Amazing Women Eulogy for Colette (Jenkins) Parker

Introduction

To the pastor of this significant church, Brother Darryl, Sister Angelica, bereaved family and friends, these are unprecedented times. These times remind me of the words spoken by The great reformer, Martin Luther, said during the Great Plague or Black Death (which killed some 200,000,000 people in Eurasia between 1347 and 1351, but broke out again during his lifetime and up to 1700’s),

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as the result of my negligence.

If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others.

If my neighbor needs me however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above.

See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

Due to these unprecedented times, my pastor, Bishop Joey Johnson, was initially speaking here today. But is not able too, because, last weekend he was exposed to Covid-19 and did not want to risk exposing anyone else until he received his test results.

I will humbly attempt to offer you some words of comfort from the Word of God. The Bible tells us that God is the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. I pray that Colette's family and friends will be able to feel the compassion and comfort that only God can give during this time.

I want to touch on grief for a moment, because in America, we teach people how to acquire things, but not how to lose them! This is why so often, the reason why when someone experiences loss, instead of dealing with the loss. We try to replace what we lose, which is what The Grief Recovery Institute calls STERBS or short, term energy-releasing behaviors.

But when we grieve, our sadness is decoupled from anger, frustration, and hopelessness. Through the processing of our sorrow, through grief recovery actions, we are left with simple, uncomplicated, profound sadness—which is healthy.

Grief Recovery tells us that all relationships are unique, and because of this, no two people can have the same relationship with another person. Consequently, everyone connected to Colette will need space, time, and opportunity to grieve in their unique relationship. This is okay; it is okay to feel how you feel because God gave us our emotions, and can handle our feelings.

Colette and I had an interesting connection. Last January, we met for the first time when she invited me to introduce my pastor Bishop, Johnson at the Building Racial Harmony series by the Northeast Ohio Racial Justice Committee of the Dominican Sisters of Peace and Associates.

After the program, she spent some time talking with my wife and me. There was an immediate familiarity between us that was an overflow of her relationship with Bishop Johnson and her relationship with my parents. What was especially interesting about our connection was when I learned that my great grandmother’s brother Horace Bell was her pediatrician growing up.

After that time, we connected, and I participated in various programs she organized, and it was not hard to see that Colette was an intelligent, warm, compassionate amazing woman. It is this thought of an amazing woman that I would like to share from for the next few moments.

In churches, this is traditionally called “The Eulogy.” This word comes from a Greek word which means “to speak well of.” Consequently, the family usually “eulogizes” their loved ones in their sharing.

I call this privilege and responsibility, “the homily” or “sermon.” The pastor or minister doesn’t always know the deceased, especially in large churches. When the preacher does know the deceased, as in this case, the sermonizer can combine the sermon with the eulogy. That is what I shall attempt to do today as I harmonize both Bishop Johnson’s and my thoughts and love for Colette.

(The Bible verse that I want to use to frame and contextualize my sermon is found in the gospel of Luke.)

Luke 24:22-25 (NASB), “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, [23] and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see. [25] And He said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!’”

I. The Context:

Whenever we read a passage from Luke, it is essential to understand that Luke presents us with a unique perspective of the life and ministry of Jesus. In Luke, we read the mission statement of Jesus, saying that he was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, liberation to the oppresses, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to heal the brokenhearted. Therefore, this passage creates the lens that we can use to view every action and interaction of Jesus throughout the gospel.

In other words, we need to keep in the forefront of our minds that Luke is presenting to us the Jesus, who was a friend of sinners and tax collectors. The person who ate with the marginalized and the outcast of society.

The words or our verse are coming from the famous conversation and fish sandwich that Jesus shared with a couple of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. This is the story of a post-resurrection encounter between Jesus and two of His disciples as they made the 7-mile walk from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus.

The crazy part is that the disciples at first didn’t know it was Jesus who was walking and talking with them, for the Bible says, “their eyes were kept from seeing him.” Then Jesus asked them what they were discussing, and they answered by explaining their disappointment that was rooted in the crucifixion of Jesus and how they “hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” Then if that wasn’t enough, three days have passed, and now we were amazed by the women because they discovered that the tomb of Jesus was empty.

This is an excellent place to parenthetically point out that Jesus was walking and talking with them amid their heartbreak and disappointment, and they didn’t even know it. There are times like this when our pain is so great that it is hard for us to see Jesus. But it’s good to know that even when we can’t see Jesus, Jesus still can see us and still will meet us in our pain and fellowship with us amid our hurt and disappointment.

(This leads us to the phrase I want to focus on.)

II. The Text: “But also some women among us amazed us.” When you harmonize all of the biblical accounts, some women seems to include Joanna (wife of Chuza), Mary Magdalene, Mary (mother of Jesus), Mary (mother of James the Younger and Joses), Mary (wife of Clopas), and Salome (mother of James and John).

