Sermon: Funeral of Amie Bealer Sanchez

6 May 2019

Text: John 10:11-16 (Ezek 34:11-16, 1 Pet 2:21-25)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

Dear Rickey, Hailey, Helaina, and Rickey; family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and honored guests.  Peace be with you.

We often hear the comforting words of the twenty-third Psalm at funerals: “The Lord is my shepherd.”  In our Gospel reading, Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd.  All throughout the Bible, we are compared to sheep.

Why sheep?  Some people think it’s because sheep are stupid.  Sheep are not stupid.  But sheep do depend on being safe in a flock, and sheep are also hardwired to seek after a protector, a shepherd.  For we live in a dangerous world.  And sometimes sheep wander from the flock, and when they do, they are in danger of predators.  And that tendency to wander is just how we all are, dear friends.  We are maybe a little too trusting sometimes, not realizing that there are people who want to harm us.  The prophet Isaiah says that we are all like sheep.  But sheep are also loved by their shepherd.  And a good shepherd will seek out the lost sheep and take care of them.

We are like sheep because we are all sinners.  No exceptions.  Think of the best person you know, the kindest, the most honest, the person who really seems to have it all worked out – and then remember that this person is a sinner, one whose thoughts, words, and deeds are not what they should be.  In our sin, we wander from the Lord’s flock. 

But Jesus wants to be very clear, dear friends.  Since no-one is perfect, God took human form, to save us, to rescue us, to be there for us when we need Him.  He died on the cross to take our punishment, to suffer the consequences of our actions, even though He doesn’t deserve it.  He does this out of love.  And so,  to those who call upon Him, He is their shepherd.  He knows us by name.  He loves us.  He takes care of us – even in death.

Amie is one of the Lord’s lambs.  She called upon His name.  I know this for a fact.  She read the Scriptures not because she just liked reading, or because she had some kind of fascination with ancient Middle Eastern texts.  She read the Bible because she cried out to Jesus for help.  And this, dear friends, is the most noble and wisest act that any person can do: to seek God, and to call upon His name.

So many people go without God’s help because they never seek it, they never hear the Word of God, they never cry out to their Shepherd to save them from the wolf.  But Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and Amie cried out to Him for help.

Hired hands – people who are just doing a job – don’t care.  But Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  He cares.  For He owns the sheep.  The hired hand runs away at the first sign of trouble.  But not the Good Shepherd!  He lays down His life for the sheep – even to the point of dying on the cross to rescue us.

Jesus has called Amie home.  Why some people live to be a hundred, and others die at birth is a mystery.  We can’t know the hidden will of God.  But we do know that we are mortal because of our sin.  And we also know that God is in change.  We are not.  And most importantly, dear friends, we know that Amie is with Jesus in heaven.  Amie has no more struggles in this vale of tears, this “valley of the shadow of death.”  The wolf that wanted to take this little lamb has been disappointed, because the Good Shepherd has placed her on His broad shoulders, and has taken her to safety.  And that safety is not just some vague heaven of clouds and angels and harps.  For what our Good Shepherd – who is also the Creator and owner of the sheep – promises is a new heaven and a new earth – without death, without suffering, without sin, and without sadness – just as He created us to live.  Amie is getting a taste of that glory in eternity as she awaits the resurrection.

That bodily resurrection awaits all of the Lord’s sheep who call upon His name, all of us in His flock who know Him, and whom He knows.

Our Lord Jesus Christ knows Amie, and she is with Him, dear friends.  Of that, I am certain.  She has no more suffering, no more worry, no more anxiety, and no more pain.  She is not merely at peace, she is in indescribable joy.  And she knows that the best is yet to come, as we all await our reunion with her in the flesh, to live in a world without those evil things that we have to endure in this fallen world that we, by our sins, have brought to near ruin.

And even all of that said, it is fitting that we mourn.  We should.  We miss her.  We miss all of our loved ones.  But St. Paul teaches us in Scripture that though we Christians mourn, we do not mourn as the unbelievers do – who have no hope.  We mourn because we miss our loved ones, including Amie – but we mourn in hope, knowing that the day is coming when we will see her again in glory!

Jesus is Amie’s good shepherd.  He knows her by name.  She knows Him, and she has responded to His call.  Jesus knows each one of us.  And we can follow our Good Shepherd, in this life, as He leads us to where we need to be.  And He will call us home one day as well.  But until that day comes, we have work to do in the here and now.  And we do so knowing that Amie is well-taken care of, happy, and waiting for us to join her in the arms of our Good Shepherd.

“I am the good shepherd,” says our Lord.  “I know My own, and My own know Me.”  Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

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