Sermon: Funeral of Janet Schouest – 2023

24 June 2023

Text: John 14:1-6 (Job 19:23-27a, 2 Cor 4-7-18)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Dear Dudley and Dudley, dear Mena, family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and honored guests, Peace be with you.

Janet was an anchor in her family, and I think it is fair to say, after 67 years of marriage; Janet remains a fixture in Dudley’s life and the life of her family.  Death not only makes us mourn and grieve, it changes how we get by from day to day.  Facing life without her is truly an act of faith. 

Our Old Testament reading from the book of Job includes Job’s confession of faith.  He suffered the deaths of all of his children, the loss of his wealth, and the destruction of his own health.  His closest family members and friends tempted him to “curse God and die.”  But Job refused.  He did suffer, and did not understand it.  He also asked God, “Why?”  But he kept his faith to the end, and he was rewarded for it.  God has His ways, and they are not our ways – but He is good, and His mercy endures forever.  He does not abandon us – not even in times like these.  Thousands of years before the coming of Jesus into the world, Job said defiantly in the face of death and suffering: “I know that my Redeemer lives.”  He confessed that even after his own death, “after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.”  Job confessed a bodily resurrection.  He didn’t know how God would do it, but he trusted God. 

Job’s suffering came to an end.  And God rewarded him for his faith.  And yes, Job’s Redeemer did come in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In the end, Job’s body will be resurrected and made perfect.  And so will Janet’s, and all who confess Jesus.

Jesus said, and we heard it again in our Gospel reading: “In My Father’s house are many rooms….  I go to prepare a place for you.”  And when Thomas asked Jesus how we can know the way, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus is Job’s Redeemer, Janet’s Redeemer, and Dudley’s Redeemer.  Jesus is your Redeemer, and mine.  Jesus has come to offer redemption to the whole world by means of His own death, His own blood, and His own resurrection, His own body.  When we celebrate Easter, we don’t talk about Jesus becoming a ghost or spirit.  We don’t talk about Jesus living on in our hearts as a memory.  No indeed!  For Jesus came in His flesh, died in His flesh, and rose again in His flesh.  His body came back to life, and He emerged victorious from the tomb.  This is why Jesus speaks of houses and rooms.  We need such physical places because we human beings are both body and spirit.  Job knew that in his flesh, He would see God – and with his own eyes. 

This is why we said in the creed: “I believe in… the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”  Jesus went to prepare a place for Janet, and for everyone here who loves Janet and wishes to see her again, everyone who confesses with Job: “I know that my Redeemer lives,” everyone who believes that Jesus rose from the dead and goes to prepare a place for us, everyone who knows that are sinners, but we are forgiven by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.  You will see Janet again in your flesh, and she will see you in your flesh – with your eyes.  We are not talking about spirits, but our own flesh and blood bodies made perfect.  You will see her smile again.  You will hear her voice.  You will look into her eyes with your eyes.  You will embrace her again.  This will happen.  And it will never end.  For we know that our Redeemer lives.  We believe His promise, even when we don’t have all the answers, even when we mourn.  We still look forward to this great reunion in the flesh with our beloved Janet.

St. Paul sums up what life and death is for the Christian: “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”  Dear friends, our sorrow and suffering are very real.  Paul continues, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies…. in our mortal flesh.”  He continues, “We also believe, and so we speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus.” 

“So,” says the apostle, “we do not lose heart.  Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Dear friends, our grief is real.  Our suffering is real.  Our sorrow is real.  But it is temporary.  The unseen reality is that God has prepared a place for Janet.  He has prepared a place for you.  He invites you to believe that your Redeemer lives.  We are “afflicted” and “perplexed,” but in the hope of the “resurrection of the body and the life everlasting,” we are neither “crushed” nor “driven to despair.”  We mourn, but not as others do who have no hope.

And in fact, because of Christ’s work on the cross and His resurrection, because of the words He has given to us in the Scriptures, we can even be joyful as we mourn, and hopeful in our grief.  For we know that our Redeemer lives.  We know that our Janet lives, and God prepared a place for her.  We know that our Lord prepares a place for us.  And so let us continue our walk in this life with Jesus, our Redeemer, and let us look forward to a reunion in the flesh that will last unto eternity!

Dear friends, peace be with you.

Amen

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