The Reverend John E. McGinn, Rector
Saint John’s Episcopal Church
Sandwich, Massachusetts 02563
March 15, 2008, 3:30 p.m.
Robert Sinclair Jones
The lessons today are from
Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1-11, The 23rd Psalm, Romans 8, verses 14-19,
34-35, 37-39, and the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verses 1-6.
Dear God, we give Bob back to
thee who gavest him to us. Yet, as thou does
not lose Bob in giving, so we have not lost him forever by his return. For what
is thine is always ours if we are thine,
and life is eternal and love is immortal and death is only a horizon, and a
horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.
Lift us up, strong son of God, that we may see further. Cleanse our eyes that we may see more
clearly. Draw us closer to thyself, that
we may know ourselves nearer to Bob who is with thee, that where he is and thou
art, we too one day may be.
* * * * *
Robert Sinclair Jones died on
March 11, 2008, and you know, the first thing I thought of was that there has
been a death in the family. For the
Jones family, for St. John’s church family, for the greater
Sandwich family, and the Cape Cod family.
Bob read the scriptures from
this lectern on a regular basis here at St. John’s. His understanding of scripture was so broad,
and his ability to discuss it so knowledgeable, that I, in consultation with
his family, chose some appropriate scripture readings for today as we celebrate
Bob’s life. Bob not only read and
understood scripture, but I believe that Bob lived the good news found in the
Bible.
Now, today we celebrate Bob’s
deep abiding, God-given faith; and we give thanks to God for God’s mercy and
love and God’s grace and the privilege of having had Bob in our lives.
The first reading for today
from Ecclesiastes 3 was read by Kate Powell, Bob’s granddaughter. If I could just paraphrase a little bit of
it:
There’s a time for
everything; a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to be born
and a time to die,
A time to plant and
a time to harvest,
A time to kill and a
time to heal,
A time to tear down
and a time to rebuild,
A time to cry and a
time to laugh,
A time to grieve and
a time to dance,
A time to scatter
stones and a time to gather stones,
A time to embrace
and a time to turn away,
A
time to search and a time to lose.
It’s hard to say goodbye,
even when our faith promises that we will meet Bob again, and I believe that
with my whole heart. It is hard to let
go here on earth when things will never be the same, but life goes on. Bob knew that, for in his life he had said
goodbye many times and had seen many changes.
One of the reasons we’re all
here this afternoon is to grieve Bob’s loss.
And we will all grieve in different ways - some of us will shed tears,
some of us go into a corner and meditate, some of us really don’t want to talk
about it - but we all grieve in a special way.
Linda, and Ted, and Sherry, and Ellen, and Sinclair, and Eleanor, and
Sarah, and Murray, and Kate, and Will, and Rob, and Laura, and all of Bob’s
family and friends - we are here this afternoon because we love Bob and we’re
going to miss him, and it hurts that he has left us. We love him and we are here today to shed
tears together.
At every funeral that I
preside at, I tell the story about Jesus and Lazarus. It was the story in last Sunday’s
Gospel. It’s one of my absolute
favorites. Also because when I was a
Roman Catholic growing up I was always able to raise my hand and make the nuns
happy when they asked if had memorized a Bible verse, and I’d always say,
“Jesus wept.” It is the shortest Bible
verse, and I always had that on the tip of my lips. But the picture is: Mary and Martha are crying uncontrollably,
and Jesus is called to the home of his best friend Lazarus. When he arrived there, Mary and Martha tell
him that Lazarus has died, and it says that Jesus wept. And I think that whenever God loses one of
God’s children, God weeps. And today
together we weep as we share the loss of Bob.
It’s okay to grieve, but
remember that God loves us. That is the
good news that we share - the good news that will comfort you in your grief and
in your healing. That is the good news
that Bob knew. He leaves fulfilled with
the good news that he would want each of us to know, to trust and to live.
We are reassured as Seth Newton
read from the letter to the Romans, “Know with all these things, we are more
than conquerors through God who loved us.
I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of
God.”
Kate Powell led us in the 23rd
Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd, I have
everything I need. He lets me rest in
green meadows. He leads me beside
peaceful streams. He renews my
strength. He guides me along the right
paths, bringing honor to his name; even when I walk through the dark valley of
death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort
me. You prepare a feast for me in the
presence of my enemies. You welcome me
as a guest, anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of
my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”
For generations, the 23rd
Psalm appraised to God’s mercy, and love, and steadfast care, has brought
comfort to millions of faithful believers.
I remember the 23rd Psalm being read at Mary Fay Jones’
funeral, and I remember reading the 23rd Psalm at Bob’s bedside when
he was undergoing surgery for an aortic aneurysm. And I remember on Monday morning early, as
Linda and I had met in the room as they prepared Bob for his trip to Boston in
the helicopter; I can remember saying
together the Lord’s Prayer, but also as Linda left the room, and in the final
preparation, I said the 23rd Psalm.
Whatever our situation in
life, whatever our joys or sorrows, God is our shepherd. God’s mercy and love comes to us in great
bounty, full-measure, unquestioning and never ending. God’s presence is constant with us all the
days of our lives, and beyond this life, into the next. God’s blessings are bountiful, God’s love
unconditional, and God’s salvation eternal.
