Job 19:21-27; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; St Matthew 27:45-54; 28:1-6
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Bonnie, dear children, step-children, grandchildren of Jack, fellow family and friends, dear lambs of God from St Peter’s: grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied unto you from God our Father who delivered over His Son, Jesus Christ, to be crucified for our transgressions and raised Him from the dead for our justification.
All things happened according to the gracious Word and will of God. The death of Jesus Christ our Lord happened just as He repeatedly prophesied it would. The Son of Man was betrayed into the hands of the chief priest and scribes, handed over to the governor and the tetrarch, beaten and bruised, mocked, ridiculed and shamed, and eventually crucified. For Jesus is was not a shock or surprise. He prophesied it would happen, and according to His Word spoken by the mouth of His Old Testament prophets, it occurred just as He said.
All things happen according to the gracious Word and will of God. Even the death of our beloved brother Jack. To us it was a surprise. It happened rather suddenly. Bonnie, you were startled at the sound early Monday morning. But it happened according to His will. You don’t know why. I don’t know why. But I do know this: death is a gift from the hand of the Lord.
Old Job confessed this mystery. He said, Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21). That is the good confession of faith, of a trust in the Word and promise of the Lord who helps in time of need, even when it feels like chastening. Bonnie, I know that you echo Job’s statement, but its hard.
And that’s okay. This isn’t easy. You’re not just going to “get over it.” Death is not a part of life. In fact, it is the very antithesis of life. But it is the debt that all men pay as fallen children of fallen Adam. As St Paul writes, The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Jack knew this. From his youth, as a child raised in Lutheran church and school in Texas, Jack knew what is the state of man. That we are born sinful and unclean. That we have sinned against God in thought, word, and deed.
There is a part of the Divine Service liturgy in which we acknowledge and own up to what God’s Word says of us, our sinfulness and what we deserve. It says, “O almighty God, merciful Father, I a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved your temporal and eternal punishment.” This places us in the ash pit with old Job, lamenting the day of our births and grieving for our sins.
Jack echoed this sentiment. Jack knew he was a sinner, whether in his years of sobriety or prior, he knew it was more than what he did and did not do. Jack mourned his sinful nature and repented, daily drowning his old Adam, clinging to his bones, until now, that old man is once and for all mortified in our dear friend Jack. For in acknowledging his sinfulness, Jack also confessed His Savior, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of sinners, the Friend of sinners. Jesus only has mercy on sinners. Jesus died only for sinners. Jesus is forsaken and rejected and condemned only for sinners. He is cast off so that sinners like Jack could be redeemed and ransomed and welcomed into the Father’s loving embrace.
There is a portrait of Jack and Bonnie that was displayed yesterday at the visitation. A beautiful, framed photo of the two of them. To the left of the photo were scripted the words, Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly. These are taken from the prophet Micah, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8). Far from being commands of law one must do in order get right with God, this is a description of who Christ Jesus is, His person and work, His character and heart. He has done what is right and just. He has shown unfathomable mercy to us poor, lost sinners. He has walked in humility before the Lord His God and saves sinners.
Jack believes and confesses this. He trusts in the Word of Jesus His Savior, the Friend of sinners. Like old Job, Jack knows that his Redeemer lives. Holy Week and Good Friday are not celebrated as a funeral for Jesus. Rather the Christian rejoices and boasts in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For more than race cars and interested in the Civil War, more than model airplanes and NASCAR, the thing that Jack cherished the most is the Cross of his Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to him and he to the world. For it is by the Cross of Christ that Jack shall stand in his resurrected flesh and behold at the last his Redeemer and Lord with his own eyes.
Behold I tell you a mystery. Jack is not dead. Even as Christ Jesus is not dead. You heard it from St Matthew, how he can’t help but hint toward the resurrection already at the death of Jesus. How after Jesus handed over His Spirit to the Father, the temple curtain was ripped and the earth shook and the rocks split. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they went into the Holy City and appeared to many.
After Jesus resurrection the saints who had fallen asleep in Him were raised. That’s how it was after the first Easter. That is how it shall be on the Last Day. Jesus died and rose first. Then we shall follow. Through death, a mere sleep in Christ who has swallowed up death, then the resurrection unto eternal life, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
Bonnie, you’ve said that the last words you said to Jack were, “I love you.” He said them back. Then together you prayed the Lord’s Prayer, as you do each night, and went to sleep. That’s how it is even now! You said, “I love you,” prayed the Our Father, and Jack has fallen asleep in Christ. But he shall be raised. In this body. Immortal. Imperishable. Changed. Without ache or pain or circulation issues and heart problems. Perfect in Christ Jesus. And you shall say good morning to him in the resurrection. The dawn of Christ’s return.
Even now you have this assurance. It is placed before your eyes as you confessed with the words of St Paul: If we have been united with Jesus in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. Underneath that funeral pall Jack is wearing his Navy dress blues with cowboy boats and hat, which I’m sure is against regulations, placed into a casket covered in racing stickers. But over it is what matters. For Jack is covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin. He is redeemed by the precious blood of the Son of God.
That self-same blood poured out on the Cross for Jack, was poured over his lips in Holy Communion. In the Lord’s Supper, which Jack so eagerly received in faith, he partook of the death-defying life of his Lord Jesus under bread and wine, His Body and Blood, given and shed for him for the forgiveness of sins. Thanks be to God who has given Jack the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do not be afraid, Bonnie. For I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Therefore Jack too shall rise, with all believers in Christ, and be given eternal life in Him.
Dear child of God, I know that you miss him, that you want to talk to him. Your mourning and sorrow is not sin or weakness. None who mourn the loss of their loved ones commit sin by grieving over death. Even Jesus wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. But we do not mourn as those who have no hope. The centurion keeping watch over Jesus believed and praised God over the death of Jesus. He knew that Jesus’ death availed for him. That Jesus’ death is the death of death and the death of sin.
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Our “alleluias” are near. Easter is close at hand. Even now, Bonnie and all who mourn, rejoice and take comfort in the forgiveness of sins, the communion of saints, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Bonnie, dear children, step-children, grandchildren of Jack, fellow family and friends, dear lambs of God from St Peter’s: grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied unto you from God our Father who delivered over His Son, Jesus Christ, to be crucified for our transgressions and raised Him from the dead for our justification.
All things happened according to the gracious Word and will of God. The death of Jesus Christ our Lord happened just as He repeatedly prophesied it would. The Son of Man was betrayed into the hands of the chief priest and scribes, handed over to the governor and the tetrarch, beaten and bruised, mocked, ridiculed and shamed, and eventually crucified. For Jesus is was not a shock or surprise. He prophesied it would happen, and according to His Word spoken by the mouth of His Old Testament prophets, it occurred just as He said.
All things happen according to the gracious Word and will of God. Even the death of our beloved brother Jack. To us it was a surprise. It happened rather suddenly. Bonnie, you were startled at the sound early Monday morning. But it happened according to His will. You don’t know why. I don’t know why. But I do know this: death is a gift from the hand of the Lord.
Old Job confessed this mystery. He said, Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21). That is the good confession of faith, of a trust in the Word and promise of the Lord who helps in time of need, even when it feels like chastening. Bonnie, I know that you echo Job’s statement, but its hard.
And that’s okay. This isn’t easy. You’re not just going to “get over it.” Death is not a part of life. In fact, it is the very antithesis of life. But it is the debt that all men pay as fallen children of fallen Adam. As St Paul writes, The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Jack knew this. From his youth, as a child raised in Lutheran church and school in Texas, Jack knew what is the state of man. That we are born sinful and unclean. That we have sinned against God in thought, word, and deed.
There is a part of the Divine Service liturgy in which we acknowledge and own up to what God’s Word says of us, our sinfulness and what we deserve. It says, “O almighty God, merciful Father, I a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved your temporal and eternal punishment.” This places us in the ash pit with old Job, lamenting the day of our births and grieving for our sins.
