+ Graveside Service for Evelyn Colclough – December 19, 2020 +
Acts 16:11-15
Sumner Cemetery – Sumner, WA
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
The more I thought about Evelyn this week, the more I realized that – even in the short time I’ve known her – she reminds me of so many of the great women of Holy Scripture.
How her trust in God’s promises reminded me of God’s promise to Eve to one day send a Son who would destroy death by dying for us. How her steadfast faith – even in her last weeks and days of life – reminded me of Sarah and Elizabeth whose steadfast faith reveals the greater steadfast love of the Lord.
How her faith would give voice to God in prayer like Hannah knowing that in His own way and His own time, he would answer her prayers in His good and gracious will in Jesus.
How her quiet moments of listening to God’s Word reminded me of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. And how her moments of loving, serving, and caring for others in countless ways reminded me of Martha.
But of all the faithful women in Scripture, Evelyn reminds me most of all of Lydia. Now, Lydia’s home city of Thyatira and Evelyn’s home of Edgewood, WA are worlds apart. And yet Evelyn and Lydia have several things in common.
Like Lydia, who was a seller of purple goods, anyone who knew Evelyn, whether for a moment or much longer, knew she loved the color purple. In Scripture, purple was a royal color, a color that reminds us of Lydia and Evelyn’s true hope and comfort – in Jesus who is our King of kings who was enthroned on the cross, crowned with thorns, and died for Evelyn and for you. Then rose for Evelyn and for you.
But Evelyn and Lydia have far more in common than the color purple. Luke tells us in Acts 16 that Lydia was a worshiper of God and that the Lord opened her heart to hear the Gospel that St. Paul was called to preach.
The same is true for Evelyn. She too lived her life as a worshiper of God and his Christ. This life of faith and worship is God-given, to Evelyn, and to you. The gift of faith and worship that rejoices in the simple, yet saving truth that even though we have no gift to bring God but our sin, He gives us all we need. Everything we have – body and soul and all things – is a gift from God. The Lord opened Evelyn’s heart as surely as he did Lydia’s, and yours and mine too. All by his Holy Word, by his Holy Spirit, in the waters of Holy Baptism.
Evelyn also has this in common with Lydia, that after she was baptized, she spent her life in service to our Lord. So too for Evelyn. She loved others because Christ first loved us. She was the consummate hostess because Christ was her chief host, serving her in His Word, water, body and blood. She loved to care for others because Jesus had shown her God’s love and care in laying down his life for her, as he did for you.
And that is why I remember Evelyn along with the other great women of Scripture. What made Evelyn’s faith, hope, and love so great was that she knew she had a Savior in Jesus who was greater than sin. Greater than her illness. Greater than even death itself.
A great Savior who died in her place on the cross. A great Savior who rose from the dead and promises that in Him, one day, Evelyn and all his saints, will rise from the dead as well.
A great Savior who comforts you this day and always with his sure and certain promise:
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
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