Job 19:21 – 27 / Psalm 25 / II Corinthians 4:16 – 5:9 / Matthew 11:25 – 30
This is the homily given at the Service of Thanksgiving
for the Life of Steven Bruce Hoy, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 21, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“LIFE’S LIKE A PITCHER – REMEMBERING STEVE HOY”
(Homily texts: Job 19:21 – 27 & II
Corinthians 4:16 – 5:9)
We’ve gathered this morning to give
thanks for the life of Steve Hoy, for the gifts that God gifted him with, for
the wonderful impact he has had on our lives, and – above all – for the gift of
life eternal in God’s presence, a gift that is now Steve’s in eternity.
As I think about all these things, I
think a good way to think about them would be to imagine that each and every
one of us is like a pitcher (the sort that one pours a liquid into, and out
of).
Gifts
that were poured into Steve’s life
So, at Steve’s birth, God created the
vessel of his life, and then God poured into that vessel the gifts that Steve
had, gifts that are like no other human beings in all of history. Steve was –
and is – a unique creation of God.
As time went along. God poured into
Steve’s heart the gift of Holy Baptism, whereby God declared His love for
Steve. Along with the gift of baptismal waters, poured into the pitcher of
Steve’s heart, came the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that Steve would come to
know and love God in return for the love that God had shown to Steve. So, we
can repeat those words that are spoken at Baptism, “You are sealed by the Holy
Spirit in Baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.” You see, Baptism
creates an indelible mark on the soul, one that can never be erased or taken
away. (Thanks be to God!)
Steve’s knowledge of God and of God’s
ways was nourished in Methodist Churches. There, he served as an acolyte and
also sang in the choir as a young person.
Some
of the ways that Steve poured himself into giving of gifts to others
Steve wasn’t just a receiver of all of
these good things. Instead of getting filled up with them, he also shared them
with others, pouring out the blessings that had come his way.
He had a deep love of people. In his
younger years, he loved to party, being with people, even though he had a more
quiet-and-reserved sort of personality.
He also worked to develop his skills in
ice hockey, even to the point of attending a school in Montreal where some of
the greats in the game are remembered today in the hall of fame.
That love of people, and his desire to
better their lives, prompted him to pursue a career in education, working with
those with special needs. In his teaching career, he often worked with the most
challenging students. Some of those students, years later, remembered the
goodness and the care that Steve had poured into their lives.
In the fulness of time, he met and
married Liz. Theirs was a wonderful, generous and gift-giving sort of marriage,
one partner helping the other through the ins and the outs of life.
Gifts
poured in- and out - in abundance
Steve’s quiet nature often led him to
ponder the mysteries of God and of our faith, asking the question, “Why do we
believe what we believe?” These contemplations would often lead to
conversations with Liz.
Liz and Steve were both regular
attendees at our Wednesday noon Healing Services. As part of the format for
those, we would consider the life of a saint, or perhaps a holy day in the
calendar. Then, we’d open the floor up for conversation and give-and-take. Steve
would often come out with a “nugget” of insight and wisdom. You could tell that
his intellect and mind were working over the topic at hand.
Gifts
given as life drew to a close
The gifts poured into Steve’s heart in
his childhood and young adulthood, gifts of coming to know God, came to be
important assets to Steve as time went along.
As his health deteriorated in recent
years, God’s presence came to mean more and more to him.
Then, as his health began to fail, he
could look forward, and with Job declare, “I know that my redeemer lives, and
at the last he shall stand upon the earth. After my skin has been destroyed, yet
in my flesh I shall see God.”
Fr. Ted supported Steve as he entered
the hospital. As part of that support, Steve could look forward with St. Paul,
who said, “…we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed,
we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.”
So, then, our faith encourages us to affirm
that “life has changed, not ended”, as we will hear in our communion prayer in
a few moments. For, early in his life, Steve was claimed by God as God’s
beloved child, whose soul was “marked by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and marked
as Christ’s own forever.”
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
