John 14:1-6

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, following Eric, I’m left with the holy challenge of simply preaching the Gospel as we celebrate his life and the good news that was his as he lived – and the good news that is now his – as he lives – on the other side of God’s eternity.

And the trick of that is, I’m not sure where the distinction can be found between a eulogy and a homily, where Bernie Augenstein is concerned. That is to say, Bernie was a consummate churchman. He cared about and worked for and served so many expressions of God’s church in the world, it seems – at least in recent years – to have become a calling on his life in so many ways. And it was a real gift to have his wisdom, experience, and love for it all at Cross of Grace, as a Partner in Mission, since our earliest days.

Speaking of those earliest days, we hadn’t met yet, so it was a surprise when he showed up at my graduation from seminary, with Janis Janelsins in tow, over in Columbus, Ohio, 15 years ago. They introduced themselves as having vested interests in this new congregation I was being called to develop outside of Indianapolis, and just wanted to see who and what they were in for.

A three-hour drive to a graduation ceremony for a stranger, only to drive three-hours back home, in the same day – without even an invitation to dinner? That’s some interest and concern and dedication to the Church and its leaders that impressed me, the more I thought about it after the fact. And it was just a foretaste of the feast to come, as we say, where Bernie was concerned.

He remembered the anniversary of my ordination every year, with a card and a congratulations on whatever Sunday was closest to June 24th. (I had to look that date up this week, to make sure I had it correct, but Bernie always knew.)

His wisdom and insight and “scoop” about all things ELCA, I/K Synod were invaluable at times. He was my go-to guy when he served on Cross of Grace’s Council or on our Vision Team or during our annual congregational meetings about anything that had anything to do with the larger church. He knew about policies and procedures. He knew about plans at the synod and churchwide levels. He knew about which pastors were serving where, which pastors were leaving where – and why.

He kept me on my toes about so many details, I can’t even tell you. He was always reminding me about when it was time to change the sign out front or update the website or put an ad in the paper about something.

He shared resources with me from the Roman Catholic Church. (Your book, Eric, was his most proud offering, I’d say.) He taught a class here in the Spring about the common ground we Lutherans and Catholics share. He was so prayerful and hope-filled about that common ground becoming full-communion in his lifetime. And he loved worshiping together with his family as an experience and expression of what that could look like.

And, of course, worship was where life and faith came together for Bernie, I’d say. In music and through liturgy and with choirs – in Word and Sacrament, of course – is where Bernie loved to spend his time.

What Bernie was best at where the life of our congregation is concerned, was his desire and gift for welcoming guests into our midst. He made it his calling as a Partner in Mission at Cross of Grace to be the default, go-to greeter throughout the morning, every Sunday. He wasn’t assigned to that post. His name wasn’t in the bulletin. But he was always there, saying hello, greeting whoever walked in those doors, and learning the names – and whatever else he could glean – from anyone who showed up to join us.

Over the years, we often compared notes, to make sure we had names and connections correct for whoever we met on any given Sunday. He was an invaluable asset to this Pastor, in that regard. He came, too, to every CrossRoads new member class, even after he’d taken it himself, just so he could get to know better those who were new to the fold and learn about how he could connect them with others in our congregation, through stuff like the Supper Groups, which he coordinated and organized with great care.

There are a lot of jokes out there about St. Peter waiting to welcome people into heaven’s pearly gates, and I kind of think that if anything like a welcoming committee really does exist in heaven, that St. Peter might have just lost his job to Bernie Augenstein, sometime very early on Saturday morning.

And all of that was in service to the Gospel… and it was a way of proclaiming the good news… and it was a means of sharing the grace Bernie was called to in this place in a way he relished and, frankly, you don’t find just anywhere in the Church these days. I mean, you don’t find Bernies just anywhere in the Church these days. Nor do you find the kind of grace he tried to share so faithfully.

So, two images come to mind as I reflect on and remember and give thanks for Bernie’s presence in my life and for his place in this congregation. One is his love for lighthouses and the passion he had for traveling around the country to see them with you, Linda. If a lighthouse is anything, it is a guide and a point of reference. It is a beacon of safety. It is a welcome home.

I think Bernie was all of those things for those who knew him, especially where his life in the Church and at Cross of Grace were concerned. He was a guide, a point of reference, a familiar face, and a welcome home.

The other thing that comes to mind as I remember and give thanks for Bernie, was the love I know he had for Jeopardy – his daily, ritualistic time with Alex Trebeck and the whole premise of that game show, where everything begins with the answer and the participants are left to come up with all the right questions.

I’m not sure Bernie would have described it this way, but that whole premise is the way life and faith come together, under the banner of God’s grace, if you ask me. “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?,” Thomas asked, Jesus, remember? In other words, we don’t know the answer… we don’t know the ending… we can’t see where you’re going… how can we possibly know how to get there?

But Jesus says, “I am the way… and the truth… and the life.” In other words, “you’ve had the answer before you and with you and beside you all along. Because of the grace I’ve proclaimed, because of the water you’ve received, because of the bread that’s been broken and the wine that’s been poured, because of the love we have practiced and shared, given and received, you have the answer; you know the way to the place that I am going; you know what it looks like and what it feels like; you know how to get there and how to bring others along with you.”

