Sermon: Funeral of Michael Smith - 2019

11 January 2019

Text: John 10:10b-15, 27-30 (Job 19:23-27a, 1 Cor 15:51-57)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Dear Anna, Shawn, family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and honored guests.  Peace be with you.

Our Old Testament lesson comes from the Book of Job.  Job was a man who enjoyed a wonderful life.  But all of the sudden, things went wrong.  He had health issues.  He suffered.  Things went downhill quickly.  Job’s friends wondered if he were being punished for something.  In fact, this was not the case.  His faith was being tested, but God was not angry with Job.

Also from the Book of Job, we learn that God’s will is not understandable to us.  And yet, Job’s faith hangs in there, even if by a thread when times were tough.  And Job makes this confession of faith that we just heard: “I know that my Redeemer lives…. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God…. And my eyes shall behold, and not another.”

Job’s faith was not in his health, his wealth, or how easy life was going for him.  Job’s faith was in God, and in the Lord’s promise.  And that promise, dear friends, is the promise of a Redeemer, a Savior, one who rescues us even from death itself.  “I know that my Redeemer lives” is a statement of faith in the Easter that was, for Job, still centuries in the future: the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, His death that destroys the power of death.  Michael was called into this promise at His baptism, when the name of the Triune God was sealed upon him by water and the Word, according to the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Having just been born, he was born again!

The promise of baptism is not that we become an angel when we die (it is far better than that: we become the perfection of ourselves).  It is not a release from the body (it is far better than that: our bodies become perfect, without pain, without decay, without death).  It is not that we live on in our loved one’s memories (it is far better than that: we will live again in the flesh and we will be physically reunited in eternity).  This is the promise of Jesus for those who are baptized and who believe.  It is a literal, physical, bodily resurrection and a happy reunion with our loved ones.  And this is why our Redeemer’s tomb in Jerusalem is empty: “I know that my Redeemer lives.”

Our Redeemer is the Good Shepherd.  He “lays down His life for the sheep.”  Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

This promise was applied to Michael on April 4, 1954 when he was baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit by the Rev. Eugene Schmid.  The promise of baptism is that our perishable body puts on the imperishable; our mortal body puts on immortality.  And this is why we Christians can join St. Paul in being defiant towards death: “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.”

Dear friends, it is right that we mourn our dear husband, father, brother, and friend.  We miss him.  We want him to be with us.  But the good news is that this separation is temporary.  We have triumphed over death because our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  We have triumphed over sin because our Lord Jesus Christ died for our sakes and has won forgiveness for all; and He freely gives it to anyone who believes and is baptized.  We have triumphed over the devil, because our Lord Jesus Christ is the victor over all evil, including the evil one himself.  That victory is Michael’s victory, won by Christ, and given to him as a free gift.

Let us take comfort in the promises of our Lord, the Good Shepherd, from whom no one can snatch us.  Let us take comfort in our Redeemer who lives, that we will see Him in the flesh – even after we have died, for we Christians bear the promise of the resurrection.  Let us take comfort in the sure and certain hope that the perishable will put in the imperishable, and the mortal will put on the immortal: all by the Word and promise of Christ.  

Let us mourn the loss of our dear Michael, but mourning in the knowledge that our separation is temporary, and that the Word of God does not return void.  For the same Word that said, “Let there be light,” and the same Word that said, “Lazarus come out” also said, “I give [My sheep] eternal life.”  For Christ has won the victory for Michael, and for all of us.  Amen.

Peace be with you!

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.