A Service of Witness to the Resurrection (Beverly Carr Key)

A single word can change how you survive grief. When Psalm 23 says goodness and mercy “follow” you, it comforts, but when you hear the older, stronger sense of the verb, “pursue,” it becomes a declaration that God’s love is not passive. It hunts you down. We hold that image up against the reality of death and the ache of absence, and we let it speak honestly to the hearts that feel tired, hollow, or overwhelmed.

We begin where Presbyterian funeral worship so often begins: at the baptismal font. With Romans 6, we remember baptism as union with Christ in death and resurrection, a defiant sign that God’s claim is stronger than the grave. We pray for the comfort of the Holy Spirit, read Psalm 23 aloud as a community, and lean on the promises of Jesus to the weary. Along the way, we honor Beverly Key’s life in tender details, including her reputation for sending faithful cards in “perfect penmanship,” her deep love of Christmas, and her steady caregiving presence that made people feel seen.

The remembrance turns toward music when words fail. Hymns like Amazing Grace and Come Thou Fount carry a family through the quiet bedside hours, and one moment lands with startling simplicity: asked how long the marriage lasted, the answer is “Forever.” With Romans 8 as our anchor, we entrust Beverly to a “forever” that does not depend on memory or strength, but on the unbreakable love of God in Christ Jesus. If this offered you comfort, subscribe, share it with someone who is grieving, and leave a review with the Scripture or hymn that has carried you most.

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Transcript

Gathering In Resurrection Hope

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Friends,

Baptism Waters And New Life

SPEAKER_00 6:19

grace and peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We gather today in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to give thanks to God for the life of Beverly Key, Beverly Carr Key, to receive the comforts of the Holy Spirit and to proclaim the good news of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Now, friends, in the Presbyterian Church, we always begin funerals at the baptismal font as a reminder of the waters of Beverly's baptism and indeed the waters of all of our baptism that seal us into the eternal story of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So giving thanks for that eternal love, I now invite us to hear the renewing waters of God's mercies. And here are these words of Scripture from Romans chapter six, verses three through five. When we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death. We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might have new life. For if we have been united with Christ in a death like his, we will certainly be united with Christ in a resurrection like his. Holy Spirit, author and giver of life, you are the comforter of all whose sorrow, our sure confidence and everlasting hope. We worship you. To you, O blessed Trinity, be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen. And here again, these sentences of Scripture from Psalm 124, verse 8, our help is in the name of the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11, verse 28. Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. And finally, from Psalm 103, verse 6 verse 13 and Isaiah 66, verse 13. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear God. As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you, says the Lord. Let us pray. Eternal God, we bless you for the great company of all those who have kept the faith, finished their race, and who now rest from their labor. We praise you for those dear to us whom we name in our hearts before you. But especially this day, we thank you for Beverly, whom you have now received into your presence. Help us to believe where we have not seen, trusting you to lead us through our years. And then bring us at last with all your saints into the joy of your home through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Friends, our opening

Scripture Promises And Prayer

SPEAKER_00 10:32

hymn this day. You'll find as hymn number six hundred and forty-nine in the purple uh purple pew hymnal that you will find. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. I invite you to rise in body or in spirit.

Amazing Grace And Shared Lament

SPEAKER_00 14:11

You alone can turn the shadow of death into the brightness of the morning light. Help us to turn to you with believing hearts in the stillness of this hour, speak to us of eternal things, so that hearing the promises in Scripture, we may have hope and be lifted above our distress into the peace of your presence through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Psalm 23 And Mercy Pursues

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Friends, neighbors, if you'll turn to your bulletin, you'll find the words that I trust are familiar to us, the words of Psalm 23. And I invite us all to read these words together out loud as we lean on the everlasting promises of God today. 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 right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I 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 with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole lifelong. Friends, this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. If you have been to a funeral here at Guildford Park as long as I've been the pastor, then you know my feelings about the end of that familiar psalm where we most of us have been taught to say, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. But as I am uh oft to say at funerals, I had a professor in seminary remind us that that verb follow is actually pretty weak. In Hebrew, it's a much more aggressive verb that really means pursue. Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life. It's the verb that's used to describe one army pursuing another. I don't know about you all, but I really like that idea of God's love hunting us down all the days of our life. And so today we gather that that pursuit has found Beverly, indeed, as it has found her every moment of her life. So let us give thanks for that pursuit this day.

Remembering Beverly’s Caregiving Love

SPEAKER_00 17:05

And for a remembrance this day, I have a uh some words that I've been blessed to share on uh Darryl's behalf, Beverly and David's son, in which he said this about his mother, Beverly. He said, first of all, she was a caregiver. She did everything she ever could to make anyone in her family and friends feel loved. She kept uh the Hallmark store on friendly in business by sending birthday, anniversary, get well, condolence, and congratulation cards for everyone in her sphere. Has anyone told them? I don't know yet. He goes on to say, I'll never forget how she put others first above herself when they were in a time of need. She basically lived with her parents as caregiver for several years and loved doing so. And secondly, Daryl said, Mom loved Christmas as much as anyone I've ever known. Celebrating the birth of Christ with her family at Guildford Park, Christmas Eve services, and serving up an awesome Christmas Day feast for everyone. Her party mix and fudge were much anticipated, and she made sure everyone had their own individual bag of goodies when they headed home. And finally, Daryl said, Mom had her hands full, keeping Dad and I on the straight and narrow. She was always calm and loving, but we always knew where we stood if we went astray. She knew how to be tough when necessary, and then follow up with, I love you more, when the time came for that goodbye embrace. Thank you, Daryl. And we continue resting on the everlasting promise with these words, again, that I trust are familiar to many of us, from Romans chapter 8, verses 38 through 39. Paul says, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation that will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Again, friends, this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us pray. Amen.

Perfect Penmanship And Intentional Love

SPEAKER_00 20:05

So as I prepared this brief homily this week, my attention tuned to the part of Beverly's obituary that we've already had a bit of a chuckle about today, where her family gave thanks for her reputation for being quite fastidious in her dedication to writing cards to loved ones for birthdays, times of loss, and of course, her favorite time of year, Christmas. The obituary notes that when she wrote cards during these times, she always did so in her, and I quote, perfect penmanship. And when I read those words a few days ago, I was reminded of the several times in the New Testament when the Apostle Paul, who usually dictated his letters to a scribe to write everything down, would occasionally take up the pen himself to write in his own handwriting in moments of particular passion or intensity. In those times when Paul picks up the pen himself, it's him at his most intimate, his most passionate and authentic. So I suspect that when Beverly picked up a pen to write a note, she had a similar approach. Intimate in her love, passionate in her sense of community, and authentic in her devotion to her friends and her family. I myself, on more than one occasion, was a recipient of such correspondence, and it's truly hard to overstate how much little letters and notes like that mean to a pastor. So I stand before you today as one among many who will miss receiving that uh perfect penmanship from Beverly in moments both joyful and also those challenging ones when we need a comforting word from a loved one. Those acts of intentionality are part of what made Beverly such a beloved part of this church family and of our little corner of the world here in Greensboro, the place that she called home for almost her whole life. And on occasions such as today, when we're caught between grief and gratitude, we first and foremost give thanks to God's supreme act of intentionality which comes to us in the waters of our baptism. As I mentioned earlier, at almost every Presbyterian funeral service, which we uh wordy Presbyterians call a service of witness to the resurrection, we begin at the baptismal font as an act of defiance, a defiant witness that asserts that through those waters of our baptism God has claimed us as his own, and that there is nothing in life or in death or anything in between that can render that promise null and void. We've already heard that promise proclaimed today in the reading from Paul's letter to the Romans. And that promise was made flesh in the body and being of Jesus Christ, whose incarnation we celebrate each year at Beverly's favorite seasons of Advent and Christmas. And that same intentionality that filled her cards and letters for so many of us over the years didn't leave her at the end. It only kind of changed shape. It found another language, it found another tune, so to speak. On the day before Beverly died a few weeks ago, uh I gathered with uh with David, their son Daryl, and other others where I had the privilege of sitting with them. And in moments like that, often words will not do. So we lean on hymns in those moments. And so we sang Amazing Grace. We sang what a friend we have in Jesus. And then my personal favorite, Come Thou Fount, of every blessing. I don't know how much Beverly could hear in that room, but I I hope that she could hear it all. I know the rest of us could hear each other whisper the familiar words, and I've come to believe that that matters more than we usually give it credit for. And there's a line that I've always appreciated, and come thou found that I haven't been able to shake since that day. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Streams. Not a drop, not a single drop of grace dulled out here and there, but a current, ever flowing, something moving, something that never, ever runs dry. And after we finished singing those hymns in a quiet moment, I asked David a simple question. I asked him how long he and Beverly had been married. It's the kind of question you go, uh the kind of question you ask to give grief somewhere to go besides silence. And David struggled to answer. Sixty-seven years of marriage behind his eyes. He struggled to answer, and I think maybe I would have struggled too if I had been standing in his shoes. So I I asked David how long he and Beverly had been married, and finally he simply looked at me and said one word. Forever. Not 67 years. Forever. David's answer wasn't wrong. And it wasn't just grief talking. 67 years of marriage has a way of stretching time until forever feels like the only honest word left to describe it. Excuse me, a simple question with an eternal one is one of the truest things I've ever witnessed in this line of work that I've been doing these past 12 years. But today, beloveds, we commend Beverly to a different forever. One that doesn't depend on memory, on the people left behind to carry it, or even on a marriage as faithful and long as David and Beverly's. Today we return to the waters of Beverly's baptism, to that stream of mercy that never ceases. And we give thanks that the same God who claimed her there has held her through every year of her life and holds her still. Paul told the Romans that neither death nor life, nor angels, rulers, things present, things to come, powers, height, death, anything

Hymns At The Bedside

SPEAKER_00 26:51

in all of creation could ever separate us from that love. David gave Beverly 67 years of forever. And today we trust her to a forever that will never end. A forever sealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to whom we give the glory, and in whom Beverly now rests until such a time as all of us are reunited by those eternal, ever-flowing streams of mercy.

Sixty-Seven Years Becomes Forever

SPEAKER_00 30:45

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Let us pray. O God, before whom generations rise and pass away. We praise you for all your servants who, having lived this life in faith, now live eternally with you. Especially we thank you for your servant Beverly, whose baptism is now complete in death. We praise you for the gift of her life, for all in her that was good and kind and faithful, for the grace you gave her, that kindled in her the love of your dear name and enabled her to serve you faithfully. We give you thanks that for Beverly death is past and pain ended, and that she has now entered the joy that you have prepared through your risen Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. And friends, our final hymn is He leadeth me, which you will find in the inserts that you were handed.

Creed, Commendation, And Blessing

SPEAKER_00 35:54

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Beverly. Acknowledge, we humbly pray, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints and light. May all of us God's children say, Amen. Friends, the God of peace who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, make you complete in everything good, so that you may do God's will, working among us that which is pleasing in God's sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.