[This is the message prepared for presentation at the funeral of Elmer, a member of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio. The funeral took place earlier this evening.]
Matthew 11:28-30
Mark 1:15
Galatians 5:22-23
John 11:21-27
Yesterday, I visited with one of the people in our congregation who knew Elmer best. He told me, with conviction, “Elmer was the gentlest man I ever met.” This echoes Sharon’s words: “Elmer was a gentleman.” Someone just told me, "He was a gentle giant."
The dictionary says that one way the word gentleman can be defined is, “...a man whose conduct conforms to a high standard of propriety or correct behavior.” That’s certainly part of what marked Elmer as a gentleman. But even more, I think, Elmer had a gentle spirit, a servant’s heart. In Elmer, love for God and love for neighbor was manifest in a simple willingness to do for others.
Everyone who got to know Elmer at Living Water can attest to his gentleness. On learning of Elmer’s passing, one member of the congregation wrote, “Loved Elmer's hugs and smiles. Heaven has a beautiful saint. I will miss him!”
Elmer was also a man who loved to have fun. He had a ready laugh, liked to dance and play golf (and did so nearly to the end of his life) and spend time with people.
Where exactly did Elmer’s gentle, loving personality come from? Well, genetics played its part, I’m sure. And he likely was nurtured to be such a person by his family. Nature and nurture have their effect.
But I think that there was a deeper reason for why Elmer was the kind of man he was.
You know, Jesus invites all we human beings--sinful mortals in need of saving--to daily turn from sin and turn instead to Him for the forgiveness of our sins and life with God that begins in this imperfect world and that will be brought to perfection when all who trust or believe in Jesus will be raised from the dead just like Jesus.
Jesus speaks of this promise a lot.
For example, Jesus once told the crowds that were thronging around Him: “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent [that is, turn from and repudiate your sin] and believe the good news!” [Mark 1:15]
The good news is what Jesus talked about on another occasion: “For God so loved the world [He said] that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16]
But what interests me in connection with Elmer is how Jesus talked about the good news--the gospel--that saves those who lay down their sins and trust their lives to Him in yet another verse of the Bible. There Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30]
The gentleness of spirit we all observed in Elmer came from the Savior in Whom he believed.
This is the Savior Who promises that if we will lay down the burdens of sin, death, and futility into which we’re all born, and take on instead, the yoke of being a follower of Jesus, this gentle, humble Savior will give rest, serenity, peace to our souls.
Once we rest easy in Jesus, we have nothing to prove to God or the world, no incentive to crawl over others in order to stand out or be successful, only to do our best to love God and love others in response to what God has done for us in Christ.
When we daily renounce our sins and daily follow Jesus, we are infused with the power to live with the joy, hope, life, compassion for others, and being at ease in our skin that we saw in Elmer.
Through our faith in Jesus, God unleashes the Holy Spirit in our lives and we reflect the very gentleness we all so appreciated about Elmer.
God’s Word tells us, “...the fruit of the Spirit [the evidence of God living in us] is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” [Galatians 5:22-23] This is what we saw in Elmer.
Of course, the good news of new life through faith in Jesus transforms much more than our lives on this planet. It also gives us an eternity with God, an eternity without fear or death, without goodbyes or grief, without pain or sorrow. It gives us a life with God that never ends.
In the passage we read a few moments ago, we’re told about Jesus going to the little village of Bethany, where a friend of his, a man named Lazarus, has just died. One of Lazarus’ sisters, Martha, is upset with Jesus and tells Him that if He had been around to help Lazarus, her brother would still be alive. But Jesus reminds her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)
Because he believed in Jesus, trusted Jesus as the Lord of his life, the gentleman we remember today, Elmer, will enjoy a perfect life with God that never ends. I’m sure that Elmer wants nothing less than that for all of you.
Let the gentle Savior Jesus cover your sin, overcome your mortality, and give you life with God.
Let Jesus into your life to give you life eternally and to transform you in His gentle image each and every day. Amen
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Showing posts with label John 11:21-27. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John 11:21-27. Show all posts
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Hope and Comfort
[This was shared during the funeral of the father, father-in-law, grandfather, and great-grandfather of friends from Cincinnati earlier today.]
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
John 11:21-27
There’s a passage of Scripture I mentioned as we began today’s service. It comes from the first chapter of the New Testament book of 2 Corinthians and says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort…”
I know something of how important Lee was to people, especially to his family. He was a strong presence in the life of that family, a man who loved his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And he was a vital presence in their lives almost to the end, as the video Dave shared on Facebook the other day, showing Lee teeing up on the golf course at the age of 90, demonstrates. All of you have been blessed to have Lee in your lives and you know it.
