Eulogy - "I Get to See Daddy as He Really Is" - 1 John 3:1-3

“I Get to See Daddy as He Really Is” – 1 John 3:1-3

A Meditation on the Life of 

The Late Katherine Elang Hammonds

February 8, 1924 – August 9, 2007

The following is the revised and extended eulogy which Pastor Singletary gave at the graveside service held on Saturday, 25 August 2007, at Greenwood Cemetery in Nashville, TN.

With thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, we assemble in worship to celebrate the life, love and service of our dearly departed sister, the late Katherine Elang Hammonds.  We are grateful to God for the gift of her life and the unique way in which He shared Himself through the particular expression of her life.  We commend her spirit to our Creator from whom she came.  We pray that she will find any joy and fulfillment that may have evaded her as she dwelt amongst.  We commit her body to the earth in the confident hope of the resurrection of the dead in Christ.  We beseech Almighty God on Katherine’s behalf.  O’ Lord grant her rest and let thy gracious light perpetually shine upon her.

The stories of our lives comprise four major components: a setting, a conflict, a resolution and a celebration.  The setting usually includes the origins of our lives and the beginnings of our life’s journey.  Simply stated, it is the primary situation in which we find ourselves.  Out of that situation, problems arise.  How we handle these challenges determines the quality of life we enjoy.  Our childhood years are the foundation for a joyous and fulfilling life for some people.  For others, this same period of time causes existential paralysis.  Some people remain forever plagued by some of the shortcomings, inadequacies, incapacities and injuries of these years.  Yet, other people find the blessings in the burdens and become stronger and happier people than the odds might have projected.  Regardless of the response to our early years, all of us seek a resolution to them that enable us to live freely, joyously and bountifully.  You recall the ending of most childhood stories.  “They lived happily ever after.”  Quite simply, most people earnestly desire to live happily ever after.  That is the celebration that we want in the fourth chapter of our story.

Sister Hammonds’ life began in Huntsville, Alabama where she and her parents enjoyed her first years together.  Most regrettably, at an early age, her mother died.  She and her father, the late Deacon William Henry Hammonds, moved to Nashville as a means of resolving the great loss of her mother.  One imagines the most grievous hurt and disappointment the death Sister Hammonds caused her.  Deacon Hammonds’ decision to change the setting of their story greatly aided them in finding God’s gracious healing.  It emerged in the incredible love that Sister Hammonds and he would share as daughter and father.  Indeed, the love between a father and daughter is most special and singular.  My daughter is my biggest defender; she will not entertain any criticisms of her father.  However, my son will give you an audience on any given day depending upon our latest squabble.  Deacon Hammonds and Sister Katherine Hammonds shared this distinctive love.  She infinitely loved and especially admired him.  In this divine bond, they found healing for the loss of her mother and a lasting solution to the problem of grief in their lives.

As we celebrate the life, love and service of Sister Katherine Elang Hammonds, we rejoice in the ultimate celebration of her life’s story.  We believe that she enjoys the presence of her beloved father.  We affirm the enduring doctrine of the communion of saints, the assembly of the heavenly hosts and the goodly fellowship of the eternally redeemed.  We utilize our spiritual imaginations to view celestially a grand reunion in which Sister Hammonds was reunited with Deacon Hammonds.  We consider the joy that filled her heart as she stood at the threshold of eternity.  “I get to see Daddy as he really is!”  The apostle Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15 that flesh and blood cannot inherit the eternal realms of Almighty God.  Accordingly, our perishable and mortal bodies must give way to the creation of a new body which will be imperishable and immortal.  Sister Hammonds, as she lingered briefly with a terminal illness, was an ideal candidate for this mysterious and mystical process of transliteration.  Not only did she receive God’s gracious gift of eternal life, she generously obtained her heart’s deepest desire.  She saw her father’s face and heard his voice again.  She rejoiced in the reality of her longstanding wish.  “I get to see Daddy as he really is!”

Yet, the great apostle of love, John, offers encouraging words to us who remain with anticipation of sharing in Sister Hammonds’ eternal bliss.  He reminds us of the immeasurable love of God.  “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”  I suspect that Deacon Hammonds love for his daughter, our sister Katherine, consisted of the bounty of time, treasure, talent and temperament.  His earthly example illustrates the divine reality that Almighty God cares for each one of us with an especial and unique.  We know that we are children of the Most High God.  Because of that fact, we rest confidently in our identities as the recipients of His unfailing and infinite love.  We feel joy, awe, security and happy because of it.  Sister Hammonds allowed his earthly father’s love to sustain her as food for the soul.  In addition to her reunion with her, she received the eternal reward of union with her Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  As equal children of God, we await this indescribable bliss.

What shall it be like?  We cannot possibly know with any reasonable or minimal certainty.  Yet, the apostle assures us that we shall be like Him “for we shall see Him as He is.”  What a wonderful and grand promise that we shall be just like the Lord Jesus Christ when He appears!  Our Sister Katherine Hammonds enjoys this eternal bliss.  Yes, she gets to see her earthly father, the late Deacon Hammonds, as he is in his new resurrected body and eternal essence.  Moreover, she sees the Lord of all as He is.  She is able to see our Heavenly Father, the Creator of all of us and the Maker of all that is seen and unseen, as He really is.  She is no longer limited by the frailties and incapacities of human imagination and existence.  Hers is the eternal reward of the dead in Christ, the ability to see Him as He is.

Most assuredly, we can say “They live happily ever after.”  It is a sheer joy to think about the marvelous reunion that occurred upon Sister Hammonds’ transition to eternal life.  What joy must have overwhelmed her upon the sight of her beloved father!  Can you hear the joy that they exchanged upon seeing each other again after an interlude of many historical years but probably a brief period eternally?  Their greater happiness arose when they realized that they would never be apart again.  After catching up and a minimal tour of the magnificent city that John the Revelator describes in Revelation 22, perhaps they shared a cup of tea from the Tree of Life which has leaves for the healing of all nations.  Afterwards, I see in my mind’s eye that Deacon Hammonds says to Sister Katherine Hammonds, “Katherine, you still have not yet fully glimpsed the main attraction of this City.  Look at Him and see Him as He really is.”  Truly, “they lived happily ever after.”