St John 19:16b-18, 25-30/1 Corinthians 15:20-26/Job 19:21-27
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Rhonda, Allen, kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, family and friends of Richard: grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
By a man came death, writes St Paul. In Adam all die. He was fashioned from dust, made in the image of God. His lungs were filled with the breath of God; the very breath of life. All of creation was made for him, to provide for him. Adam was the pinnacle of God’s good order. God is love. And in love He created all things in heaven and on earth for Adam. He was the very object of God’s love; the recipient of all that the Father has to give.
Yet Adam chose death. Life came by God, our Creator, but death has come by Adam, our first father. So it is with Richard. He is created in the image of God; knit together in his mother’s womb. But he received the inheritance of his first father, Adam. Richard was preceded in death by his brother and sisters, even his dear wife. They too inherited this fatal disease from Adam. All men do, for all men die. It is written, The wages of sin is death. This is why Richard died. He was a sinner.
Now I know it is not socially acceptable to talk about sin and death at a funeral. It’s depressing. But this is the reality that stares us in the face. Death is not our friend. It ought not be hastened. Life is still a gift of God and it ought not be taken deliberately, whether under the guise of mercy or in the name of expediency. Death is not a part of life. It is the result of sin. All men die, for all men are sinners.
And Richard knew this. He confessed it. The words of Job were his words, Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, for the hand of God has touched me! He would often ask why God allowed him to go on living when all of his family and friends have died. He was a bit like Job. All Christians are. Richard was afflicted. He suffered. Some of his suffering was brought on by his own sin. Some was the result of others who sinned against him. And some was simply the natural course of living as a sinful, fallen man in a sinful, fallen world. He and I would lament this together. He would say, “I don’t blame God. I know I have to go through my trials and tribulations.”
When I visit the sick and the shut-in I preach to them and give them Holy Communion, our Lord’s Body and Blood. With Richard I prayed more than I do with most. We would pray portions of the Psalms. The prayers of David became his prayers. The Psalms are the prayers of the Church, of every believer in Christ. And he would often feel as though evildoers assailed him, that an army encamped against him to wage war against him, like we heard this evening from Psalm 27.
Now Richard has fallen asleep in Christ. And if all he knew were his sins, then we would pity him. For it would seem as if his enemies have won, as if death has triumphed and the grave has conquered. But Richard not only confessed his sinful nature, he boldly confessed Jesus Christ his Savior. By faith, Richard made Jesus’ work his own. He didn’t trust in his own work or merit, but Richard trusted in Christ Jesus and the promises made to him in Holy Baptism. We heard these promises this evening in the placing of the funeral pall, from Romans 6: In Baptism Richard was clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin. He was baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ. Richard was buried with Christ by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised form the dead, he too might walk in newness of life.
For here is a reality more real than death: The fact that Christ has been raised from the dead. For Christ endured the full force of all trials and tribulations upon the Cross. He who knew no sin became Sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Christ Jesus became Richard’s sin, and not only Richard’s, but the whole world, and He destroyed the devil by his own work. Christ entered death in order to undo death. He pierces the adversary with his own weapon and slays him with his own sword. And this is the most glorious kind of victory.
For in the death of His Son, God completed His work: He reconciled the world unto Himself. He saved Richard. It is finished. The Place of the Skull is now the gate to Paradise. This is the true wisdom of the shame and wickedness of the Cross: that through the Cross of Jesus God forces the devil to work through death life itself. On the day Christ died, Richard was given life. For Christ swallowed up death in His own death. He took its poison into Himself, into His flesh and blood. But Christ is not dead. He lives. The grace could not hold Him. And now, by His resurrection from the dead, His flesh and blood are the very antidote to death. With them He brings life.
This is the death into which Richard is baptized. There he died with Christ. He now lives with Him. Jesus put His crucified and risen Body and Blood into Richard’s body. He made Himself a part of Richard. Christ who took his sin, gave Richard life. In Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
After I would preach to Richard and give him Holy Communion, he would often say, “Gee, I sure hope Jesus will let me into heaven.” Well in Jesus the gate to heaven has been flung wide open. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Him. Richard has now gone to our Father in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ His Son. And tomorrow morning we will loving place his body into God’s acre, to await the resurrection of the dead. When Christ returns in glory death He will then fully and completely destroy death. And we shall see the full reality of what Richard, and the entire Christian Church, confesses.
Then the words of Job will be Richard’s words again. No longer a prayer for mercy, but a jubilant confession: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
This is that the reality of the Cross, the sum and substance of the Christian faith: Christ has defeated death and the grave for you. Rhonda, for now you wait; like Mary at the death of her Son. She saw Him again. And you will see your dad, too. If you hold fast the confession and hope that Christ came to save sinners. That by His death He has reconciled you to the Father. For this is the confession of Richard, of King David, and of all Christians: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Richard shall dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. So shall all who have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, who have died to sin and risen to newness of life with Him.
