{"id":17342,"date":"2019-04-06T13:25:38","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T18:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=17342"},"modified":"2019-04-22T14:36:30","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T19:36:30","slug":"sermon-preached-by-rev-louis-hurst-at-derricks-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/sermon-preached-by-rev-louis-hurst-at-derricks-funeral\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon Preached by Rev. Louis Hurst – at Derrick’s Funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Father Louis Hurst preach a thoughtful sermon at the funeral service of a young man who the church adopted after his mother, a street vendor, died. His home situation was further compounded when fire destroyed all his belongings.\u00a0 I was personally moved by the genuine care demonstrated by the congregation. KPC may not be bursting with an overflow of worshippers on a Sunday morning but their witness to the vendors in Parade and the City as a whole is something that we can be proud of.
+Robert Thompson
Bishop of Kingston<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Sermon<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The difficulty I have preaching at Derricks funeral today is the fact that  I  may have to address many of his youthful friends who are having difficulty in coming to terms with one of their own dying<\/g>.   Let’s face it  <\/g>dying<\/g>  <\/g>is<\/g>  <\/g>usually<\/g>  <\/g>reserved<\/g>  <\/g>for<\/g>  <\/g>old<\/g>  <\/g>people<\/g>  and<\/g> those who live by the  gun<\/g> or get mixed up  with<\/g> the  gun<\/g> culture. Young  men<\/g> like  Derrick is  not<\/g> expected  <\/g>to<\/g>  <\/g>get<\/g>  sick<\/g> and \u2018drop out\u2019……<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But  here \nwe  are  at his \nfuneral.  And   it  is\na  reminder that none  of \nus  are  immune to \ndeath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This  creates a \nlevel  of  uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It  would \nbe  easy to blame Derrick,  say \nthat  he  did \nsomething  wrong, which  led up \nto  his  death \nand  certainly  Derrick did not  see himself as  any saint, \nhe  struggled with growing  up \nas  a young  man  in\nthe  down town community , he  struggled \nwith  disappointing  those \nwho cared  for  him, but \nDerrick  was  far \nfrom  being a bad  person. \nO He  had the   bad \nhabit of  waking  up \nlate,  leaving  a \nmess  in the kitchen, failing  to tidy up \nhis  room,  sneaking  a smoke \nnow and then, and  occasionally \nlosing his temper, especially at \nfootball matches,….. but \nso  do  many \nyoung  men and women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even  if \nhe  had  bad \nhabits  he  certainly had \nmore  than  enough \ngood  ones to  out \nweigh them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He  was  generous<\/strong>  and kind<\/strong>,\nalways willing to  share the  little \nhe  had. –   I never  saw \nhim  being  mean \nto  another person.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He  was often willing:<\/strong>\nand helpful<\/strong>…. weather it  was \nbaby sitting, running errands \nor  just  doing \nwhat  was  asked \nof him … He  hardly  ever \nsaid  no, to a  request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \nperhaps  his  greatest \nqualities were that  he  was  resilient-\n<\/strong> hetook \nhardship in his  stride, rarely  complained, did  not \nhold  a  grudge \nnever was   bitter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And  he  was gifted.<\/strong>  He \nwas  musician.  and \nhe  was a   showman …We  will always picture him  alive, animated and  playing his pan  with \nhis usual wide grin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Derrick \nloved  his  family. His late mother, his  sisters \nand  his  brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But  he \nalso  found  a family here \namong  the  members \nof  the  Parish \nChurch.  In fact  much \nof  his  life \nwas  centered  around \nlife  and  witness withn  the \nchurch.  He  would  assist\nin the  setting  up for \nworship and   events. And \nthough  he like  many \nstruggled  to  understand \nhis  faith  in God \nand felt  at  times that \nhe had failed in living as a christian, \nhe would regularly  receive  the \nHoly  Communion – the  body and \nblood  of  Christ. Like \nall families  we  had our quarrels,  there were times when we  did not \nsee eye to  eye  on everything. But He loved  and \ncared for us  and  we \nloved and  cared  for \nhim.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weekly  at the \nEucharist  and  he \nwould offer  his  gifts \nand  talents to the worship.\nOf  God. \nIn fact it  was  his  joy  to \nmake  an  offering of \nhis  music. I  dont know whether  he \nunderstood  and  grasped \nthe  fact that he  was like \nthe  widow  who \ngave  her  mite, and \nthat  he  too was \noffering  to  his \nGod his  all,  everything \nhe  had  to \ngive…..I  believe Christ  would \nbe  well pleased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can definitely\nsay music was  Derricks  life…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob  Marley \nsays  \u201cone  good \nthing about  Music  when it \nhits  you, you  feel no \npain\u201d.  And  for \nDerrick  I believe  Music \nwas  his  escape \nfrom  all the  harsh \nrealities of  the world  he \nlived  in.  It \nbecame his  solace.  In \nhis  music   he \ncould say what he  could  not \nsay  with  words, with \nmusic he  could  be \neloquent,  dream  of \nachieving  greatness.  \u201cMusic  and  Rhythm \nalways finds their way  into  the \nsecret  places of  our \nsouls\u201d \u2013 Plato \u2013 And  in  his \nlove  for  music Derrick \nfound  much  to \ncomfort  him. You\n  often \nsaw  him  picking out \ntunes  at the  key \nboard or on the  piano for he  quickly learnt to  pick out \nthe  tunes  by \near…and  he  would \nmemorize  the notes.  