Homily for the Funeral of Dr. Austin Grimes - Luke 4:14-21

It is my great privilege to welcome all of you to Christ Church today to honor the life of Dr. Austin Grimes. In the midst of grief, we come together to celebrate a life very well-lived, the evidence of which is abundant. Words cannot capture its fullness of course, but the words I’ve heard this week to describe Steno have been very moving. Words like kind, compassionate, dedicated, faithful, and witty. Memories and stories about Steno have been pouring into the church office. There have been stories of medicine, of art, of friendship, of family, and of true love. I would wager that everyone here has a story about how he touched your life. We each hold a puzzle piece that we can put together, in order to see the whole picture of a wonderful and faithful life. I encourage you to keep sharing your stories.

It would be wonderful to invite each of you up here to tell your Steno story, but we would be here for days. In situations like this, preachers have the unfair advantage of a pulpit, so I get so share mine. Steno agreed to serve on an emergency preparedness committee here at Christ Church. The committee also had a couple of Red Cross people, church staff members, a search and rescue person, and a department of education professional who had worked on similar plans for local schools. I recall having perfectly polite conversations about buying first aid kits and fire blankets and such, when out of the blue Steno would launch into stories from his time as a flight surgeon. It was like suddenly being in an episode of M.A.S.H. He matter of factly described medical procedures under the worst conditions, and didn’t skimp on the gory details. It was a little awkward for a committee meeting, but his stories were a wonder to hear. What I learned about Steno during that time is that he was a dedicated physician through a through, a natural healer in the core of his being.

As Ann and I talked about this service, she had the wisdom to select readings appointed for use on St. Luke’s Day. We know Luke as the author of the Gospel of Luke as well as the Acts of the Apostles. Tradition also holds that he was a physician, and so the scripture passages for his day are all about healing. In the Gospel passage we just heard, we find Jesus back in his home town of Nazareth, which was probably a bit like Steno’s hometown of Newport, Arkansas. He walked into his home church on the sabbath, and began to read from the prophet Isaiah, as Steno did many times in this room. Those beautiful words filled the air - “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” Isaiah’s vision is a breathtaking one. There will come a time when all those who are suffering will find relief, and all that is broken will be repaired. Scholars call this God’s dream - a vision of this world in which all that is wrong becomes right again. There will be no more suffering or pain or grief. It is particularly important for those who grieve today to hear that God intends for that grief to not last forever. There will come a day when this world, and our hearts, will find their wholeness once again.

Once he finished reading, in a voice perhaps a little too cocky for his home town, Jesus told the congregation, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” It was bold. He claimed his identity as the embodiment of God’s dream, a glimpse of a restored creation yet to come. To look at Jesus is to look at a vision fulfilled, to see life overcoming death, and to see all who are injured in body or soul restored to their God-given glory.

It is clear to me that Steno shared in this ministry of Christ. Healing broken bones is a pretty concrete way of helping to usher in God’s dream. And of course, Steno tended to more than just broken bones. He had a way of ministering to broken hearts, too. Like Luke the physician, he knew the link between the healing arts and Gospel of Jesus Christ. Tending to the brokenness of our lives was a way of showing us that no matter how broken, each one of us is included in God’s dream. The way Steno lived his life showed us the grace of that truth.

A final word about God’s dream. Throughout the scriptures, people received individual  puzzle pieces about God. Some had visions, others found healing, and some were just in the right place at the right time when God was up to something. In our sacred history, no one person has the whole picture. It takes all of us to put our experiences of grace together in order to see the God’s dream unfolding. The people in Jesus’ home town told their stories about how Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah at church that day, which has now become a key piece for our understanding. So keep telling your stories about Steno’s well-lived life. The reception after this service is a great place for that. You physicians and colleagues of Steno’s should probably leave out any gory details at a polite church function. But with that exception, I trust that as we tell our stories and put our puzzle pieces together, we will see the big picture of a wonderful and faithful life, and a vision of God’s own dream.