Christian Burial of Beryl Bullock

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: John 11:26
Theme: Death Overcome

Dear family, friends and loved ones of Beryl, and especially you Ann, Brian, and Gaynor;

In the end it all happens so quickly and with such finality. In the blink of an eye mortality is realized. A lifetime of struggles and joys, challenges and accomplishments, apologies and restorations suddenly comes to an end. When Beryl was baptized as an infant in Morook no one had any idea where life would take her. Who would she marry? Would her life be full of prosperity or adversity? Would she be blessed with good health or fight illness? Our view into the future is dim and murky at best. But God knew the hardships and joys she would experience, and, more importantly, her final destination. Beryl is a peace. She is at rest. Thanks be to God!

But we struggle on. Nothing should cause us greater humility than to face our mortality. We cannot challenge it. We cannot negotiate with it. We cannot charm it. We cannot circumvent it. We can do nothing at all. Death is no small problem because it doesn’t simply mean that a human life has ceased to exist or that one’s spirit has magically passed into some mystical place. Death is part of the guilt and punishment for sin. The Scripture says, “The wages of sin is death.”1

If God does not have the power over death then the strength of our love and the intensity of our hate; our victories and our failures; our joys and our sorrows only have temporary significance. And many have resigned themselves to accept this very condition. Therefore the world teaches us to live it up now because this is all there is. One comedian put it crassly when he said, “When I die I hope people at my funeral say, ‘That man still owed me a lot of money.’” Though tongue-in-cheek it contains an important element of truth. Why not live while you can at the expense of others! If death has the last word then the future is dark and hope is lost. If death prevails then we are no different than animals. Separation from God will be final.

In times of need it can be comforting to construct an image of God that soothes our hurts and answers our doubts. But the real question is whether or not what we wish about God is actually true or is just wishful thinking, a stereotype, or a misrepresentation? If so, then it’s nothing but a grand deception. Constructing foundations on shifting sand eventually comes to ruin.

There’s only one foundation on which to build. Jesus Christ was crucified for sinners. He bore our guilt. He bore our shame. He exchanged His glory for your depravity. And there on the cross He was abandoned by the Father so that we might not be left as orphans. When many were turning away from Christ because He was an offense to their sensibilities He asked His disciples, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”2 To which Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”3

Beryl, like believers of every time and age, was saved only by grace. You and I will be no exception either. The gates of heaven cannot be opened by our moral integrity, our generous acts of kindness, our intellectual acuity, or our good intentions. Our politeness, civility, or large-heartedness dos not qualify us. The fortress remains impenetrable except by grace. We are all beggars before the Almighty. And only beggars are received into His kingdom. May the Holy Spirit gently but firmly teach us what this means.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.”4. This truth alone allows joy to overshadow our sorrow. The casket contains Beryl’s bodily remains. These will be resurrected and reunited with her soul on the Last Day. The resurrection is the bedrock of Christian truth. It is our reason for hope. We could never hope to contest the powers of death. But Christ could. He has; He did! God does not fail us in the crucial moment. On that morning, the day after the Sabbath, at dawn, the women went to the grave and the body of Jesus Christ was not in the tomb. His corpse did not meet with decay. After His resurrection more than 500 people at once saw Him alive. He ate with His disciples on different occasions before His ascension.

In one sense we can say that everybody is special in his or her own particular way. We are all unique and Beryl was no exception. She was a special wife to John, a distinctive mother to her children, an irreplaceable grandmother to her grandchildren. She had her passions and interests; bowing, cooking, music. Beryl is also a unique member of the kingdom of God. Yet, in the end, we all have an essential similarity. In the end we’re all reduced to a complete dependence, a need for divine intervention; no exceptions. And that’s what makes the compassion of God so exceptional. It’s His estimation of us that matters. He does not love because we are lovable; He’s not drawn to us. Rather, in the sheer purity of His mercy He makes us objects of His love. Yet not in some distant way; but through His Son in flesh and blood. He loves so deeply and completely that He left the realms of heaven and assumed our human flesh. He did so to suffer, die, and rise again.

Beryl is no more in need of our prayers. She has been freed from the bondage and decay of sin. Easter morning showed life had triumphed. Love had conquered. Death’s grip had been broken. Beryl now understands what Easter means. Not a glimpse. Not a preview. Not a trial; but a complete participation in immortality is what awaits those who believe. The faithful are not guests or visitors in heaven, but residents. It all happens in an instant. The Holy Scripture says, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”5 Death has been defeated. May God grant you comfort and strength as you embrace this truth. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Christian Burial of Beryl Dulcie Bullock
17 February 2014
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Romans 6:23
2 John 6:67
3 John 6:68-69
4 John 11:25
5 1 Corinthians 15:51-53