But now what?
People who haven’t been blessed as you have, strangers to Lee or to all of you, might not understand that it’s possible to grieve just as much, sometimes more, for an older person who has left this life as it is to grieve for someone younger. When someone has been the patriarch of a family for so long, it leaves a hole in many lives.
So, the first thing that I would say this morning is that you shouldn’t let anyone tell you that it’s time to snap out of it, time to stop feeling your loss.
As I read God’s Word, the Bible, it becomes clear to me that death was never meant to be part of the human experience. We were created in the “image of God,” Genesis says, and the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes tells us that God “has put eternity into [humanity’s] heart…” We have every right to feel offended by death, to resent its removal of loved ones from our lives. We weren’t made for death. It’s offensive and hurtful to us.
Listen: It’s offensive to God and hurts God too. He loves us. He wants more for us than death and grief. He wants to give us life and hope and peace.
That’s exactly why He took on human flesh in the person of Jesus, Who took the death sentence for sin each of us inherits at birth and then rose from the dead so that all who turn from their own sin and trust in Him have a life with God that cannot be taken from them.
When a friend of Jesus, a man named Lazarus, died, Jesus took His apostles with Him to the little village of Bethany. Some regarded this as a risky trip because, by that time, the forces of government and religion had decided that Jesus needed to be killed and Bethany was close to Jerusalem, where temple police or Roman soldiers could easily get their hands on Him. But Jesus went anyway.
Lazarus had two sisters, who also lived in Bethany. Martha was the first of them to see Jesus when He got to Bethany and she was none too pleased with Him. She and her sister had sent urgent pleas to Jesus to come and help their brother. They were sure that Jesus, Who already had a track record of miracle-working, could come and heal Lazarus. But, by the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus was dead four days.
And so, when Jesus arrives, Martha is reproachful. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother he would not have died,” she tells Him. “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” They exchange a few more words, then Jesus tells her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Jesus was offering to Martha at that moment the same thing that He offers you today: hope. Hope that when we dare to follow Christ, dare to turn away from sin, and turn to Him in trust, we have life with God. It’s a hope that God will be with us always and a hope that death need not have the last word over the lives of those who trust in Jesus.
To all people, Christ offers universally and unreservedly the chance to receive what, deep in our souls, we all know we were made for, eternal life with God. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” Jesus says elsewhere. “No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.” As we turn to Jesus each day, He brings God’s hope to us, even when we grieve.
But this same God can give something else to you today. I pray that you’ll take it as He offers it to you. It’s mentioned in that passage from 2 Corinthians I spoke of a few moments ago: Comfort. The passage calls God “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”
If you seek God, the God made plain in Jesus, He can bring you comfort.
I remember being at a funeral visitation. One of the friends who stopped by to visit the grieving family was a man I’d met several times previously. We fell into conversation. He talked about how it had been when he lost his wife of fifty some years. They had been inseparable and he was devastated. He talked about how often at night he would fall to his knees in his bedroom and cry out, “God have mercy on me.” God’s Word, the Bible, promises that all who call on God will be saved. This man, as he called on God for help, was saved from facing His grief alone. “I don’t know how I would have survived without God’s help,” he told me.
And speaking personally, when I had a heart attack seven years ago and needed to be hospitalized, my son spent the night with me. As I lay in bed, I asked him to read some Scripture to me. I'll never forget the comfort I felt amid the noise in my soul when he read the words of Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God."
The God Who has experienced death and grief Himself, wants to offer that same comfort to you today.
He wants you to know that you’re right to be hurt by the loss of your father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend.
He wants you to know that, for all who dare to trust in Christ, there is a hope for life with God in this world and a perfect life with God in the world to come, and there is comfort for those who run into the strong, compassionate arms of the God Who made you, loves you, died for you, rose for you.
Take the comfort and hope that only the God we meet in Jesus can offer.
And know that a lot of people, including Ann and me and our family, love you. God bless all of you. Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
John 11:21-27
There’s a passage of Scripture I mentioned as we began today’s service. It comes from the first chapter of the New Testament book of 2 Corinthians and says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort…”
I know something of how important Lee was to people, especially to his family. He was a strong presence in the life of that family, a man who loved his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And he was a vital presence in their lives almost to the end, as the video Dave shared on Facebook the other day, showing Lee teeing up on the golf course at the age of 90, demonstrates. All of you have been blessed to have Lee in your lives and you know it.
