Ezekiel 34:11-16; Romans 8:31-39; St John 10:11-18
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Becky, Junior, Kurt, (Kylee, Luke,) family and friends of Lorenz, dear lambs of Christ from St Peter’s: Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied unto you from God our Father who raised Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, from the dead.
So many questions. How come? How could he do this? What was he thinking? Were there signs? Should I have seen them? . . . Why? Why did Lorenz take his own life? How could a husband, father, brother, friend, leave his loved ones alone like this?
I wish I could answer those questions for you. I can’t. I’m sorry. Of suicide, Dr Martin Luther once declared, “I am not inclined to think that those who take their own lives are surely damned. My reason is that they do not do this of their own accord but are overcome by the power of the devil, like a man who is murdered by a robber in the woods” (WA Br, IV 624-25). I agree with Luther’s assessment.
We are inclined not to take seriously in our day the power and work of the devil. We ignore him as some carry-over of a medieval system of superstitious belief. A phantom meant to scare fools and children. He is real. You see and experience his destructive rage all around you, both without and within: pestilence and famine, ware and bloodshed, sedition and rebellion, lightning and tempest, all calamity by fire and water; sudden and evil death, are all crafts and assaults of the devil. We pray against him in the Our Father, as our Lord has taught us; And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from the evil one. For he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour; to deceive into false belief, great shame and vice. To attack with every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation.
The devil is the wolf, of which our Lord Jesus speaks. He is the great bane of the Shepherd and the enemy of His flock, His dear lambs and sheep. He waits in silent ambush at the edge of the pasture, licking his putrid smelling chops, seeking to pick off a weak, wandering lamb; the injured of the fold.
And certainly Lorenz was injured. He was troubled and tormented. He knew guilt and shame. He wrestled with vices and addictions.
He moved into his mother’s home in her last months, he and his family, to care for Dolores. He loved her. She used to comment that she never though of all her children he’d be the one who would be caring for her while dying. But he was. He did. This doesn’t earn him anything. It was simply the faithful obedience of a son. The love and honor every child owes to his parents.
But caregivers need care too. And whenever I would visit Dolores and bring her Holy Communion, Lorenz would be there too. Confessing his sins. Receiving the Lord’s Absolution. Partaking in the death-defying, wolf defeating Body and Blood of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, which bestowed unto him life and salvation through faith. And he did have faith. He believed. Lorenz lamented his sin, his various struggles with temptation and he hated it. It grieved him in body and soul. And he knew it grieved his Father in heaven. He wanted to do better. And he trusted in the love and mercy of his great good Shepherd, the true Physician of his eternal soul, for the healing balm of His glorious wounds.
What then of this? Of his death? We are taught to pray, again from the Lord’s Prayer, for a “blessed end;” a “good death.” What of suicide?
I cannot mince words. I’m sorry. Suicide is a sin.
But it is a sin which is died for by Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep. He died for all sin. Pride, anger, adultery, murder, lust, envy, covetousness, idolatry, hatred, lies, slander, gossip, drunkenness, suicide. All of it. Died for by Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
For Christ Jesus died a good death, a blessed death, a noble death. That is what it means to be the Good Shepherd, the Noble Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep. This is the authority He has been given by His Father. No one takes His life from Him. He lays it down willingly. He owns the sheep. He cares for them. He sees the wolf coming and instead of running away, He runs toward the enemy, and He gives His own life for them.
The Lamb the sheep has ransomed. The Good Shepherd stuffed the wolf’s disgusting gullet with His own flesh and blood. He stopped the deranged howling of that cruel beast. How? Not with sword or spear, gun or knife. But by offering Himself as a tasty treat for the enemy of His flock. As a defenseless Lamb, laden with the sin of the world, forsaken by His Father, friends, and family. The wolf cannot resist. He swallows Him whole. Chomps down the Shepherd in sheep’s clothing. And he thinks he has won.
But the Lord, our Good Shepherd, burst open the belly of the beast. He emerges victorious. Death is defeated. Satan is conquered. The victory remains with the Good Shepherd who gives abundant life. St Paul writes, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:54-57). Or here to the Romans, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
Buffeted and assaulted on all sides, afflicted and torment, in tribulation and distress. Scattered as sheep separated from the Voice of their Shepherd. And truly Lorenz was afflicted, tormented, in distress, scattered.
