While I’d known OF Mary Ellen and Gary
WAIT…As an aside…its difficult to talk about Gary without saying “Mary Ellen & Gary”
So… Because of my Posey County
Sister and brother in law
I’d known OF Mary Ellen and Gary
Pretty much since I moved to Evansville 36 years ago
We were … mild acquaintances
Until about 10 years ago, when they invited me here
To St Stephen’s
That’s when we became…I don’t know…
Maybe I’d call it “heart friends”
WHICH is…SO like them…right?
Invitation and Hospitality
That’s the theme that runs deep
As we remember Gary’s life
Here…In this church
This is where Mary Ellen and Gary
Made their spiritual home
They sat right there
That red thing is their cushion
And when they moved to Evansville
There was an invisible holographic sign on that pew
This is Mary Ellen and Gary’s place
DO NOT SIT
Really…No one sat there
Because YOU were…well, still there
So it’s important that we are gathered here
Right now
And at this point…We are, together, participating in familiar ritual actions
We recite familiar prayers
And read familiar passages from Scripture
In order to reflect on Gary’s life
In light of his faith
…a faith shared and nurtured here
year after year, Sunday after Sunday
So that
we might benefit from his life’s witness
So that we might be poked a little
To do the same sort of reflection in our own lives
The family wanted to select scripture passages that Got at the heart of Gary’s particular way living out his faith
1) Gary’s dedication to his vocation of hospitality
2) And his care and concern for neighbors
…known and unknown
3) And his steadfast love of and commitment to family
This first reading from the prophet Isaiah
Is a vision of the ‘Messianic Banquet”
What does it look like to be in the God’s presence
What does it feel like to witness a new heaven and a new earth???
I looks/smells/tastes like rich food and choice wine shared with the saints around a well laid table.
That fits.
Gary loved to make this vision LIVE for people!
I think it is marvelous that, biblically speaking,
It is the lavish banquet that is the most perfect image of the blessing of resurrection and eternal life. God is host. Gary is guest.
The reading from the Gospel of Matthew’s sermon on the Mount
Helps us see that Gary’s exuberant hospitality
Was not just a career but a way of life
For I was hungry…well his work was feeding people with more than just food
…and of course he did this for his family…
…for the Indiana State Police at unforgettable Christmas parties
…for us here at St Stephen’s at coffee hour
…through their work with the food pantry
So much noticing HUNGER & THIRST
…so much feeding
Scott told me about how Gary clothed people
And how you might see someone wearing his monogrammed shirts around town;)
And as for “sick and in prison”
I met Gary and Mary Ellen when they were visiting a friend in the hospital…hospitals can feel a bit like a prison;)…
All of it appears to me
Like an overflowing
An overflowing of an endless reservoir
of the Love of God poured into his heart
Consciously or unconsciously,
My guess is that Gary connected to the idea of the hospitality of God…
A hospitality which begins with an invitation
Come…as John’s Gospel begins
Come…Come and see
Come…Mary Ellen, Marry me
Come…Scott and Sally, come into this world to be loved by me
Come…let me throw you a party
Come…let me celebrate your service to our community
Come…let me introduce you to St Stephens where you will be most welcomed
Come…Cecelia, Alex, Ian and Bryan
Come…Amelia, Violet, Stella, Evelyn, Nora, Sterling, and William
Come and let me be your POKA
Come…let me show you what I have for you
Come…taste this beef from my secret source
Come…let me do this for you
Everyone here has stories to tell about Gary
His life is a good one to try and imitate
To be like Gary is to love life in a big way
In an overflowing way
And to know that it is a gift
And to know that it is in the sharing
That the gift multiplies
And God says…well done good and faithful servant
Come…now be a guest at my table of plenty
