Bobbie Muhlbach
March 22, 2025
Isaiah 25:6-9
Revelation 21:2-7
John 6:37-40
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Perhaps you’ve heard saying, “If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.” Please don’t worry. This isn’t going where you think it is going.
When I first came to St. Timothy’s 8 and a half years ago, John and Bobbie Muhlbach were super active members of the church. A couple years in, Bobbie got a scary diagnosis and was not able to be as active. But she did eventually give in to our nonstop requests to join the choir.
And it wasn’t long before we appointed her the Choir Social Event Director. Because no one could throw together a social event like Bobbie could. When our then-organist Levi Muriuki got his green card, Bobbie gave him a hat and sunglasses with American flags on them, and a cutting board shaped like the United States, and we sang “God Bless America” while drinking wine after rehearsal. Anyone who was there that night saw Bobbie doing what only Bobbie could do.
In the depths of COVID, our choir used to meet on zoom just to check in and support one another. Sometime around Easter, Bobbie turned her camera off for a bit. And when she turned it back on, she was dancing in her kitchen wearing a full-body Easter bunny costume! No one could top Bobbie for bringing joy into the depths of seeming despair.
But here’s the thing about Bobbie being part of our choir. I’m not gonna name names, but some of our singers can’t actually read music. But they are still able to sing in our choir. Still able to add their voice to the beautiful music during worship. And that’s because they sat next to Bobbie. Her voice helped others sing. She helped others find their own voice. We could update that quote I started with by saying, “If you haven’t got any notes to sing, come sit next to me.” Just by being herself—by sharing who she was—Bobbie brought others into their own.
We miss having Bobbie in our lives. And we miss hearing her voice in our choir. But there are people who can literally sing because they sat next to Bobbie. And that’s not nothing. And it’s not just in our choir. There are people who can read and speak in public and even just laugh because they sat next to Bobbie. Her voice goes on in the people who sat next to her. Bobbie is still singing and speaking and laughing because they are singing and speaking and laughing.
In the gospel reading we heard a few minutes ago, Jesus says, “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 promises that he will lose nothing. Barbara “Bobbie” Lee Immel Muhlbach has not gone anywhere she has not always been. Which is safely in the arms of Jesus. Because Jesus does not lose what is his own. No one and no thing is beyond the loving embrace of Jesus.
Bobbie’s voice goes on because others are still singing. And that means we can still hear her singing, and one day we will see her again, face to face. And I have a hunch that Bobbie is planning one heck of a celebration for each and every one of us when we join her where she is waiting.
May God bless Bobbie Muhlbach, and may God bless you.
Amen
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