The Burial of Sarah Douglas

For Sarah Douglas
June 17, 2024
Isaiah 61:1-3
Revelation 21:2-7
John 6:37-40

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

I think everyone in this room could tell stories of how special Sarah Douglas was in their lives.  I mean, that’s why we are all here today.  Because Sarah made a difference in our lives, just by knowing her.  Just by talking with her.  Just by feeling her gift of unconditional love.  Our lives have been made better because we knew Sarah Douglas.

There are people we meet in this life who just seem to know things.  Like someone who knows how to fix a sink, so you want them to fix the sink.  Or someone who knows how to plan an event, so you want them to plan your event.  Or someone who knows how to fly a plane.  And you definitely want for that person to be the one who is flying the plane!  Some people just know things, and we want them to tell us what they know.

Sarah Douglas intuitively held a deep faith and knowledge of God.  I personally learned so much from her because she was always ready to offer an encouraging word about God’s presence in our lives and in this world.  And it was a powerful thing to witness the depth of her faith, her trust in God’s goodness and grace.  To be quite honest, there were times when I thought maybe she should be flying this plane!  Because she was just so unwavering, no matter what happened.  Never have I met anyone who so fully trusted in Jesus, and who so fully knew where she was going in the end.

In the gospel reading we just heard, Jesus says,
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away . . . And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.

Sarah understood those words from Jesus, and she believed those words, and she trusted those words.  Long before I ever met her, Sarah Douglas knew where she was going when she died.  Because she knew it was the place she had been all along.  Which is safely in the palm of God’s hand.  She believed that, she knew that, she trusted in that.  Jesus had her, and Jesus still has her.

Jesus says ”Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away . . . And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”  Jesus loses nothing and no one.

Sarah Douglas was given to Jesus in Baptism, and Jesus held onto her.  Jesus never lost Sarah, and Jesus will never lose you.  And Jesus will raise all of us up on the last day.  Sarah believed that with all her heart.  May God give us the grace to believe it just as much as Sarah Douglas believed it.

Amen.