SERMON PREACHED BY
THE REVEREND DR. HAROLD T. LEWIS, RECTOR
CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
AT THE FUNERAL OF THOMAS MARSHALL HOWE NIMICK, JR.
MONDAY 8 OCTOBER 2007

 

 

"In my Father's house there are many mansions." (John 14:2)

 

 

A few days before his death, I visited Tom in the hospital. After pleasantries, he asked how things had gone at my mother's parish where I had preached the week before. I was impressed that he remembered that I had been! I told him, "Fine, but the service was a little long." Then he asked how services had gone that morning. I said "Tom, it's Wednesday, not Sunday." He then pointed out that he was fully aware what day of the week it was, and that Calvary, last he had heard, had two Wednesday morning Eucharists. In this brief conversation, two aspects of Tom's personality shone through ---- first, his solicitous concern for others, and second, his quick mind and inimitable wit.

 

Another thing that could be said of Tom is that he was a man of deep spirituality. When I visited him to bring him communion, I felt he was ministering to me. The prayers he had committed to memory, probably because of the grounding in the faith he received at St. Paul's School, his reverent responses, his prayer book, with ribbons, at the ready --- Tom was more than amply prepared for worship. But, it should be pointed out, he had very clear ideas about what form that worship should take. Nothing, to Tom's mind, could surpass the beauty of a Prayer Book collect composed by Archbishop Cranmer, as one hapless visitor was to discover. A young man of a more evangelical bent asked if he could pray for Tom, and Tom agreed. Then the long extemporaneous prayer began, meandering, raising up this concern and that, invoking each Person of the Trinity more than once --- it was more of a conversation with God than a prayer addressed to him. After the umpteenth spontaneous address to the Almighty, Tom said, firmly but politely, "Move it right along."

 

But my lasting memory of Tom will always be a picture of him standing at the threshold of his lovely home on Bennington Avenue that he shared with his loving wife, Theresa, welcoming guests to his famous Christmas party. It seems that he stood guard there all night, saying 'hello' to each guest as he or she arrived, and bidding them farewell when they took their leave. The consummate host and gentleman, he never seemed to abandon his post. Some would say he should have been inside, sampling the goodies or having a drink, enjoying himself. But he was enjoying himself, extending the hospitality of his home, seeing his guests in and out. Tom was a class act.

 

In today's Gospel we hear the familiar words "Let not your hearts be troubled. In my father's house there are many mansions." These words assure us that there is a place for each and every one of us in the eternal habitations, "where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing but life everlasting." Do you remember the movie version of Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge with the inimitable Clifton Webb in the starring role? He is dying on the Riviera, a cardinal has just given him the last rites, and Mr. Templeton muses that his heavenly digs would be comparable to what he was accustomed to on earth, indeed that everyone's heavenly home would be a reflection of their earthly one, be it palace or hovel. Tom did not share Clifton Webb's theology. He knew that when all was said and done, his accomplishments, his blessings , his achievements, his possessions notwithstanding, he would appear before the Lord saying "Just as I am without one plea."

 

In these words, Jesus assures us that there is a special place prepared for each one of us. I think, too, that Tom would not have reacted to Jesus' words in the same way as his apostolic namesake. Doubting Thomas admitted that he did not know the way, and was clueless as to where Jesus was going. Tom Nimick would have understood his Lord perfectly, in sure and certain faith in the Resurrection to eternal life.

 

Tom was proud of the fact that he shared a birthday with George Washington. Tom was a patriot, a proud American, who had served his country in the Second World War. He didn't wait for the Fourth of July or some other holiday to fly his flag. He shared other things with Washington, however --- honesty, a gift for leadership, an ability to rally the troops, be they troops of business associates or members of his extended family.

 

But what Tom may not have known (although I wouldn't bet on it) is that he shared his day of death with Francis of Assisi. Nobody would describe Tom as a monk, but his gentleness, forbearance, love of his fellow creatures, both two- and four-legged, his deep spirituality were traits he had in common with St. Francis. Nikos Katzantzakis, a Greek author better known for The Last Temptation of Christ, also wrote a biography of St. Francis. In it he tells the story of St. Francis as he was on a pilgrimage from Assisi to Rome. On the way, the voice of God comes to him and tells him that a leper would soon be coming down the road, and that he should embrace the leper and kiss him on his lips. Francis balks. He even offers to fast for an extra week, wear sackcloth, and walk on hot coals. But God is persistent. Francis sees the leper, closes his eyes, then embraces and kisses him. And as he does so, the scales and the sores fall from the leper's face and he is revealed to be the Christ.

 

Tom, too, was able to see the Christ in everyone whom he met. And now we gather to commit him to Christ's never-failing love, in the sure and certain hope that he will be able to sing,
Here, O my Lord, I see the face to face,
Here will I touch and handle things unseen
Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace
And all my weariness upon thee lean.

 

So we gather in this holy place, the place of his baptism, the place where he sang in Harvey Gaul's choir, to commend Thomas Marshall Howe Nimick, Jr. to his merciful Creator, with the words of the Blessed Friar of Assisi, words to which Tom could echo a fervent Amen.

 

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us so love; where there is injury, pardon. Where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness light where there is sadness joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying, that we are born to eternal life. AMEN.