Jack echoed this sentiment. Jack knew he was a sinner, whether in his years of sobriety or prior, he knew it was more than what he did and did not do. Jack mourned his sinful nature and repented, daily drowning his old Adam, clinging to his bones, until now, that old man is once and for all mortified in our dear friend Jack. For in acknowledging his sinfulness, Jack also confessed His Savior, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of sinners, the Friend of sinners. Jesus only has mercy on sinners. Jesus died only for sinners. Jesus is forsaken and rejected and condemned only for sinners. He is cast off so that sinners like Jack could be redeemed and ransomed and welcomed into the Father’s loving embrace.
There is a portrait of Jack and Bonnie that was displayed yesterday at the visitation. A beautiful, framed photo of the two of them. To the left of the photo were scripted the words, Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly. These are taken from the prophet Micah, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8). Far from being commands of law one must do in order get right with God, this is a description of who Christ Jesus is, His person and work, His character and heart. He has done what is right and just. He has shown unfathomable mercy to us poor, lost sinners. He has walked in humility before the Lord His God and saves sinners.
Jack believes and confesses this. He trusts in the Word of Jesus His Savior, the Friend of sinners. Like old Job, Jack knows that his Redeemer lives. Holy Week and Good Friday are not celebrated as a funeral for Jesus. Rather the Christian rejoices and boasts in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For more than race cars and interested in the Civil War, more than model airplanes and NASCAR, the thing that Jack cherished the most is the Cross of his Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to him and he to the world. For it is by the Cross of Christ that Jack shall stand in his resurrected flesh and behold at the last his Redeemer and Lord with his own eyes.
Behold I tell you a mystery. Jack is not dead. Even as Christ Jesus is not dead. You heard it from St Matthew, how he can’t help but hint toward the resurrection already at the death of Jesus. How after Jesus handed over His Spirit to the Father, the temple curtain was ripped and the earth shook and the rocks split. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they went into the Holy City and appeared to many.
After Jesus resurrection the saints who had fallen asleep in Him were raised. That’s how it was after the first Easter. That is how it shall be on the Last Day. Jesus died and rose first. Then we shall follow. Through death, a mere sleep in Christ who has swallowed up death, then the resurrection unto eternal life, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
Bonnie, you’ve said that the last words you said to Jack were, “I love you.” He said them back. Then together you prayed the Lord’s Prayer, as you do each night, and went to sleep. That’s how it is even now! You said, “I love you,” prayed the Our Father, and Jack has fallen asleep in Christ. But he shall be raised. In this body. Immortal. Imperishable. Changed. Without ache or pain or circulation issues and heart problems. Perfect in Christ Jesus. And you shall say good morning to him in the resurrection. The dawn of Christ’s return.
Even now you have this assurance. It is placed before your eyes as you confessed with the words of St Paul: If we have been united with Jesus in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. Underneath that funeral pall Jack is wearing his Navy dress blues with cowboy boats and hat, which I’m sure is against regulations, placed into a casket covered in racing stickers. But over it is what matters. For Jack is covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin. He is redeemed by the precious blood of the Son of God.
That self-same blood poured out on the Cross for Jack, was poured over his lips in Holy Communion. In the Lord’s Supper, which Jack so eagerly received in faith, he partook of the death-defying life of his Lord Jesus under bread and wine, His Body and Blood, given and shed for him for the forgiveness of sins. Thanks be to God who has given Jack the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do not be afraid, Bonnie. For I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Therefore Jack too shall rise, with all believers in Christ, and be given eternal life in Him.
Dear child of God, I know that you miss him, that you want to talk to him. Your mourning and sorrow is not sin or weakness. None who mourn the loss of their loved ones commit sin by grieving over death. Even Jesus wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. But we do not mourn as those who have no hope. The centurion keeping watch over Jesus believed and praised God over the death of Jesus. He knew that Jesus’ death availed for him. That Jesus’ death is the death of death and the death of sin.
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Our “alleluias” are near. Easter is close at hand. Even now, Bonnie and all who mourn, rejoice and take comfort in the forgiveness of sins, the communion of saints, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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