He also learnt to  play \nthe  drums   and the \nviolin, and for  a while played  with the \nJamaica  Orchestra for  youth. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His  passion however was for the  steel pan . Here  Derrick \nknew  he  had \nmastery…. He  might  have \nto  beg  to \nget  a chance  to \nplay on the  football team,  he \nmight  worry about the future,\nhave trouble with school work, getting  a\njob,  he \nmight  worry  about \nhis  size ,  or \nwhether  he  would \nget the  girl  but \nwhen  it  came \nto  the  pans \nhe  knew  he was a force  to \nbe  reckoned  with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He  was an integral  part of \nthe  Musical  Apostles and \nDerrick  saw  himself \nas  the lead  player \nand Mr. McBean\u2019s ( Musical Director) \nright  hand. something  the  others \nwould  not entirely  agree with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it  grieved him when the  older members \nof the  band  dropped out,   he tried \nto  get them  back. When \nthe  new  band \nstarted  he often would offer help\nto the  new  members of \nthe  band for he  dreamed \nof  it  rising \nagain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How  do  we\nnow  say \ngoodbye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…for music  comes \nto an  end and  the sound disappears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And  yet any  musician \nworth  their  salt will tell you  that silences \nand  rest  are \nan  integral part  of \nmaking  music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The  fact that his  pan is \nsilenced is  by  far \nnot the  end,  the \nmusic  continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For  what  we \nhave  come  to celebrate \ntoday is an  empty  grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I  draw your  attention \nto  John Gospel 20  to \nthe  silence  of \nthe  early morning  as  a\nwoman  arrives at   a  tomb  to  visit  the \none  who represented music  in her \nlife.  As  she \ncame  to our  Lord\u2019s \ngrave she saw  the stone  rolled back, and  an \nempty tomb.  For  Mary and \nthe  disciples  which \ncame after,   at  first there \nis  shock, confusion….. and\nas  she \nstood  crying   she \nheard  that  voice which had  so \noften  spoken  to \nher. It  took  her  some\ntime  but \nshe  soon recognized it  as \nthat of  Her  shepherd \nJesus There is much in  the \ngospels about  Jesus using his\nvoice.  It can  heal the \nsick, tell  wonderful  stories \nwhich  can  teach \nus, wake the dead, cause  soldiers\nto  fall back in terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It  was \nthis  same voice  which Mary heard,  which \nthe  disciples of  Emmaus \nrecognized  as  there hearts \nburned within  as  he \nspoke. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it  was \nthis  same  voice which Mary now  heard  and  with \nthis  voice  came \nthe realization that   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing not  even death  can separate us  from \nGods love. Revealed in  Jesus\nChrist our Lord\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One  of  our \nyoung  steel  band \nmembers  asked  me \nwhether  Derrick  knew \nat that  moment  that \nhe  was  dying? Maybe \nthe  question  should \nbe  did Derrick  here his \nshepherds  voice, calling  him  to  come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One  of \nthe  hymns  the \nsteel pan  often  played \nat  Mass is  Father \nRichard  Ho Lungs  hymns  Father \nlord   we  offer you \nour  daily life……. father  take \nthis  love  I \noffer  you<\/em>…. But  the \nrefrain  goes on  to say : and  I \nknow  that  we \nwill rise  again, again  and  I\nknow  we \nwill die  and  rise \nagain.  for  I  \nknow  he  is \nthe  living   yeast of life and  I know \nthat  he  will rise \nagain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That  is what  we \ncelebrate  today -an  empty \ngrave.   The  fact that Christ  made  a\npromise that if  we  believe \nand  trust  in \nhim,  call upon  him \nhe  will raise us  up \nwith him. For  salvation is not  earned \nby  you  mastering \nthe  art of  faith \nbut is a matter  of grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazing Grace….it is what saves us \nhelp us  to  comprehend \nthe   miracle of Gods mercy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all have our  memories,  which we bring today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For  Derrick  the \nmusic  does  not \nstop.  It  is now richer,  more \ncomplete <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For  if  we \nbelieve  that  Christ offers \nus  the  gift of \neternal  life  by \ngrace then  the music we make on\nearth \u2013 is only in  in anticipation  of \nmusic  which is never ending,  that flows out  forever . The music of  worship around the  throne of \nGod   the sound of praise  the eternal alleluia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rest in  Peace  brother \nDerrick and  keep playing\nyour  music. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Father Louis Hurst preach a thoughtful sermon at the funeral service of a young man who the church adopted after his mother, a street vendor, died. His home situation was further compounded when fire destroyed all his belongings.\u00a0 I was personally moved by the genuine care demonstrated by the congregation. KPC may not be bursting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":17427,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermon","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17428,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17342\/revisions\/17428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}