But now what?
People who haven’t been blessed as you have, strangers to Lee or to all of you, might not understand that it’s possible to grieve just as much, sometimes more, for an older person who has left this life as it is to grieve for someone younger. When someone has been the patriarch of a family for so long, it leaves a hole in many lives.
So, the first thing that I would say this morning is that you shouldn’t let anyone tell you that it’s time to snap out of it, time to stop feeling your loss.
As I read God’s Word, the Bible, it becomes clear to me that death was never meant to be part of the human experience. We were created in the “image of God,” Genesis says, and the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes tells us that God “has put eternity into [humanity’s] heart…” We have every right to feel offended by death, to resent its removal of loved ones from our lives. We weren’t made for death. It’s offensive and hurtful to us.
Listen: It’s offensive to God and hurts God too. He loves us. He wants more for us than death and grief. He wants to give us life and hope and peace.
That’s exactly why He took on human flesh in the person of Jesus, Who took the death sentence for sin each of us inherits at birth and then rose from the dead so that all who turn from their own sin and trust in Him have a life with God that cannot be taken from them.
When a friend of Jesus, a man named Lazarus, died, Jesus took His apostles with Him to the little village of Bethany. Some regarded this as a risky trip because, by that time, the forces of government and religion had decided that Jesus needed to be killed and Bethany was close to Jerusalem, where temple police or Roman soldiers could easily get their hands on Him. But Jesus went anyway.
Lazarus had two sisters, who also lived in Bethany. Martha was the first of them to see Jesus when He got to Bethany and she was none too pleased with Him. She and her sister had sent urgent pleas to Jesus to come and help their brother. They were sure that Jesus, Who already had a track record of miracle-working, could come and heal Lazarus. But, by the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus was dead four days.
And so, when Jesus arrives, Martha is reproachful. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother he would not have died,” she tells Him. “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” They exchange a few more words, then Jesus tells her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Jesus was offering to Martha at that moment the same thing that He offers you today: hope. Hope that when we dare to follow Christ, dare to turn away from sin, and turn to Him in trust, we have life with God. It’s a hope that God will be with us always and a hope that death need not have the last word over the lives of those who trust in Jesus.
To all people, Christ offers universally and unreservedly the chance to receive what, deep in our souls, we all know we were made for, eternal life with God. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” Jesus says elsewhere. “No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.” As we turn to Jesus each day, He brings God’s hope to us, even when we grieve.
But this same God can give something else to you today. I pray that you’ll take it as He offers it to you. It’s mentioned in that passage from 2 Corinthians I spoke of a few moments ago: Comfort. The passage calls God “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”
If you seek God, the God made plain in Jesus, He can bring you comfort.
I remember being at a funeral visitation. One of the friends who stopped by to visit the grieving family was a man I’d met several times previously. We fell into conversation. He talked about how it had been when he lost his wife of fifty some years. They had been inseparable and he was devastated. He talked about how often at night he would fall to his knees in his bedroom and cry out, “God have mercy on me.” God’s Word, the Bible, promises that all who call on God will be saved. This man, as he called on God for help, was saved from facing His grief alone. “I don’t know how I would have survived without God’s help,” he told me.
And speaking personally, when I had a heart attack seven years ago and needed to be hospitalized, my son spent the night with me. As I lay in bed, I asked him to read some Scripture to me. I'll never forget the comfort I felt amid the noise in my soul when he read the words of Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God."
The God Who has experienced death and grief Himself, wants to offer that same comfort to you today.
He wants you to know that you’re right to be hurt by the loss of your father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend.
He wants you to know that, for all who dare to trust in Christ, there is a hope for life with God in this world and a perfect life with God in the world to come, and there is comfort for those who run into the strong, compassionate arms of the God Who made you, loves you, died for you, rose for you.
Take the comfort and hope that only the God we meet in Jesus can offer.
And know that a lot of people, including Ann and me and our family, love you. God bless all of you. Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Hope in the Midst of Grief (Message at My Mother's Funeral)
Romans 8:31-39
John 11:21-27
[This was shared during my mother's funeral earlier today.]
I was seven-and-a-half years old and it was the Summer of 1961. It was a sunny but breezy morning, a beautiful day, the air clear of humidity, and I was laying in my bed, in that place between sleep and wakefulness.
The night before, we’d gone to my grandparents’ house to see my great-grandmother, who was dying. Mom ushered me to my great-grandmother’s bedside. “Grandma,” mom said, “here’s Mark. Do you remember Mark?” Grandma, her eyes hardly open, put the fingers of her right hand to her forehead and, with obvious frustration at her failure of memory, shook her head, “No.” I knew then that Grandma was not long for this world.
On the glorious summer morning that followed, mom sat on the edge of my bed and woke me. “Mark,” she said, “this morning, Grandma is walking the streets of gold with your great-grandfather.”
My great-grandmother was, it should be said, just like the rest of us, a sinner whose behavior and thinking often, in Saint Paul’s phrase, fell short of the glory of God. But my great-grandmother was also a saint, like all sinners who turn from sin and trust in the crucified and risen Jesus as their God and Savior. She had been saved from sin and death by the grace (or charity) of God that comes to all with faith in Christ. That’s what a saint is!
The image my mom chose to break the news to me that my great-grandmother had died, comes from Revelation 21:21, in the New Testament. It’s part of the vision John, the apostle and evangelist, saw of the heavenly city--part of the new heaven and the new earth that God intends to establish after He draws the curtain on this universe, which is plagued by human sin and death. God will replace it with a city in which all who have been made clean and new by Jesus’ blood, will live with God for eternity. John writes: “The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.”
I found comfort in thinking of my great-grandmother walking those streets in the perfect light of Jesus Christ’s love and rule. It's all the more comforting to me today because it happens to tell the truth about what will happen for all who trust in Christ.
The truth of Jesus’ resurrection and His promise of everlasting life for all who entrust their lives to Him--which is what it means to have faith--can also fill our days with peace, power, and freedom.
Even in the midst of grief.
Once, as you probably know, a friend of Jesus, a man named Lazarus died. Jesus deliberately waited to go to Lazarus’ hometown of Bethany until He knew that Lazarus was dead. Jesus, God in the flesh, intended to demonstrate the power of God over life and death. He would go to Bethany and raise Lazarus from death.
But Lazarus’ two sisters, Martha and Mary, also friends and followers of Jesus, had no idea what Jesus’ plan was. They only knew that they had asked for Jesus to come to Bethany as Lazarus lay on his deathbed, that Jesus hadn’t shown up, and that now Lazarus was dead.
There’s a note of condemnation in Martha’s words when Jesus does come to Bethany. “Lord,” she says, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” But then, demonstrating that she understands that Jesus is much more than a nice man or a great teacher, Martha also says: “...I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus told Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
And then Jesus asked the most important question any of us will ever have to answer: “Do you believe this?”
It’s the question I want to lay before you today: Do you believe this?
Here’s why this question is so important: When you know that, through Christ and your faith in Him, you belong to God for all eternity, you know that whatever this world can do for you or do to you, doesn’t matter much.
There is no one freer to live life with abandon, joy, peace, and love than the person who belongs to Jesus Christ.
You know how the game ends.
Believing in Jesus isn’t just about having an insurance policy for the sweet-by-and-by.
Believing in Jesus means that because you know Jesus has given you eternity as a gift of grace, you can live this life without fear!
You can live with God’s help in being everything God made you to be! You can love God and others with abandon. You can fight for justice. All because you know that there's nothing that this world can take away from you that means a thing.
That’s freedom!
When Jesus later called his dead friend Lazarus from the tomb, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the earthly powers-that-be; they feared that a guy Who could call people back from the dead might swipe their power. Jesus had to be done away with. (Although they didn’t seem to consider how they were going to really to do away with a Man Who had power over life and death.) But you can be sure that for as long as he continued to live on this earth, Lazarus, who like all of us, would someday die, lived with a fierce and joyous abandon.
When you know that one day, you will walk the streets of gold with all who have believed that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, you don’t have a lot to fear or worry about. That’s the life of joyful abandon and peace that God wants for everyone gathered here today.
None of this means that we won’t or shouldn’t grieve. We will grieve. The Bible doesn't say that believers in Christ don't grieve. It says that while we may grieve, we don't grieve as people without hope. So, we will grieve, although I have to say that I did a lot of my grieving for my mom over the past forty-plus years as she seemed, sadly, to turn in on herself more and more.
The abandonment she felt as a child. The depression that dogged her in her adult years. These things made living hard for mom.
And it made things hard for our father, a man I love, appreciate, and respect more than I can say. Dad, like me and like the rest of us, you aren’t perfect. (I mean, for crying out loud, you don’t like garlic!) But you are a great man and a loving man whose care for mom all these years has been an example to us all.
