Service for Gerry Dille

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus the Way to the Father

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Saint Gerry

I was talking with Debbie this week as I was planning this service.

I told her that while COVID occupied much of my tenure here at Laboratory, as the pandemic was lifting and I started making my way around to meet folks, Gerry was one of my favorite folks to visit with.

And I ended by saying “Gerry was truly one of the saints of the Lord.”

To which Deb responded...”Gerry?”

To be sure, Gerry was a spunky person!

She had her quirks and oddities, and while I know it takes one to know one, there was always just a little bit of mischief in her eyes.

But I’m convinced that Gerry Dille was indeed a saint of the Lord, and I’d like to make sure that you’re all convinced of that as well.

What is a Saint?

We tend to think of saints as people with the halos who always do things right.

Saints never curse.

Saints are in church every single Sunday.

Saints always cross the crosswalk on green.

Saints always know how best to load the dishwasher.

But that’s not actually a Saint the way scripture understands them.

Haggias

It literally means “one who is set apart.”

Someone who is special.

Someone who is unique.

Someone who is claimed by God.

To be a saint is not at all about what you do to get to God.

To be a saint is to be one sets apart for himself.

Prepare a place.

I love this scripture we read from John.

The disciples are nervous about what’s coming, and their hearts are a little dinged up.

So Jesus offers them a bit of encouragement.

That Jesus goes to prepare a place for them.

That each of us, in the kingdom to come, have a place set aside for us by our loving savior.

And that if Jesus has gone to the great lengths to prepare a place for us, Jesus is going to set us apart, literally bring us out, to be in that place with him.

That, essentially, Jesus has done the work to make us each Saints in the Kingdom of God.

To which Thomas responds “Us? Saints? We don’t know how to do that.”

And Jesus lovingly responds back “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

A lot of people use this verse wrong.

They use it like a club to make people feel back about not being Christians or something like that.

But I hear Jesus saying something different.

I hear Jesus saying that it’s Him who does the work in our lives, not us.

It’s not our efforts that get us in to heaven, it’s the work of Jesus on our behalf.

It’s not us who become Saints by our efforts, it’s Jesus that makes us saints.

We’re not Saints because we go to church every Sunday, we’re saints because Jesus comes to us every moment.

We’re not Saints because we never step out of line, we’re Saints because Jesus keeps bringing us back home.

We’re not Saints because we never curse, we’re Saints because Jesus speaks love over us every single second of our lives.

Believe

The only requirement, the only one in this whole verse, that Jesus asks of us, is that we believe in God, and that we believe in Jesus.

That’s the way you become a Saint, you believe.

And we show that belief in our actions.

We show our belief when we enjoy our lives.

We show our belief when we take in the beauty of God’s creation.

We show our belief in how we love one another.

We show our belief by how we live in the world.

Saint Gerry 2

And so you see my friends, Gerry Dille was a Saint.

She was a saint because it was abundantly clear to me every time I sat down with her that she enjoyed life.

I don’t have very many memories of Gerry that don’t involve laughter.

I remember a few times Gerry taking me on a tour of her bedroom to show me all the artwork that she had created

I remember how much love Gerry poured out into the world.

But even more than that...

Gerry is a saint because Jesus Christ prepared a place for her.

Gerry is a saint because Jesus Christ came and took Gerry to that place himself.

Gerry is a saint because Jesus Christ is the way to the Father, and gave himself up for Gerry in his grace.

Gerry is a saint because she knew Jesus, and to know Jesus is to know the Father.

Gerry is a saint simply, truly, and totally because Jesus Christ says she is.

The communion of the saints

And oh by the way, if Gerry is a saint, so are we.

Don’t let your hearts be troubled saints.

Jesus has prepared a place for us in the kingdom to come too.

Jesus will come and take us to himself.

Jesus will come and show us the way, in fact Jesus is the way.

When we know Jesus, we know the Father as well.

And we will be reunited with Gerry again in the age to come.

Don’t let your hearts be troubled saints.

Jesus will show us the way.