had my first phone call with the call committee, a few weeks later, I was able to attend the Carolinas Mission District (at the time) annual Convocation in Troutman, NC. I was told that I shouldn’t really interact “too much” with the Miller’s delegation…that I should wait for the formal interview, but it might be nice to introduce myself to the Miller’s people just so we could all put a face to the names. Well, as most of you know, Blake and Janice were volunteers to attend as the congregation lay delegates to these events on many occasions…and this was one of them. I would later see the two of them together in both Denver, Colorado and Indianapolis, Indiana at the national convocations. So even before I became a part of this church family, she was one of the first personalities that I became acquainted with.

After I was called and settled in, she and Blake both were very helpful as I tried to learn the names of the people in our congregation. I don’t know if she had a hand in getting everyone to wear nametags or not, but that wouldn’t surprise me if she did. What I *do* know is that she was one of the people who, as soon as I started getting some of the names down, she said, “now you need to start learning families - see that guy over there? He’s my brother.” Making sure I continued to learn - ever the teacher.

I also learned very quickly that Janice Jones was someone who would tell me the truth, and was not shy about voicing her opinion. She was instrumental in helping me learn about the history of our church, the traditions and customs, and how we got where we are as a congregation. You know, those things you just can’t read about in annual reports. She was a wealth of knowledge, and shared that with me.

One thing that struck me about Janice is that she spent so much time talking about the achievements and accomplishments of her friends and colleagues…and especially her family. Let me just say, for those of you who called Janice your aunt, I don’t know how she treated you in person, but behind your backs she showered you with praise upon praise. She was very proud of all of you.

That was one thing about her that I very much admired: she focused her energy on lifting people up, and not tearing anyone down. She was so enthusiastic about telling me the good things about the people she loved, that there really didn’t seem to be time for her to waste it talking about negative things. Yet another lesson Janice the teacher has for all of us, I think.

I wouldn’t say this if it weren’t true: Janice was a woman of faith. She was devoted to her church family, and she was devoted to God. Just as one example: there was a period where we were unable to find the wine that we have used for communion for several decades. As soon as they heard, Blake and Janice brought a case of wine to the church to ensure that there would be no hindrance to the availability of the Sacrament. And every time I administered the Lord’s Supper to her, I could see in her face just how much that Sacrament meant to her. It was a reminder of what her Lord had done for her.

The lessons I chose for today are a reminder of Janice and her faith in Christ. The selection from Proverbs is how the author describes a faithful, Godly wife. As yesterday was Janice and Blake’s anniversary and in the time I’ve known them, I’ve only seen them apart for a few minutes at a time, I think we all know how meaningful their marriage was.

The last year has been very physically hard for both Janice and Blake, as her mobility declined and her “tent” as Paul called it in the second lesson was developing more problems. I would remind everyone here today of Paul’s opening in this letter: “16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” There is more than this transient, outer self that is wasting away. And I’m confident that Janice knew that.

But more than anything else, the Gospel lesson for today is what I want to focus on now. The very first verse, Jesus opens with a word of hope: “Let not your hearts be troubled.” It’s refreshing when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords tells us this, isn’t it? Let’s remember the scene where Jesus is saying this. This is the night of the Last Supper. He has just washed the feet of his disciples, and he is enjoying his last opportunity to teach them and encourage them. He knows that they are about to have their faith really challenged, when he is arrested and killed, so this is what he tells them. Luther describes the feeling this way:

Luther’s Works, Volume 24 (1. Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled.)

[We see here] how concerned He is about them lest they remain disconsolate in this very night when, as He had often foretold, suffering and the cross were to separate Him from them, when He was to leave them behind amid great peril, fear, and terror. Up to this time they had always felt secure, assured, and unafraid because of Christ’s personal presence. They had been eyewitnesses when He proved Himself mightily before the people with sermons and signs…

Therefore the apostles went their way free of care and fear, though they were poor and insignificant people, assuming rather that the others had reason to be afraid of them. They reasoned: “So long as this Man lives, we have no cause for worry; for He can easily protect and save us.” It was this belief that made St. Peter such a courageous and intrepid man that he volunteered and ventured to go into death with Christ, though all the other disciples denied Him (Mark 14:29)… In brief, so long as the disciples had Christ with them, they had no reason to worry about anything and would no doubt have remained safe from everybody.

So long as they had Christ with them, they had no reason to worry about anything. This is what Christ said to his closest friends in that upper room 2,000 years ago, and this is what He is telling us now. The last words I spoke to Janice were: “Jesus loves you.” Not that she didn’t know that, but simply that we all need to hear that and be reminded of it now and then. And I offer those same words to everyone here: Jesus loves you, too.

This season when everyone seems to act just a little nicer this time of year is really a testament to the real reason: the birth of the Messiah. He came to become flesh to be among us as one of us, not just as some distant, super-being who could bark commands and demand obedience and that we offer sacrifice to honor him. Instead, HE offered sacrifice for us, to pay the price for our disobedience. And that sacrifice was his own flesh and blood…his very life, given up for us, to pay a price we could not pay. Very shortly we will take part in that same meal that Jesus instituted in that very room. In ways we don’t really understand, He comes to us in that meal. He is with us in His Word - the Word you all just heard, but even more closely in His Body and Blood, given and shed for us. God’s grace you can taste. Jesus *is* with you in this meal.

Because Jesus is with you, you have no reason to worry about anything. He has told us that He has gone to prepare a place for us - for Janice, for me, for everyone of you. Yes, He died on that cross, but the story doesn’t end there. He also rose from that grave and showed us that death is not the end. And that one day, we *will* all be together again, when the transient things will be over with, and we will then enjoy the eternal… we will have a building made from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This is where we put our hope. This is why, even in the face of death, we need not let our hearts be troubled.

Please don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying we should not be sad. It’s ok to be sad. We are separated from Janice, for now. Grief is appropriate and healthy, and we should let that happen. But we need not be afraid. We need not be troubled. We have hope because of Christ and what He has done for us. And we have faith to see us through because God has given us His Holy Spirit to be our Helper, and our guarantee, until Christ comes again in His Final Victory.

Let us all remember that as God has now taken Janice into His tender care, He also has a plan for us to be reunited one day.