 So that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of God, we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like him. Eternal God, maker of heaven and earth, who formed us from the dust of the earth, who by your breath gave us life. We glorify you. We glorify you. Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life, who suffered death for all humanity, who rose from the grave to open the way to eternal life. We praise you. We praise you. Holy Spirit, author and giver of life, the comforter of all who sorrow, our sure confidence and everlasting hope, we worship you. We worship you. To you, O blessed Trinity, be glory and honor forever and ever. Serenity prayer, everybody in here. When he received his cancer was terminal. The first thing that he said was that he put the serenity prayer into action in a whole new way. So Steve would expect you to sing as well, which means you will. We'll sing the chorus once, after we sing it once, then... So much joy pours down like rain. I lift my arm and drink it in. Begin again. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. First to change the things I can't. So you can try that. First to change the things I can't. Which one will win? I cannot say. I can't control. What others do. I wish to welcome you each and all to this service of remembrance and celebration for the life of Steve Wilkinson. Whether you are here in Christchapel or with us through the gift of live streaming, we are glad you're here. Barbara and the entire Wilkinson family wish to thank you not only for your presence, but also for your words of sympathy and comfort. Your years of friendship and collaboration. Your love and your support. In addition, this morning we do want to thank specifically Gustavus Adolphus College, its president, Rebecca Bergman, its chaplains, its faculty administration and the food service in particular on this day. As you're well aware, following our worship time, we will be making our way to the Evelyn Young Dining Room. We'll follow the family to do that and we'll use the first available door that goes up to Alumni Hall and walk that long hallway toward the dining room. Because of the numbers gathered today, we will at this time say our table grace so that you can begin eating minutes to get there. The Lord be with you. Let us pray. Bless us, O Lord, as we share the bounties of your earth. Bless the food we will be eating, the conversations we'll be having, the friendships we'll be renewing, and the hands, of course, of those who have made this meal possible. Nourish us so that we might be of service, loving service to others. In your name we pray. One note to add to our order of worship. Between the New Testament reading and the Gospel reading this morning, Eloise Sundaw, one of the Wilkinson grandchildren, will be singing Children of the Heavenly Father. So we thank her in advance for her courage and the beauty of her voice. At this time, I wish to invite Stephanie Wilkinson, Neil Hagberg, Deborah Sundaw, and Tommy Valentini to make their way here to the pulpit. Each of them will be sharing with you a few words of remembrance and appreciation for their father, their friend, their teacher. Pastor Bray has expressed this, but thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for being here. It's overwhelming and we got to see many people last night, but it means the world to us and it means the world to my mom to get to hear the stories and how much we loved our dad, but how much you loved him too. And this is what he would have wanted. He went to Great Lakes to get you all here and it goes without being noticed, but he knew he could do it one way or another and he would love it. So, we moved here in 1970 with me and my parents to the small Minnesota rural town. This was going to be an enormous world for me and my parents would show me and introduce me to many new and amazing things. Before it was a thing, my dad took his daughters to work. We went on exchange programs, J terms, spring tennis trips, and we worked at TLC. Our home was open to Gustavus and the TLC communities. Exchange students, students, faculty, tennis players, and instructors graced our home. Little by little, my dad kept growing our world with the people that we met, expanding our horizons. At the time, I didn't know any different. This was the way everybody grew up, getting to know different cultures, different people, different ideas, and making things fun, but all with the same goal of getting to know one another, building a community, and making this world a better place to live. I remember my dad loved teaching. He'd read his students' journals that he had them write during his course. He got the biggest kick out of the students who took his class because he was the tennis coach and thought this would be a breeze of the class. When, in fact, he was told it was one of their hardest classes, but they learned the most. Growing up, Sundays would often be family day. We'd go to church in the morning, and many times we'd play tennis in the afternoon. There were times I wanted to go someplace other than the college courts. I selfishly wanted my dad to myself. Who wouldn't love hitting against somebody who could get the ball back to you wherever you wanted it to go? I know for many of you, it was the opposite, and he had to