Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
April 18, 2021
Lucy Harvey
The annual Christmas pageant is a big deal at Christ Church
for a whole variety of reasons, as is true in many churches. At Christ Church, you might be impressed with
the well-crafted stage sets, the camel that sways to the hymns, or the little
sheep that tend to be everywhere except where they are supposed to be. But for me and for many, the highlight of the
pageant is the angel who comes up the aisle with all the other angels to give
glory to God and worship the baby Jesus.
However, this joyful angel is in her wheelchair being pushed by an adult
or older angel.
This angel, of course, is our Lucy. Throughout scripture, angels are messengers
sent by God. The message they are sent
to bring is often a challenging one, such as when Gabriel told Mary that she would
bear a child, or when the angel appears to Isaiah to send Isaiah off on a
difficult mission. There were certainly
challenges to the message the angel Lucy brought us. But in the Christmas story, the angels bring
good news of great joy to all the people. Lucy, as a Christmas angel, sums up the good
news of great joy for all of us.
What is this good news?
In 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul reports that God said to him “My
grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." This is similar to what Jesus says in the
reading from John when asked “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind?’” Jesus responds “‘Neither
this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be
revealed in him.” God’s power is made
perfect in weakness, whether the weakness of a baby born in a manger, or the
weakness of a man hanging on a cross, or the weakness of a child with
challenging medical and development disabilities, or the weakness of our own
challenges that bring us to our knees.
Lucy showed us what God’s power looks like. God’s power is found in “whatever is true,
whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
pleasing, and whatever is commendable” in the words of the reading from
Philippians. God’s power is found in
love that is “patient, and kind, not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude,
love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things,” in the words of 1 Corinthians.
God’s power is a power that is present with us so that we are not overwhelmed
by the rivers of live nor consumed by life’s flames. As a Christmas angel, a messenger from God,
being present with us in her wheelchair, singing along in her own way, Lucy brought
us the good news of God’s presence with us, God’s love for us, and God’s claim
on our lives… in a way almost too deep for words. The power of God is made perfect in our
weakness.
The words of Isaiah hold true this day as we grieve the death
of Lucy. Grief is terribly hard work and
can make us feel horribly weak. But God
says to us “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through
the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall
not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Grief is the power of love at work, love that
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
What our love believes and proclaims is that Lucy lives on
in the lives of those who received her organs and tissues, an incredible gift
of life. Lucy lives on in our lives when
we live with the love, patience, pureness, and strength that she taught us in
her 14 years. But, as Christians, above
all, our love believes and proclaims that Lucy was joined with Jesus in his
death and resurrection at her baptism 14 years ago. In her death on Easter night, Lucy joined Jesus
in that place where the power of love is stronger than any other power, where
the power of life is stronger than the power of death, and where God’s power has
been made perfect in Lucy.
Amen.
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