a sermon for beverly

One of the things Beverly is most remembered for, is her grace; she was a graceful woman. She could light up any room. In fact, not only did she love to dance, others loved to dance with her; graceful as she was.

And that’s why we’ve chosen the lesson from revelation we just read. We didn’t simply choose this lesson because it promises that God will wipe all our tears away and dwell with us, although that is true. No, we chose this lesson because of the promise it insinuates.

This lesson promises that God’s creation will finally, fully bear God’s magnificent grace, when God brings all of history together by coming to dwell with it. In other words, we chose this lesson because it promises that, like Bev, our lives, this entire world even will embody grace…

One day I asked John why he thought he and Beverly were able to be so graceful throughout Beverly’s struggle with Parkinson’s. After all, simply aging gracefully when one is blessed with good health is challenge enough.

As Bev was diagnosed with Parkinson’s she had to wrestle with aging and watching her own health decline. She regretted that she was unable to do more with Abby and Jake, she regretted it almost as much as John and Ann do. It was hard for her to be unable to walk for herself, as much as she had loved to dance her whole life. It was frustrating for Beverly to lose the power of concentration and struggle to play cards, although she had been an excellent player her entire life.

Yes, it was hard…

And yet; yet, somehow she managed to be graceful through it all.

Vexing as all that was, Beverly managed to endeavor though life with Parkinson’s, gracefully.

So with that question hanging in the air, “why do you think you and Beverly were able to be so graceful through everything,” John thought for just a moment and then said, “because that’s just the kind of woman she was.”

That is right, that’s the kind of woman Beverly was, a woman who embodied grace. 

That is why the promise from Revelation rings so clearly in this sanctuary today. This reading promises that when God comes to dwell with all of us, to wipe away our tears; that this creation will finally and fully manifest God’s grace, embody the same grace Beverly did.

A story John tells, illustrates it nicely. It took place when the hospital he worked at was having one of their events. As the event drew nearer and nearer, all of the doctors would come to John and ask to join his table. 

Well, just like anyone else would, John thought to himself, “hey, I must be pretty popular.” He thought that until the night of the event. That evening John sat at the table listening to Bev crack jokes and seeing all the doctors captivated by the same grace we remember Beverly for today.

Here’s the thing, though, there’s another part to that story; but it’s only insinuated; insinuated like the promises from our reading from Revelation. John is able to laugh at that story because Beverly was graceful. After all, that story doesn’t end with Beverly gloating over her popularity. No, Bev just earned admiration, but never hoarded it. 

Beverly was graceful, she was a graceful woman, wife, mother, grandmother, mentor, friend…

That’s why we had this lesson from Revelation read today. Just like the story I just told about Beverly, this reading insinuates the promise of that grace creation will embody when God comes to dwell with creation. 

And here’s why that insinuation matters. 

Beverly wasn’t graceful because she worked hard at it -in fact, that’s one of the least graceful enterprises a person can embark on, acting graceful. No, Beverly was graceful because she trusted that with God there is enough grace, grace enough for her, grace enough to share.

After all, Beverly had her struggles even before being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, being born during the depression, being blind in one eye, she was shorter -although apparently that didn’t bother her tall prom dates, among other things. 

Yet, despite any of that, Bev knew that there was a promise over her, that was stronger than anything else. And that’s why we’re here; to be reminded that while Beverly’s struggle with Parkinson’s was hard for all of us, grace is stronger; to be reminded that while death is a threat to all of us, grace is stronger.

This strong promise Beverly trusted, was first sung to her long ago. See, Beverly’s parents were faithful; they brought her to church, helped build the church they took her to, in fact. Before all that, though, her parents brought Beverly to the baptismal waters, and there, God came to her; God choose her, forever. 

As I am fond of telling Jake and Abby during the children’s sermon, God said to Beverly all those years ago, ‘you’re mine, you’re a keeper.” At those baptismal waters, God promised Beverly grace that was stronger than anything. 

With that promise ringing in her ears, Beverly dared to embody grace during her life, to joke, to dance, to love. And it served her well.

Truth be told, though, it’s serving her best now. Now, the promise she heard before she could remember is fully realized. Now, the promise Beverly danced her whole life to the tune of, is sung by the heavenly chorus for all to hear. 

In fact, we can practically hear it ourselves today. 

Now this grace that Beverly embodied is fulfilled embodied, as Beverly has another dance. Now Beverly hears that voice she heard as an infant, speak her name and ask her for a dance. With that request hanging in the air Beverly will rise, she will rise and dance a dance that is somehow familiar, although her Lord and Savior makes all things new.

Beverly will dance because, as the writer of Revelation promises, when God comes to dwell with creation, creation will completely embody God’s grace. And so, as Beverly can no longer bring herself to this grace, God comes for her with it. As God comes for her, this grace Beverly lived by, is fully realized, this grace is fully realized as Jesus gives it all of it to Beverly, now.

We chose this reading from revelation today because it promises that Beverly will be right at home in God’s new heaven and new earth that completely embody grace.

Amen