We carry with us the hope that because of Jesus and our faith in Him, neither death, depression, nor anything else this world may bring us will have the last words over my mother’s life.
We can be confident that the person of essential sweetness and vitality we knew in younger years and even sometimes in her later years in the midst of her sad withdrawal, will re-emerge and be brought to perfection in the eternal city:
The woman who used to load up her kids when dad was working nights at the filling station and take us to Marina’s for spaghetti dinner because she was craving spaghetti. (Probably because she was pregnant, because she seemed to be pregnant all the time in those days.)
The woman who would laugh so hard at the jokes of my brother Marty or my cousin Susie that you thought she might burst with joy.
The woman of great creativity who used to enter her creations and take blue ribbons at the State Fair.
The woman who adored just being with her three girls: Betsy, Kathy, and Dianne.
The woman whose face brightened even as she lay dying as she caught sight of her dear son, Martin.
And, if we will trust in Jesus Christ, He will go to work on us in this life (we will become what Martin Luther called, "the Holy Spirit's workshop") and bring to perfection in the life to come, the people we were made to be, unintimidated by disease, death, doubts, hurts, fears, or anything else. It will be, as God said of the perfect world He created before the human race plunged it into sin and death, “Very good.”
If today I could presume to speak a word for my mom, now living in the perfect clarity of eternity, to you today it would be this: If you want to live this life to the full, follow Jesus. And if those streets of gold, laid open to us by the grace and power of God, sound good to you, follow Jesus. Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
John 11:21-27
[This was shared during my mother's funeral earlier today.]
I was seven-and-a-half years old and it was the Summer of 1961. It was a sunny but breezy morning, a beautiful day, the air clear of humidity, and I was laying in my bed, in that place between sleep and wakefulness.
The night before, we’d gone to my grandparents’ house to see my great-grandmother, who was dying. Mom ushered me to my great-grandmother’s bedside. “Grandma,” mom said, “here’s Mark. Do you remember Mark?” Grandma, her eyes hardly open, put the fingers of her right hand to her forehead and, with obvious frustration at her failure of memory, shook her head, “No.” I knew then that Grandma was not long for this world.
On the glorious summer morning that followed, mom sat on the edge of my bed and woke me. “Mark,” she said, “this morning, Grandma is walking the streets of gold with your great-grandfather.”
My great-grandmother was, it should be said, just like the rest of us, a sinner whose behavior and thinking often, in Saint Paul’s phrase, fell short of the glory of God. But my great-grandmother was also a saint, like all sinners who turn from sin and trust in the crucified and risen Jesus as their God and Savior. She had been saved from sin and death by the grace (or charity) of God that comes to all with faith in Christ. That’s what a saint is!
The image my mom chose to break the news to me that my great-grandmother had died, comes from Revelation 21:21, in the New Testament. It’s part of the vision John, the apostle and evangelist, saw of the heavenly city--part of the new heaven and the new earth that God intends to establish after He draws the curtain on this universe, which is plagued by human sin and death. God will replace it with a city in which all who have been made clean and new by Jesus’ blood, will live with God for eternity. John writes: “The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.”
I found comfort in thinking of my great-grandmother walking those streets in the perfect light of Jesus Christ’s love and rule. It's all the more comforting to me today because it happens to tell the truth about what will happen for all who trust in Christ.
The truth of Jesus’ resurrection and His promise of everlasting life for all who entrust their lives to Him--which is what it means to have faith--can also fill our days with peace, power, and freedom.
Even in the midst of grief.
Once, as you probably know, a friend of Jesus, a man named Lazarus died. Jesus deliberately waited to go to Lazarus’ hometown of Bethany until He knew that Lazarus was dead. Jesus, God in the flesh, intended to demonstrate the power of God over life and death. He would go to Bethany and raise Lazarus from death.
But Lazarus’ two sisters, Martha and Mary, also friends and followers of Jesus, had no idea what Jesus’ plan was. They only knew that they had asked for Jesus to come to Bethany as Lazarus lay on his deathbed, that Jesus hadn’t shown up, and that now Lazarus was dead.
There’s a note of condemnation in Martha’s words when Jesus does come to Bethany. “Lord,” she says, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” But then, demonstrating that she understands that Jesus is much more than a nice man or a great teacher, Martha also says: “...I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus told Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
And then Jesus asked the most important question any of us will ever have to answer: “Do you believe this?”
