Funeral Sermon: "With Wings Like Eagles" (Isaiah 40:27-31)

Family and friends of Tammy:

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

[Intro]

Tammy certainly had a tough life, but through it all the Triune God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – was always at her side as He provided all her needs. Despite health issues, God led her to accomplish so many milestones, including getting to her son’s wedding and being able to meet her grandchildren. Her family – and especially her grandchildren – meant the world to her as she would never miss the opportunity to call, text, or Facebook message members of her family.

Outside her family, she also liked to “take it easy” listening to music, especially the bands Eagles and Bon Jovi. She also enjoyed collecting spoons and magnets and she enjoyed the delicacy of burnt hot dogs.

For us here this day, we are experiencing mourning. Death is our enemy. Humanity was not created by God to die. But due to our first parents – Adam and Eve – we all die, because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a). And so, we mourn. But mourning is a good and godly work, since Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus.

We mourn because of the reality of death. We mourn because we were never intended to die and should live forever. But Christians do not mourn as those of the unbelieving world who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Christians mourn, but our mourning is mixed with hope. Our tears are mixed with faith. Our sadness is mixed with joy, since despite the wages of sin being death, “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23b).

[With Wings Like Eagles]

As mentioned, Tammy enjoyed listening to the band Eagles. And who isn’t in awe of an eagle soaring in the sky? So, with this in mind, our first song this morning was the hymn “On Eagles’ Wings.” This hymn is a beloved hymn by many. It is certainly a hymn of comfort. Although the stanzas of this hymn bring comfort, the most familiar aspect of this hymn is the refrain, for which I always notice whenever this hymn is sung, the singing voices become louder when singing the refrain:

[Ref]  And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His hand.

Text: © OCP Publications. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110002938

This refrain comes from Isaiah 40:27-31, which certainly gave the Israelites comfort as they would be led away into exile by the Babylonians. So, in the midst of their coming tears and heartache, God wanted them to remember that He was still in control and that He continued to love them.

Two questions appear in this Isaiah text: “Have you not known? Have you not heard?” (Isaiah 40:28a). These questions direct us back to what God reveals about Himself in the Scriptures. You see, we discover who God is only in what He has revealed to us in His Word. There, in the Holy Bible, God reveals Himself as “the LORD,” the God of free and faithful grace.

Following those questions, “Have you not known? Have you not heard?” God Himself gives us four important truths about Himself:

• First, He is “the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 40:28c). He has unlimited power and uses that power for the benefit of His creatures. He gave us – and every other creature – life and provided a beautiful world in which to live.
• Second, “He does not faint or grow weary” (Isaiah 40:28d). His power was not exhausted by creation nor does He grow tired with the continuous care of the world He called into existence.
• Third, “His understanding is unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28e). He is beyond human ability to grasp and understand. He is holy. Humans know there is a god; the psalmist says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 53:1). But the full truth about God lies beyond our empirical investigation. God must reveal Himself if we are to know anything about Him beyond the fact that He exists and He is great. This, God reveals to us in the Scriptures.
• Fourth, God “gives power to the faint” (Isaiah 40:29a). God gives strength to the weary and the weak. He turns Himself toward His creatures. He gives blessings to them out of pure love for them.

God is all powerful. But humans are much different. We are creatures, not the Creator, so “even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted” (Isaiah 40:30). We do grow weary and weak. We certainly can understand some things, but we must learn. Without the Lord, the best humans can do is only stumble and fall. But to such limited creatures as we are, God promises to give strength. The question then is how? How shall the Lord renew our strength?

 “They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31a). You see, faith in the LORD brings this strength!

When we rely on human strength, we will stumble. But when we trust in the LORD for strength, He gives it! Not only will those who cling to Jesus Christ receive strength; they will renew their strength. All believers in Christ will arise from the ashes of grief and suffering to run and walk again.

By faith in Christ, we “shall mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31b). You see, Christians are pictured as eagles soaring in the blue sky. Eagles ride air currents as they stretch out their wings and soar. For us, God promises to be the wind beneath the wings of His people. This is such wonderful comfort for all who hope in the LORD! The entire life of God’s people – their walking, running, and soaring – is filled with the boundless and tireless strength of God. Even in death, they mount on eagles’ wings and soar to God in heaven, where God gives them joy forever.

Christ’s faithfulness to us provides our only hope for life – since He is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Jesus never said, “I lead to life,” as one of His apostles could preach; but “I am the Life.” Jesus is the one and only source of blessed existence and life for us. In our sin is death, the separation from God the Father. Left to ourselves, we would remain in this separation forever, dead beyond hope. But in the Person of Jesus, God the Father sent us “the Life.” Through Himself, Jesus abolished the separation through His suffering and death for our sins and once more unites us with God the Father. This union kindles life in us! This union gives us eternal life!

Through Christ alone, we have life as we “mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31b), as we run and are not weary, as we walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31c-d).

The eagles’ effortless and jubilant flight is that of Christians who have been freed from the power of sin, death, and Satan and strengthened to let their lights shine before all people. By clinging to Christ, we fly like eagles as we are held squarely in the palm of Christ’s hand, the very hands on which they themselves are engraved with the marks of the nails from the cross that through His atoning death and bodily resurrection, all who trust in Him have life! Amen.

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Tamara "Tammy" Nomeland Obituary: https://hantge.com/obituaries/tamara-tammy-b-nomeland/

Sermon for Lent 3: "The Way of Escape" (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

 

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

It has been said: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” History sure has a way in repeating itself. And if history doesn’t necessarily repeat itself, it certainly mimics. As God reminds us: “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Well, the whole point of learning the past is so we don’t make the same mistakes as those who lived before us.

Paul, too, through the Holy Spirit, proclaims the same: “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6).

So, it is true that if we do not remember the past, we are condemned to repeat it. It is also good to keep in mind that God cannot tolerate sin. He cannot participate or be connected to any sin.

Today on this Third Sunday in Lent, the Holy Spirit leads Paul to proclaim the way of escape from sin, while he issues warnings from Israel’s history so that we do not fall from God’s grace.

[Five Illustrations for Our Instruction]

Everyone of us faces temptation. But the way we respond to temptation is the issue. If we delight at the temptation, we succumb to sin. Today, Paul gives us a clear warning against sin. He does this through five illustrations from the history of Israel. Now, these illustrations were likely chosen because of their relevance to the ongoing situation in Corinth. You see, these Corinthians were prone to these sins, just as Israel was before them.

Paul informs us saying: “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6). This first illustration refers to how Israel yielded to an intense craving for the meat and vegetables that were plentiful in Egypt, and their bitter complaining about the manna.

Now, these foods were not necessarily evil, but they were evil because of their association with the idolatrous land of Egypt, and because the people preferred them over what God graciously gave them in the wilderness. In craving these things – by longing for the past – these people were preferring slavery, idolatry, and impurity to the worship of the one true God.

Likewise, many within the Church in Corinth preferred the meat offered in idol temples. And such coveting amounted to sin against the Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet,” and was in itself a form of idolatry, that is, a sin against the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods.”

This coveting can also foster grosser forms of idolatry, which leads to the second illustration. Paul writes: “Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play’” (1 Corinthians 10:7).

Paul, here, is referring to the golden calf incident. Here, Paul is warning the Corinthians against falling into similar idolatry. So, just as the Israelites had fallen to the temptation of sitting down and eating in honor of a false idol, which brought the Lord’s wrath, so some of the Corinthians were reclining and drinking in an idol’s temple. And this can only end in disaster.

In the case of the golden calf, the people’s worship denigrated into sexual immorality as “they rose up to play” (Exodus 32:6). This is about sexual play. So, breaking the First Commandment led them to also break the Sixth Commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.”

The Corinthians, too, were guilty of sexual immorality, since they tolerated prostitution, incest, and homosexuality. And for the sexually immoral, Paul warns us all that those who practice such things “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9).

Paul continues: “We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day” (1 Corinthians 10:8). Just as the golden calf incident led to idol worship and from there to fornication, so this pattern was repeated at Shittim in the plains of Moab with his third illustration. While there, the Moabites invited the Israelites to participate in their fertility rites in honor of their false god Baal of Peor, which led to many of the Israelite men into having intercourse with the Moabite women. Since the Israelites disobeyed God by having relations outside the Israelite people, God sent a plague that left 23,000 dead in the wilderness.

Here, Paul is warning us to not fall into the same trap of idolatry, which leads to immorality.

Paul concludes with his fourth and fifth illustration: “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:9-10). The Israelites certainly tested the Lord’s patience. Likewise, Christians ought not to follow Israel’s example in grumbling against the Lord. So, in response to their complaints against Moses and Aaron, “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah” (Numbers 16:32).

Paul’s point is that if the Christians in Corinth persisted in their grumbling – against Paul and his fellow apostles – they ran the risk of suffering the same destruction. For the Church today, similar grumblings would be to question and even to rebel against the authority of the Scriptures, or even against pastors who faithfully proclaim and live by the Scriptures.

Paul sums it up this way: All these disasters happened to the Israelites as examples for us. These events were recorded not just for Israel’s sake, but for our instruction, so we would learn from their mistakes. Paul’s concern reflects that of Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Likewise, those Corinthians who prided themselves on their power and freedom in the Spirit should be careful not to fall from grace.

Now, we may not have all the same idols as Israel and the Corinthian church, but we all have idols that we won’t let go that need to be smashed. What is your idol or your idols? Could it be your need for temporal safety? Could it be self-centered living? Could it be love of money and finances? Could it be longing for the past? Could it be sexual lust or pornography? Could it be wanting to be told how to live from earthly princes?

