A Sermon in Memory of Lura Webb
The Rev. Patricia Gillespie
Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 23
1 Corinthians 13
John 14:1-6
Day by day through the ups and downs of her life, Lura answered that call.
It the Gospel we just heard, Thomas said to Jesus, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" And Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."
Lura knew that, She knew that Jesus was the Way. And she knew, to that the Way is about love. She loved God and her church and her family and those all those folks that God sent her to love.
In her quiet ordinary beautiful way she lived out that hymn to love that Karlene read this morning. Patient and kind; not arrogant or rude. Not insisting on her own way; rejoicing in the truth. Believing, hoping, and loving her way through the years of the depression and the victory gardens, a wedding day full of comic relief and a marriage overflowing with blessing, through children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and through the struggles of widowhood and an aging, aching body.
Through it all, Lura kept on following Christ and loving, enduring whatever life sent her, often with a gentle chuckle at herself and the world around her.
Lura heard Jesus' calling. She knew the way to follow that call. And she knew about love. That love is the gift that Lura has left us. It is our inheritance.
Last night I read Lura's autobiography. And during the night, after prayers of thanksgiving for her life, I dreamt of the gift that she has left us. I was walking on the beach, maybe it was the tumult of life's wild restless sea but it was calm then. In the dream I knew we had just buried Lura's remains there by that sea.
At the same moment that the full moon was setting, the sun was rising over the sea, just as the we see Lura's life shining on in many of the faces here today. As I touched the wet sand over the place where Lura's body had been buried, bubbles began to rise up through the sand. Lura's life could not be contained and stifled by the grave any more than Jesus life was.
She knew and followed Jesus and as we remember her life, the wisdom and love of the Way, the Truth, and the Life will continue to bubble up in our lives. It is as if Lura is still chuckling over the ups and downs of life and still loving us on the Way.
The greatest gift, the gift that Lura gave us, the gift of love, abides with us forever.
So, Do not let your hearts be troubled. God has prepared for Ray and for Lura and for all who turn to God a place where death is swallowed up forever and where life and love go on forever.