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Rhonda, Allen, kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, family and friends of Richard: grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
By a man came death, writes St Paul. In Adam all die. He was fashioned from dust, made in the image of God. His lungs were filled with the breath of God; the very breath of life. All of creation was made for him, to provide for him. Adam was the pinnacle of God’s good order. God is love. And in love He created all things in heaven and on earth for Adam. He was the very object of God’s love; the recipient of all that the Father has to give.
Yet Adam chose death. Life came by God, our Creator, but death has come by Adam, our first father. So it is with Richard. He is created in the image of God; knit together in his mother’s womb. But he received the inheritance of his first father, Adam. Richard was preceded in death by his brother and sisters, even his dear wife. They too inherited this fatal disease from Adam. All men do, for all men die. It is written, The wages of sin is death. This is why Richard died. He was a sinner.
Now I know it is not socially acceptable to talk about sin and death at a funeral. It’s depressing. But this is the reality that stares us in the face. Death is not our friend. It ought not be hastened. Life is still a gift of God and it ought not be taken deliberately, whether under the guise of mercy or in the name of expediency. Death is not a part of life. It is the result of sin. All men die, for all men are sinners.
And Richard knew this. He confessed it. The words of Job were his words, Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, for the hand of God has touched me! He would often ask why God allowed him to go on living when all of his family and friends have died. He was a bit like Job. All Christians are. Richard was afflicted. He suffered. Some of his suffering was brought on by his own sin. Some was the result of others who sinned against him. And some was simply the natural course of living as a sinful, fallen man in a sinful, fallen world. He and I would lament this together. He would say, “I don’t blame God. I know I have to go through my trials and tribulations.”
When I visit the sick and the shut-in I preach to them and give them Holy Communion, our Lord’s Body and Blood. With Richard I prayed more than I do with most. We would pray portions of the Psalms. The prayers of David became his prayers. The Psalms are the prayers of the Church, of every believer in Christ. And he would often feel as though evildoers assailed him, that an army encamped against him to wage war against him, like we heard this evening from Psalm 27.
Now Richard has fallen asleep in Christ. And if all he knew were his sins, then we would pity him. For it would seem as if his enemies have won, as if death has triumphed and the grave has conquered. But Richard not only confessed his sinful nature, he boldly confessed Jesus Christ his Savior. By faith, Richard made Jesus’ work his own. He didn’t trust in his own work or merit, but Richard trusted in Christ Jesus and the promises made to him in Holy Baptism. We heard these promises this evening in the placing of the funeral pall, from Romans 6: In Baptism Richard was clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin. He was baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ. Richard was buried with Christ by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised form the dead, he too might walk in newness of life.
For here is a reality more real than death: The fact that Christ has been raised from the dead. For Christ endured the full force of all trials and tribulations upon the Cross. He who knew no sin became Sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Christ Jesus became Richard’s sin, and not only Richard’s, but the whole world, and He destroyed the devil by his own work. Christ entered death in order to undo death. He pierces the adversary with his own weapon and slays him with his own sword. And this is the most glorious kind of victory.
For in the death of His Son, God completed His work: He reconciled the world unto Himself. He saved Richard. It is finished. The Place of the Skull is now the gate to Paradise. This is the true wisdom of the shame and wickedness of the Cross: that through the Cross of Jesus God forces the devil to work through death life itself. On the day Christ died, Richard was given life. For Christ swallowed up death in His own death. He took its poison into Himself, into His flesh and blood. But Christ is not dead. He lives. The grace could not hold Him. And now, by His resurrection from the dead, His flesh and blood are the very antidote to death. With them He brings life.
This is the death into which Richard is baptized. There he died with Christ. He now lives with Him. Jesus put His crucified and risen Body and Blood into Richard’s body. He made Himself a part of Richard. Christ who took his sin, gave Richard life. In Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
After I would preach to Richard and give him Holy Communion, he would often say, “Gee, I sure hope Jesus will let me into heaven.” Well in Jesus the gate to heaven has been flung wide open. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Him. Richard has now gone to our Father in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ His Son. And tomorrow morning we will loving place his body into God’s acre, to await the resurrection of the dead. When Christ returns in glory death He will then fully and completely destroy death. And we shall see the full reality of what Richard, and the entire Christian Church, confesses.
Then the words of Job will be Richard’s words again. No longer a prayer for mercy, but a jubilant confession: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
This is that the reality of the Cross, the sum and substance of the Christian faith: Christ has defeated death and the grave for you. Rhonda, for now you wait; like Mary at the death of her Son. She saw Him again. And you will see your dad, too. If you hold fast the confession and hope that Christ came to save sinners. That by His death He has reconciled you to the Father. For this is the confession of Richard, of King David, and of all Christians: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Richard shall dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. So shall all who have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, who have died to sin and risen to newness of life with Him.
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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