Sermon at the Funeral of (Detective ) Constable Bill Crews
16th September, 2010

Psalm 23: 4

The public and private grief over the death of Detective Constable Bill Crews has been extraordinary and yet understandable. The circumstances, as we now know, are doubly tragic, and we all anguish over that. Furthermore, the young man came from a family which is distinguished by years of public service. The police uniform hides individuality, but when we see the individual, as we do here, he turns out to be one of us. We grieve with and for his family. But we grieve as a community, because Bill's life was so rich in promise and he so clearly belonged to all of us. He could have been anyone's son, brother, husband, father.

The service of the community through police work is never easy. Police encounter more than their fair share of cynicism, and even abuse. But today the members of our Police Force can see that there is in the community a deep respect for you and an appreciation that your work is difficult and can be highly dangerous. We wish to thank you for what you do. Sometimes, indeed, it takes you in to very dark places, yes, into the valley of the shadow of death.

That is where God's word, the Bible, takes us this morning. There is no point smiling and striking a note of false comfort and psuedo cheerfulness. The Bible is the most realistic of all books. It knows death and it speaks to us about death, its horrors, its pain and our fear. It tells us that God never intended it to be like this, but death is the product of the way we ignore God and push him out of our lives. We can't beat death; it is too strong for any one of us; whether it comes too early as in this case, or much later, it does come for us all. And it reminds us of our weakness and our failures.

The Bible is realistic, but it is not gloomy. We cannot beat death, but God can and has. And so here, in this reading, it says, "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.' The Bible does not say you will avoid this dark valley. There will be times when all of us experience its darkness in our lives or the lives of our closest family and friends. And there are other dark valleys which we can enter, where nothing seems right and all our hopes and happiness are stripped away from us. Perhaps you have entered a dark valley in your life and you are feeling nothing but pain. Sometimes, as here, a mixture of accident and evil has closed a dear life far too early.

The promise of God's word is not that we will avoid these sufferings, but that there is one who will walk with us through them as we trust him. The problems of the road are less important than the one who will walk us through it. The one who walks with us is not merely a friend. He is the ultimate personal guard.  He is like an ancient shepherd " one of the toughest of all men, well accustomed to fighting off thieves and wild animals, with his staff and his rod. In fact one prepared even to die in the defense of his flock. The Bible is saying that God is the good shepherd who will walk us through the worst, protect us from the ultimate disaster, even lay down his life for us. The Bible says, enter each day, enter each situation, encounter each evil, encounter each sorrow, whatever it is, trusting him to walk through it with you.

Earlier this year, at the invitation of the Commissioner, I was part of a group of citizens who experienced something of what it is like to be a police officer. We were put into tense situations, we were told about how investigations take place, we saw how police go into difficult situations, we learned something about the use of firearms, we were introduced to the sort of weapons which criminals now have at their disposal. There was a demonstration on the firing range at Goulburn in which an officer was placed, though a video simulation, in tense and dangerous situations, and had to decide what to do instantaneously.

I know that the police use of firearms is relatively rare; you are not cowboys. But there are moments when guns must be involved. I think that we were all impressed by the professionalism and the self-control of the officers. I think that we were also awed by the possibility of accident and error in situations requiring instant responses. The decision time is very tight indeed. What is remarkable is that this sort of incident is so rare. It is always possible that things will go wrong no matter how skilled and professional you are.

For officers, it is a shadowy valley which you sometimes have to enter.

Mr and Mrs Crews, Kel and Sharon, we so mourn your son and we share your grief at this tragedy. Likewise, Ben, Rebecca and Kate. Like all of us you need to walk with the Good Shepherd as never before. You have given me a wonderful picture of Bill as an intensely passionate, focused personality. But in his passion he never forgot others: you have told me that he loved other people, and I don't suppose you can say anything higher than that about anyone.

We also want to thank you for showing us all how to grieve. In particular we want to thank you for showing us all how to forgive. Like it or not, some people in your place may have responded with anger and even cries for vengeance, even though this is entirely unjustified. You have shown us all a far better way. On behalf of us all I want to thank you. You have given our whole community something important.

The story of the death of Jesus we read today is also dominated by forgiveness. Two things to notice:

First, he asked God to forgive his enemies, those who were putting him to death. He unleashed forgiveness in the world. He told us to forgive those who hurt us " in his case his death was no accident, it was deliberate, but he still prayed that God would forgive. It is no accident that he prayed this prayer at such a moment. His whole death was designed to bring God's forgiveness into the world. He did not deserve to die; but he died to represent you, to take your place, so that you could be forgiven and pass though death into the paradise he promised the thief who died beside him. He died to defeat the power of death, so that as we mourn we do so with hope, not with despair.

Second, Jesus identified himself the Good Shepherd. He was no ordinary man. This was God come among us as a man, and he came among us to be our shepherd, to guard us and to guide us, to live for us and to die for us. In the end, he was even raised out of his tomb, and resurrected from the dead showing us that in the age to come, death will be defeated and that there is a great and wonderful world awaiting those who walk with the Good Shepherd. In Jesus God defeats death itself and human evil too.

For all of us, then these two reading from the Bible are immensely important. Take them away with you and study them quietly. We will comfort and console each other because of Bill's death. But God is the greatest comforter of all because he is the Good Shepherd. Walk with him one day at a time. As you trust yourself to him, through Jesus, he will see you through all your trials, yes even the valley of the shadow of death: "I will fear no evil, for you are with me.' 

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