This is the good news that we share today…the good news that Bob Jones
knew beyond any shadow of doubt, and the good news that Bob loved and shared
and was a public servant of in the world.
We remember today Bob Jones,
and death cannot take those memories away.
I encourage you as you go off to the Heritage Plantation and Gardens
that you share together, that you talk about your memories of Bob; the good
ones, the difficult ones, the humorous ones.
I want to share with you one
quick one. Marion and I met Bob for the
first time when we made our first visit here to Sandwich as we were looking at
the possibility of coming to Sandwich, and I was coming here to be the priest
of this parish. Bob became our travel
guide. He showed Marion and I around Sandwich, and he showed us the good and the bad.
First of all, of course, we
went down to the Boardwalk, and he showed us that. He was very proud how many volunteers in the
town had gone about doing this wonderful project. He was so proud of it, and as we looked out,
we were awestruck as well. And then
another thing that he kept talking about was the Community School. He thought the Community School was a very
important part of the life of this town, and he kept talking about that. He took us over to Heritage Plantation and
Gardens, and he said, “This is one of the most beautiful places that I have
ever been.” He was just amazed by the
plant life that was there.
And then was our greatest
moment. We were driving down Route 130
and as we were approaching the Mid-Cape Highway where there is that beautiful
vista of Cape Cod Bay,
Bob says to us, “Now, start counting to six.” “One, two, three, four, five and six” - and
there it appeared - the Cape Cod Canal power plant! (congregation
laughter)
So much for the beautiful vista!
He drove us all around
Sandwich but you could tell that this wasn’t just a sales pitch he was giving
us; he loved this town!
This town was special for him.
And then he brought us over to the church. And, you know, the church…one of the things
he told me, “We really need to expand.
We really need to do a lot of different things here.” But remember that Bob was showing me the good
and the not-so-good. The first thing he
did was bring me into this church, and he looked up and he said, “Isn’t that
blue ceiling wonderful?” He said, “Look
around, this is a beautiful old church.”
He said, “We would love to expand it, but we don’t want to change the
character of it.” He said, “I love
this church.” And, as Bob became the
chair of our building committee, that was one of his
important things….he wanted the church, after it was expanded, to look like it
had before because he thought it was an absolutely beautiful place.
Then he brought us around
what he called ‘the St. John’s campus.’
He showed us the Thrift Shop, he showed us the Preschool, which he was
very proud of, and said this was a very important part. Both the Thrift Shop and
the Preschool - so much a very important part of the ministries here at St.
John’s. Then we began to walk
around the old buildings in the campus. The paint was peeling, and all things
did not look new as we looked around.
But, you know, Bob had a vision of the future - he had a vision that
this church was going to continue to grow as the town of Sandwich grew. Bob was an important part of that
vision.
I remember him chairing our
first long-range planning committee. We
had twenty-five people on that committee and everyone had a different idea, but
Bob managed to somehow bring us together and to move us in a direction which
allowed us in 2003 to vacate this church, to move to the Wing School
auditorium, and to build out what you see here today. It was his patience, his sense of humor, his
determination, his sometimes procrastination; and you could disagree with him
because there were times when you wanted to do something and he didn’t want to
do it - he thought it would take away from the beauty of the church or
whatever, but it was his vision, it was his inspiration
that kept it going.
I urge you all to share the
memories that you have of Bob. Bob was
an interesting man. Share those memories
- the joyful ones, the difficult ones, the humorous ones.
I remember Bob and give
thanks to God for Bob’s ability to see the best in life, to face uncertainties
and challenges with humor and joy. Bob
understood that God is mighty beyond reckoning.
And I am thankful for all those who understand that God gives grace and
power, and that a heart of wisdom is a gift of God. Love to those who seek God. Bob understood all of this. God is not a God of eternal wrath, but is the
holy one who gives some people the strength of mind, and purpose, and body to
serve others. And let each of us seek to
grow throughout our lives, never ceasing to learn, allowing God to nurture our
wisdom, and to share that wisdom with those we meet along the way. That was Bob Jones.
And finally, the words of the
Gospel of John I read, “Let not your hearts be
troubled. Believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I
would not have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And when I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and will take you to myself that where I am you may be also,
and you know the way where I am going.”
I take great comfort today
that we celebrate the fact that Bob is with God, and he’s probably in a room
that he is decorating, or having decorated, that looks like the interior of
this church. And we are also witnesses
to the resurrection, especially in this church building; for here is where people
come to celebrate life and death, to give glory to God, to face death with
songs of praise in our hearts. For we
come in confidence that physical death cannot hold us, just as it could not
hold Jesus. “Oh death, where is thy
victory? Oh death, where is thy sting?”
And we celebrate today in the
knowledge that the victory over death has been won by Jesus, a victory we share
because we have been claimed in baptism, claimed by God out of God’s
grace. So we come, not as a people with
an uncertain future, but we come as God’s beloved children certain of God’s
word, confident in God’s love and mercy, and filled with praise that we know
our Redeemer and that Bob Jones lives with Him.
Bob is now with God, and he’s with Mary Fay and his parents, and his brother,
and his sisters, and all those loved ones who have gone before. Bob, good and faithful servant, we thank you.
Amen