"Awakened in Christ" (Mark 10:14; Psalm 139)

Dear Christian friends, especially you, the grieving parents: Bryana and Corey; grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Before us this day are shattered hopes and dreams. While all deaths are difficult, there is something really unfair about the death of a child. It’s like planting a flower garden, imagining the glory that will come later in the summer. Then, just as tender shoots begin to appear, the rabbits and other rodents chew them up. It’s like watching for months as a new house takes shape only to have a fire destroy it just as you are able to move in. All the hopes and dreams with a baby registry. Then suddenly, you are preparing for a funeral. Melissa and I have been there. The hope and then the shock. We grieve with you. 

 

Today empty arms now hunger for hugs that will have to wait until the grand reunion in heaven. 

 

Amanda Jean Elaine. How we all wish we could have held her longer. How we wish we could have heard her giggle of delight. How we all wish we could have known her longer and seen her grow up.

 

But our gracious God knew her. And He still knows her. Amanda Jean’s frame was not hidden from our Lord when she was being made in secret, intricately woven in the deep darkness of her mother’s womb. The eyes of our living Lord saw Amanda Jean’s unformed substance, the days formed for her, few though they may have been on this side of heaven.

 

So, we gather here today with hearts aching, minds numbed, eyes filled with tears … and yet, you should still be hopeful in the midst of loss. You should be daring to rejoice in the midst of sorrow.

 

We rejoice in our tears because of the gift of Holy Baptism that God gave to Amanda Jean. Today, Jesus meets us in our grief head on and reminds us that in Holy Baptism, we are immersed in His death, His burial, and His resurrection (Romans 6:3-11).

 

But even in the joy of knowing Amanda Jean’s salvation through her baptism into Christ, we still mourn and grieve. We mourn and grieve because every human being has inherited that dreadful disease known as the original sin of Adam and Eve. Were it not for sin, there would not be death. Death is the consequence of the Fall into sin. So, we long for that day when Christ comes again to finally put an end to death.

 

Until that day, we mourn, but mourning is a good and godly work. Remember, Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus. Jesus wept, because He loved His friend, so weeping and mourning the death of Amanda Jean or any of our loved ones is, indeed, a good and godly work.

 

But in Christ Jesus and in His Church, we have the ultimate medicine that brings true healing to our broken hearts, genuine ointment for our numbness, and the ultimate wiping away of our tears. What is it? It’s called the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Yes, we grieve, but our grieving is mixed with hope. And this hope isn’t a wish. This hope is sure and certain. So, our tears are mixed with faith. Our sadness is mixed with joy, because one day in the future “we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed … [as] this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51b-52, 53b).

 

Jesus loves all the little children. He says, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). Jesus has given little Amanda Jean the kingdom. The same goes for you.

 

And how did we earn the kingdom of God? By God’s grace. It is because the very Son of God came down from heaven. He took upon Himself our flesh and became man. Just try to imagine that. God became man for Amanda Jean. God became man for you, too. He came to take upon Himself yours and my sins. He suffered, bled and died. But He did not remain dead and buried. He rose! He rose three days later. Through His perfect life and atoning death, Jesus brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel – life and immortality for all of us, including little Amanda Jean.

 

And just like you and me, Amanda Jean did nothing to deserve this gift. She received life and immortality. She did nothing to deserve it, but she received it. She received it from her Creator who knew her even in her mother’s womb. Today, she receives life from her Savior to carry her into eternity.

 

All we can do is receive. We are all on the receiving end of God’s life-giving ways no matter how many hours, days, weeks, months, or years we are given. We receive everything from our Father’s hands, through His Son and the Holy Spirit. This new life is given through Holy Baptism. And He keeps us in the one true faith through His Means of Grace, His Word and His Sacraments. 

 

Each week at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, we hear God’s healing words of absolution. Each week, He literally puts forgiveness, life, and salvation in our mouths with the living Body and Blood of Jesus every time we receive His Supper. God gives and we receive.

 

Meanwhile tears will continue to flow, there will still be heartache and numbness, but we can actually find comfort and rejoice in the midst of sorrow. God knows you and He knows what you are going through. Bryana and Corey, you are still Amanda Jean’s parents. You have been Amanda’s parents since she was conceived and made in secret.

 

The Psalmist writes: “How precious are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with You” (Psalm 139:17-18).

 

Today, little Amanda Jean is awake as she is in the very presence of her Savior, Jesus Christ, the very Lamb of God. And one day, by God’s grace, you will see her again with all the saints and angels in heaven.

 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +