What do I know about Dolores Weller? Well, I know that she had a smile that could light up a room. It was warm, it was genuine, it was incredible. I was never quite sure sometimes if she truly recognized me when I came to visit, but she always acted like she did. As soon as I would walk into the room and say her name, she would smile. That beautiful smile that you surely saw many, many more times than I ever did. Some of you have seen that smile for your entire lives, and I know that none of us will ever forget it.
I also know that Dolores’ faith – her strong and unshakable faith in Jesus – always shined as brightly as her smile, even during these last months as you could see the strength draining from her tired body . On more than one occasion I walked into her room to find her reading a devotion from Portals of Prayer. June 29 was the last time that she was able to receive the Lord’s Supper, and she was having a hard time staying awake – but when I asked her, she made it emphatically clear that she wanted Communion on that afternoon. We use an abbreviated liturgy during Communion services for our shut-ins, and much of it I simply read. But when we got to the Apostles’ Creed, I could see her lips mouthing the words along with me. As I said the Lord’s Prayer, she was very softly saying it, too.
Although it’s difficult for me to say a lot about Dolores based on my limited personal experiences, I really can’t say much about Leroy because I never met him. In fact, I only saw him – very briefly – one time. Shortly before Christmas, a group from St. Paul went Christmas caroling, and as we walked the halls of Heritage Manor we stopped in Dolores’ room. Dolores’ health had gotten markedly worse, and both Denise and Delbert told me that they honestly thought she would be gone before Christmas. Leroy was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, and he seemed totally oblivious to the fact that our group was crowding into the room to sing Christmas carols. I’m not sure he even realized that we were there, because his eyes were locked on his wife as she lay in that bed. I know that he was a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather. And I know that if Dolores and Leroy had survived, today would have been their 66th wedding anniversary.
One other thing I know is that Dolores’ favorite Bible verse was Revelation 3:11 and that it was her mother’s favorite verse, too. We heard it included a few minutes ago in our reading from Revelation chapter three, but I’d like to read it again. St. John writes: “I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” I was a little surprised when Denise and Delbert told me about this, because that’s not a verse that people mention very often. But what a beautiful verse it is! What a fitting verse for us to hear on this occasion, on this day.
When we gather on an occasion such as this, it is entirely proper for us to remember our loved ones with sadness and tears. We can tell ourselves that neither Dolores nor Leroy will not suffer any more from their illnesses, but that doesn’t change the fact that we – and you – will miss them. Feeling sad when a loved one has died is most certainly an emotion that God understands. Even Jesus felt sadness, for John writes that Jesus wept when His friend Lazarus died.
But through our sadness and tears we can rejoice because we know that the grave is not the end for us. Just as Jesus rose from the dead following His crucifixion, we too will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns in glory on judgment day. That’s the point of Revelation 3:7. When Jesus says “I am coming soon,” it is a promise – an absolute, ironclad promise – that He will return for all who have died in the faith. And when that time comes to pass, no one and no thing – not sin, not death nor the power of the devil – and certainly not any illness or disease – can ever take the crown of eternal life away from us.
What do I know about Dolores and Leroy Weller? Really – not a lot. But I do know that Jesus is coming soon. And with that assurance, all who have died in the faith and the faithful who are still here can look forward with joy to that blessed day.
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