Sermon preached by The Rev. Dr. Harold T. Lewis

SERMON PREACHED BY THE REVEREND DR. HAROLD T. LEWIS, RECTOR
CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
AT THE REQUIEM MASS FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOUL OF
ESTHER GRAFF CAMPBELL
SATURDAY 3 JUNE 2006



Today, we gather to commit to the care of Almighty God our sister in Christ, Esther Graff Campbell. And as we do so, we would do well to reflect on those qualities of Esther's which made her not only special to us, but a holy presence in our lives.

Esther, first of all, exuded Grace. She was ever gracious, solicitous and kind. In all her actions, her self-effacing humility shone through --- so much so, that we felt we were in the presence of someone "just a little lower than the angels." Indeed, her actions often reminded us (although that would never have been Esther's intention) of just how much our own actions fail to measure up to that ideal. One of the last times I saw Esther was at Shadyside Hospital. The nurse was there, and explained to me that she would have to subject Esther to a few tests to ascertain if her throat muscles enabled her to swallow properly. She gave Esther liquids and solids of various consistencies, and then would ask her to open her mouth, swallow hard, and even stick out her tongue. Then the nurse asked her if she knew her full name, and if she knew what month and year it was. If she was perturbed that the nurse thought she was less than compos mentis, Esther didn't let on; she just answered each question accurately. Most of us, even if not old and frail and in pain, would find these requests annoying, and invasive of our "space." But Esther complied with each persistent request, and even made a joke about how sticking out one's tongue is rude. When it was all over, Esther thanked the nurse profusely.

Esther also showed us what Gratitude is all about. It was my great privilege to take the Blessed Sacrament to Esther at Canterbury Place. Esther derived great comfort from receiving communion. It was, as the hymn reminds us, her "food and stay." But each time I visited her, she never failed to express her gratitude to me for celebrating the eucharist for her, and to Calvary, from whose altar the sacrament came. Esther loved to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, and few things gave her more pleasure than to be able to come to church and be part of the congregation. Only a week before her death, she actually apologized for not being able to make it to church, and said that hopefully she would return soon.

Given these traits, it will come as no surprise that Esther also demonstrated great Generosity. She gave of her substance liberally and sacrificially to support her parish and to memorialize her beloved Everett.

And being gracious, grateful and generous, she could say with the Blessed Apostle, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or peril, or sword?" And Esther, knowing how to take the bitter with the sweet, knowing, as St. Paul says, how to be exalted and how to be abased, could resolutely answer with him "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In today's Gospel, we read the familiar story of Mary and Martha, those friends (or perhaps cousins) of Jesus whom he visited in Bethany whenever he wanted to chill out, and just have a break from the arduous tasks of his ministry. On this occasion, he arrives shortly after the death of their brother Lazarus. Martha, the busy, Type-A sister, meets Jesus as he approaches the house, and said "If you had been here, my brother would not have died." This, by the way, according to many scholars, is not so much a rebuke as it is a lament. It is clear from what she says and does that she believes in Jesus as the agent of a gracious God. When told that her brother would rise again, Martha takes this to mean a future resurrection, but Jesus makes it clear that he himself is the resurrection and the life. When he asks Martha, "Do you believe this?" Martha responds that she does. Then she summons her sister, saying, "The Lord is calling you."

Mary and Martha are often presented as antithetical types --- the hands-on, roll-up-her sleeves, whip-up-a-soufflé Martha vs. the contemplative praying Mary. To the extent that that is accurate, Esther had a little of both sisters in her. Her theological acumen certainly would able her, like Martha, to have a discussion about the Resurrection --- or anything else ---- with her Lord, but her prayerful, reflective, and meditative character made it possible as well for her to sit at Jesus' feet.

Esther had said that she had hoped to return to church soon. And so she has. As sacramental people, people of signs and symbols, we will, at Esther's request, cense and sprinkle with holy water her earthly remains, in a kind of act of purification, of preparation. And as we receive Christ's Body and Blood, a "foretaste of glory divine," Esther has already been shown to her seat at that eternal banquet, experiencing that very glory to which we can only now aspire. She is in that "sweet and blessed country, the home of God's elect, that sweet and blessed country that eager hearts expect." She is, too, in that place where "sorrow and pain and no more, but life everlasting. And later today, she who was signed with the cross of Christ in her baptism, will be signed with the cross of Christ with a clump of dirt, in "sure and certain hope of the Resurrection."

Some years ago, in a Bible study class in my parish in Washington, someone asked the question "Is it fair for a person who was never a practicing Christian, who never darkened a church door, to make a confession on his death bed and get into heaven just like the faithful Christian?" One parishioner, without batting an eyelash, said, "You have missed the point. Christianity is not a heavenly insurance policy, a vale of tears that you go through before getting to heaven. The person who has been a lifelong practicing Christian knew the joy of being a Christian." As this story flashed in my mind, I thought of Esther Campbell, that perfect amalgam of Mary and Martha, who in her thoughts, words and deeds, showed that she enjoyed being a Christian, a child of God and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven.

+Rest eternal grant unto her, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon her. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. AMEN.