(Read obituary from bulletin)
Dear friends, members of Our Saviour’s, family members, and especially this day you, Holly, Kyle, Beth, Cara, and Loren, may God’s grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The word of God that I will be basing this message on for today is based on the Gospel reading from John 14:1-6 which was just read a few moments ago, which we will ponder under the shortest theme I’ve ever used in my ministry, one I know Stan’s family will find appropriate, “Grace” But before we get into our message, will you please join me in a word of prayer. (Typical pre-sermon prayer)
Shock, disbelief, sadness. These words describe what many of us have felt over the past few days when we learned of Stan’s tragic death this past Tuesday. As those of you who are members of our congregation know, this is the first burial for a member of Our Saviour’s that I have had to officiate at, and I never thought I’d be standing here today, trying to provide words of comfort to Stan’s family and friends. I can’t tell you how many times over the last few days I’ve heard “I never thought this would happen to Stan!” That’s what makes this day seem so unreal. Holly, you’re too young to have to make burial plans for your beloved husband. Kyle, Beth, Cara, and Loren, you’re way too young to have to face life without your father, who I know loved you all so very much and was so proud of all that you’ve done in your lives. And for us as a congregation at Our Saviour’s, it’s too early to say good-bye to our dear friend, who was an active part of our congregation through the years as a Sunday School teacher, a member of our church council, and a confirmation mentor for one of our young people this year. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Yet, here we are, on Saturday, October 27th, 2007, here in this place where Stan came week after week, to find comfort and strength in the mist of our grief. As your pastor, I know that I can’t speak words from this pulpit that will miraculously take away your grief and sorrow, and put your lives back the way they used to be. But, what I can do, and what Stan’s family has requested me to do today, is tell you about something I know was important to Stan, and is important for all of us to hear this day.
As I was with the family at the funeral home on Wednesday afternoon as they made plans for this service today, Beth mentioned a word her dad used when he taught Sunday School here; a word that we all need to hear today. You’ll sing about it at the end of this service this morning. That word is: “Grace”. I want to share with you what that word meant to Stan, what it means to you and I, and how in many ways, it’s the one word that will get you through the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.
For the Kjergaard family seated here in the front row (which Holly pointed out to me the other day is abnormal, because y’all are usually seated in the back pew on a given Sunday, being the good Lutherans that you are as I’d put it!) this place has been an important part of your lives. It was in front of this very altar, on July 29th, 1978, that Stan and Holly exchanged their vows and became husband and wife. I know some of you were here that day, it’s a day that I know you, Holly, will never forget. As your family grew with the births of each of your children, you brought them here to this very baptismal font, where you promised before God and this congregation that you would see to it that your children were raised in the Christian faith, and you’ve done a wonderful job in doing just that. You both have been active in our congregation, Stan as a Sunday School teacher and later a member of our church council. You were here countless Sundays to hear promises of God’s Word, promises that will sustain you in the days and weeks ahead. When you think about it, it’s proper for all of us to be here, in this place this morning.
But, Stan didn’t make sure his family was here just for outward appearances, or because that’s just what everyone does on Sunday. Stan came here to hear a message from this pulpit. It’s here that Stan heard the message from God’s Word week after week that yes, he was a sinner, there was nothing that he could do to make himself right with God. On many a Sunday morning, Stan confessed with his brothers and sisters in Christ in this sanctuary that he was “sinful and unclean, and had sinned against God in thought, word, and deed.” Stan knew that, he knew he didn’t deserve or earn God’s favor. He knew what the consequences of being a sinner are. I don’t need to say anymore about it, because we’re faced with that brutal reality today by seeing this casket in front of the altar. But, Stan also knew that the story didn’t end there. Stan learned of his Savior, Jesus Christ. Through hearing the Word of God, he heard of a loving, compassionate God. A God who loved Stan so much, that He gave His one and only Son to die for him, so that Stan could live as a redeemed, forgiven child of God and have eternal life. That’s what grace is all about. Undeserved mercy, favor, and forgiveness from God through what Christ has done for us on the cross and with the empty tomb.
One thing that has made a great impression on me about Stan, was how in many ways, the way he lived his life was, as one of my former pastors would put it, “being Jesus with skin on” to those in his life. In his Sunday School classroom, he wanted the kids entrusted to his spiritual care to remember only one thing, you need Grace, you don’t deserve it, and it only comes from Jesus Christ. He had a deep, abiding love for his family, for his lovely bride, his children, and was always there for his friends. The few memories I have of Stan in the short time that I knew him was of that big, warm smile and the friendly way that he had with people, that made me feel right at home and like I had known him for most of my life. Those of you who have known him for most, if not all, of your lives have shared with me some of your memories of Stan. I would encourage you to treasure them, and share them with each other in the days and weeks ahead. In a lot of ways, the way he lived his life was an unspoken witness to others of the love that Christ had for him. He set a great example of Christian living in the way he dealt with others. When you think of Stan Kjergaard, I hope and pray that you will remember the example he’s given us on living the Christian life in our daily lives.
In our Gospel reading for this morning, we heard Jesus tell us “ 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 will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:2-3) Later in the reading in verse 6, Jesus tells us how we get to that place He has prepared for us when he says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Because Stan believed that Jesus had done that for him, that Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life, no matter what sins he had committed in his life, no matter what could lead him to despair, Stan is now with his own eyes seeing the fulfillment of that promise of Jesus in our Gospel reading for today. He really knows what Grace is all about, because he’s in the presence of His savior. He’s in a place today, a place that Christ has prepared for him and promised to him, that is so amazing, so wonderful, so joyful, so beyond description, that if he could have the chance to come back here, be freed from all the stress, affliction, disease, and everything else in this sinful, fallen world, he wouldn’t want to come back here. But, Stan would want to make sure that he saw each and every one of us with him, in the presence of God for all of eternity, that we believed that promise of eternal life and salvation are also for us. Indeed, as St. Paul writes in Romans chapter 8: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-38) Nothing separated Stan from the love of God that was his through Jesus, and nothing will separate us from the love that Christ has for those of us who are here today.
Holly, Kyle, Beth, Cara, and Loren, you made it clear to me that you wanted, and I know Stan would have wanted, to make sure EVERYONE here today heard about grace. If ever there was a more perfect time to hear about it, it’s today. It’s my hope and prayer for you as your pastor that you and your family will continue to come to this “grace place” if you will every time you can, that you will continue to gratefully hear the message of sin and grace that’s preached from this pulpit, and live that out in your lives, so that someday, a day that I’m looking forward to, all of us here today will see Stanley Andreas Kjergaard again in a place where there is no more crying, no more sorrow, no more pain, but only joy and peace. The days, weeks, and months ahead are going to be rough, you’ll have good days and bad days, you’ll miss your husband, your father, your friend, but if there’s one thing that will get you through that, is grace. Look around you today, see all these faces here? We’re all here to show you that love and grace that Christ first gave to us by continuing to love and support each of you today and in the future. While this may be the first funeral I’ve officiated here at Our Saviour’s, while I wish it was under completely different circumstances, I’m honored to have been the pastor to have proclaimed to you the message Stan held so dear in his heart, the message of God’s grace, eternal life, and salvation that are his because of what his savior, your savior, my savior, Jesus Christ, has died and risen again to give to us.
May our Lord Jesus Christ give you all the peace, comfort, and strength that only He can provide this day and always. Amen.
