You can pretend to be serious; but you can't pretend to be witty.
‹Sacha Guitry›
Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
3Oct
2003
Fri
20:10
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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A Funeral Sermon

Lord's Prayer

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

"For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen."

I didn't get to know Jane all too well. We have only been residents here for just over two months. In that short time, however, I have discovered this one thing about Jane: she loves the Lord her God with all her heart, with all her soul, and with all her mind, just as her God first loved her so much to send His Son to die on the cross for her.

Shortly after my wife and I moved to south eastern South Dakota, we received a call that Jane Doe was not doing so well. I had not yet acquainted myself with the membership of both churches, so I could only assume that she was a member of one of the two churches to which I have been called. My suspicious were quickly confirmed, she was a member of First English, shut-in at the nursing home in Viborg. A couple of hours later, we were led to Viborg (for I didn't know the way) to make the first of what would be many visits to Jane.

I met a woman that day who desired righteousness, who hungered and thirsted for it. So, through the hand and mouth of her pastor...her new pastor...she heard the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins through the merits of Christ and fed on His body and blood. She had done this all her life, for she was marked with the sign of the cross at her Baptism, washed clean then of all sin, and made an heir of the things of her Father, who is in heaven, by the merits of her brother, Jesus Christ, God's Son. That faith was strengthened constantly, as was necessary, on the body and blood of Jesus Christ; for she was a sinner, sinful from birth, and prone to commit sin every minute of her life. She could do no good were it not for the grace of God given to her at her Baptism and strengthened in the Lord's Supper.

And so, this time was like all the others. There, in her bed, lay a woman steeped in sin, crushed by the law, killed even, confessing her sins to her pastor and receiving his forgiveness as if it were from God. And God reached down that day, and in days to come, with the grace of His Son, to forgive her and to strengthen her faith, though her body would continue to weaken.

She was loved by God, redeemed by Him and precious to Him as a dear child, as His own Son whom He sent to die for her. By His grace, she lived the holy life taught by the Lord's Prayer, constantly returning to the comfort of its conclusion: "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen."

It teaches us that God is always in control. It teaches us that no matter what circumstances may assail us here on this earth, everything happens by God's divine governance. It teaches us that no matter how hard the devil may assault us, God will keep us. It teaches us that ultimately, it is God who rules the kingdom, has the power, and is the glory, always. Amen, it is as He has said.

So while we may be faced with the problems and struggles of this world--trying to make ends meet, poor weather, illness, injury, even death, all the results of sin--God is in control. This is the comfort Jane returned to time and time again my last few visits with her. She would repeatedly ask for help and want to recite the Lord's Prayer. And when we were through with the recitation, she would repeat the conclusion a few more times until she calmed down, comforted by the grace of God contained in those few words: "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen."

And it is comfort for us who are Baptized, as well. Yes, God is in control of the smallest details of even an ant's life. This is indeed what Jesus was teaching when he told the people to look at the birds of the air. It is a comfort because the God who is in control is merciful. Lost in sin, as we are, Christ was sent to die for us, in our place. His death spared Jane eternal death. His death spares the Baptized here eternal death as well.

Jane knew this. She knew that she was not alone, even in death. She knew that she would not be alone after death. The same Lord Jesus Christ who put Himself in her promised to her that He would be with her always, even to the end of the age. So, as she took her last breath, He was there with His angels. Now, she rests in Christ, waiting with the saints who have gone before her and us until that day when her body will be raised back to life, the day when Christ will return to claim His own. This is the promise that God made to her at her Baptism.

It is the same promise that God made to us. Baptized into Christ Jesus, we have also been Baptized into His death. The mark of faith has also been given to us who are Baptized. It is our comfort, in the midst of our sorrow and grieving over Jane, since we, too, have been Baptized, our very own sins forgiven, since we have also been made heirs along with her through the Son of God. One day, we too, through Christ's merits, will be waiting with her for the day when Christ will come again, our own bodies raised to life along with hers when we too will be claimed by Christ as His own dear brothers and sisters. In that day, we will be presented with her to our Father as His redeemed children, claiming only the blood of Christ as our redemption before Him.

The Lord's Prayer is our comfort, too. It is our comfort; words of comfort from our God. Our great and mighty God, who rules the kingdom, has all power, and is the glory, is our merciful God. Steeped in sin, crushed by the law, even killed, God sent His Son to die for us. God demonstrated His power and control in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Our lives, yes, even our deaths, are in His care. By faith, He teaches us how to die so that we may learn how to live. We learn the holy life through the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer is the word of comfort that teaches us these things.

"For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen"

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

The name of the deceased has been changed out of respect to the family and all involved.
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