We must all repent of our false idols, or else we will surely perish as those who did before us who failed to trust in God’s provisions. You see, the life of a Christian is a life of repentance. We are all naturally prone to sin. Still, that is no excuse to God. Sin is not something to take lightly. We cannot stand in sin. We cannot live in sin. So, we must all turn away from sin – repent – and turn to Christ to receive His unconditional forgiveness.

[The Way of Escape]

Thanks be to God that He is faithful even when we aren’t faithful. Even though we don’t deserve it – through His faithfulness – He always provides the Way of escape from sin.

God provided Baptism and spiritual food and drink to His Israelite people, just as He does for us today.

At the Red Sea, the covenant people “were baptized into Moses” (1 Corinthians 10:2). There, they submitted to Moses’ leadership as he guided them through the waters and when they saw what the Lord accomplished there, they “believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses” (Exodus 14:31).

Just as they received a type of Baptism, so they also received a type of the Lord’s Supper. All of them were sustained by the manna, which is the “grain of heaven” and the “bread of angels,” which the Lord “rained … on them to eat” (Psalm 78:24). Likewise, they all received “the same spiritual drink,” which the Lord provided them with the miraculous water from the Rock. Jesus was the spiritual Rock who accompanied Israel.

We, too, experience the real presence of God in the Means of Grace: Word and Sacrament. Christ is present in the Scriptures and in His Sacraments. His presence provides the way out of sins that continue to tempt us and threaten us with death.

In the Lord’s Supper, Christ – the very Lamb of God who gave His life for the sins of the world – gives us His own Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins. This forgiveness sets us free from our sinful past, in which eternal death was our only future. Each time we receive Christ’s Body and Blood, He gives us new life and a new future, for where sin is forgiven, there is life with God and salvation everlasting.

We have the way of escape from sin and death and don’t forget it! So, repent and trust in God and His Word. He alone is faithful, the Rock Jesus who feeds us with His “spiritual food” and pours out His “spiritual drink” for our forgiveness. Amen.

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

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

Funeral Sermon: "Receiving Christ's Righteousness" (Romans 5:17-21)

 

Eddie, Sandi, Todd, and Michelle, family and friends of Dorothy:

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

[Intro]

Each stanza of the hymn “Just as I Am, without One Plea” begins with the memorable adverb “just.” This single word ought to grab our attention. This single word proclaims the doctrine of justification. This doctrine, upon which the Church stands or falls, is reinforced stanza by stanza.

In Christ, God reconciled the world to Himself. This is the fact of Calvary. To be justified is to be bought back, to have the account settled, to have the transaction closed.

By her faith in Christ, Dorothy was reconciled to God. Now, Dorothy’s faith in Christ is not something she accomplished by herself. In fact, she did nothing. You see, the Lord gave her faith at that waters of Holy Baptism, and the Lord sustained that faith. Dorothy was justified by her faith in Christ, but that justification was Christ’s doing.

This “one act of righteousness” (Romans 5:18) that led to being justified was Christ’s work in His death and His bodily resurrection. Likewise, by “the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). This act of obedience was Christ’s fulfillment of the Law and His substitutionary death. There, Christ paid for our sins, so that God the Father can only look at those who trust in His Son as without sin.

Today, Dorothy is resting from her labors as she has been declared righteous by her faith in Jesus Christ!

For Dorothy, faith and family were the most important aspects of her life. She was an active member of First Lutheran Church. She also cherished the time she had with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Dorothy’s family would also include not just blood relatives. I’m sure she would think of the Glencoe VFW Auxiliary, her bowling friends, and her fellow volunteers at the thrift store as family.

For us this morning, Dorothy’s death may have come as a surprise. But remember, God numbers all of our days, so we ought to live each day to the fullest and as a gift from God. That is how Dorothy lived her life. But even with that in mind, we all still experience mourning. Death is our enemy. And, if you recall, humanity was not created by God to die. But due to our first parents – Adam and Eve – we all die, because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a). And so, we mourn. But mourning is a good and godly work, since Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus.

We 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.

But just “as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and the life for all men” (Romans 5:18). So, just as Adam’s sin infected the whole world, the righteous conduct of one Man – Jesus Christ – is credited to that same world of sinners. So, because of what Christ has done for the world of sinners through His death and bodily resurrection, God the Father now looks upon those who cling to Jesus as being holy and sinless!

[Justified by Faith in Christ Alone]

In our reading from Romans 5 and in the hymn “Just as I Am, without One Plea,” we hear and sing what Christ alone has done for Dorothy and for you and me!

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,
    O Lamb of God, I come, I come. (LSB 570, stanza 4) 

Justification is all about Jesus, who bears our sin. We are all “poor, wretched, blind,” but Jesus takes upon Himself every sin – not just some of our sins, but all of our sins and our sinfulness; not only small sins, but also sins of any size and magnitude.