the opposite end of the court, or love would lob over your head. But we might be gone for an hour or two, and it wouldn't all be tennis. There would always be people we'd run into, and he would stop and say hello, and my dad would always take the time to talk with them. What I didn't know at the time was that my dad was making my world bigger. He was leaving a little bit of himself with each of the people that he met. So while he talked, I worked on my serve, and we'd hit when he was done. And before we'd go, we'd pick up the garbage around the courts, we'd find the balls on the other side of the fence, and we would probably rearrange the shed, do a little weeding on the courts, and then we'd walk home. Work, play, love, family, fun were all combined. But that's how we lived, and this was normal. And my parents made our world bigger by continuing to meet and include all of the people that we met along the way. Our home would be a consistently revolving door of tennis players. For some years, there could be up to 40 players coming and going through our home, coming to string rackets in the basement, talking to my dad about tennis, about school, the lineup, something that had gone well, or not so well, girlfriends. And as I got older, I had some of those conversations with my dad too. Especially in college, I remember one in particular. A particular night that my dad was like talking me off the ledge, because I was focusing on a grade that I needed to get in order to get into a program that I really wanted to do. He talked to me and my dad special way that in fact, no, I didn't have control over the grade of what I was going to get. Because I didn't know the questions on the test. I couldn't control how others would do on the test which would affect the curve. All I could do was study and the rest was out of my control. It seems almost easy now, but at the time I went back and forth with my dad until I finally got it. My dad had patience. He had patience to see what he could see so clearly and he waited for the rest of us to catch up. I know many of you had those same conversations with him and the same realizations. It might have been a different topic, but the calmness and clarity that my dad saw for you was the same. I know that some of this because you came to our house and I was waiting for my dad to help me with my homework while you were talking to him. I learned a lot listening and waiting. My dad really wanted to help, but he also knew that the person who needed the help needed to be ready to receive it. In 1977, Tennyson live camp started. In the spring, when I was eight, I was helping my dad clean out his office as he was no longer going to be a professor. We were taking filing cabinets to the new professor's office who would start that fall. And I remember that I was kind of sad, kind of mad because my dad wasn't going to have the same job. My dad was telling me how great this new professor would be and I don't remember him telling me about his new adventure, but that was the summer TLC started and my world was about to get huge. With at times thousands of campers coming and going through each summer I got to be part of something bigger. Summers are busy and I didn't get to see my dad too much. He was up before I was and he went to sleep after I did, but I knew that he loved what he did. There is a saying that on your deathbed you'd never say that you wished you spent more time at the office. That person didn't know my dad. When you combine everything that you love into what you do there's no separation. There was so much more he wanted to do. He wasn't done yet. The messages of life were taught through the vehicle of tennis. It wasn't until I was older and I realized that not everybody did what they loved and loved what they did. I didn't understand that. My dad actually had to explain that some people did what they did in order to do what they loved. That was a new concept. After camps were done in August we would go on a family trip. It was always fun and I really looked forward to it. My parents made it a priority to make sure we got to see our grandparents aunts, uncles and cousins. Plus for that week or two we got to be with our mom and dad. Growing up watching my dad in tennis tournaments was nerve-racking for me. I wanted my dad to win. I thought in my head how I could have superpowers and I would make all of his shots go in and I would tell him signals from the stands. But of course he didn't need my help. He played on his own. He was the one with superpowers. As I got older I thought it was fun to sit and watch and overhear people's conversations about my dad. I was always proud. When I was introduced to people and they found out who my dad was it was special. Especially because it usually ended with a compliment about my dad or something really special that they had learned from him. See along the way my dad took the time to engage with people around him. The situations were new and not always familiar but he engaged. Whether traveling abroad or in a leper colony in Hawaii or with students at Bishop Horace Temple where the group of Hari Krishnas are at a Lutheran church at home or in Germany with my mom's parents where he didn't know the language. My dad's language was of understanding, patience, love, a huge smile. Always a smile. I'm