But the Lord Himself is his Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for him. He sought Lorenz out, first as an infant, when his mother and father brought him to the font, and our Lord Christ bestowed upon Lorenz the heavenly and holy gift of Baptism. There God the Father adopted Lorenz as his own beloved son. For faith is not an act of the will, whether in confidence or distress, good times or bad. And Holy Baptism is not the first act of obedience or merely an outward sign of an inward belief.
Becky, you remember how we walked through the great and wonderful promises and heavenly gift that is Holy Baptism that sad night. You are reminded of it today as we placed the funeral pall over Lorenz’s body. He was baptized into Christ’s death, buried with Him. He shall be raised with Him. God’s promises hold true, even when Lorenz was weak; especially when he was weak.
It is true that at times Lorenz was like the prodigal son, wandering far from home, squandering his heavenly inheritance, but never forgetting his true Father’s House, returning in sorrow and contrition, repentance and faith, to be welcomed home, no string’s attached, as the lost son.
His baptismal identity holds true. Lorenz is a beloved child of his heavenly Father; a dear lamb of his Good Shepherd; sought and found, brought home.
Does this mean once saved always saved? No. Such a tradition of men is untenable and not a promise from God. But it means that Christ Jesus knows the sufferings and doubts of His dear lambs. He knows the weakness of His sheep; that they are terrified in heart and conscience by the howl of the wolf. He knows His own and His own know Him. And there is your comfort in the face of evil death. Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows His own. He baptized Lorenz. He drown him in His own death for sin - in this very font. He buried Lorenz with Himself and raised him again. Baptism is His authority and work. Not ours. His promises hold true. Even for Lorenz.
God is for him and He is for you. Who can be against you? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - including Lorenz - how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? He shall give you comfort and peace, hope and joy. So many questions. Feelings of doubt and fear, anger and depression. All the answers to His promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.
And He takes it up again. That is, He is raised from the dead, never to die again. This is an Easter triumph and joy that sin and death cannot overcome.
Becky, Junior, Kurt, family and friends of Lorenz, I don’t have all the answers to your questions, but I know this: here is your solace and peace; here, within the fold and flock of the Good Shepherd, within His Church, is where you hear His Voice and follow Him. Here, in the midst of things you cannot understand, He gives you to believe and find comfort in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, 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.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Becky, Junior, Kurt, (Kylee, Luke,) family and friends of Lorenz, dear lambs of Christ from St Peter’s: Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied unto you from God our Father who raised Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, from the dead.
So many questions. How come? How could he do this? What was he thinking? Were there signs? Should I have seen them? . . . Why? Why did Lorenz take his own life? How could a husband, father, brother, friend, leave his loved ones alone like this?
I wish I could answer those questions for you. I can’t. I’m sorry. Of suicide, Dr Martin Luther once declared, “I am not inclined to think that those who take their own lives are surely damned. My reason is that they do not do this of their own accord but are overcome by the power of the devil, like a man who is murdered by a robber in the woods” (WA Br, IV 624-25). I agree with Luther’s assessment.
We are inclined not to take seriously in our day the power and work of the devil. We ignore him as some carry-over of a medieval system of superstitious belief. A phantom meant to scare fools and children. He is real. You see and experience his destructive rage all around you, both without and within: pestilence and famine, ware and bloodshed, sedition and rebellion, lightning and tempest, all calamity by fire and water; sudden and evil death, are all crafts and assaults of the devil. We pray against him in the Our Father, as our Lord has taught us; And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from the evil one. For he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour; to deceive into false belief, great shame and vice. To attack with every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation.
The devil is the wolf, of which our Lord Jesus speaks. He is the great bane of the Shepherd and the enemy of His flock, His dear lambs and sheep. He waits in silent ambush at the edge of the pasture, licking his putrid smelling chops, seeking to pick off a weak, wandering lamb; the injured of the fold.
And certainly Lorenz was injured. He was troubled and tormented. He knew guilt and shame. He wrestled with vices and addictions.
He moved into his mother’s home in her last months, he and his family, to care for Dolores. He loved her. She used to comment that she never though of all her children he’d be the one who would be caring for her while dying. But he was. He did. This doesn’t earn him anything. It was simply the faithful obedience of a son. The love and honor every child owes to his parents.