Everything that Christ did for us – through His active obedience in fulfilling God’s Law, to His suffering, atoning death, and His bodily resurrection – counts for us. And all these benefits – forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation – are given to us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone!

Now this does not mean that God overlooks our sins or ignores them. Our sins are as real as Jesus, who suffered and shed His blood on the cross. Justification means that Jesus acted as our substitute both in His life and in His death. It means that in faith, we are declared righteous because Jesus is righteous.

Justification is Jesus answering for God the Father’s wrath over all our sins. Then with the Holy Spirit, Jesus continues to deliver the forgiveness of sins through His Means of Grace: Baptism, Absolution, hearing the Word, and in partaking of the Lord’s Supper for which Dorothy received all her life.

It is through Christ alone that Dorothy is declared righteous. Like Dorothy, we receive – and only receive! Faith is nothing but receiving the Lord’s gifts.

For all the faithful, death is only but a gate to heaven. There, they give God praises day and night as they hunger no more, neither thirst anymore (Revelation 7:15-17). For Dorothy and her fellow saints in the Church Triumphant, they are completely satisfied as they are in the presence of the Good Shepherd.

But heaven is not the end. There is even more to come! Although, Dorothy’s body will be placed in a grave this day, one day in the future, “in a moment, in the 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! The body buried will be the body raised on that glorious resurrection day!

For everyone in Christ, we are declared righteous in God’s sight.

[So,] Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
    O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 

Just as I am; Thy love unknown
Has broken ev’ry barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
    O Lamb of God, I come, I come.           (LSB 570, stanzas 5-6)

Text: Public domain

God’s immeasurable love has set aside every barrier, and the believer, unhindered, is His alone by grace through faith in Christ alone. Remember, faith is nothing but receiving the Lord’s gifts! May we follow Dorothy’s example by clinging to Christ and receiving His righteousness – just as I am! Amen.

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Dorothy Voigt's obituary: https://hantge.com/obituaries/dorothy-m-voigt/

Dorothy Voigt's funeral service: https://www.facebook.com/FirstLutheranGlencoe/videos/1326304284514405

Funeral Sermon: "Receiving What God Graciously Provides" (Isaiah 25:6-9)

 

Greg, Ida, and Lowell, family and friends of Geraldine:

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

[Intro]

Geraldine was blessed by God all throughout her life. As our sermon hymn “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” proclaims, by our precious Lord’s leading, He leads us “to the light.” He alone leads us to salvation!

Today, Geraldine is resting from her labors as the Lord has led her by the hand to heaven as she has joined the Church Triumphant.

But for us here this morning, we find ourselves wearing a veil of mourning. Death is our scourge. Death is our enemy. But remember, humanity was not created to die. But due to our first parents – Adam and Eve – we all die, because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a). And, so we mourn. But mourning is a good and godly work, since Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus.

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.

And through Isaiah, God reveals to us something more: “He will swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8a). This we all look forward to when Christ descends from heaven “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52) on that Last Day. For on that day, He will put His final enemy under His feet, which is death (1 Corinthians 15:24-26) as the faithful in Christ will be changed in a flash from mortal bodies to immortal bodies.

[The Great Banquet]

For everyone who knew Geraldine, if she had the option, she would rather eat out than take time to prepare her own food at home. Who wouldn’t? It certainly is nice having a meal prepared for you and all you have to do is order it.

In our reading from Isaiah 25, note how the Lord acts in these verses. He will “prepare a feast,” “destroy the shroud,” “swallow up death,” “wipe away tears,” and “remove the reproach of His people,” which is sin. Isaiah punctuates these promises with this exclamation point: “The Lord has spoken.” Notice here that no human action occurs. Here, all people – by faith in Christ – receive what God graciously provides.

Because of God’s love, He provides a rich spiritual banquet:

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
   of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” (Isaiah 25:6)

This banquet is the richest and tastiest meal that is beyond our imagination! The wine is aged in order to increase its color and quality. The meat is fat and rich. This banquet is the banquet of God’s grace. Our Savior – the Lord Almighty – has prepared the best His love could offer: rich compassion, wonderful forgiveness, and every satisfying food for the soul. This is the banquet that God freely gives to everyone who clings to Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

This is the banquet that no one deserves, because of our sin. But God has prepared this feast for all who receive His forgiveness.

Even in our life now, we receive a foretaste of this rich meal. You see, as God’s people read and study the Word and receive Christ’s very Body and Blood under the bread and wine at the Lord’s Supper, they eat from God’s banquet table and receive nourishment for their souls.

This passage from Isaiah 25 is among the most comforting in Scripture. You see, the Lord has graciously provided for you! Just as He has graciously provided for Gerladine.