It’s the question I want to lay before you today: Do you believe this?
Here’s why this question is so important: When you know that, through Christ and your faith in Him, you belong to God for all eternity, you know that whatever this world can do for you or do to you, doesn’t matter much.
There is no one freer to live life with abandon, joy, peace, and love than the person who belongs to Jesus Christ.
You know how the game ends.
Believing in Jesus isn’t just about having an insurance policy for the sweet-by-and-by.
Believing in Jesus means that because you know Jesus has given you eternity as a gift of grace, you can live this life without fear!
You can live with God’s help in being everything God made you to be! You can love God and others with abandon. You can fight for justice. All because you know that there's nothing that this world can take away from you that means a thing.
That’s freedom!
When Jesus later called his dead friend Lazarus from the tomb, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the earthly powers-that-be; they feared that a guy Who could call people back from the dead might swipe their power. Jesus had to be done away with. (Although they didn’t seem to consider how they were going to really to do away with a Man Who had power over life and death.) But you can be sure that for as long as he continued to live on this earth, Lazarus, who like all of us, would someday die, lived with a fierce and joyous abandon.
When you know that one day, you will walk the streets of gold with all who have believed that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, you don’t have a lot to fear or worry about. That’s the life of joyful abandon and peace that God wants for everyone gathered here today.
None of this means that we won’t or shouldn’t grieve. We will grieve. The Bible doesn't say that believers in Christ don't grieve. It says that while we may grieve, we don't grieve as people without hope. So, we will grieve, although I have to say that I did a lot of my grieving for my mom over the past forty-plus years as she seemed, sadly, to turn in on herself more and more.
The abandonment she felt as a child. The depression that dogged her in her adult years. These things made living hard for mom.
And it made things hard for our father, a man I love, appreciate, and respect more than I can say. Dad, like me and like the rest of us, you aren’t perfect. (I mean, for crying out loud, you don’t like garlic!) But you are a great man and a loving man whose care for mom all these years has been an example to us all.
We carry with us the hope that because of Jesus and our faith in Him, neither death, depression, nor anything else this world may bring us will have the last words over my mother’s life.
We can be confident that the person of essential sweetness and vitality we knew in younger years and even sometimes in her later years in the midst of her sad withdrawal, will re-emerge and be brought to perfection in the eternal city:
The woman who used to load up her kids when dad was working nights at the filling station and take us to Marina’s for spaghetti dinner because she was craving spaghetti. (Probably because she was pregnant, because she seemed to be pregnant all the time in those days.)
The woman who would laugh so hard at the jokes of my brother Marty or my cousin Susie that you thought she might burst with joy.
The woman of great creativity who used to enter her creations and take blue ribbons at the State Fair.
The woman who adored just being with her three girls: Betsy, Kathy, and Dianne.
The woman whose face brightened even as she lay dying as she caught sight of her dear son, Martin.
And, if we will trust in Jesus Christ, He will go to work on us in this life (we will become what Martin Luther called, "the Holy Spirit's workshop") and bring to perfection in the life to come, the people we were made to be, unintimidated by disease, death, doubts, hurts, fears, or anything else. It will be, as God said of the perfect world He created before the human race plunged it into sin and death, “Very good.”
If today I could presume to speak a word for my mom, now living in the perfect clarity of eternity, to you today it would be this: If you want to live this life to the full, follow Jesus. And if those streets of gold, laid open to us by the grace and power of God, sound good to you, follow Jesus. Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Monday, February 20, 2017
Resurrection Hope
John 11:21-27
[This was a message presented during a memorial service today.]
As I learned a little bit about Ella last week, I got the idea she was someone I would have liked knowing. It seems she tried her hand at everything. She was an adventurous traveler, a musician, an avid listener of music, a seamstress, a history buff, and a nurse. And I’m sure that had I gotten to know her, she would have opened my eyes to a whole culture I know nothing about, the world of QVC.
As you gather to honor a mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and friend today, it’s good to laugh together as well as to grieve together. It’s wonderful to draw on happy memories in the midst of grief.
But, of course, our laughter and smiles would amount to nothing more than whistling in the dark were it not for Jesus Christ. Jesus is God in human flesh, Who led a sinless life and sacrificed Himself on the cross He didn’t deserve so that all who daily turn from sin and daily entrust their lives to Him have life with God today and, beyond the gates of our own death, in eternity, a place where death and grief will no longer afflict us. As Jesus told a man named Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16]
In the midst of your grief for one you loved and the inevitable reminder of your own mortality your loss brings, it’s good to remember that we have not only Jesus’ own resurrection to remind us of His power over death and life. He displayed this power on more than a few occasions, in the presence of many hundreds of witnesses. In fact, just a few verses beyond our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus is seen displaying this power again in raising yet another person from the dead.
In our lesson, John 11:21-27, Jesus’ friend Lazarus has died. Jesus had known that Lazarus was dying several days earlier and had deliberately waited for Lazarus’ death before journeying to the village of Bethany with the twelve apostles. His intention was to demonstrate the power of God to bring new life to the dead, a sign of Who He was and is. He would raise Lazarus from the dead.
But, of course, nobody else knew that. When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Martha initially speaks to Jesus almost reproachfully.
Yet, even her words of reproach are tinged with an understanding of just Who Jesus is and what He can do for those who trust in Him. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Even now, in the midst of my grief, Martha was saying, I know Your connection to God the Father. Even now, I understand that You are more than just a man, more than a great teacher or a good guy. And even now, I know that you have the power to reverse the impact that sin, death, and darkness have on human life. You can change everything.
Martha, in a way, had no idea what she was saying. All she knew was that she trusted--she believed in--Jesus. And you can too. Even in the midst of your grief.
Jesus assured Martha that her brother would rise again. Pious Jews, especially those who belonged to the sect of Judaism known as Pharisees, believed that those who trusted in God would rise from the dead, that the grave was not the end of life for those who lived a lifestyle of repentance and belief. And so, Martha says of her brother: “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
'Wait a moment,' Jesus seems to say next, 'you miss my point, Martha. I’m not saying that God has control over life and death just in the sweet by-and-by. God controls life and death and eternity here and now!'
Eternity in the presence of God can invade the earthly lives of anyone who trusts in Christ. That’s true right now, even in the midst of griefs and challenges. And so Jesus tells Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.”
For the believer in the God we meet and know in Jesus, the resurrection of the dead isn’t some theological abstraction, a phrase in a dusty creed. Resurrected life happens in Him. Life beyond the grave and life beyond the fear of death, the fear of a meaningless life, happens in Jesus and in Jesus alone.
This is why Jesus says elsewhere: “I and the Father are one” and “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus is the way to life. He’s the source of all life and the source of all life beyond the grave. Only Jesus can comfort us in our sorrow, give meaning to our lives, and save us from sin and death.
That's why the first Christians said: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4:12]
This is exactly what Jesus told Martha as she grieved for her brother. It’s what He tells you and me today. And He promises Martha, and you, and me, and all who grieve or who face death themselves: “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
Then Jesus asked the most important question any of us will ever be asked, the question on which the fate of our eternal existences hinges, and the question which, I am told, Ella answered in the affirmative: “Do you believe this?”
Do you believe this?
Do you believe that Jesus Himself rose from the dead, a fact that more than 500 witnesses insisted on despite facing certain persecution and possible death for sticking to their witness?
Do you believe that Jesus has the power to give life beyond the grave?
Do you believe that Jesus has the power to give you life, strength, joy, comfort, peace, and purpose even now?
When Martha was asked if she believed, her response was clear: “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
None of us knows what our tomorrows in this world may bring. But we do know that everything--past, present, future, and eternity--belongs to the God we meet in Jesus Christ.
That was the faith of Martha.
It was Ella’s faith.
It's the faith of Christ's Church.
And it can be our faith too.
Jesus is the resurrection, the God Who makes all things new. As you grieve and look to your future, trust in Him to be your resurrection and your life. He will never let you down. Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
[This was a message presented during a memorial service today.]
As I learned a little bit about Ella last week, I got the idea she was someone I would have liked knowing. It seems she tried her hand at everything. She was an adventurous traveler, a musician, an avid listener of music, a seamstress, a history buff, and a nurse. And I’m sure that had I gotten to know her, she would have opened my eyes to a whole culture I know nothing about, the world of QVC.
As you gather to honor a mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and friend today, it’s good to laugh together as well as to grieve together. It’s wonderful to draw on happy memories in the midst of grief.
