John
10:11-18
About
a month ago, Tara (one of Ann’s granddaughters) called me and asked me when we
could baptize her son, Noah. She wanted
her grandparents to be there for the baptism as she knew it would be important
to them. I offered a few dates and Tara
picked Sept. 15th. Even just
days before, we thought that her grandparents would be there. Unfortunately, they could not make it. The family suggested I bring them communion
so that the whole family could share communion that day. I also brought the
chrism. I had explained to Tara and
Stuart the day before that we use consecrated oil for baptisms, for prayers of
healing and often before death. It’s not
the exact same oil, but it’s very similar.
When we baptize someone, we mark the sign of the cross on the
child/adult’s forehead and we say, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and
marked as Christ’s own forever.” I always ask the parents and Godparents to put
the oil on the child’s forehead as well.
It’s my favorite part of the baptism because it reminds me of the
permanence of God’s promise to us. “You are marked as Christ’s own forever.”
Since Ann and Jim could
not be at the baptism, I brought the oil to them and Tara held Noah for them so
they too could anoint Noah. Ann was reluctant at first. She was never one to make herself the center
of anything, but her family encouraged her and she did with a huge smile. After I found out that she died about 12 hours
later, I wished that I had used that oil to anoint her, but I know she would
not have wanted that. It was never about her.
Most
Christians are so accustomed to the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and us
as his sheep. We are so used to it, we forget that it’s kind of an odd way to
describe God, the creator of heaven and earth, the redeemer of all humanity. The Greek gods were powerful and often
frightening. The Romans made their most
powerful leaders into gods. Yet Jesus
refused to be the kind of god that so many wished for. He would not wield his power with violence or
even displays of majesty. He showed his
power with radical and unconditional love.
In this Gospel reading, he uses the imagery of the shepherd, who lays down
his life for the sheep. Jesus was a
leader, but he was a servant as well.
Ann’s
dear friend Gwen told me that Ann would never be the first to go through a
door. She would always insist the other
person go before her. And that in many
ways, summed her up. Her son told me that she had the life of 10 people. She did. She had a wonderful life full of
adventure, amazing places, dear friends, a loving family, and a husband she
adored and who adored her. Yet she did
not take that for granted. She never
acted as though she was entitled. She
was a leader, but she was a servant leader.
Now, all over town, you will see free lunches for children in the summer
because people realized that many children go hungry without school to feed
them. Yet long before the rest of us
figured that out, Ann was in the kitchen with a small group making sandwiches
for a local apartment complex where she knew that there were lots of children
who might otherwise go hungry. She never
advertised this. She never advertised anything
she did. She did it because she
cared. She did it because she knew the Good
Shepherd and she followed him.
I
was a little disappointed that I did not offer to anoint Ann and Jim. We don’t offer Last Rites in the Episcopal
Church---at least we don’t call it that.
But we do sometimes anoint people before they die if they request
that. Yet the more I thought about it,
the more I realized that was not how Ann operated. She died not because she
felt closure because she was anointed, I believe that she was able to find some
peace because once again, she was able to perform one last act of service, by
blessing her great grandson and marking him as Christ’s own forever. There are some in the church who will tell
you that only priests can bless. Yet I
feel safe saying that while Ann didn’t anoint all of us, she blessed us all
with her love, her compassion, her kindness and her selflessness. She left her mark on us all. We will miss her, but her Spirit will always
be in this church and this community.
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