Text: Luke 2:25-32 (Job 19:23-27a, Rom 6:3-11)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
Dear
Crystal, Violet, Carolyn, dear family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ,
and honored guests: Peace be with you.
We’re
never really ready for death – not for our own, and not for the death of our
loved ones. We know that it is coming,
but we just don’t expect it when it does. And why should we? We were not created to die. This was not God’s plan for us. We were created with the intention to live
forever. Contrary to what many
well-intentioned people say, death is not normal. Death is not natural. In 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul says that death
is an “enemy,” and it is, in fact, the final enemy to be “destroyed.”
None
of us were ready for our dear sister in Christ to be called home. She suffered with declining health. She was struggling in the hospital. But it was a shock to me when I heard that she
had passed away. I was not ready for
that news. Like you, I was saddened by
it. Jane was the parishioner that every
pastor knows: that parishioner who serves to bless the pastor when he came to
see her. Sometimes I would leave Jane’s
room wondering who benefitted more from the visit, who was visiting whom with
comfort and blessing: me or her? And
this was true even when she was suffering and uncomfortable.
I
know that Jane’s family and friends were not ready for this news. You may not be ready for this day. But, dear friends, there is a subtle
difference between being “ready” and being “prepared.” For Jane herself may not have been ready to
die, as of course, she submitted to the care of doctors and nurses with the hope
and the intention of getting better. But
I can say most certainly that Jane was prepared for death. She was prepared because Jesus had prepared
her. She was prepared because Jesus says
she was.
Jane
was prepared!
What
I mean is this: God chose to create a unique person who was born on August 25,
1938 and given the name of “Jane.” That
was God’s doing. The Creator fashioned
His universe deliberately, according to a plan that included her existence. She was to leave an indelible effect upon our
world by carrying out the calling that He had for her as a wife, mother,
relative, friend, and parishioner. It
was God’s will that Jane should make a difference in His world by touching the
lives of all whom she encountered. Jane’s
nearly eight decades on this side of glory was no accident, but rather part of
God’s vision for creation.
And
seventeen days after being born, it was God’s will that this beloved baby be born
again, by water and the Spirit, in Holy Baptism, as my predecessor, Pastor
Eugene Schmid, poured water upon her little head three times and pronounced
those holy and powerful words, according to the institution of Jesus Himself: “I
baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This took place in that very baptismal font
right there. That font has stood defiantly
against the devil, the world, and our sinful nature for more than a century
now. And it speaks powerfully to us
right here and right now by its abiding presence in our midst.
We
heard about baptism again a few minutes ago, dear friends, in the words of St. Paul
from Romans 6: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism
into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” St. Paul goes on to say that if we died with
Christ in baptism, we will rise with Him “in a resurrection like His.”
Jane
was prepared!
Jane
was prepared for death because God Himself had prepared her. Jesus died on the cross for her, for her
renewal, for the forgiveness of her sins, for her victory over death, for “the
resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” And this is why we make the sign of the cross
when we hear those mighty baptismal words of Jesus: “In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Jane
would cross herself whenever I pronounced those very words in the liturgy. She was not only baptized by Pastor Schmid,
but also taught the catechism by him as well.
Jane was confirmed by Pastor Schmid on May 13, 1951 at the age of
twelve. And from that time forth, she
knew and publicly confessed that “Baptism is not just plain water, but it is
the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word” that “it
works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal
salvation to all who believe this.”
Yes,
indeed, Jane was prepared!
She
knew that Jesus was her Redeemer, and she confessed the words of Job that we
have sung so many times in this very sanctuary: “I know that my Redeemer lives.”
We will sing it yet again in a few
minutes! We will sing it until we die,
and even then, we will continue to sing of our Redeemer! Jane sang of the resurrection of our Lord and
His victory over death and the grave year in and year out as she celebrated
Easter Sunday, decade after decade, right here where we call the resurrection
to mind yet again.
Jane
was prepared!
Our
dear sister in Christ was prepared for death just like Simeon was, in our
Gospel reading. Upon finally
experiencing the promised Christ in the flesh, Simeon said, “Lord, now You are
letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word, for my eyes have
seen Your salvation, that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples.”
“You
have prepared,” says Simeon to God. In
Christ, God prepared Simeon for this moment, this encounter with the Christ, and
now the aged Simeon was prepared to “depart in peace.” Simeon was prepared.
Jane
sang the words of Simeon week in and week out over the course of her life,
right here in this holy house, even as we will sing it again today with her,
with the angels, with the saints, and with one another yet again. For we are prepared!
Pastor
Schmid not only baptized and confirmed Jane, but over the course of many years,
he placed the body of Christ on her tongue and gave her the cup of the Lord’s
blood to drink. Jane made the sign of
the cross and said, “Amen.” And when
Pastor Schmid himself went to be with the Lord, Jane would continue to receive
the Holy Sacrament from the eight pastors who succeeded him in this parish,
including me.
I
had the joy and the honor to share Holy Communion with Jane one final time at the
end of her life on this side of glory, and we prayed together those very words
of St. Simeon: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.” Jane made the sign of the cross and said, “Amen.”
The day before she was called home, I
read the Word to her, prayed for her, and retraced the sign of the cross upon
her forehead as Pastor Schmid had done nearly eighty years ago.
Jane
was prepared.
She
has departed in peace, in Christ, in baptism, and according to His promise of
life everlasting. And now she waits in
glory, waiting to be reunited with all of us, waiting for the resurrection of
the flesh, waiting for the new heavens and the new earth. She waits without pain or suffering, she
waits triumphantly, she waits in the presence of Jesus and of all the hosts
arrayed in white who rest from their labors, and she will praise Him without
end.
Jane
is prepared!
While
we may not be ready, let us, like Jane, remain prepared in Christ. Let us be prepared joyfully to see Jane
again, prepared for eternal life in Jesus’ name and by His promise! Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment