Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the funeral (actually part of the funeral) of Mayno Delamarter Priebe. What a joy to hear the story and message about God’s goodness and the goodness he has transfered to his saints. What a blessing. I harkened back to 1973 when I was embraced (not physically) by this joy-filled woman of God. She oozed acceptance and encouragement.
I didn’t have the privilege to share at the funeral. But this is my bully pulpit. I can remember being a teenager with few connections in the church. Mayno was one. Decades my senior with little in common, she would demonstrate an interest in someone who had little vested interest in the church or the church in him. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus saved me. But, people like Mayno (many of them) brought me to a greater willingness to seek Him in the first place. Her family is and has always been a tribute to her fine character.
Yesterday I experienced a two-fold joy. The first was appreciating the woman and the God who made her. It was celebrating a life and a life-giver. The two are intertwined- or they should be. I cry when the two are put together well in a concert of thanks and praise. When we can sing praises to God and speak reminiscent thanks about the person it makes a great combo. The second reason for joy was doing all of this in the midst of friends and acquaintances who celebrate a shared history, world view and God. It is a healthy family with healthy perspectives and connections. I was deeply moved by God and wonderfully pleased with the his family.
I asked a senior pastor years ago which he preferred, doing weddings or funerals. He said funerals. When I asked why, he inferred with a tinge of sarcastic frustration with the divorce rate in America, "They stay dead." Of course, I’m sure he was speaking in jest. But, I always had a different answer in the past 29 years of ministry experience. Weddings are wonderful. Funerals, on the other hand are either exquisitely wonderful or sadly terrible. There is no ground between. The difference is the presence or absence of God and the presence or absence of His people.