funeral

There are 10 posts tagged funeral (this is page 3 of 4).

Funeral of Evelyn M. Hutchison – John 5:24-30

Pastor Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church – Dyer, Indiana
13. October 2010
Funeral of Evelyn M. Hutchison
John 5:24-30

Dearly beloved, Bruce, Barbara, Karl, Lillian, spouses, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, visitors, and all the fellow redeemed – Grace, mercy and peace be to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for our meditation is the Gospel just read, especially these words of our Lord: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

I did not have any opportunity to get to know Evelyn. I know Bruce and Karl only marginally better than the rest of you, of whom I know almost nothing. I was not ordained and installed at Evelyn’s church, Grace Lutheran in Dyer, Indiana, until her Alzheimer’s had taken its stranglehold on her. Yet, from her family’s description of her, I know she would have been a pleasure to know and she will be sorely missed.

Yet, I do not count this as loss. For our dear sister, your mother – Bruce, Barbara, Karl, and Lillian, did not die in vain. For to die in Christ is to gain eternal life for her soul. We ought to be willing to forfeit our entire life if only to hear Christ’s Word and to die with faith in HIm. Evelyn heard the Word and believed in Christ. She will not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.

Christ gave Evelyn this great promise of life forever with Him. When the Holy Trinity baptized her on March 18th, 1928, Evelyn was born into the heavenly family of the saints. The sign of the cross was placed on her forehead and heart, forever marking her as redeemed. She was born through this water into the church, where she joined with her fellow Christians in confession and absolution. Christ himself each week proclaimed the forgiveness of her sins, absolving her of her sins of thought, word, and deed.

She daily lived in this promise of her baptism, asking that our Lord would forgive her and restore her to a life lived for Him and for her friends, family, and neighbors. To sustain her on this pilgrimage from birth to death and onto eternal life, our Lord Jesus Christ came to Evelyn with his true and very body and blood, which Jesus shed and gave for us from the cross.

For all of Evelyn’s failing to keep the Law – to love you, her children, to love her spouse, your dearly departed father, Walter, to love her neighbors even greater than herself – for all of her faults, our Lord died and sacrificially poured himself out to his bride, the Church, in Holy Communion. Evelyn tasted on her lips and her mouth what the ancients called “the medicine of immortality.” Our Lord’s body and blood forgave her sins and kept her in the true faith, even now, unto everlasting life.

Christ suffered in His body for Evelyn. So also, Christ suffered for you. There is no limit to Christ’s love for humankind. His shed blood forgives the sins of the whole world. His atoning sacrifice is big enough to forgive your sins, Bruce, Barb, Karl, and Lillian, and you her family, friends, and neighbors. Christ forgave your mom and dear sister in the faith. Christ forgives you.

Jesus says, “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).

Many hear these words of Jesus and think that their what they do in their life will get them to heaven. That’s our temptation too, to dwell on all the love Evelyn showed to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We could talk about her service to her country and to her community. We could talk about the good things she did for the senior’s club. We could even talk about the things she did for her church. Our perhaps we could talk about how much fun Evelyn had, enjoying the life God gave her.

Dearly beloved, God does not forgive us because we love others. God did not forgive Evelyn because she loved her husband, her children, and the rest of her family. He did not forgive her for serving our community, country, or church. God forgave her because she heard the Word of God and believed. Her good works are the work of God in her. First and foremost, God worked faith in her by the Holy Spirit and through the Word. God anointed her as one of his children in the saving waters of Holy Baptism. He fed her with the forgiveness of sins in His body and blood.

By this good work of God in her, she was given a reason to love her family, her community, and her church. Knowing and trusting that God forgave her, she could go about loving and forgiving others. God’s grace for her gave her the reason for loving you.

So today, Bruce, Barb, Karl, Lillian, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, family, and friends, I can speak with confidence about Evelyn. I know Evelyn because Christ knows Evelyn. Christ tells us we can speak with confidence about our dear sister. Evelyn is baptized and so one of God’s children. Evelyn confessed her faith publicly at her confirmation. Evelyn trusted in our Lord by hearing the Word as often as she could. Evelyn desired the “medicine of immortality” when she received our Lord’s true body and blood.

Thus we can say with all boldness and confidence that Jesus holds her in his loving arms, while she yet rests until the resurrection of the dead on the last day. On that final day, the voice of the Son of God will call to her and she will live eternally. This promise is trustworthy and true. He that believes the word of Jesus and is baptized will live for ever. Amen.

