Funeral Sermon: "The Shepherd's Grace Runneth Over" (Psalm 23)

 

Cliff and Bruce, family and friends of Mabel:

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

[Intro]

Jesus said: “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and my own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15)

Mabel knew her Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd knew her. Throughout her earthly life, Jesus – the Good Shepherd – provided for Mabel. Today, this same Good Shepherd is still providing all of Mabel’s needs.

The Good Shepherd was always right beside her on her good days and on her not-so-good days all the while as she lived in Minnesota, California, and back again in Minnesota.

Mabel can always be remembered by her personality. She certainly had a great sense of humor. When I first really got to know her while at rehab at Harmony River in 2019, I witnessed her whit. She was certainly a people person. Her positive attitude tended to rub off on the people she met.

As a farm girl to a city girl to a small-town girl, her attitude on life never changed. She enjoyed meeting people, playing cards with her friends, and shopping. She was certainly a people-person.

She will always be remembered as a good example to her children and grandchildren. She will always be remembered for her positive outlook on life.

For us here this morning, we see the power of sin – which is death (Romans 6:23a) – right before us. By grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, our sister Mabel is not experiencing the power of eternal death, since she put her faith and trust in the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. Today, she is experiencing the free gift of eternal life in Christ (Romans 6:23b). So, her death is only but a portal by which we enter heaven with Christ with His rod and staff leading us.

Even so, we are separated from Mabel. And with any separation, we grieve. So, don’t be ashamed of grieving. But, know this, although we grieve the loss of our loved ones, Christians do not grieve as others do who have no hope. We have the encouragement that we are always with the Lord in this life and in our future heavenly life as God informed us in today’s Epistle from 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.

This morning, we hear about God’s encouraging Word as our Good Shepherd.

[The Lord Leads]

Mabel lived her earthly life with the attitude that the glass was always half full. Today, her glass is runneth over as she is in the presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, her fellow saints – like her husband Melvin, and others in the Church Triumphant – as well as the angels. Today, through her death as a believer in Christ, sin has no more power over her. She has a clear mind, and she has no more pain, no more hunger, and no more thirst. She is completely satisfied as she is in the presence of the Good Shepherd.

For us here this morning, we can only imagine what Mabel is witnessing and receiving from her Lord. But let us not forget, our Lord is caring for us now just as He is caring for Mabel in heaven. God teaches us this fact in Psalm 23.

“The Lord is my shepherd;
          I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
          He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
          He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1-3).

In the first three verses of Psalm 23, we hear how the Good Shepherd leads us. The Good Shepherd cares for all the needs of His flock. In doing so, He cares for every human need: physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Under the care of the Good Shepherd, we shall not want. Now this doesn’t mean that we will never have any desires. Certainly, we still have wants. But, in Christ, all of our needs are met. The Good Shepherd supplies the basics through His daily bread: food, drink, and protection.

Each day of our life – and in the life to come – God provides for us abundantly. He leads us to “lie down in green pastures” (Psalm 23:2a). Now, these green pastures are His Means of Grace – Word and Sacrament. In these “green pastures,” we are fed and strengthened, preserved from error, comforted in all temptations, protected against the devil’s power, and saved from all need. Even in her last days here on earth, Mabel was fed and strengthened by God, just as God continues to do for her and all the saints in heaven.

The Good Shepherd also “restores our soul” (Psalm 23:3a). Christ teaches us saying, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). We are Christ’s sheep, because He has made us His own. You see, Christ restores our soul through His bloody sacrifice and death for His sheep – you and me. Through Christ’s death, we are restored in the eyes of God the Father and all by faith in His Son.

The Good Shepherd also leads us in “paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). This path of righteousness is “the right path.” You see, Jesus will never lead us to a place of slaughter. He leads us to eternal life and salvation. Along the way, He leads us along safe paths to heaven through His Word. He leads us to heaven, for the Good Shepherd is the only Way (John 14:6) to travel the righteous path.

[The Lord is Present]

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
          Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

Even in the most frightening situation in our life, the Good Shepherd is present. So, we can always be confident of God’s guiding presence. Valleys on the way to the high pastureland often have the best grass, but valleys can also be places of hidden danger for the sheep. Even so, as we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” the Good Shepherd is with us. He is always present with us. The Good Shepherd never sends His sheep into places He will not go. He is always with us in our lives today and in the life to come!

The Lord first made His presence known to Mabel through the waters of Holy Baptism. When she heard these words spoken over her: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” she was clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all of her sin. It was at that moment that the Holy Spirit gave Mabel – and you and me – the ability to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

St. Paul teaches us that at our Baptism, we were baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. Since, Christ was raised from the dead, we too, by faith, will be united with Him in a resurrection like His (Romans 6:3-5).

Although the Good Shepherd was always present with her – and us – it is at our Baptism that He announces His presence to us.

[The Lord Provides Forever]

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
          Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
          and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:5-6).

These verses tell how the Good Shepherd always provides for His sheep.

He prepares a table before us. This shows how the Good Shepherd is hospitable to His sheep. The Good Shepherd not only gives us our daily bread – all the needs of our body, such as food, clothing and shelter – but He gives us the gift of His very Body and very Blood in the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of our sins and to strengthen our weak faith.

The “cup runneth over” is the grace that we have received by faith in Jesus Christ.

You might say that Mabel’s optimism began at her baptism, for which it did. As the optimist, she would say that the cup is always half full. But in Christ, her cup was always more than half full. As a child of the heavenly Father her cup was always “runneth over.”

For although we sin much in thought, word and deed, God’s grace is the cup that is always runneth over. For while we were once dead in our sin, Jesus took upon Himself the death we deserve upon the cross, so that we would be made righteous by grace through faith in Him. So, when we repent and confess our sins to God, our sins are wiped away. We are forgiven.

The Good Shepherd gives all who believe in Him this goodness and mercy all their lives.

[Dwelling in the House of the Lord Forever]

For everyone who dies in Christ, they experience the ending of Psalm 23: “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6b).

As soon as those who know the Good Shepherd enter heaven, they are no longer sinners, but only saints. For Mabel and her fellow saints, they “hunger no more, neither thirst anymore” (Revelation 7:16a), since they are in the presence of the Good Shepherd. While in heaven, the Good Shepherd continues to provide.

6    And so through all the length of days
    Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
    Within Thy house forever!        

                                      (The King of Love My Shepherd Is, LSB 709, stanza 6)

Text: Public domain

May we follow Mabel’s example of faith in the Good Shepherd and receive the free gift of His grace that is always runneth over, just as she received throughout her earthly life and into her heavenly life – and with her and her fellow saints – joyfully await Christ’s coming on the Last Day! Amen!

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

Mabel Abraham's obituary: https://hantge.com/obituaries/mabel-myrtle-abraham/