(In Loving Memory of Helen Hildebrand, December 30, 1924 to July 25, 2016)
A few years ago, just before Christmas, I
pulled up to a traffic light where I was living at the time, and as I looked
toward my right out of my driver’s side window, I noticed some steps leading
from the sidewalk down to a very modest apartment. I remember thinking that I had never realized
that an apartment had ever existed on the corner of that street even though I
had driven past it many times.
And there it was. And on the door of this hidden apartment was
a sign that had these three words in very large letters...
WE STILL BELIEVE!
A smile came to my face as I thought about
the child or the children who lived in that apartment and who wanted to make
sure that Santa wouldn’t forget them.
That sign reminds me of the unbridled and
confident faith that the scriptures tell us that we can have as we go through
life. A faith in God who knows all about
us – where we live, our hopes, our dreams, our joys, as well as our times of
grief and sorrow.
I’ve been thinking about that sign a lot
lately because it reminds me of Aunt Helen’s faith, a faith that stayed with
her all her life to the day she died. In more recent years, she sought to
reassure her family that she was ready to go and be with the Lord. She wanted
to be reunited with Uncle Quinton, Uncle Mac, Dad, and the many family members
and friends who had gone before her.
Stacy told me that Aunt Helen would tell
her the story of when Aunt Helen, Uncle Mac, and Dad were kids. Dad was the
youngest so they would tend to pick on Dad. Dad didn’t like his middle name
which was “George” so Aunt Helen and Uncle Mac would get under his skin by
calling him, “Georgie, Georgie.” I bet they are having a great reunion in
heaven.
This is why Aunt Helen was ready to be
with the Lord. To the very end and in our humble way she was letting us know
that even though her body was slowing down, her faith was still strong,
stronger than ever. She still believed! It was just that she was at a point in
her life where she was ready to be with the Lord.
Aunt Helen had a quiet and humble faith.
She wasn’t so much a talker as she was a doer. She loved serving the church
through her cooking and baking and by helping with the annual Christmas bazaar
at her church. Just think of all the people she blessed through these simple
acts of kindness.
She also lived out her faith by blessing her
family and friends through her gift of hospitality. I will never forget all the
holiday meals that Uncle Quinton and Aunt Helen held at their home. We loved
going to their house because they had a really cool basement with a pool table.
I mean, we just had a dirt floor cellar at our house, but they had this big
basement where you could play games and have fun.
And of course, there was always great food
at those holiday meals. Aunt Helen was the best!
Jerry told me that after he got married, his
mom would always bring him a homemade cherry pie on his birthday. As Jerry told
me this, it was all he could do to contain himself in describing to me how
incredible that pie was. It was like he was reliving what it was like to take a
bite of that pie. I asked him why he liked it so much.
And he said, “Oh, my. She used cherries that she had picked and canned. They were so
good. She also had this incredible homemade crust.” But then Jerry told me,
“The best part was all was the sugar she
sprinkled on the top of that pie!”
The grandchildren will tell you the same
thing. They remember the awesome cookies that she would always have in the
cookie jar. But I think her most favorite treat was to give them frosted
pop-tarts with butter spread on top of the frosting!
Aunt Helen was one of a kind. What a
wonderful, humble, person of faith she was. She might remind us of one of
Jesus’ closest friends that we read about in the Bible. Remember the story of
Mary and Martha, the two sisters who would host Jesus in their home whenever
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem?
Mary was the one who we remember as
sitting at Jesus’ feet and taking in every word of his teachings. Martha was
the one who we remember as cooking and getting things ready for their meal.
Sometimes we elevate Mary in this story and forget that Martha’s role of
serving was just as important.
I like to think of Aunt Helen as a great
blend of Mary and Martha. She not only loved Jesus and wanted to grow in her
faith, but she also knew that she had the gift of hospitality and serving.
Where would the church be without the
loving and humble servants who are providing a meal and who will be cleaning up
after us following this service today?
That is so Aunt Helen. She lived out her faith through humble service to
be a blessing to others.
Our Gospel reading is a portion of the
Jesus’ raising Lazarus story in which Mary and Martha had sent a message to
Jesus to come and heal their brother, Lazarus who was close to death. Mary and Martha were friends of Jesus, and
they knew that Jesus had been sent by God and would be able to keep their
brother from dying.
But as the story goes, Jesus arrived after
Lazarus had already died. And when these
sisters finally greet Jesus, they are still clutching to their faith when
Martha says to Jesus, “But even now, I
know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
And notice that this is
Martha speaking these words of faith and not Mary in this particular story.
Jesus said to Martha or
maybe we should just call her, “Helen” in this story because it is very
fitting. Jesus says to her that he is
the resurrection and the life and that everybody who believes in him will never
die. When he asked Martha if she believed this, she said, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one
coming into the world.”
"Yes, Lord, I believe..."
Martha, who we remember
as a doer, shows us that she was equally a believer that with God, all things
are possible. Martha sounds a lot like Helen to me.
When Jesus tells Martha that he is the
resurrection and the life, John, the Gospel writer is giving us a little hint
of what will happen toward the end of his gospel when Jesus will rise to new
life.
It’s because of Easter and Jesus’
resurrection from the dead, that we can dare to believe that one day all of
God’s people will be reunited in God’s glorious kingdom. It will be one great
big “Georgie-Georgie” family reunion.
Helen was ready to go and be with the Lord
because she knew of this hope. She had an assurance that there is nothing that
can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing.
Not even death.
Maybe the best thing that we can do to
honor Aunt Helen today is to join her and all the saints in heaven in
reaffirming that we still believe. Yes, even with heavy hearts, we still
believe. Please stand as your able, and together, let us recite the Apostles’
Creed that you find printed in your bulletin.
I
believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus
Christ, his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of
the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge
the quick and the dead. I believe in the
Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness
of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
We still believe! Thanks be to God!
[Left to Right: Aunt Dot, Mom, Aunt Helen, Uncle Quinton]
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