For all the faithful, death is but a gate to heaven. There, they give God praises day and night as they hunger no more, neither thirst anymore (Revelation 7:15-17). For everyone in Christ, they are completely satisfied as God provides His rich feast! God provides His eternal comfort to His people!

But heaven is not the end. There is much more to come! Although, Geraldine’s body will one day be placed in a grave, one day in the future, “in a moment, in the 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! The body buried will be the body raised on that glorious resurrection day!

So, may we too with Geraldine receive what God so graciously provides – forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. Christ alone gives us eternal life, so that by faith in Him, we never perish (John 10:27-30), as He leads us with His rod and His staff to dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23). Amen!

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Geraldine Sylwester's obituary: https://hantge.com/obituaries/geraldine-e-sylwester/

Funeral Sermon: "Righteous by Faith" (Psalm 1:1-6)

 

David, Kathryn, and Steven, family and friends of Eunice:

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

[Intro]

As we heard in the reading of Eunice’s obituary, her life was not easy. She experienced many tragedies. But through each tragedy, she never had to deal with them alone. Through it all – in good times as in bad times – the Triune God: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit was right there with her. And the Triune God is still with her.

You see, even in the most difficult of times, Eunice was never forsaken by God. He was and is always leading her to life everlasting. This same Lord gave her faith at the waters of Holy Baptism, and it was the Lord who sustained that faith through His Means of Grace – Word and Sacrament.

The Lord knows the way of the righteous (Psalm 1:6a) and it was by her faith in Christ as her Lord and Savior that Eunice is declared righteous by God, for “the righteous shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11).

Today, Eunice is resting from her labors as she has received the promise of eternal life and all by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone! Eunice endured and continues to endure as she is no longer suffering the effects of sin as she has joined the Church Triumphant with all the saints in heaven!

But for us here this afternoon, we are all experiencing 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 “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). 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.

[Meditating on God’s Word]

Our readings and hymns this afternoon were all important to Eunice. They each proclaim what Eunice was about in her earthly life. Since she was redeemed by Christ’s blood and made holy through the Holy Spirit, she esteemed God’s Word as a joy and a delight. With this joy, she was always willing to volunteer to serve Christ’s Church in various ways. She served First Lutheran Church using her time and talents on the altar guild, ladies’ quilters, stewardship board, singing with the senior choir, and making melody with the handbell choir.

Despite moving to Grand Meadows, she remained active as each month that I came to Grand Meadows, I could always find her at the group chapel services. Then in the end, the visits continued at her bedside as she always received strength for her faith through God’s Means of Grace. Her faith meant everything to her as she shared her faith with her family and friends.

We just sang “Oh, that the Lord would guide my ways” (LSB 707), which Eunice selected to be sung today. This hymn goes right along with Psalm 1, which contains Eunice’s confirmation verse.

Blessèd is the man
   who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
   nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2)

Both the hymn and Psalm 1 focus on the high regard a Christian ought to have for God’s Word, as God reveals in Scripture. In the Psalm, “the law of the Lord” does not necessarily refer to the Ten Commandments, but instead to the whole Word of God, both Law and Gospel. The hymn, too, uses a number of synonyms when referring to God’s Word, such as “statues” in stanza one, “Word” in stanza two, and “commands” in stanza four. In a broad sense, these denote the fullness of all that God has spoken and revealed.

Psalm 1 proclaims what it means to be godly. To be godly, the person is to not govern their lives by false values of the unbelieving world. This teaching comes up over and over again in Scripture. In Romans 12:2, the Holy Spirit led St. Paul to write: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Psalm 1 implies the same warning. So, if we let ungodly attitudes shape our thinking, they will soon shape our actions.

So, what do we do to prevent this? We delight in the Word of the Lord, and meditate on His Word day and night (Psalm 1:2). So, when we cultivate the habit of receiving God’s gifts in the Divine Service, and in reading the Bible and through devotional study, God strengthens ourselves to Him.

When believers are motivated by the Gospel and guided by God’s Law, they will produce fruits of faith, that is, works pleasing to God. These good works Christians produce in their lives are often called fruits because of the similarities between a Christian and the branch of a fruit tree, or that of a grape vine. You see, a branch can produce fruit only if it remains attached to the main trunk of the tree. Likewise, a Christian can only produce good works if he is connected to Christ by a living faith. A tree can only produce fruit if it is well watered. A Christian can only produce good works if his faith is “watered” by God’s Word.

All throughout her life, Eunice was sustained by God’s Means of Grace. God did all the watering. Through God’s watering, Eunice produced good works. Through God’s watering, she is declared righteous. She is declared righteous because she lived by faith knowing that Jesus accomplished everything for her and for you! “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’ – so that in Christ Jesus … we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:13, 14).

Psalm 1 does contain an implied warning against ungodly values, but this psalm also contains a promise. You see, those who live their lives by God’s Word will be truly blessed. To be blessed means to enjoy the happy and rewarding life that comes from God alone. Real happiness is the peace that comes through the forgiveness of sins. Real happiness is enjoying the glory of living with God and all the faithful departed throughout eternity. This is the blessing that awaits all who delight in God’s Word.

At this moment Eunice and all the faithful in heaven are rejoicing. They are rejoicing as they sing praises to God since He has freed them all from sin and its power, so they are free from all pain and sorrow.

But heaven is not the end. For all the faithful in heaven, there is still something better on the horizon. “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52). Death does not have the final say. Life has the final say. Since Christ has been raised from the dead, we too, will also be raised. So, Eunice’s grave will be as empty as the grave of Jesus! This body that will be buried will be the body raised on that glorious resurrection day!

May we receive the same promise of life everlasting through being declared righteous and this we receive by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone! Amen.

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Eunice Mackenthun's Obituary: https://hantge.com/obituaries/eunice-ida-mackenthun/

Sermon for Lent 1: "The Lord Prevails" (Luke 4:1-13)

 

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

Despite our best efforts, “[We] do not do the good [we] want, but the evil [we] do not want is what [we] keep on doing” (Romans 7:19).

Life can be frustrating. Life is frustrating. Oftentimes, we try our best, but our best just isn’t good enough. We try our best to focus on our sinful condition and renew our efforts to resist temptation, but we often find ourselves seduced by temptation, which often leads to sin.

But it may be good to keep in mind that temptation by itself is not sin. Temptation can be only a suggestion or thought entering the mind. Temptation only becomes a sin when that temptation becomes a delight in our mind. So, if you fail to act on the temptation – in thought, word, or deed – that is not a sin.

On Ash Wednesday, we began the penitential season of Lent. Lent is a period of 40 days, plus Sundays. This season is a time of penitence and focus. Today on this First Sunday in Lent, Jesus takes on Satan firsthand. Jesus takes on Satan intentionally.

[Temptation of Jesus]

Now, Satan and his minions knew full well that Jesus is the Son of God. He knew the true identity of Jesus as soon as Jesus took on our human flesh. But it is likely when Satan heard the voice of God the Father proclaiming about Jesus: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22) at His baptism, this set him off.

It was then – at the announcement of His public ministry – that Jesus – filled with the Holy Spirit – immediately went into the wilderness to take on Satan. Satan took the bait, but he thinks that he is clever enough to take on God and win.

Part of the reason Satan believes he has a chance to best God is that God is also fully man. With this in mind, knowing that Jesus has not eaten in 40 days, Satan begins his temptation by using his favorite trick: seduction.

In the past, seduction has been a great success. Adam and Eve thought the forbidden fruit looked good enough to eat, but only after Satan pointed it out in the Garden. Jesus, too, was hungry. Satan knew that Jesus had to eat. So, Satan said to Jesus: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3).

Jesus must have thought, “I am hungry, I must eat.” But unlike Adam before Him, Jesus would not succumb to Satan’s seduction, instead Jesus responds saying: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’” (Luke 4:4).

Jesus lives by the Word of God. He is the Word of God. And He will not betray Himself – even if experiencing extreme hunger.

But Satan continues thinking of himself as ever clever by showing Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and then says: “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours” (Luke 4:6-7).

Oddly enough, Satan may be correct here. This world and its glory really does belong to Satan. But the thing is, the “authority” and “glory” that Satan claims is only temporary and Satan only makes promises that in the end, he cannot fulfill.

Satan’s authority is only over a fallen world, estranged from God. And he only has this authority because he usurped it from God when he tricked Adam and Eve into sin. In this fallen world, Satan lures us into unchastity, laziness, deceit, deception, anger, impatience, luxury, power. He seeks to tear us apart. Satan wants us to be drawn into unbelief and false security.

Jesus responds: “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve” (Luke 4:8).

Satan’s power over this world will come to an end, as it is only temporary, because “the Word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8b).

Precisely where Adam yielded and Israel failed, Jesus stands firm. Jesus proclaims that true worship is to worship the Lord God.

Satan, who still thinks of himself as clever, then took Jesus to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Luke 4:9-11).

After twice bested by Scripture, Satan now appeals to it, but it is a cheap and deceitful imitation. Satan quotes here from Psalm 91, but he leaves out the phrase “in all Your ways.” You see, Satan knows how to misuse and misapply Scripture to make it sound like God’s Word. Over the many centuries, Satan has led many people to cherry pick Scripture in order to fit what our sinful nature wants.

But unlike Adam before Him, Jesus never wavered with Satan’s temptations. He came to do the will of His Father, not the will of Satan. To this third temptation, Jesus says, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Luke 4:12).

Interestingly, the only words Jesus speaks in this dialog with Satan are quotations from Deuteronomy when the Israelites were tested in the wilderness. Those Israelites then failed to be faithful. Jesus proves to be faithful.

