27 June 2020
Text: John 14:1-7 (Lev 26:3-13,
Phil 1:21-23)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
Dear
Kathleen, Buddy, Carol, family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and honored
guests, peace be with you!
When
someone lives to be nearly a century, we are tempted to think that death is
natural. It isn’t. God did not create us to die. Rather, He created us to live. Death is a result of the fall into sin of Adam
and Eve, and that act of rebellion against God continues to reverberate to us
in our day.
Of
course, we see the effects of sin all around us. How can anyone look at the news and think that
this is how God meant things to be. And
just because someone had a long and fulfilling life does not make death any
more normal or natural.
Catherine
was part of our lives in different ways, whether a relationship of family, of
friendship, of coworker, of student, of brother of sister church member, or as
someone who gave her the body and blood of Christ. Indeed, Catherine made every room she walked
into brighter. The fact that she was
aged does not diminish our desire to see her in the flesh again, to hear her
voice again, and to embrace her again. The
temptation to see death as natural is wiped away when we consider our mourning.
At
her burial, I read St. Paul’s reminder that although we Christians do indeed grieve,
we do not “grieve as others do who have no hope.” Our hope comes from the fact that “Jesus died
and rose again” and “through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have
fallen asleep.”
And
so for us Christians, death is not the end of our existence, but the beginning
of truly becoming whom we were meant to be. Our dear sister Catherine is in the loving
arms of her Savior, in whom she was baptized, in whom she believes, in whom she
has everlasting life. And on the Last Day,
she and all believers will rise in the flesh, and we will be reunited in a very
real physical way, even as we say in the creed, we believe in “the resurrection
of the body, and the life everlasting.”
Do
you want to look into Catherine’s eyes again, hear her tell you that she loves
you in her own voice, and embrace her again?
Well that, dear friends, is the promise that was made to you and to Catherine
when she was baptized. For Almighty God Himself
took her into His holy covenant, saying, “I will… be your God, and you shall be
My people.” He promised to Catherine
that her enemies would be destroyed, and dear friends, death is our enemy.
But
in Christ, death is a conquered enemy, rendered powerless to defeat us. For us Christians, death is a temporary separation,
and we look forward to the resurrection and to the promise of everlasting life.
And
this, dear friends, is why we Christians live life to the full, without fear of
death. For we know that “to live is Christ,
and to die is gain,” as the apostle confesses. Life is a gift from God, and certainly Catherine
loved life and loved her family in this life. She loved partaking in the Divine Service and
sharing in the body and blood of Christ. But to the Christian, as St. Paul says, as
much as we love our lives here, our “desire is to depart and be with Christ,
for that is far better.”
The
unbelieving world cannot make sense of this. To them, death is seen as the end of all existence,
and it is frightening. They do indeed
grieve as those who have no hope. But we
Christians hear the comfort of our Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, who
says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe
in God; believe also in Me. 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?”
We
have a place in life, and in death. Our
place is with Christ. And in death, we
continue to be with Christ until the day of the resurrection, when our bodies
will be restored. And we will continue
to be with Christ and with all of our loved ones who are baptized and who
believe for all eternity – in the flesh – eating and drinking, rejoicing and
embracing, alive to the full in bodies that are perfect, without pain, without
suffering, without sin, and of course, without death.
This
is why Catherine loved to be in the sanctuary of the church, where she heard
the Word of God, the good news of salvation and eternal life. It is proclaimed here by men who have been
given authority to preach the Gospel. It
is here, in the sanctuary of the church that we hear the words of Holy Absolution
spoken directly to you by men who have the authority to speak those sacred
words. It is here, in the sanctuary of
the church where Christians young and old are brought to the saving waters of Holy
Baptism. It is here, in the sanctuary of
the church where Jesus physically comes to us in a miraculous way, penetrating
space and time to join us physically in His true body and blood, as Jesus says,
“for the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus
says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Catherine
knew this truth and confessed this truth. She staked her very life on this truth. She raised her family in this truth. Her faith was strengthened by Word and Sacrament
in this truth. And it is this truth that
sets Catherine free: free from the fallenness of this world, free from pain,
free from aging, free from death. For in
Christ, Catherine is victorious over sin, death, and Satan.
And
again, as I read as we committed Catherine to the tomb to await the
resurrection, I read St. Paul’s beautiful words of defiance against death: “When
the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality,
then shall come to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in
victory. O death, where is your
victory. O death, where is your sting.”
We
feel the sting of death in being separated from our loved ones, but they do not
feel death’s sting, for they are in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has redeemed Catherine and all the saints by His grace, according to His mercy.
And
whether a person is one day old or a hundred years old, when death comes, we
are reminded that it is unnatural. But
when death comes to the Christian, we are also reminded that this unnatural
enemy has been defeated by our Lord Jesus Christ. His victory is Catherine’s victory. And we will see her again. We have our Lord’s promise of that. For He is the way, and the truth, and the
life.
And
to Catherine, to you, and to all Christians, “The Lord will keep your going out
and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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