Eulogy - "God's Mystical and Mysterious Use of Teachers" - Acts 18:18-28

With Praise and Thanksgiving to Almighty God

for the Life, Love and Legacy

of the late

Mary W. Wickware

17 April 1917 - 22 December 2007

“God’s Mystical and Mysterious Use of Teachers – Acts 18:18-28”

Most regrettably, we have a saying in American society, “Those who can do, do.  Those who can’t do, teach.” This irrational yet enduring maxim overlooks the obvious point that “those who do” had to be taught at some point.  No one is born with innate ability to do anything.  Regardless of how talented a person may be, someone instructed him or her in the beginning.  Not surprisingly, I detest that saying because it denigrates one of the most vital callings in the Church and one of the most significant professions in any society, particularly a developed democracy.  Teaching the language, history, culture, religion, and literature is the foundation of any country.

Teaching extends to as many informal and necessary subjects as its does the foregoing formal subjects.  Our parents are our first teachers.  They instruct us about the love of God and the importance of self-acceptance.  Additionally, they teach us the intangible and invaluable tools of discipline, hard work, faithfulness, perseverance and genuine spirituality.  The life of every successful person reveals the influence of a teacher, whether professional or not, who took the time and demonstrated the care to show that person the way toward the fulfillment of his or her dreams and goals.

Almighty God mysteriously and mystically uses teachers to further the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and  build the kingdom of God on the earth.  More specifically, God uses mothers in this fundamental role.  We know the incredible influence of Susanna Wesley in the lives of her sons, John Wesley, who became the founder of Methodism, and Charles Wesley, who wrote many hymns.  I imagine that the late Mrs. Niebuhr, the mother of Reinhold Niebuhr and H. Richard Niebuhr, two outstanding American theologians.  Martin Luther King Jr. credited his maternal grandmother with inculcating the foundation of the Christian faith in him.  Contemporarily, we know of the musical teaching of “Mom and Pops” Winans whose children have enjoyed illustrious and award-winning careers.  Whether in preaching, evangelism, music, social justice activism or myriad other forms of ministry, faithful and obedient mothers serve as the Lord’s primary instructors for His next generation of servant leaders.

Circumstantially, some parents are unable to fulfill this divinely ordained role.  Mysteriously, school teachers fortunately fill in these gaps.  In some instances, they supplement the training and instruction that students receive at home.  Regardless of the function, teachers perform the vital purpose of leading people out of the darkness of ignorance, immaturity and imagination into the light of knowledge, discipline, focus, and excellence.  Again, many of us in today’s audience can point to the determining significance that a teacher played in our lives.  As we celebrate, with praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God, the life, love and legacy of the late Mary W. Wickware, we favorably recall her forty-two years of service as a teacher. 

This passage in the book of Acts reminds us of the crucial role that teachers play in all matters.  On a previous trip to Athens, the apostle Paul encounters Aquila, a Jew and native of Pontus, and his wife, Priscilla.  They join the missionary journey, having been expelled from Rome by Claudius.  Currently, we find them enroute to Syria as they begin the third missionary journey which would further the spreading of the gospel to the ends of the then known world.  However, Paul incidentally leaves this couple of disciples in Ephesus as he journeys onward to Antioch and elsewhere.  While in Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila hear the formidable preaching of a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria.  “A learned man with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures,” Apollos gained the reputation of a passionate and persuasive preacher.  Although he had been previously taught “the way of the Lord and spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately,” he only knew about the baptism of repentance which John  the Baptist taught.  Essentially, Apollos’ courageous teaching was overshadowed by his ignorance of the saving baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ.  His teaching, however, straightforward and awesome, was lacking.  In response to hearing Apollos’ teaching, Aquila and Priscilla, invite Apollos to their home.  There, these tentmakers by professions actually fulfill their calling as teachers.  Aquila and Priscilla “explain to [Apollos] the way of God more accurately.”  They offer the gift of a greater revelation of Christ as the long-awaited Messiah and Son of God.

Through the prism of the biblical character of Priscilla, I see the person of Ms. Mary W. Wickware.  I celebrate her calling as a teacher who for four decades diligently taught mathematics to lead her students towards their dreams and goals.  One of her former students, in paying tribute to Ms. Wickware, offers one of the highest compliments that can be given to a teacher.  Reputedly, Ms. Wickware was stern and hard.  This meant that she was a tough teacher who would not allow her students to skate in her class.  As a very strict teacher who did not tolerate nonsense, Ms. Wickware demanded the very best from her students.  As we reflect upon the teachers who have had an enduring influence upon us, we readily recall the ones who were the toughest and most demanding.  These teachers taught us to be demanding of ourselves because they required so much of themselves.  They continued to learn and grow.  As a result, they passed along their new discoveries of knowledge, internal and external.  Willingly, they shared their insights with their students with the hope that the recipients would exceed greatly the achievements of the teachers. 

Accordingly, Priscilla in this text graciously shares her spiritual, scriptural, personal and experiential revelations with Apollos.  Arguably, we can deduce that these tentmakers did not possess the formal training of this learned man from Alexandria who might have had access to the great library of that ancient city.  Parenthetically, the library in Alexandria rivaled that of any other in the Ancient Near East.  It contained more than five hundred thousand (500,000) scrolls, manuscripts and records.  Nevertheless, Aquila and Priscilla, through their relational and experiential knowledge with the apostle Paul, obtained a greater revelation of the incarnation, ministry, teaching, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Although they are not professional teachers, they instruct Apollos about these significance matters of faith. 

This story reassures us that we can teach wherever we may work.  Everyone can learn from someone.  Aquila and Priscilla demonstrate God’s mystical and majestic use of teachers, professional and personal, to equip people to actualize their destiny in life.  Upon departing from their house, Apollos travels to Achaia, a province of Greece, where the Lord mightily uses Apollos to spread the gospel in an area where the message of Christ had to complete against many different philosophies.  Yet, because of Aquila and Priscilla’s conscientious and compassionate teaching, Apollos arrives with the spiritual tools and knowledge to “vigorously refute the Jews in public debate, proving from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.”

I imagine that many of Ms. Wickware’s former students have gone on to utilize the gift of mathematics to the honor and glory of Almighty God.  Perhaps, they have invented an instrument needed to assist a physically challenged person.  Maybe, they have used the logical reasoning embedded in math to help someone in a legal proceeding.  Then, there is the chance that they have used math as a healthcare professional.  Consider the necessity of math in everyday life.  Even minimal acquisition and facility in this discipline substantially increases your chances for success in whatever you do.  From parenthood to being the head of a household to managing a company to directing a not-for-profit organization, these diverse tasks require math.  In her calling as a math teacher, Ms. Wickware fulfilled God’s calling in her life as she empowered countless thousands of students to succeed at their chosen profession.