Throughout ever temptation, Jesus remained actively obedient to God’s Law. He held Himself subject to the Law and He fought temptation for us. He has taken our place, not only to die, but also to live a perfect life by keeping the Law of God in its entirety for our salvation.

[Satan Tests Us]

Just as Jesus was tested by Satan, Satan also tests us. Satan questions us: “Did God really say: He created mankind in His image?” “Did God really say: He makes no mistakes?” “Did God really say: Defend and speak well of your neighbor?” “Did God really say: Forgive one another?” “Did God really say: My Word is truth?”

Of course, “yes” is the correct answer to all those questions.

Satan attempts to trick us into getting us to think: “Didn’t God mean: love yourself and accept yourself as you are?” “Didn’t God mean: I can sin now and ask for His forgiveness later?”

You see, Satan tempts us to take things into our own hands, rather than trusting that God will take care of everything for us. Satan’s goal is to lead us into despair and division.

And because of our sinful nature, we often fail in temptation. We become frustrated because we cannot overcome temptation and sin. We often give in. We do not do the good we want. Instead, we do evil. We sin.

[Resisting Satan]

So, how can we resist Satan? Well, we can quote Scripture right back at Him as Jesus did. But let us not forget: We must keep the Law. So, when Satan comes and accuses you of not having kept it, focus on Christ and say this: “There is the Man who has kept it; to Him I cling; He fulfilled it for me and gave His fulfillment to me. Thus, the Law is silenced.”[1]

Jesus’ temptation reminds us that our salvation is also tied to His victory over temptation that took place in the wilderness. If Christ had even once given into temptation, then His suffering and death would have no benefit to us. But indeed, Christ remained obedient to the Law, so that “by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Jesus has taken our place under the Law and fought real temptation for us. We are saved from the power of sin, death, and Satan by the blood of Jesus. And because of Christ’s active obedience, God the Father forgives our sins and credits Christ’s righteousness to us. Christ paid the price for our sin – every sin of thought, word, and deed – to make propitiation for the sins of the people. He did this, so that we would be declared justified, righteous, innocent, and holy.

Take heart knowing that our Savior knows what it is like to be tempted. He willingly faced temptation by our enemy, and He actively resisted every temptation for us and for our salvation! He won the battle, and His victory belongs to all who trust in Him! The Lord prevails and now we – by grace through faith in Him – receive the benefits: forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation! Amen.

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

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

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[1] Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Vol. 2 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1951), 375.

Sermon for Epiphany 7: "The Resurrection Body" (1 Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42)

 

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

Last week, we heard of the “Resurrection Connection” as the Apostle Paul connected the dots between Christ’s bodily resurrection and ours. The issue at hand was that many in Corinth could not fathom the idea of a bodily resurrection.

Instead of holding onto faith, many of the Corinthians were holding on to logic and reason. And since they did not see people being bodily resurrected from the dead in their daily life, many thought the resurrection was bunk.

God certainly gives us logic and reason, but since the fall of Adam, our logic and reason is often flawed, due to sin. So, when we attempt to follow our logic and reason, we are to always remember to test it using God’s Word as He reveals to us in Scripture. Remember, God is God and we are not, so when we end up trusting our logic and reason over God’s Word, we are then putting ourselves in the place of God. We are making ourselves gods.

So, as we heard last week, Paul, through the Holy Spirit, wrote of the eternal benefits of Christ rising from the dead, saying: “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (1 Corinthians 15:16-18).

So, without Christ’s bodily resurrection, the Christian faith is pointless. We are dead in our sins. But since Christ has been raised, the Christian faith is sure and certain. Since, Christ is risen, we shall also rise!

Now that Paul has encouraged the Corinthian church and us of the benefits of Christ’s resurrection, the next question is what does our bodily resurrection look like? Today on this Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany, Paul gives us the most complete commentary on the Christian’s resurrection body.

[The Final Enemy: Death]

Louis XV, the king of France (1710-1774), ordered that no one should speak about death in his presence. He tried to avoid any visible sign or symbol or place that would remind him of the mortal nature of life in this world. Yet, just like us, the king could never escape this last great enemy anymore than a cat can escape its enemy by concealing its body, but leaving its tail exposed.

The reality of death is difficult to deny or ignore. God does not deny death, conceal it, or sugarcoat it like we tend to do today. We all die because we are sinners. Every human body will undergo decay in the grave. But the good news is that the sting of death – its curse and punishment – has been removed through Jesus Christ. “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:21).

Since Christ has been raised from the dead, He has defeated the power of sin, death, and hell. Death has lost its sting! The grave for the Christian becomes the gate to heaven.

