Scriptures: Ephesians 4:1-13, Matthew 10:40-42
Memorial: A Celebration of life and faith in our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ on 3/11/2023. In Memory of Anne Marlene Munger: January 20, 1937 ~ February 12, 2023
<music>
<Intro:>
Hello, This is Jade.
Welcome to Yi.kigai
A space for all to explore the intersection between faith and daily life
<music>
<Message:>
How would you like to be remembered by your loved ones towards the end of your life? This is a pretty odd question that we don’t normally think about. But it came to me from time to time whenever I visited the sick who were at the end of their earthly life. If I were them, I thought, I would wish that my loved ones wouldn’t grieve for too long or have a hard time paying my medical bills, caring for me day and night, or watching me suffer. Of course, I have no control over any of that.
But what I can control is how I'm remembered by my loved ones. After getting to know Marlene, my answer became clearer. I want to be remembered for my beautiful and gentle soul in the same way I remember Marlene. She had beautiful eyes and a gentle smile because her eyes and her smile could do all the talking. During each visit, the way she looked at me and the smile on her face assured me that she welcomed me with all her attention. And that was the same hospitality that I still received from her in February. What a beautiful and gentle soul she had!
What is a ‘soul’? This was one of those tough questions that I was asked but couldn’t give any helpful answers right away in my early ministry. I shared about it on March 20 last year, Soul Searching. From the biblical perspective, the soul is the value and principle of life that God has created and preordained. For God, our soul is just as important as our mind and our body. They are made for a great purpose, which is to build a life-giving relationship and trust.
That might be the very reason God commands us to love our God with all our mind, our heart, our strength, and our soul, recorded in the book of Deuteronomy 6:5 in the Old Testament. This commandment has been passed down through our faith teachings and practices way before God came to us through Jesus Christ. In his time, Jesus also reinforced it over and over again throughout his healing, teaching, and ministries.
Several years ago, I learned how to sign this Bible verse, the commandment, for a children's message. The sign that sparked my imagination the most was the word, ‘soul.’ It goes from a lower point moving up like waves to the top. It connects well with the biblical interpretation of this word ‘soul’. In our life, we all move from our earthly life to heavenly life, upwardly, freely, graciously alongside the Spirit which is the breath of life that sustains our movements that delineate the value and principle of life that God has created and preordained.
After listening to all the stories about Marlene from the family of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, the first scripture that came to me was from Matthew 10:40-42. These short three verses are about the kind of hospitality that is practiced by the people of faith. Whenever we meet and welcome others into our midst, we recognize God’s presence that is among us. And we also befriend each other in a loving way that shows what Jesus has accomplished through the cross. And the second reading is from Ephesians 4:1-13. It is about bearing with one another in love, the kind of love from Christ alone. And only through this kind of love, can the unity in diversity become a reality, and this reality might start as small as a little mustard seed. It takes nutrients to grow strong and big until it becomes a big tree that provides a safe shelter for those who are vulnerable and lost.
I saw Marlene’s beautiful and gentle soul through her eyes and the smile on her face. Her beautiful and gentle soul was built up and strengthened not just in a short period of time, but through years of serving, teaching, loving, assisting those around her. She was willing to go the extra mile to make sure that her commitments were made, either through her own effort or with her teammates in ministries. We give thanks to God for the faith and life of Marlene, our beloved sister in Christ, who is resting peacefully in God’s loving and merciful arms. Amen.
<Music>
<Closing Prayer:>
May your coming week be blessed by God’s grace
As together we explore the intersection between faith and daily life
<Outro:>
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe and follow yi.kigai.
<music>
Yes, there are ways that we would like to be remembered. But there are also ways that people will remember us which we could not even imagine. Living our lives in response to God' grace will have an array of effects on others lives. That is true, when we are able to see the Lord in others, we can experience the fullness of life promised to us. It frees us from fear and despair.