Funeral of Lorretta Roach – John 14:1-6 – “Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled”

Pastor Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church – Dyer, Indiana
Funeral of Lorretta Roach
John 14:1-6
“Let not your hearts be troubled”

Dearly beloved, Frank, Frank Jr., Peggy, Sally, spouses, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, visitors, and fellow redeemed – Grace, mercy and peace be to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for our meditation is the Gospel just read, especially these words of our Lord: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The context of this reading is those final hours before Jesus’ crucifixion, when the disciples squirmed in the upper room with anxiety, not knowing what would come next. Jesus spoke of His departure and death. They were overwhelmed with thoughts of separation from their master. They had dedicated three long years to serving him, by caring for the sick and the disabled. They stayed up with our Lord through many sleepless nights of prayer.

So now, these disciples wonder: what will life be like without our Lord? Will we still be disciples of Him? Who will lead us in the true way? To the disciples and to those who mourn for dear Lorretta, Jesus answers all our fears: “Let not your hearts be troubled… Believe in me… I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:1ff).

For you – Frank, Frank Jr., Peggy, Sally, and all those who mourn, let not your hearts be troubled! For as with Loretta, we know the way to eternal life.

(I. Jesus showed Loretta the Way in Baptism.)

Our Lord knows we are prone to doubt, fear, and anxiety over this life. Our weak hearts can give out in the heat of the battle. Yes, there is a battle for you soul, nothing less than our old foes of sin and Satan seeking to destroy our trust in the Lord and His Word.

Frank, you know this to be most true, having lost your dear Lorretta while you still travel through the vale of tears. Beware! There is the real danger that in you might turn from the Lord and His Word of comfort to you, instead turning to despair and grief. This despair and grief might lead you away from the love of your family and from those in your community and church who care for you. Let it not be so! Your family loves you and cares for you and even more so, our Lord has promised to never leave you or forsake you.

Frank Jr, Sally, Peggy, you have lost the mother who loved you, cared for you, and taught you. Beware! Just as there was a real struggle for Lorretta’s soul, so now there is a battle being waged for yours. There is the real danger you would turn from the Lord and His holy bridegroom, the Church, where the Lord conceived you in the womb of the font, instructed you in the faith, and nurtured you with spiritual meat and drink. Just like your earthly mother raised and trained you in what is good and true, your mother, the Church, has and will always keep you in the noblest of virtue, that is, faith in our savior Jesus.

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (13:34) Lorretta cared for you, Frank, as a dutiful wife, caring for you when you were sick. She cared for you, Frank Jr, Sally, Peggy, her children, as a loving and caring mother, especially bringing you to the Lord’s house, where you were baptized and were fed by the Word.

Indeed, just as Christ loved her, Lorretta loved all of us… you, her family, her friends, her neighbors, and her church. She even brought joy and encouragement to this young and immature pastor, when she greeted me always with a smile, the confident confession, “I know, Pastor,” and the strong grasp of the hand when we prayed together.

(II. Jesus taught Loretta the Truth.)

Lorretta often couldn’t speak when I visited her. Yet, I know that Jesus taught Lorretta the truth. She believed on her Lord and was comforted. When we celebrated the Lord’s Supper for what would be the last time, a tear came to her eye, after confessing her sins. She knew what a great gift our Lord’s forgiveness is.

You, the family and friends, know far better than I how difficult her last years had been. Lorretta suffered through the years of surgery and other affliction. Especially in these recent days, Lorretta’s flesh quickly gave way toward death.

Lorretta faithfully confessed in the midst of her suffering that nothing she experienced compared to the great pain of Christ and His cross. Christ bore in his flesh the full weight of all our sin. Christ was utterly forsaken by God, His Father. Satan snarled in glee when Christ hung on the tree. But those mortal wounds could not destroy the immortal one. Death’s bonds were unable to hold the Almighty in the grave. The Lord rose victorious on Easter morning, forever loosing the chains of sin and stocks of death from all who believe on Him.

When Lorretta suffered, she knew that it was Jesus who suffered for her. She knew Christ took her sin upon himself and that even in her worst pain, our Lord spared her. Our Lord showed mercy on her even unto death. She knew this is the Truth. In faith, she waited patiently for the Lord to deliver her, trusting again in the promise washed upon her when she was brought to faith.

One of her grandson told me a story shortly after she died. You’ll have to pardon me if I embellish the tale a bit. This grandson was having problems in school. His mom took him to Mimi Jr. for comfort. Grandma took the young boy aside and said, “there are only two men you need to know.” Pointing to two photos on the wall, she said, “Jesus Christ and Ronald Reagan.”