So, just as Adam’s sin and death affected not only himself but all of humanity, so the Corinthians needed to appreciate that Christ’s resurrection was not only for His own benefit; through Jesus the resurrection from the dead had become the destiny for all believers. For just as Adam was the head of the old humanity, so that his fall left a legacy of sin and death to all, so Christ stands as the head of the new humanity to be made alive in Him.

It is only through Holy Baptism that we belong to Christ. Through baptism, God gives us faith, so we can receive the gift of resurrection to eternal life. But first things first. The end is not yet, so our loved ones must rest in the grave for a time. But everything will happen in its proper order. Christ’s resurrection is the great first step, the firstfruits hold the promise of everything else. Then His resurrection leaven – all the faithful in Christ – will be raised when He descends from heaven “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet” as He descends through the clouds on that Last Day. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

At no point here does Paul refer to the fate of unbelievers. Paul’s concern here is to bring comfort and hope to the believers. So, at the appointed time, Christ will usher in the consummation of the age through His reign in putting all His enemies under His feet, including the final enemy: death. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26)

The fact that death is our enemy has immense significance at Christian funerals. Sometimes at funerals, one may hear comments like: “Don’t be sad, we should rejoice. This is a victory celebration!” Now, there is a sense that this is true, but death – the last enemy and the sign of sin’s universal dominion over fallen humanity, will not be swallowed up until the Last Day (1 Corinthians 15:54), so Christians are free to grieve the death of their loved ones. But Christians ought not to mourn at funerals as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Christians certainly mourn, but our morning is mixed with hope. Our tears are mixed with faith. Our sadness is mixed with joy.

Christ’s bodily resurrection proves that God the Father has subjected all things, even death, to Him.

[How are the Dead Raised?]

From here, Paul asks in effect, “What’s the point? If the dead are not raised, what good does it to me to live in daily fear of my life” (1 Corinthians 15:30-32). It would make much more sense to get the most out of this life, so “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32; Isaiah 22:13). So, if Christ has not been bodily raised from the dead, let us die “without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).

The world we live in is without hope and without God. Without God, nothing matters. It is a world of nihilism. It is a world of chaos. It is a world of no objective truth. Right is wrong. Wrong is right. Up is down. Down is up. Men are women. Women are men. This is the world we find ourselves in today. It is a world without hope and without God.

But Paul goes deeper into the logic and reason that the Corinthians crave. He speaks of one of their favorite poets Menander, for this man said: “Bad company ruins good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). This is profoundly true. False doctrine fosters loose morals. Here, Paul is urging them and us to not be deceived as we live in the world without hope and without God, that we don’t become like the world. He says this to their shame – and our shame – because although they are Christians, they do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God.

So, don’t lean on your own understanding, but trust in God and the sure promise revealed in His Word. We cannot reason the resurrection. We can only have faith in the resurrection.

“But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’” (1 Corinthians 15:35) Or they may ask it this way: “How can a corpse which has been reduced to dust or ashes be raised to life again?” For the Greeks then, and the unbelieving world today, the concept of a decomposed person coming back to life was a sheer impossibility. Like the Greeks then and the unbelieving world today, they were inclined to scoff.

But from these questions, the Holy Spirit leads Paul into giving us the most complete commentary on our bodily resurrection! He says: “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (1 Corinthians 15:36).

Essentially, you will find the answer to our bodily resurrection by observing your own garden, or for many, your own farm field. Paul is saying: “From your everyday experience in horticulture you can observe the necessary cycle that a seed must first die before it is made alive.”

Martin Luther puts it this way: “The cemetery or burial ground does not indicate a heap of the dead, but a field full of kernels, known as God’s kernels, which will verdantly blossom forth and grow more beautifully than can be imagined.”[1]

So, at His Coming, Christ will raise us up, just as flowers, corn, and beans are grown from dead seeds. So, when death occurs a person is buried – or planted – like a seed in the cemetery. The body awaits the new life that will burst forth in the resurrection!

Oddly enough, the English word “cemetery” comes from a Greek word meaning “sleeping room.” So, the risen Christ is now the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

[Our Resurrection Body]

Then the next question is “What will our resurrection body look like?” Well, the resurrection body will be the same, yet gloriously different. We will be as God created us, but better!

The Lord who created our physical bodies will give us glorious, spiritual bodies. Our bodies in their present condition will be changed in a flash: no longer full of lusts, no longer sinful, no longer limited by hunger, thirst, pain, or mortality. We will have real bodies free from sin!

In the meantime, unless Christ comes first, we will all die, due to sin. But when we die, we die in hope knowing that we are God’s seeds sown only to rise again at the coming of Christ, because He lived, died, and rose again from the dead for us! The fear of death may cause us to deny death or even try to ignore it. But Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though He dies” (John 11:25), so we can face death with peace and confidence.

We know that there is more to come! Our bodies 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! Our mortal bodies buried will be the immortal body raised just as it was for Jesus! Amen!

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

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[1] Martin Luther. Luther’s Works 28:178.