SERMON PREACHED BY
THE REVEREND DR. HAROLD T. LEWIS, RECTOR
CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
AT THE FUNERAL OF JOHN JAMISON HUMPHREY
FRIDAY 17 JUNE 2005

 

 

 

"In my Father's house there are many mansions."  (John 14: 1)
 
 
 
The opening lines of a letter John Humphrey wrote to Arthur McNulty thirteen years ago, on the occasion of John's appointment as Senior Warden, says much about his character.
 
Thank you for the confidence you placed in me; I'll try hard to live up to the examples of wardens who preceded me.  There's a job description somewhere; if I understand it correctly, I'm to help you in any way that's needed.
 
"In any way that's needed."  In these few words, we see John as the self-deprecating, humble man that he was --- always very willing to lend a hand, never quick to impose his own agenda.  I learned of these traits first hand nine years ago, when I made the progression from candidate to rector-elect to rector of Calvary Church.  John was on the search committee.  I remember seeing his lanky frame at the end of the table, with a kind face that emanated concern and compassion.  His questions were never inquisitorial, but were always designed to bring out the best in the "questionee." Then John headed the transition team, created to ensure that Claudette and I would be happily ensconced, and make the necessary adjustments to life in Pittsburgh.  In this capacity, he was a driving force behind my official installation, and John, ever the artist, came up with the brilliant idea of marking the event with streamers flying from the spire.  I think he wanted them to be reminiscent of banners atop the turret of some mediaeval castle, billowing in the wind.
 
But John was more than a kind person with an artistic flair.  Some might even call him a Renaissance man, for he exemplified that rare breed of creative genius and hard-nosed businessman.  And he brought his professional experience to the table at Calvary as well.  An advertising executive, he helped at least three rectors and countless vestry members to "sell" Calvary --- designing brochures, beefing up our communications, and coming up with clever ways to convince people that they should be separated from their money.
 
He contributed to the life of Calvary in many ways, with his ideas, his expertise, and his resources.  But at least one of his contributions was unwitting.  Twenty years ago, John was one of the candidates for Vestry, and an amazing thing happened.  He received the same number of votes as another candidate.  There being no precedent for such an event and no procedure in the by-laws to address it, a decision was made on the spot to draw straws, and John drew the shorter one.  The Senior Warden later wrote to him and thanked him "for the grace that you exhibited in font of that large gathering."  And then she added, "You are a wonderful person."  What was his unwitting contribution?  It was shortly after that that Calvary decided to have non-contested Vestry elections!
 
In today's Gospel, Jesus addresses the disciples, clueless and confused as usual.   Jesus is talking about his own death, but tells them that they will follow him, but cannot do so now.  He tells them --- and us --- "Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in me.  In my father's house there are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you."  These verses always conjure up for me a scene in film adaptation of Somerset Maugham's novel, "The Razor's Edge," a story about a man's quest to find himself.  The supercilious, self-absorbed character, Elliott Templeton, is played by the incomparable Clifton Webb.  In his deathbed scene, he is impressed by the fact that he has been given last rites by a cardinal, and then he launches into an exegesis of today's Gospel lesson.  He figured that "many mansions" meant that heaven would replicate his life on earth, where he had opulent residences in New York, London, Paris, and the Riviera!  John Humphrey is a better theologian than Elliott Templeton.  John knows that he is not entitled to a heavenly dwelling made of Carrara marble. He knows that there will be a place for him, as there will be for all --- old and young, rich and poor, whom God welcomes into his eternal habitations. John goes to his Maker, in the words of that majestic prayer, "having the testimony of a good conscience, in the communion of the Catholic Church, in the confidence of a certain faith, in the comfort of a religious and holy hope, in favor with God, and in perfect charity with the world."
 
Today, Joan, together with David, Connie, Rebecca and Margaret and their children, gather not so much to mourn the loss of their husband, father and grandfather, but to celebrate his life, a life which in turn, touched the lives of so many others.
 
We at Calvary are pleased to be in the possession of two of John's sculptures, both of which are in our garden. They both now become especially fitting memorials.  One is a swan, a symbol of grace and elegance.  The other is of Christ the Good Shepherd, selfless, caring, compassionate.  John, it can truly be said, was "all of the above," and we commit him today to the never-failing care of that Good Shepherd in whose bosom he now rests.
 
+Rest eternal grant unto John, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon him.  May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace and rise in glory.  AMEN.