Text: John 10:27-29
(Isa 43:1-3a, 1 Cor 12:31b-13:13)
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
Dear William, Michael, and Laurie, family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and honored guests, Peace be with you.
In her 87 years on this side of the glory, Doris knew what it was to love and to be loved. Her many acts of service to her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren over the course of her long life is a testimony to that love. Her life of service over the course of 61 years of marriage to William, Sr. is also a legacy of love that has been passed on to all of you.
Doris wanted this Scripture from Chapter 13 of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians to be read. It’s a famous passage about love that is beautiful and profound. St. Paul speaks of perfect love: patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not arrogant or rude, not insisting on its own way, not rejoicing at wrongdoing – but rejoicing in the truth. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” says the apostle.
Sometimes this passage is read at weddings. For it does describe the ideal married life, as well as love in a family. Of course, we all know that none of us is perfect. We have regrets. We have said and done things that are not loving. St. Paul’s passage suggests that we say and do foolish things as children, but then we mature and grow and change. This goes for all of us imperfect human beings in this fallen world: all of us here in this room, and also Doris. For over the course of 87 years, there is a lot of life: some of it beautiful, some of it not so much.
The Greek word Paul uses for “love” in this passage
is the kind of perfect, self-sacrificing love that God has for us. And that is the important part. We see God’s love at the cross, where Jesus
sacrifices Himself for our sake, paying the penalty for all of us when we come
up short. That was the whole point of Christ’s
coming to our broken world: to fix it. He
died to destroy death. And He did this
out of love.
St. Paul says: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” God’s love is perfect, even though none of us are. But the kind of love that God has for us is reflected in the kind of love we see in our parents and grandparents. They aren’t perfect, but they really do give of themselves – in many cases, sacrificing for their beloved children and grandchildren in ways that may not ever even be known. We see in God’s love “in a mirror dimly.” Our love is imperfect, but it is a reflection of His perfect love for us.
When Doris showed all of you love, she was giving you an image of the cross of Jesus, in a reflection, like that of a mirror. For real love is sacrifice for the sake of the beloved.
We see this promise of God’s love for His people in the Old Testament reading from Isaiah, who said, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” This is God’s promise to Doris that He made to her at her baptism. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned.” Even in death, Doris’s life has been preserved by the God who loves her.
We hear of the love of our Good Shepherd in our reading from John’s Gospel: “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. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
Jesus said these words, and His love for us is not only words, but deeds. Jesus died on the cross to give Doris the gift of eternal life. She is one of His sheep. And every Easter, we celebrate our Good Shepherd Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, in which He destroys death, and leads the way to everlasting life.
Sometimes people misunderstand Christianity, and believe that it is about being good, and then when you die, your body goes away and your soul lives forever in heaven. But that would be horrible, dear friends. We were created to have bodies. We are both bodies and spirits. When Doris smiled at you, she did so in the body. When she hugged and kissed you, she did so in the body. When you all ate together, you did so in the body. When Doris made things and shared them with you –she made these offerings of love with her hands. And when our loved ones die, we miss their presence in the body. We want to hear their voices, look in their eyes, and embrace them. But we can’t do it right now. And it is painful, though it is temporary.
The talk of spirits and heaven and memories in our hearts isn’t good enough. We want our loved ones back in the flesh. We want to see Doris again in her body. And that, dear friends, is why Jesus came in the flesh, and rose from the dead in His body. He promises to raise those who are baptized and who believe in His promises “on the last day.” And this is why we Christians confess in the Creed that we “believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” That is God’s promise to Doris and to you. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” says Jesus. Baptism happens in the body. Jesus walked out of His own grave, in the body, and so will Doris. And you will see her again in the flesh in a newly created heaven and earth. You will eat and drink and laugh and embrace. “My sheep hear My voice,” says our Good Shepherd Jesus. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you,” says God the Father.
“Love never ends,” says God the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul in His letter. “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”
The perfect love of God conquers all things, even death. Now we see this perfect love in the mirror, but only dimly, and imperfectly. But it is there. And Doris is in glory, and she sees God in His perfect love, face to face. By God’s grace and through faith, you will see her again in the flesh, when all of our love will be made perfect. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” That is God’s promise.
Dear friends, peace be with you.
Amen
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment