Irene Wakelin Funeral 28 March 2002 Mark 16:1-8
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.*
This is the Easter text. It is a strange way to leave the story. Not an "Easter Bonnet", "Easter Bunny" kind of Easter morning. There were the disciples, filled with questions, wonderings, fear, despair. They were gathered together, looking back for words that would help them make sense of the events that had engulfed them the last few days. "What did Jesus say?" "What was he saying about hope, eternal life?" "What does all this mean?" “How can we go on?”
Easter has come early this year. The anticipation of the inevitable has engulfed all of you as family these past days. Watching Irene slowly wind down has been difficult. Amidst the impending death with all its questions and fears, there was no time for a plastic, superficial, "Easter Bonnet" sort of Easter this year. This year will be more likely a Mary, Peter, and John sort of Easter. Pain, confusion, searching memories for hope. A lot of Good Friday these past weeks.
Today, we too, stand at an empty tomb looking in and finding more questions than answers. A mother and a friend who had added so much to the lives of so many people is no longer here with us. For you, Good Friday was Sunday morning, death had done its worst. We all experienced loss and the inevitable questions.
This year Lent and Easter, has not been, and will not be, simply a re-enactment of some distant liturgical ceremony. For you as family and friends of Irene, it touches the very core of our being, the core of our faith. What do we believe? Did Jesus rise from the dead? Are the promises true? Did he rise from the dead so that we might not fear death? Can we rest in the promise of resurrection for those we love and for ourselves?
A Southern Baptist preacher once said, “It’s Good Friday, but Sunday’s a’comin!” Words for us today, “It’s Good Friday but Sunday’s a’comin’!”
Today as we stand alongside those disciples on Easter morning, we need hope, we need the promises of God, we need them loud and clear. What are we to do? We search back through our memory for assurance. We think back to the death and resurrection hope we practice every Sunday as we gather. We think of the hymns that run through our memories with lines of hope.
"Jesus Christ is risen today"
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
Lord take my hand and lead me
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Beautiful Saviour, King of Creation
When peace like a river attendeth my way
We dig up passages of Scripture from deep within our memories
O death where is thy sting?
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
You turn my mourning into dancing
I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where is my help to come
We remember vestiges of the memory work from Confirmation class
I believe that Jesus Christ -
true God, son of the Father from eternity,
and true man, born of the virgin Mary - is my Lord.
At great cost he has saved and redeemed me,
a lost and condemned person.
He has freed me from sin, death and the power of the devil -
not with silver and gold, but with his holy and precious blood
and his innocent suffering and death.
All this he has done that I may be his own,
live under him in his kingdom,
and serve him in everlasting righteousness,
innocence and blessedness,
just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally.
This is most certainly true.
We think back on Irene’s life. Here was a woman of great faith who shared her faith and her life with others with utter abandonment. One always came away from talking to Irene feeling better than when you went. She knew God loved her and she wanted to share it. Love flowed from Irene to all those around, family and friend alike. Her love of Jesus was something she could not help but share. These past years, as her energy and vigour declined, she still had love to share. Her wall of pictures spoke of her love for her family, her stories always spoke of her love for those around her. Her involvement in her church shared her love with those beyond herself, to those in her community and around the world. We are blessed with banners that Irene made and will adorn our church for years to come.
The promises of God were so very real for Irene and she knew those promises would also be there for those of us left behind as well. “It’s Good Friday but Sunday’s a’comin’!”
And so we finish the Easter text today. For ourselves and for Irene. Her hope was in the resurrection, death does not have the final say. We think back on the Easter celebrations of other years and we look forward to Easter this year and we can say, "Yes, Jesus Christ has the final say". What we believed to be true, we know to be true today.
There is no denying the pain of these last weeks, the loss we all feel. The pain will continue for some time, but they cannot drive us to despair. Death comes to us all, but for the Christian it is the gateway to eternal life. A place where we are truly at home. A passage which is not to be feared but celebrated.
So today we do not merely practice our faith, we exercise it. We finish the Easter text with shouts of resurrection. With cries of joy. Our hope and assurance that Christ is risen, that Irene has risen from the dead and so shall we.
Christ is risen, he is risen indeed.
