for Barry Busse

For Barry Busse
May 30, 2017
Isaiah 61:1-3
Psalm 121
Revelation 21:2-7
John 14:1-6

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.”  That is the promise for today.  And, one day, in the future, “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”

But today we cling to the promise for today:  “God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.”  There is no promise that we will not have reason for tears in this life.  Our hearts have been broken in the past, and they will break again.  Grief and mourning come to all of us.  There is no promise that we will not cry.

The promise is this: God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  Not some of the tears.  Not the tears that make sense.  Every tear.  All the tears.  From the scraped knees of childhood, to the loss of those we love.  And the promise for the future tells us that one day, Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.  But not today.  For now we still weep, but these tears will be wiped away.

I did not know Barry Busse.  But I know those who are weeping for him.  I never heard Barry sing.  But I know those who heard echoes of heaven in his voice.  God gives us the gifts of music, and theater, and teaching, and God gave all these to Barry in extra measure.  And the wonderful thing about those particular gifts is that they are always shared.  Always passed on.  Always cherished in the hearts and lives of others.  And though Barry is no longer with us, he is still present with us in the voices of his students, in the memories of those who saw him perform, and in the tears of those weep for his passing.

And Barry is also with us as we share in this Communion Celebration today.  In baptism, God claimed Barry forever, and Barry is among the saints of every time and every place who gather with us to share in this Eucharistic meal.

“God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.”  That is the promise for today.  And one day, in the future, “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”  You and I still live in the mysterious and wonder-filled space between those two promises.  May God give us the grace to trust both in the promise for today, and especially in the promise to come.

Amen