These women amazed the Disciples in reporting, after having been at the tomb of Jesus early that they had seen angels who said that Jesus was alive. But when we look at the story a little closer, we have to ask the question, what was it about the women’s report that made them amazing. To do that, we need to look at this verse in light of when this event initially took place.

Verse 5 of this chapter is when the women encountered an angel at the tomb of Jesus. The Bible says:

Luke 24:5–7 (NASB95)

5. and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6.“He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7. saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

Here is the first observation I want to lift from this passage.

1. These were amazing women because they were obedient to call on their life. God called them to carry the message of Jesus’ resurrection to the male Disciples. Furthermore, they were given the task of being the first to see Jesus alive and carry the gospel message.

The angel essentially shared the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ with the women. And within the gospel message, there is an inherent call—a call to participate and share the message with others. There are moments in life when we are lead to the empty tomb of Jesus, and it is here as we encounter the empty tomb, and the gospel takes on a new meaning. The good news becomes personal, and we leave that encounter with a new sense of calling and direction for our lives. It is amazing to have the weight, responsibility, and grace to fulfill God's call on our life.

From my interaction with Colette and the impact she had on others, I am convinced that she lived with a desire to be obedient to God's call on her life.

This brings me to the second observation I would like to lift out of this text as to one of the reasons these women were amazing.

2. These women were amazing because they lived with conviction. A conviction is the ability to hold on to a strong belief. Often is our calling that produces our convictions. I have often heard it said that if you want to know what you are called to do, one way to get started in the right direction is to notice what bothers you because those strong feelings could be the product of the call that is your life.

Let’s look at how Luke tells us these women responded.

Luke 24:8–9 (NASB95)

8. And they remembered His words, 9.and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

The phrase “they remembered” suggests that their memory was restored regarding words that Jesus had previously spoken. They heard the words before, but Jesus had often spoken metaphorically, and they probably thought his words were strange. But now, they saw that the words of Jesus should have been taken literally. Herewith the assistance of the angelic revelation, the women are now ready to explain the empty tomb in terms of the resurrection gospel message.

This remembrance brought a measure of conviction that can be seen in the eagerness to report what they had seen. This took conviction because at this time, in first-century Palestine, these women understood they lived in a male-dominated patriarchal society. Women were viewed as property. Therefore, their testimony wasn’t probably not going to carry much weight with the disciples. More than that, they were probably going to be met with resistance from the male disciples.

But these women were amazing because they lived by their convictions and carried the message back to the disciples anyway. When I worked with Colette this past summer and participated in a prayer service aimed at being an act of solidarity in response to police brutality experienced by black people, it was at that moment; I knew that Colette was amazing for the same reason as these women in the gospel of Luke because she followed her convictions and was led by her faith in God.

My third and final observation as to why these women were amazing is found in verse 11.

Luke 24:11 (NASB95)

11.But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.

3. These women were amazing because they were courageous. This point is closely connected to the previous point because they knew that this probably would be the response they got, but they took the message anyway.

Only Luke reports the disciple’s reaction to the report of the women. Although Luke has a high view of women, being the historian he is, he must display his awareness of the widespread tendency to discount women's words. The Jewish historian Josephus documents that the testimony of a woman was inadmissible in court. But these amazing women had the courage to do what needed to be done.

The English translation of this verse doesn’t entirely convey the harsh tone of the disciples’ response. But when looked at in Greek, the word translated nonsense is only used once in the Bible. This word is a medical term used to describe the behavior of someone that is delirious.

If that weren’t enough, the phrase “would not believe” could be translated as disbelieving and carry the imperfect active verb tense. Meaning the disciples kept distrusting the story of the women. But these amazing women were courageous enough to let their testimony stand. Furthermore, now we have the context to properly understand how the disciples went from thinking these women were delusional to recognizing that they were amazing. My grandmother used to say, “the truth doesn’t need any propping up.” These amazing women knew the truth of their testimony could stand up to the disciples' skeptical response.

Herein is the definition of being courageous, for it is the ability to act on one’s beliefs despite danger or disapproval. J.R.R. Tolkien writes: “it is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.” These amazing women were strong in spirit!

III. Closing:

I can’t help but believe that part of Colette's legacy is one of a courageous woman. A woman that acted courageously because she knew her calling and was led by her convictions and faith in God.

I pray that Colette’s legacy will comfort and inspire us, for though Colette is dead, she still speaks!

· She speaks through many other aspects of her life that I know nothing about.

· She speaks through her work at the Beacon and with the Catholic Church.

· She speaks through her husband and her daughter.

· She speaks through the ongoing impact of her legacy.

Sleep on, Colette! Take your rest! Those of us who believe in Jesus will see you in the morning.

Invitation