Arlene, Allen and Danny, family and friends of Melvin:
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!
[Intro]
All throughout Melvin’s life, the Triune God — the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit — provided for all of Melvin’s needs of his body and soul. The Lord gave him faith at the waters of Holy Baptism, and the Lord sustained that faith.
Today, Melvin is now resting from his labors. Today, Melvin is rejoicing in the presence of God, and he is waiting for the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting!
Throughout his life, Melvin was blessed by God. He was blessed to be husband and father. He was blessed to be a grandfather. Among these blessings, he cherished every moment he had with his children and grandchildren.
Even as his health declined, God continually provided Melvin strength for his faith through the forgiveness of his sins through Word and Sacrament while at Grand Meadows and at rehab at EdenBrook in Edina.
But for us here this morning, even though Melvin’s death was to be expected, we are all experiencing a loss. Any separation is a time of mourning. After all, death is not natural. Humanity was not created to die. But due to our first parents — Adam and Eve — we all die, because of the wages of sin is death. And, so we mourn. But, mourning is a good and godly work. You see, Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus. Jesus wept because He loved his friend, so weeping and mourning the death of any loved one is a good work.
We Christians mourn because of the reality of death. We mourn because we were never intended to die and should live forever. But, we do not mourn as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We mourn, but our mourning is mixed with hope. Our tears are mixed with faith. Our sadness is mixed with joy in the LORD’s promises.
So, what are the LORD’s promises? Well, our Scripture readings this morning are just that! Psalm 23 portrays our life here on earth. Revelation 7 points to what Melvin is experiencing now: the life happening right now in heaven.
[Our Life Now]
Our whole life here on earth is lived under the shadow of our enemy, which is death. Certainly, our life has its joys and celebrations. Yet our life is also lived under a shadow, an overcast sky that won’t go away even as we celebrate and laugh. This shadow of death has been the sad reality we have lived in since the Fall into sin.
This journey through the valley of the shadow of death can seem like a lonely walk that ends in defeat. But, we who are in Christ have the Good Shepherd’s promise that we do not walk alone. With us walks the Shepherd who has trod this same path before us. This Shepherd is Jesus who stands beside us today in our grief to give us guidance and direction.
This Shepherd is who walked into the valley of the shadow of death. He left the brilliance of heaven, descended to earth, was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and took upon Himself our human flesh and became one of us, though without sin. His perfect life was a display of God’s merciful love and care for all people. He used His power to forgive sin and overcome death, disease, and the devil. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons. But all the while His ministry had one direction as He was led to the cross. There, the sinless Lamb of God was made to be sin for us — as He took upon Himself all of our sins. He died in our place as the atoning sacrifice and rose from the dead for our justification. Through His death and resurrection, the Good Shepherd brought us grace.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is the One who walks through the valley with us. With Him by our side, He gives us rest in “green pastures” (Psalm 23:2a). With Him by our side, He raises us from death to life through “still waters” (Psalm 23:2b) of Baptism. With Him by our side, He “restoreth my soul” (Psalm 23:3a). With Him by our side, He leads us on the right path, because Jesus is the righteous path (Psalm 23:3b).
We are never alone as we travel in the valley of the shadow of death in our life now. The Lord Jesus has walked it before and He is walking it with us today and every day (Psalm 23:4).
[Heaven to Come]
From the valley of this life, we will one day come to the mountaintop. We heard of this mountaintop in Revelation 7. Upon this mountaintop, we see “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes” (Revelation 7:9).
So, who are these people “clothed in white robes”? Well, these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation — that is, out of the sufferings of this life in the valley of the shadow of death. Among this multitude known as the Church Triumphant is Melvin. He and the faithful in heaven are standing before the throne, because their robes have been made white through the blood of the Lamb. This washing occurred in Baptism as they received the forgiveness of sins achieved by Jesus on the cross for all mankind. Jesus died in the valley, so that all by grace through faith in Him might live on the mountain.
Melvin is now arrayed in white among the faithful in heaven. He is there because he believed in Jesus as the only Savior from sin. Upon his death, Melvin came out of the valley of the shadow of death and is now singing on the mountain top.
They sing because they are free from all pain and sorrow, because in the presence of the Good Shepherd, sin has no more power over them. Cancer is destroyed. Dementia is destroyed. Jesus has wiped away every tear from their eyes as they hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. Melvin and all the saints arrayed in white are completely satisfied!
[The Resurrection on the Last Day]
Jesus connects both realities, of the now of Psalm 23 and the not yet of Revelation 7, in His Good Shepherd narrative of John 10.
Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep” … and “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. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, for they will listen to my voice” (John 10:7, 14-16).
You see, Jesus has removed any dividing wall. Through Jesus, all people are welcome in His flock!
The Shepherd says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Melvin listened to the Shepherd’s voice. We can join him! By grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, our destination is with the saints arrayed in white.
But there is more to come! It doesn’t end there! Today Melvin’s body will be placed in a grave, but one day — “in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52) — that grave will be as empty as the grave of Jesus! This mortal body buried will be the body raised in immortality just as it was for Jesus! (1 Corinthians 15:53) This is our sure and certain hope! 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
Melvin Raduenz's Obituary: https://hantge.com/obituaries/melvin-emil-otto-raduenz/
No comments:
Post a Comment