Matthew 11:28-30; Hebrews 12:1-2; Isaiah 61:1-3, 10
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
A good nurse is a force to be reckoned with. They can be stern, strict, and no-nonsense, and caring, compassionate, and empathetic, all at the same time. My mother was an LPN in surgery and recovery for thirty-five years and she has told me numerous stories of how she or another nurse saved the life of a patient by correcting doctor who was about to make a serious mistake. Personally, as a Pastor, I’ve witnessed nurses correct a doctor with a kind, but firm, word and a glance that said all that needed to be said. Nurses like that take their vocation very, very seriously. They are servants, not employees, and they do what they do out of love, compassion, true empathy, and not a small amount of faith. Our sister in Christ Kathleen Marie Janssen was such a servant, as a nurse, as a wife, as a mother, as a Christian, as a friend, and in countless other ways. Kathy was a force to be reckoned with, a force for great good, and we give thanks to God today for His good gift to us as we remember Kathy’s life and faith, and as we commend her to our gracious and merciful Lord who died and rose again to make Kathy and all who will believe and are baptized His own.
Kathy graduated the top of her class at Wellsburg High School in 1952. She immediately enrolled at Allen Memorial Lutheran School of Nursing where her lifelong passion for nursing began. She graduated in the fall of 1955 as an RN and began working at Allen Hospital. Within a year she was promoted to Head Nurse for the medical surgery floor. She was only twenty years old! Kathy counted becoming an RN one of the greatest accomplishments of her life. Doctors get all the attention and the credit, and usually the dollars as well, but anyone who has spent time in a hospital and observed what is going on knows that it’s the nurses who do the really difficult and necessary work: Drawing blood; hooking up IVs; dispensing medications; getting patients to the toilet and back; cleaning them up when they don’t make it; etc. Being a nurse is being extremely close to, even enmeshed in, what it means to be human: Laughter and tears, joy and sorrow, elation and suffering, life and death. Not everyone is cut it out for it, but Kathy was. Grace under pressure, a servant’s heart, strengthened and guided by her faith, an image of Christ and His love and mercy.
But Kathy’s servant heart was larger than that. There was room for a husband and family. Kathy married the love of her life Alfred Janssen on September 1, 1956. Al was as much a servant of the Lord as was Kathy. That force to be reckoned with had become a power couple! Together Al and Kathy served in numerous ways, most notably, for our purposes, in the church. Al & Kathy were members here at St. John for over sixty years! Kathy served on every single church committee there was, but without a doubt what she enjoyed most was serving in the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. Locally, the St. John Dorcas Society, our congregation’s society of the LWML, serves the St. John congregation in numerous ways, but probably most noticeably by preparing and serving luncheon receptions at funerals, just as they will be doing today. Kathy helped to prepare and serve countless luncheons, and she was happy and joyful to do it. In fact, one of Kathy’s requests was that the luncheon for her funeral be catered, because she didn’t want her friends in the Dorcas Society to work so hard for her. However, they all feel the same way as Kathy; they want to do it, and they want to do it for her! So, the ladies will be preparing Kathy’s luncheon, and I know that Kathy would understand, because they share her servant heart and they want to serve, remember, and give thanks for Kathy by serving her family and friends in this way. But Kathy also served the LWML at the District level as a District Board member and as Vice President of Mission Projects and as District Historian. Kathy also worked on the Constitution Review Committee and served as a delegate to the International Convention in 1987. Along with nursing, Kathy counted this service as one of her greatest joys.
Together, Al and Kathy had three children, Marcia, Laura, and Daniel, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Laura said that she remembers how her Mom was always there when they got home from school. Marcia recounted the fresh baked treats Kathy prepared for the kids for when they came home after school. Other kids had Ding-Dongs and Ho-Hos, but they tasted like plastic compared to Kathy’s homemade cookies, bars, and banana bread. Kathy used her skills as a seamstress to make costumes for the kid’s school plays, many of them becoming part of the permanent costume department. Marcia, Laura, and Dan, all three, were into music and theater, and Kathy would attend every performance and tried to sit near the front. She would record the show on a tape recorder so that the family could listen to it again together later. All three kids remember how their mother exuded calmness and grace under pressure no matter what the crisis might be. She was a rock of stability and comfort. She would listen and offer advice if asked for, or she would remain silent and simply be present when her radar indicated that was what was needed most. If she didn’t know what to do, or there was nothing that could be done, she was there, nonetheless, radiating a quiet strength that was comforting and reassuring.
Now, if Kathy were here in person, I’d be getting a stern glance about now. Why? Because I’m probably doing, in her eyes, precisely what she didn’t want done: She didn’t want her funeral to be about her, but about her Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I would argue with her that this funeral is precisely about her Lord, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, and that there is absolutely nothing wrong in giving thanks to the Lord in these few memories and anecdotes which demonstrate the fruit of Kathy’s faith, Jesus’s fruit borne in and through Kathy, which has served others, and by which service the Lord is glorified. Where did Kathy’s servant heart and servant nature come from? It came from her faith in her Suffering Servant, her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who made her fruitful with His gifts and blessings that have served you and countless others and have served to glorify His holy Name.
Kathy’s confirmation verse was Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” I believe without any doubt, and I believe that you will agree, that Kathy lived this verse in her life and deeds, and this is what gave her such a servant heart and that grace under pressure she exuded. As she ran her race, the race that was her life, she kept her eyes on her Savior Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Not only that, but she drew confidence and strength and courage from God’s Word which accounts for the faith of a “great cloud of witnesses” who have run that race before her, who encouraged her for her own faith-race-and-life, and yours as well. And, at the end of that race is the Sabbath, rest in Jesus Christ who beckons, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Marcia, Laura, Dan; beloved grandchildren and great grandchildren; friends, neighbors; brothers and sisters in Christ; both Kathy and Al were a force to be reckoned with. You couldn’t know them without knowing their faith. You’d know it first because they would tell you, particularly Al. But you’d know that they weren’t blowing smoke at you because they’d also show you in their love, mercy, grace, and compassion, and most of all, in their service to you and to others and to the Lord in everything they said and did. They were branches grafted into the True Vine Jesus Christ, and Jesus made them fruitful in His abundance. Now he has called them to Himself where the Good Shepherd’s sheep may safely graze. I know that they don’t want you to grieve their absence, but rather to praise and give thanks to their Savior. And, perhaps more than anything else, they want for you to be where they are when you finish the race that is your life. Nothing would make them happier. Indeed, they have joined that great cloud of witnesses who have finished their course in faith, who now continue to serve as encouragement to you to not give up, to not lose hope, to not let the darkness and sin of this world keep you from serving others and praising and thanking our God who loves us, our Savior who has redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit who continues to sanctify us and keep us in the true faith. To God alone be all the glory through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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