sad. I'm really, really going to miss him. I still had a lot to learn from him and I wanted my children to be around him more. But the thing I know is that all along my dad's life is he took the time to meet and get to know all of you. And he left a little bit of himself with each one of you. So I know he will live on in us at Gustavus, at TLC and we can continue to carry it forward. We can teach someone else something we learned from my dad. That is how you are all family. My parents weren't into it for a business. It was a family and you were all part of it. My daughter, who's seven and a half, asked Omi, who's my mom, if she would visit more now. And the answer was that yes, she would certainly spend time with us. And she said, oh good, because Papa's going to spend a lot more time with us too because he's all around us. And I know she's right because I feel that too that night after my dad died I looked up to a beautiful, clear, star-filled sky with a beautiful crescent moon. I wasn't the way that I typically think of a crescent moon, but this one formed a perfect smile and it was shining down on me. This is called Before Steve. Before Steve, I did not know that an ego could be tamed with one prayer. I did not know that fear could be conquered with a smiley face-tracket. I did not know that winning could mean losing 0-6-0-6. Or losing could mean winning 6-0-6-0. I did not know that simply saying a name could be the key to unlocking someone's soul. I did not know that thank you was as important as I love you. I did not know that having a vision meant that not everyone will like you. I did not know that silence might be the best advice a person can give. Before Steve, I did not know that driving a 10-year-old van and living in the same modest house for 40 years could make you rich in what matters. I did not know that roll-drying a court properly could make one old guy so happy. I did not know that I could if I thought I could. Before Steve, I did not know that grief could press you down into your mattress for hours. Only love could make you get back up again. And I did not know that lifting one person up could make everyone around you fly, including yourself. Before Steve, I did not know that the face of life and the face of death are the same. A smile and a high five. I start with an ordinary moment with my father, Steve. It was around 2006 and well before his cancer diagnosis. He came to visit our house while my mom was in Germany. He came to carve pumpkins with two of his grandchildren, Caroline and Eloise. And we were sitting in our laundry room. There were newspapers and sketches of happy pumpkins. And they covered the tables. And sweet, childlike carvings were emerging. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that there was a blank chalkboard hanging on our wall. It just moved in. And it needed filling. And I sensed that maybe my dad and a blank chalkboard might just lead to something good. So I asked him, Dad, what's your favorite quote? Without any hesitation, he replied, Winston Churchill, never, never, never give up. I wrote those words on our chalkboard that day with a little smiley face as well. And for the past 11 years, I've looked at them and I've contemplated their meaning during our ordinary family moments of life. Those words took on new meaning with my dad's cancer diagnosis. And through the publication of his book. And what's remarkable about our father, as Stephanie so eloquently said, is that he was true to his teachings, no matter the setting. My father taught and inspired his family at the kitchen table in the same way that he inspired you. On the tennis court, in the classroom, or traveling the world with his students, never, never, never give up. You too may have experienced his determination and philosophy firsthand. If you played a tennis match against him, he may have run you from side to side on that court, pushing you to the brink, but somehow keeping the game equal. If you sat in his classroom, you were most likely challenged to think about competition race, but equality, religion, and in these discussions, he always challenged you to have empathy for another person's perspective. And if you experienced his coaching, you were ultimately challenged to use control both in the placement of the tennis ball, but more importantly, in the control of your sportsmanship, your effort, and your attitude. And if you were the last person at Station Drills at TLC receiving a service lesson, he would stay there with you, simplifying your service motion until you could hit it with power and consistency. And when you did, you got a high five and a smile. And finally, if you were engaged in conversations about his vision for the role of Division III tennis, especially on this campus of Gustavus Adolphus College, you would meet tenacity like no other and you would soon understand that tennis can indeed be a natural congregator for all people. Never, never, never give up. Our dad brought this philosophy to our home as well. As a high school student, my father would sit with Stephanie and me for hours, helping us with our homework until we truly understood what it was to be taught. He told us, it's better to receive a B for which you gave full effort than an A that took none. When Caroline, Steve's oldest grandchild, was nearly one, he was determined to teach her to walk. He took her fingers and they walked around the Redlands Tennis Courts in California while Gustavus was playing a match for what seemed like hours. Caroline wore holes in her little pink shoes that day. I have them. And she walked on her own soon after. On a visit to St. Peter, which is always our kid's favorite, Steve's second grandchild, Eloise, brought a book to her grandpa. Bugs Bunny gets a job. And she asked him to read it. As he read about how Bugs Bunny finds the perfect job and lots of soda fountain and emporium, Eloise smiled from ear to ear. And that smile occurred the first time he read the book to her, the second time he read it, and even the third. And at a fall day at our cottage on the Mississippi River, my father had his four grandchildren around our table. And the prayer of St. Francis was on his mind. And he taught it to them. My father would say, Lord, make me an instrument of your peace where there is hatred. And the grandchildren said, let me so love. My father said, it is in pardoning and the grandchildren, that we are pardoned all the way to the end where they said together. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Our father never declined an offer to spend time with our family. He taught us through his action the commitment, dedication, unconditional love for others, especially family, is the most important accomplishment in life. Never, never, never give up. So many of you sent emails or came to visit during our father's final days and that made him truly happy. On one visit, a former player brought a very symbolic gift. It was a small but wise owl sitting in a little golden cage. There the owl sat in our living room with the door left open, ready to fly free. Our father, Steve Wilkinson, sat on January 21st and what he left for us are his simple and wise lessons that can guide how we approach tennis, our jobs, our relationships, and life. In Stephanie's and my final hours spent with our dad, we sat quietly on a living room on his hospital bed and we each had one of his hands and ours and we talked about our memories and our wishes and he squeezed our hands and the last words that he whispered to each of us was, love you. And today we are gathered here to celebrate Steve Wilkinson's life and I believe that he is here and he's whispering the same thing to you I love you and never, never, never give up love and full effort are necessary tools to live a life of service. Keep it simple, know your target and work on consistency and we can be inspired to carry this mission forward so in closing I ask you to look look at this place filled with so much love and so much peace and in the words of Karen Gibbs look at our abundance. Thank you all for being here I can assure you that Coach is thrilled and grateful to have each and every individual sitting out there today here together to see the people he loved all gathered in this space would have made him smile his classic Wilk smile. Before I reflect briefly on what Coach has meant to me and to all of us who played for him and anyone who was fortunate to encounter him I want to express gratitude to Coach's family Barb, Stephanie and Scott Debbie and John, Caroline, Eloise Steven, Audrey and John, Mike all of your extended family you shared Coach with us through your grace and your kindness you allowed him to share his beautiful light with so many you accepted us as players, as students as staff to become a part of your family to truly become a part of your life the world knows him as a teacher and as a visionary but foremost he's your husband and partner your father your brother and your grandfather I have the life that I have my wife, my son, my best friends my life's work, my understanding of God my understanding of myself my understanding of others largely because of him and because of what he created this is true to varying degrees for most of us sitting in the room today but without your grace and your acceptance of us none of this would be possible you let us into your family and on behalf of our family we want you to know that we are eternally grateful for that gift and that we stand by you and with you forever Debbie and Stephanie thanks for being our sisters Caroline, Eloise, Steven and Audrey you were your grandfather's true pride and joy when you miss him and you want to feel close to him ask your moms and dads and ask homie to tell you a story about him and ask us too we've got plenty will I always be here to share him with you? Barb Coach always said that if he was a father to us you were a mother he could not have been more right watching you care for him in the last six years and especially in the last month was one of the most beautiful and pure expressions of God's love I've ever seen and it will inspire me forever thank you for teaching me and thank you for letting him be all that he was which was pretty much everything to me and to all of us we're truly honored to be your sons I've heard it said that death isn't something that happens to life but rather something that happens in life only one moment, one event among an entire lifetime of moments and events so it comes as no surprise that our coach faced death with grace, poise, class, dignity and peace the same way that he lived when he could no longer stand or walk he held the hands of those he loved when he could no longer talk he would whisper words of love and gratitude true to himself to the last breath he controlled what he could control he let go of the rest even death and he always smiled all the time by all accounts, by any standard coach lived a truly remarkable life there are no words suitable to describe the extent or the reach of his influence what he gave to his family his friends, his players, his staff his campers, his students his colleagues, this college the community our sport and ultimately to the world can't be quantified all of us gathered here today are evidence of that influence what coach did what he gave the world through his remarkable life is he clipped only by the way that he did he had the extremely rare and powerful gift of double-vivid not the kind he had after his last surgery a different kind all of us who played for him knew this well as 18 to 22 year olds we certainly were not at our best as players or as people at all times it can be a challenging time to say the very least but coach was able to see us as both who we were in a given moment and at the same time as who we were capable of being when we were at our very best and then he chose to treat us as being in order to empower us to be that best self as often as we could but at the same time he loved us just as we were through this extraordinary double vision he challenged and inspired us well at the same time loving and caring for us and in the process he showed us how to do that same thing with everybody we met coach also empowered us simply through his example how he lived every single day of his life he was the clearest thinker I have ever known he spoke precisely and he acted wholly he said exactly what he meant and then he went after it with conviction he believed in eternal values and then he did the most difficult thing to do in all life he lived it he taught us to give our best to be positive in all circumstances and to love and serve others in order of success this made our tennis our lives and our relationships matter and then he consistently modeled this way of life for us to see when we lost heartbreaking matches with national championships on the line he would tell us how proud of us he was that we had focused on the things within our control and that we should not and we would not let beautiful days go to waste because something outside of our control like winning and losing didn't go the way when life presented him with challenges far greater than winning and losing tennis matches like Barb's cancer and later his own and everything that came with it he embodied the serenity prayer he chose joy he chose love and he always expressed gratitude he never complained he never made an excuse he never put others down he put them first he did the hard work the late work that no one ever saw no matter how he felt he did it all in the name of making our lives better not because he wanted credit but because he believed it was good and it was right and it was what God put him here to do even more remarkable was that he did it with a smile always his smile and in the process he showed us that we can live that way ourselves he showed us what is possible if we choose love, serenity and wisdom I was so thankful that coach got to be here for the first six years of my time as head coach love being at practice, he loved being with the guys he loved watching matches and breaking things down and laughing and joking and being around him and I knew that this was the greatest gift I could share with them this November he also came to my sport ethics class my students had read Let Love Serve and near the end of the semester we invited him in to come speak he was struggling physically but you should have seen him he was electric he spoke and interacted with them for an hour and a half straight they were glued to him he was masterful every comment expressing his wisdom most comments expressing some humor and they were all woven together as if he had written a million drafts when I thought about it later I realized he did when they all thanked him and left the room I was packing up my stuff he gazed out at the empty seats he had one eye closed so he wouldn't see double and he said with a smile it almost makes him want to start all over again I dropped him off that day to take a nap and I think I realized that some people must feel that way when they come to the end of their lives because they weren't able to do all they had hoped or to live as they dreamed they could coach on the other hand would start all over again only because his life and his mission brought him so much joy and because it brought so much life and goodness and rightness to others I also realized he doesn't have to start over there is no starting over there's just us all of us it's our responsibility our honor and our privilege to carry on what he did and how he did it through his life he has given us what we need to carry on we can't ask him for any more so as we celebrate coach's life today let us honor him by carrying on his legacy of seeing the best in one another let us be instruments of God's peace and hold on to values that truly matter and then live them out even in the most difficult moments let us think clearly and act boldly and prioritize relationships let us