Sermon: Funeral of Ralph Capdeville

15 July 2021

Text: John 6:35-40 (Isa 41:10, Rom 6:3-11)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Dear Maureen, Roy, Kelly, Julie, family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and honored guests, peace be with you.

It goes without saying that Ralph was an extraordinary husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, colleague, friend, and church member.  He was a fixture here at Salem Lutheran Church since December 1, 1946 when he was baptized in this very baptismal font by the Rev. Eugene Schmid.  Ralph was confirmed and began taking the Lord’s Supper, the very Bread of Life, since May 17, 1959, again after instruction by Pastor Schmid.  Ralph’s confirmation verse was Psalm 31:24: “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.”

And there is a great irony here, because to be a great husband, father, brother, grandfather, friend, and church member is different than being a good Christian.  And Ralph knew this very well from his study of the scriptures and his practice of the faith over the course of a lifetime.  For to be a good Christian is not something that we do, but rather something that is done to us, and for us, by our Lord Jesus Christ.  For if being a good Christian is something that we just do, then we wouldn’t need a Savior.  So to be a good Christian is to know that one cannot be a good Christian.

Ralph was indeed a “good Christian” on this side of the grave because he prayed, for more than seven decades, week in and week out, just as we did at the beginning of this service, saying: “I, a poor miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities…”  In God’s kingdom, to be great is to be humble, and to be a good Christian is to be rescued by our Good Shepherd.  Ralph knew the faith well, and he lived it – which is to say, he received the Lord’s forgiveness week after week, year after year, over the course of a life well-lived, and well-loved. 

Ralph’s faith was kindled by means of water and the Word when he was baptized.  For Ralph knew the Scriptures that we heard yet again: “All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death.”  For “we were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death….  For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His…. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.”

Ralph not only understood what St. Paul taught about sin and death and baptism and resurrection, he knew that it applied to him!  He knew that his salvation is a free gift of God, given through the waters of baptism, bearing the promise that though he would die, he will live again – being resurrected from the dead, like Jesus, in the flesh.

And so we Christians, because we are baptized, because we have been redeemed, because we have the promise of “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting,” we can take to heart Ralph’s conformation verse: “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.”  We are waiting for the Lord on this side of the grave, and Ralph is in the presence of Jesus waiting for the resurrection of the body, when we will all be reunited – not in some vague spiritual way, but physically, in flesh and blood, the way Jesus was on that first Easter when He appeared to his loved ones.  And that is what God promised to Ralph for all eternity.

What this means, dear friends, is that you will see Ralph again.  You will look into his eyes.  You will hear his voice.  You will embrace and laugh together again.  Ralph is part of the company of heaven, and he awaits the resurrection – even as we too wait.  And the Lord bids us to “be strong, and let your heart take courage,” as we “wait for the Lord.”  For we have been baptized into the Lord’s name most holy: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We, like Ralph, have been baptized into Christ, and just as in the words of the hymn, we are children of paradise.

For listen to our Lord’s comforting words: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst…. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me, but raise it up on the last day.  For this is the will My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day.”

Jesus is the bread of life.  He has come to offer His flesh for the life of the world.  Ralph not only knows this teaching from the Scriptures, Ralph knows Jesus.  Week in and week out, He received His Lord Jesus Christ in His true body and blood. 

So our faith is a paradox, dear brothers and sisters.  To be a good Christian is to understand that we are not good Christians in and of ourselves.  But by believing on His name, we have everlasting life, by grace, and through faith. 

And while we wait for the Lord, while we wait to be reunited with Ralph, while we wait for the resurrection on the last day – we are comforted by the Word of the Lord spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Fear not, for I am with You; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”  This is a message from the Lord for us in our times of trial and suffering and mourning.

Fear not, dear friends.  And in our mourning, let us not be dismayed.  For we have the promise of the Lord Himself.  Our Father has sent His Son to be the Bread of Life.  He is our God.  He has washed us in the second birth of Holy Baptism, and He has saved us.  He offers us His body and blood to eat and to drink.  He has given us the Good News, that because He lives, we shall live, for by dying, He has destroyed death, once and for all.

He is our God, and He will not leave us or forsake us.  And He will strengthen us and will help us.  And He doesn’t leave us on our own, to support ourselves.  He upholds us with His righteous right hand.

Dear brothers and sisters, we mourn for our sake.  But for Ralph’s sake, we rejoice.  He has fought the good fight.  He has finished the race.  He has kept the faith.  And Jesus has won the victory on Ralph’s behalf.  Let us allow the God’s Word to comfort us once again from Ralph’s confirmation verse: “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.”

Peace be with you.  Amen.

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