Bernie was always preparing a way for others to see and to experience the love and hope and joy that belongs to us in Jesus. A way to learn more… to worship more… to serve more… to experience grace in some way through God’s church in the world. Bernie was always making room for those who were looking. And he was always there – at the door – like some kind of human lighthouse because he knew the answer to whatever we hunger for as people in the world.

That answer – which Bernie sings about even now, no doubt, and which is our hope, still – begins with God’s grace, freely shared, generously offered, abundant enough for anyone and everyone, and made known through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for Bernie, for each of us, and for the sake of the world.

Amen

John 16:12-15

[Jesus said] "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

There has been a daily countdown in the Stamper household for the past few weeks. As of Friday afternoon, the countdown reached “4.” As in, only four days left of school for my oldest son, Nolan. Four days until summer break.

With the school year almost over, I asked Nolan to reflect on what he appreciates, remembers, and learned in the course of the year. He talked about friendships with classmates, how excited he is that he can read almost everything we put in front of him, how he really likes math, and how disappointed he is when he can’t play basketball during recess because another class is always out there already and doesn’t share.

I’m grateful to have a child who is capable of reflection. This has been a point of emphasis in our parenting style. We started early by seeking to identify his emotions and teach him their names, which would often result in humorous experiences like when he would scream at us as a toddler and we would look at him and say, “Oh, you’re so mad!” Exchanges like this taught him a vocabulary that allows him to express himself. Also, he knows that every day when I take him home I ask him to describe his day and that every night we gather as a family and take turns sharing our highs and lows from the day.

He doesn’t always wax poetic about his experience of life. He's as likely to mumble a response as any other kid. And when we ask him “How was school today?” Nine times out of ten he’ll reply “good.” But we persist, because we know that reflection yields wisdom and empathy. And relationships are enriched by our ability to put our reflections into words and actions.

But not all words are equal. By themselves, nouns are pretty much useless for reflection. Imagine this conversation:
Q: “How was school today?”
A: Pencil, friends, recess, teacher, book, math.

Adjectives, by themselves are a little better.
Q: “How was school today?”
A: Good, fine, exciting, stressful,
Unfortunately, this is where most of our reflection and expression stops.

Where things get really exciting, though – where the truth really comes out – are our action words – verbs.
Q: “How was school today?”
A: We laughed, I studied, we played, I learned

Paying attention to the ways we use words to describe our experiences is helpful on days like today when our focus is on the Holy Trinity – the foundation of Christian faith.

The Holy Trinity, as described by nouns, is pretty much useless for reflection:
The Holy Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three in One and One in Three.

The Holy Trinity, as described by adjectives, is only a little better:
The Holy Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; they are related and connected; distinct from one another yet equal to one another.

The Holy Trinity, as described by verbs, gets to the heart of the matter. In fact, one of the earliest ways of speaking about and understanding the Trinity was the word perichoresis , meaning, the divine dance (from the Latin roots peri- around and choreo - where we get the word choreography). Using the action words we begin to see that…
The Holy Trinity is what flows under, around, and through all things – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit divinely dancing. The Holy Trinity is what we enter into as God’s beloved creation; our participation in the flow and divine dance enables us to be generous, serve others, and experience connection, harmony, and love.

Relationship, connection, energy, generosity, and love are at the core of Holy Trinity. Because the Trinity is the foundation of our faith, that means relationship, connection, energy, generosity, and love are available to us and can shape our entire faith and involvement in the world. The Holy Trinity invites our participation. It forces us to be active. It makes our faith a verb.

The Holy Trinity is the foundation of our faith; but unfortunately, not much has changed since 1970 when Jesuit priest Karl Rahner indicated (in his book, Trinity) that Christians could drop the doctrine of the trinity tomorrow and most Christian literature, practice, and devotion would remain virtually unchanged.

One could argue, as many theologians are, that the normal Christian image of God is still pagan; that is, Zeus – a man with a white beard sitting in a throne, getting involved in worldly affairs only once in a while (either when he is asked enough times or when he feels like it), sometimes with lightning bolts at the ready.

It is a false and destructive path for Christians to profess the divinity of Jesus Christ yet continue to think of God as an individual who passes judgment and destruction, promising good things to only those who tow the line. If we believe that God sits on a throne and passes judgment, we will model our life around this belief.

If, on the other hand, we believe God is in relationship, dancing, flowing, energizing the everything from the grass of the field to the cells of our bodies, then how amazing it would be for us to model our life around this belief. Perhaps we would choose grace over judgment, peace over pain, relationship over isolation, forgiveness over self-righteousness, and action over ignorance.

For a Christian Church that professes and worships the Holy Trinity, nouns are pretty much useless:
building, committee, pastor, bulletin, hymn, band, wine.

For a Christian Church that professes and worships the Holy Trinity adjectives are only a little better:
good, nice, welcoming, inclusive, entertaining, nurturing

For a Christian Church that professes and worships the Holy Trinity, verbs get to the heart of the matter:
We who are caught up in the divine flow of the Holy Trinity worship, learn, serve, pray, proclaim, love, hold, and forgive.

Our challenge today is to reflect on the true nature of the Holy Trinity in which we place our trust and gain our strength – a creating God the Father, a redemptive Christ, and a life-giving Holy Spirit, each one united in a divine dance of relationship, connection, energy, generosity, and love. The Trinity calls us out of isolation and apathy and invites us to participate in the verbs of our faith so that all may join in the divine dance.

Amen.

"Bernie Augenstein Funeral Homily" – John 14:1-6

"The Divine Dance" – John 16:12-15