But caregivers need care too. And whenever I would visit Dolores and bring her Holy Communion, Lorenz would be there too. Confessing his sins. Receiving the Lord’s Absolution. Partaking in the death-defying, wolf defeating Body and Blood of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, which bestowed unto him life and salvation through faith. And he did have faith. He believed. Lorenz lamented his sin, his various struggles with temptation and he hated it. It grieved him in body and soul. And he knew it grieved his Father in heaven. He wanted to do better. And he trusted in the love and mercy of his great good Shepherd, the true Physician of his eternal soul, for the healing balm of His glorious wounds.
What then of this? Of his death? We are taught to pray, again from the Lord’s Prayer, for a “blessed end;” a “good death.” What of suicide?
I cannot mince words. I’m sorry. Suicide is a sin.
But it is a sin which is died for by Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep. He died for all sin. Pride, anger, adultery, murder, lust, envy, covetousness, idolatry, hatred, lies, slander, gossip, drunkenness, suicide. All of it. Died for by Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
For Christ Jesus died a good death, a blessed death, a noble death. That is what it means to be the Good Shepherd, the Noble Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep. This is the authority He has been given by His Father. No one takes His life from Him. He lays it down willingly. He owns the sheep. He cares for them. He sees the wolf coming and instead of running away, He runs toward the enemy, and He gives His own life for them.
The Lamb the sheep has ransomed. The Good Shepherd stuffed the wolf’s disgusting gullet with His own flesh and blood. He stopped the deranged howling of that cruel beast. How? Not with sword or spear, gun or knife. But by offering Himself as a tasty treat for the enemy of His flock. As a defenseless Lamb, laden with the sin of the world, forsaken by His Father, friends, and family. The wolf cannot resist. He swallows Him whole. Chomps down the Shepherd in sheep’s clothing. And he thinks he has won.
But the Lord, our Good Shepherd, burst open the belly of the beast. He emerges victorious. Death is defeated. Satan is conquered. The victory remains with the Good Shepherd who gives abundant life. St Paul writes, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:54-57). Or here to the Romans, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
Buffeted and assaulted on all sides, afflicted and torment, in tribulation and distress. Scattered as sheep separated from the Voice of their Shepherd. And truly Lorenz was afflicted, tormented, in distress, scattered.
But the Lord Himself is his Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for him. He sought Lorenz out, first as an infant, when his mother and father brought him to the font, and our Lord Christ bestowed upon Lorenz the heavenly and holy gift of Baptism. There God the Father adopted Lorenz as his own beloved son. For faith is not an act of the will, whether in confidence or distress, good times or bad. And Holy Baptism is not the first act of obedience or merely an outward sign of an inward belief.
Becky, you remember how we walked through the great and wonderful promises and heavenly gift that is Holy Baptism that sad night. You are reminded of it today as we placed the funeral pall over Lorenz’s body. He was baptized into Christ’s death, buried with Him. He shall be raised with Him. God’s promises hold true, even when Lorenz was weak; especially when he was weak.
It is true that at times Lorenz was like the prodigal son, wandering far from home, squandering his heavenly inheritance, but never forgetting his true Father’s House, returning in sorrow and contrition, repentance and faith, to be welcomed home, no string’s attached, as the lost son.
His baptismal identity holds true. Lorenz is a beloved child of his heavenly Father; a dear lamb of his Good Shepherd; sought and found, brought home.
Does this mean once saved always saved? No. Such a tradition of men is untenable and not a promise from God. But it means that Christ Jesus knows the sufferings and doubts of His dear lambs. He knows the weakness of His sheep; that they are terrified in heart and conscience by the howl of the wolf. He knows His own and His own know Him. And there is your comfort in the face of evil death. Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows His own. He baptized Lorenz. He drown him in His own death for sin - in this very font. He buried Lorenz with Himself and raised him again. Baptism is His authority and work. Not ours. His promises hold true. Even for Lorenz.
God is for him and He is for you. Who can be against you? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - including Lorenz - how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? He shall give you comfort and peace, hope and joy. So many questions. Feelings of doubt and fear, anger and depression. All the answers to His promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.
And He takes it up again. That is, He is raised from the dead, never to die again. This is an Easter triumph and joy that sin and death cannot overcome.
Becky, Junior, Kurt, family and friends of Lorenz, I don’t have all the answers to your questions, but I know this: here is your solace and peace; here, within the fold and flock of the Good Shepherd, within His Church, is where you hear His Voice and follow Him. Here, in the midst of things you cannot understand, He gives you to believe and find comfort in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, 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.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
RSS Feed