While Lorretta and I mostly spoke of Jesus, I know she wasn’t simply being funny. She knew what it meant to trust in the Lord but also to trust in those our Lord has placed in authority over us. Lorretta understood the wonderful order that God gave us in His creation. She knew that God gives us honest and noble leaders to preserve our community, country, and world. No doubt, she even saw a little bit of the Gipper in Frank, as he managed the household with love and virtue.

Lorretta knew that faith places its trust in the promises God has spoken. Lorretta believed that when we hear Jesus, we hear the Father. Lorretta knew Jesus is the truth. She confessed this faith as often as her body would allow her. Especially for you, her children, she told you of Christ and His work to save you from death by His cross and resurrection!

Even in the face of death, Lorretta trusted in Jesus. She did not despair. Her hope and our hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Jesus’ love dwelled within her, just as Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (24)

No doubt, there will be rough times ahead. Your lives as family and every life that Lorretta touched will not be the same hereafter. In Lorretta’s death, the Father taught us all that the wages of sin is death. Our sin has real consequence. It is not merely a slap on the wrist but is a real, mortal foe… death.

(III. Loretta has new Life with Jesus and the Father.)

But we need not fear! We need not have the anxiety those disciples felt when Jesus said His farewell. For with the disciples, Jesus says to us “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me.” In Christ, we need not question, nor doubt, nor fear. Our Lord is with us, showing us that He is the Way. He has spoken into our ears, giving us faith to know that He is the Truth. And only by Jesus do we have the promise of Life in this world and into the next.

Jesus is life. He was made Man, crucified under Pontius Pilate, and rose from the dead so that we too have life. Just as sin had no dominion over Him, it has no dominion of us, the baptized. Jesus is our robe of righteousness, our new life. “Because I live, you will live also.” (19) Jesus showed Lorretta the way of everlasting life in Baptism. At her baptism on December 13, 1959, the Father began a good work in Lorretta. The Father put to death the old Lorretta and brought to life a new Lorretta. This new Lorretta believed in Holy Trinity. This Lorretta trusted in her savior Jesus. In this new life of faith, the Father promised Lorretta everlasting life with Him and Lorretta believed.

The promise of Jesus is the very life given to our dear sister in Christ, your wife, mother, and grandmother, Lorretta. Lorretta is asleep, waiting for the new Life with Jesus and the Father. Lorretta was baptized into Christ. She was baptized into a death like His and so will rise in a life like His. Death has long waged war against Lorretta, trying to take her from you. Yet, for Lorretta, Death has lost its sting. The cruel conquerer takes no victory lap. Why? It has not overpowered her. Christ has promised her eternal life. Death for the Christian is only the patient sleep for our Lord’s return.

Lorretta found comfort in knowing she was God’s child and that through her baptism, the Lord now would grant her the promised eternal life. You remember that day, Frank, the day when Lorretta was welcomed as a child of the Heavenly Father. You know what great joy Lorretta found in her being reborn to faith and the new life granted to her as a Christian.

IV. Conclusion

The disciples asked, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Lorretta knew the Way to heaven is Jesus. Even in those last days when she could barely speak, she welcomed her pastor. She desired to hear Jesus’ Word. She confessed her sins and heard the sweet words of absolution. She tasted on her lips the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, given and shed for Lorretta for the forgiveness of all her sins.

Lorretta knew that Jesus is the Truth. In Christ’s death, she saw the consequence for her sin. She wept over the great cost for disobedience when she considered Christ’s cross. Yet, in Christ’s resurrection, Lorretta rejoiced! She knew that Jesus is Life. She knew that her redeemer lives! He had conquered death for her, freeing her from her bondage to sin, Satan, and even death.

She believed that Jesus’ shed blood forgave her sins. She knew that she was in Christ, forever united to Him. Death has dominion over our Lord and no dominion over her. Lorretta will forever live with Him. With Christ, the dead shall rise. All the faithful shall meet Jesus with Lorretta on the last day and dwell with the Father. This is the promise of Jesus. This the good news that cannot be tainted by even death.

St. John the Revelator writes: “Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21) “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).

Frank, Frank Jr., Peggy, Sally, spouses, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends, fellow Christians – “Let not your heart be troubled.” For we know, as Lorretta knows, that the Way to eternal Life with the Father is through the only Truth, Jesus. Amen.