choose joy and finally let us do what coach always did smile and express gratitude for each other thank you coach thanks for being our greatest gift thank you for what you gave to everyone here to me and to the world thank you for always loving and believing us thank you for showing us in every set of circumstances how to live know that you're always with us alive and present in our hearts, minds and souls guide us with your spirit and know that we're blessed honored and proud to be yours we love you we're blessed in your program the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside still waters he restores my soul he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord our second reading is a reading from the apostle Paul to the Ephesians chapter 2 beginning with verse 1 St. Paul writes you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived following the course of this world following the ruler of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient all of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh following the desires of flesh and senses and we were by nature children of wrath like everyone else but God who is rich in mercy out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus for by grace you have been saved through faith not your own doing it is the gift of God not the result of works so that no one may boast for we are what he has made us created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand to be our way of the reading for the reading of the Holy Gospel to when Jesus saw the crowds he went up the mountain and after he sat down his disciples came to him then he began to speak he taught them saying blessed are the poor in the spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness's sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account here ends Matthew's Gospel please be seated Barbara Deborah and John Ryan Eloise, Stephen, Audrey and John and Alyssa, Mike and Diane other family members, friends grace and peace to each of you in the name of Jesus our crucified and risen Savior in his Gettysburg address delivered 150 years ago this coming June President Abraham Lincoln said following words in honor of the brave men who struggled on that Civil War battlefield the world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget what they did here in similar fashion long after today's memorial services forgotten still remember the three crowds which Steve Wilkinson placed upon your heads the smiley face that Steve drew on your tennis rackets the serenity prayer which Steve planted in your memories the names of his heroes Karen Gibbs David Austin Carl Waltz and Arthur Ash Jr who have become your heroes as well these things and many many more you will never forget if I may be granted a few moments of personal reflection one of the things that I will never forget is Steve's involvement in an ongoing first Lutheran church Wednesday morning men's conversation group this past summer and early fall the eight of us regulars including Steve decided to read and discuss our way through Let Love Serve with Steve as our guide and our facilitator we walked leisurely through this book Wednesday after Wednesday after Wednesday truly relishing Steve's commentary asking hundreds of questions and marveling at a life that lived so very very well throughout these unforgettable months we found ourselves with Steve as he grew up in Sioux City hitting the tennis ball against his school wall we were with Steve as he and his Jamaican tennis partner rode in Steve's 62 VW bug through the deep south in the early 60's we were with Steve on January 15th 1966 when we all fell in love with a beautiful German girl named Barbara we traveled with Steve on his journeys as an accomplished national tennis player and then we watched him carve out a teaching and coaching career at Gustavus Adolphus College we rejoiced with Steve as daughters Deborah and Stephanie grew up and eventually had families of their own we marveled at the birth of tennis and life camps we celebrated with Steve the growth and maturity of countless gusty student-athletes which with such names as Bouderec, Whipple, Kaus Lundmark, Miller, Scanty and hundreds and hundreds more we were a captive audience as Steve articulated his philosophy of life and tennis with references to the three crowns the Golden Rule the Serenity Prayer Gandhi, Federer, Nadal no cut tennis and love most of all love we rejoiced with Steve as he passed the torch of tennis and life to Neil Hagberg and the torch of Gustavus Men's Tennis to Tommy Valentini we also of course saw Steve age before our very eyes and witnessed firsthand his final years months of cancer we were amazed by his determination his refusal to give up and his smile how privileged we Wednesday morning coffee conversation partners were to have a weekly dose of Steve Wilkinson's infectious optimism and courage an unforgettable blessing it has been my honor to be Steve and Barb's pastor and friend for the last 15 years and over that time we've had many conversations covering all kinds of topics including faith religion and ethics justice and peace as you well know Steve and Barb are first-rate theologians and deeply spiritual human beings Steve was a Lutheran by choice having grown up in a different Christian tradition by Steve's own admission his Christian faith was the lens through which he saw clearly his identity and his responsibility to others Steve saw God or divine love as he so frequently called God primarily through the life of Jesus Steve admired Jesus greatly because he fed the hungry healed the sick visited prisoners, washed the feet of the poor accepted harlots and society's outcasts forgave people who crucified him rejected holier than thou behavior and reinterpreted the mosaic law from the perspective of love in short it was through Jesus that Steve understood clearly what divine love looks like in everyday life from Steve's perspective one of the most beautiful expressions of the Christian faith is written this morning's reading from Ephesians by grace you have been saved by grace through faith it is the gift of God not the result of works so that no one may boast we are what God has made us created in Christ's dream for good works for Steve this understanding of life as service as grounded in God's grace was bedrock no wonder he called his memoir let love serve the other thing to be said is this as grounded in his Christian faith as Steve was he was never one to say you must believe as I do just the opposite was true in fact Steve believed that divine love is universal Steve had little time for Christians to use the word only in the profession of their faith here's what he wrote in let love serve I cringe when I hear or am expected to say the word only Christians limit the universality of God divine love if we proclaim that God is revealed only in Jesus Christ we deny universal grace if we limit it only to adherence to our own faith the lives and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi Hindu Thich Nhat Hanh Buddhist Martin Buber Jewish and Sheikh Al-Alawi Muslim clearly illustrate how God is powerfully manifested in many religions and cultures God is universal revealed in all of the world's great religions and not restricted to only one formulation of Muhammad truth Steve's words in a popular and provocative recent book called why did Jesus Moses the Buddha and Muhammad cross the road the books author Brian McLaren has written that the world needs more Steve Wilkinsons well to be truthful he didn't mention Steve by name but he did say that the world needs more people who are strong adherents of their own religious tradition but at the same time benevolent, open and engaging in the relationships and conversations with people of different faith or people with no faith at all according to McLaren if more of us could be like Steve Wilkinson we would be well on the way toward turning swords into plowshares and transforming the world into a peaceful planet where we would never need to study war anymore this morning with gratitude admiration, respect and love we give thanks for the light work and ministry of our dear friend Steve Wilkinson the world is a better place because of Steve Wilkinson and I can only imagine that heaven is a better place now as well we will miss Steve but we know that Steve is with the God who gave him life the God who claimed him in his baptism the God who walked with him his family and his friends day after day even through the valley of the shadow of death and so this morning we join Steve in affirming the words of the psalmist surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever so Steve asked where they saw him he and Barbara used to dance in front of the house today this is probably you Barbara and the rest of us from that door greet the new day door get in your world is filled up with joy oh joy oh joy oh joy oh joy there can be a day in the dark grey clouds or hanging right to the ground sunshine give to your whole church in heaven and unearth your light resurrection may die to share the new life and assure and certain hope in your loving care they casting all their sorrow on you they may have strength for the days ahead and to us who are still in our pilgrimage and who walk as yet by faith that where this world grows in grief and pain and light in the midst of things we cannot understand to believe and trust in the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection to life everlasting god of course we give you thanks because by his death our savior Jesus Christ destroyed the power of death and by his resurrection he opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers make us certain that because he lives we shall live also neither death nor life nor things present or things to come we'll be able to separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our lord who lives and reigns with you in the holy spirit one god now and forever let us join together in the train of lord's prayer our father art of heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is heaven give us to stay our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever steve to the mercy of god our maker and our redeemer into your hands your merciful savior we commend your servant steve acknowledge we humbly beseech you a sheep of your own fold a lamb of your own flock a sinner of your own redeeming receive him into the arms of your mercy into the blessed rest of everlasting peace and into the glorious company of the saints in light amen let us go forth in peace in the name of christ amen we say praise to the lord the almighty