Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, through your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your Word, granting us a renewed and strengthened faith, that we might find comfort in your grace, and hope for the future. Enable us to trust in your gift of eternal life, accomplished for us through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus the Christ, so that we might live our lives in the confidence of being reunited with all your redeemed saints, in the life to come. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
Let me begin by expressing to you, Janet, and the rest of your family, not only my personal sympathy, but also the sympathy of our congregation. Quite frankly, you and Bob have been well loved and respected members of our congregation, and so we share in your grief, and lift you in our prayers and concern, that God’s grace might bring you his peace.
I remember the first visit I made to your home, to share with you some of the aspects of our congregation’s ministry and to get to know you a little better. However, it wasn’t long into conversation when Bob offered me a beverage and asked if I like to hunt. When I responded by saying that I take three of my four weeks vacation for hunting, that did it. Bob showed me his trophy hanging in the garage, and the stories of our hunts started.
After my visit, as I was driving home and reflecting on our conversation, I remember thinking, “Now there’s a guy I can really relate to, and he golfs. Then it hit me! Janet is a hunter’s wife. After all, as Josie has often told me, when two hunters get together, you might as well let them tell their stories, because it is in their system.
To prove her point, Josie made a cross-stitch picture of a hunter holding his rifle that hangs on the kitchen wall of our camp. The inscription on the picture goes something like this: “Behold the hunter. He riseth up early in the morning and disturbeth the whole household. Mighty are his preparations. And when he returneth in the evening, he is hungry and cold, and the truth is not in him.”
Well, I’m sure that you, Janet, have heard those stories many times. For Bob loved the outdoors. It was a part of his nature. It was a part of what made him the special person he was – what endeared him to you, his family. It is a part of what will be missed by you, his family. In fact, when I visited with you and Rob Wednesday morning, you told me that Tuesday evening, following Bob’s death, your family gathered together and shared those stories in his memory.
That touched me, for it revealed what I had already come to know in my subsequent visits – and that is that Bob was a loving husband and father. He not only loved the outdoors, he truly cared for you, his family. And I’m sure he will be sorely missed.
Yet, over the past year, we have all seen Bob’s health gradually deteriorate. It was difficult for us all to witness, but especially for you, Bob’s family, to experience. And as we have watched Bob’s health wind down, rather quickly during the past couple of months, we may have experienced our own anxiety winding up. Our hopes that he may have been healed of his disease, slowly gave way to the thought that he might not be with us much longer, and the hope that he need not suffer indefinitely. It is a painful transition to make, for all involved, as we face the finite existence of life here on earth.
Listen to how Paul expressed his faith, as he perceived his life here on earth coming to an end. Paul writes, in his letter to the Philippians, and I quote, “For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death…
If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you…” End quote.
I believe this is the struggle that Bob faced, as he neared the end of his life. He dearly loved you, his family, and cared for you deeply. He wanted to be with you, and do what he could to enhance your life with his presence. And yet he knew, that the ultimate goal of his faith, was to be with his crucified and risen Lord, as a baptized child of the kingdom of God.
A couple of weeks ago, I came to visit with Bob, and bring him the sacrament of communion. When I arrived, Bob asked Janet to help him out of bed, so that he could sit in a chair. I then asked Bob, “Did you get up just for me? “Yes,” he said. “I would like to be up to take communion.” I was deeply moved that Bob went through the pain of getting out of bed to receive the sacrament. It revealed a humble and deep faith in the saving grace of God in Jesus the Christ.
And when I had finished our service of communion, I noticed a look of peace on his face. It is a peace that comes from believing and trusting in what God has done for us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. So let us listen for a moment to the promise of the Gospel, which I believe, gave Bob the faith to die in peace.
First, listen to the words of Jesus, whom John tells us he spoke to his disciples just prior to his own death. Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and take you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also.
This is clearly the hope of the Christian faith. It is what enables us, who have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, to face our death here on earth, in peace. It is the promise of Easter, the season in which we focus on how the apostles were able to overcome their anxiety and fear, following Christ’s crucifixion, to be empowered by his resurrection and God’s Spirit to unbolt their doors and proclaim God’s victory over sin and death.
Clearly, the future of every baptized Christian, who trusts in the promise of the Gospel, is to enter into the presence of our risen Christ, in God’s heavenly kingdom. To be in his presence, to experience his love and grace face to face, is the goal of our faith. And although none of us can truly depict what our life beyond our death here on earth might be like, our Lord assures us of a place in God’s kingdom, where we will abide with him forever.
Is this not what Paul asserts in his Letter to the Corinthians, where he states, “If for this life only, we have hoped in Christ, we are, of all people, most to be pitied.” After all, if there is no life beyond our finite life here on earth, our faith is futile, without substance and hope. We have been deceiving ourselves with false hope in God’s love for us.
But then Paul goes on to state, that “in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died…” Then he adds, “as in Adam, all will die,” that is, according to our finite nature here on earth, we only have a certain time to live, “so in Christ, all will be made alive,” meaning that after our death, the baptized people of faith will have a new life.
That’s the good news about the Gospel. It turns our finite thinking upside down, and helps us to see things differently – from God’s point of view. For example, listen to the set of opposites, contained in this letter of Paul to the Corinthians. St. Paul writes: "What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. What is sown in dishonor, is raised in glory. What is sown in weakness, is raised in power. What is sown a physical body, is raised a spiritual body."
The first word in each of these four sets of opposites, is what we are experiencing at this moment, as we have gathered to entrust Bob into God’s loving care. It is a reminder of the finite nature of life here on earth.
Yet the second word in each of these four sets of opposites describes what we are not able to see at this moment. These words describe the work of Almighty God to bring to fruition, to bring to reality, what was promised to Bob at his baptism - the destination of his faith.
May we take these words to heart. "What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable." This says to me, that although Bob was born a finite person here on earth, a child of mortal parents, as we all are, yet because of his baptism and faith in Christ, he still lives on. More than this, it tells us that the life he now has, will never be taken from him.
Secondly, St. Paul tells us, "What is sown in dishonor, is raised in glory." Does this not describe our own relationship with God? Even though we may sin, not live according to God’s will for our lives, and leave this earth as less than a perfect person, through God’s gracious forgiveness in Jesus the Christ, we stand before God as his redeemed saints. No one is perfect, yet through our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection, we stand before God as his redeemed children whom he loves.
Thirdly, St. Paul tells us, "What is sown in weakness, will be raised in power." Now this is an awesome thought. Clearly, this passage tells us that the illnesses that weakened Bob’s life over the last several months of his life here on earth will be overcome in the life to come. It says to me, that he need not struggle with his illness any longer, not because he has died, but because God has restored him to wholeness of life in his presence.
And finally, Paul tells us that "what is sown a physical body, is raised a spiritual body." In all honesty, this set of opposites is hard to describe. All we know in this life here on earth, is our physical being. Life is known through our senses: we touch, we feel, we see, we taste, we hear. And when we cease to experience these senses, we say that life is gone.
Nevertheless, I trust in God’s promise of redemption, and St. Paul’s insight, that what we consider to be important here on earth, will be surpassed, not limited, in the life to come.
In conclusion, let me suggest that what we do here today, may well be the opposite of what we think we do. Instead of mourning the end of Bob’s life, we may well be celebrating her arrival at a new and more glorious life, due solely to the tremendous love of God in Jesus the Christ.
So hold on to your memories and stories of Bob from years past, and be prepared to greet him again, for I believe that he will be there to greet us and welcome us into our Lord’s presence, with some new stories. For in the time of God’s eternity, it will not be long before we join Bob in our risen Lord’s presence.
Amen.