But, of course, our laughter and smiles would amount to nothing more than whistling in the dark were it not for Jesus Christ. Jesus is God in human flesh, Who led a sinless life and sacrificed Himself on the cross He didn’t deserve so that all who daily turn from sin and daily entrust their lives to Him have life with God today and, beyond the gates of our own death, in eternity, a place where death and grief will no longer afflict us. As Jesus told a man named Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16]
In the midst of your grief for one you loved and the inevitable reminder of your own mortality your loss brings, it’s good to remember that we have not only Jesus’ own resurrection to remind us of His power over death and life. He displayed this power on more than a few occasions, in the presence of many hundreds of witnesses. In fact, just a few verses beyond our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus is seen displaying this power again in raising yet another person from the dead.
In our lesson, John 11:21-27, Jesus’ friend Lazarus has died. Jesus had known that Lazarus was dying several days earlier and had deliberately waited for Lazarus’ death before journeying to the village of Bethany with the twelve apostles. His intention was to demonstrate the power of God to bring new life to the dead, a sign of Who He was and is. He would raise Lazarus from the dead.
But, of course, nobody else knew that. When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Martha initially speaks to Jesus almost reproachfully.
Yet, even her words of reproach are tinged with an understanding of just Who Jesus is and what He can do for those who trust in Him. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Even now, in the midst of my grief, Martha was saying, I know Your connection to God the Father. Even now, I understand that You are more than just a man, more than a great teacher or a good guy. And even now, I know that you have the power to reverse the impact that sin, death, and darkness have on human life. You can change everything.
Martha, in a way, had no idea what she was saying. All she knew was that she trusted--she believed in--Jesus. And you can too. Even in the midst of your grief.
Jesus assured Martha that her brother would rise again. Pious Jews, especially those who belonged to the sect of Judaism known as Pharisees, believed that those who trusted in God would rise from the dead, that the grave was not the end of life for those who lived a lifestyle of repentance and belief. And so, Martha says of her brother: “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
'Wait a moment,' Jesus seems to say next, 'you miss my point, Martha. I’m not saying that God has control over life and death just in the sweet by-and-by. God controls life and death and eternity here and now!'
Eternity in the presence of God can invade the earthly lives of anyone who trusts in Christ. That’s true right now, even in the midst of griefs and challenges. And so Jesus tells Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.”
For the believer in the God we meet and know in Jesus, the resurrection of the dead isn’t some theological abstraction, a phrase in a dusty creed. Resurrected life happens in Him. Life beyond the grave and life beyond the fear of death, the fear of a meaningless life, happens in Jesus and in Jesus alone.
This is why Jesus says elsewhere: “I and the Father are one” and “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus is the way to life. He’s the source of all life and the source of all life beyond the grave. Only Jesus can comfort us in our sorrow, give meaning to our lives, and save us from sin and death.
That's why the first Christians said: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4:12]
This is exactly what Jesus told Martha as she grieved for her brother. It’s what He tells you and me today. And He promises Martha, and you, and me, and all who grieve or who face death themselves: “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
Then Jesus asked the most important question any of us will ever be asked, the question on which the fate of our eternal existences hinges, and the question which, I am told, Ella answered in the affirmative: “Do you believe this?”
Do you believe this?
Do you believe that Jesus Himself rose from the dead, a fact that more than 500 witnesses insisted on despite facing certain persecution and possible death for sticking to their witness?
Do you believe that Jesus has the power to give life beyond the grave?
Do you believe that Jesus has the power to give you life, strength, joy, comfort, peace, and purpose even now?
When Martha was asked if she believed, her response was clear: “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
None of us knows what our tomorrows in this world may bring. But we do know that everything--past, present, future, and eternity--belongs to the God we meet in Jesus Christ.
That was the faith of Martha.
It was Ella’s faith.
It's the faith of Christ's Church.
And it can be our faith too.
Jesus is the resurrection, the God Who makes all things new. As you grieve and look to your future, trust in Him to be your resurrection and your life. He will never let you down. Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Truly Remarkable
[This was shared during a memorial service for Gertie this week. She was the mother of a high school classmate I have known since we were in the fourth grade. Gertie was also my Cub Scout den mother.]
Psalm 116:12-16
2 Timothy 4:6-8
John 11:21-27
On Thursday, Eric said something about his mother that stuck with me. “Her life was remarkable for being so unremarkable.”
By that he meant that Gertie’s long life, though not always easy, wasn’t marked by much in the way of tragedy. Born and raised in Jackson County, she and her husband Frank came to Columbus in search of greater opportunity for themselves and, eventually, for their sons, Jan and Eric, on the west side. They raised their children. Gertie doted on her grandchildren and loved her great-grandchildren. I understand what Eric meant by saying Gertie’s life was remarkable for being unremarkable.
But I can tell you this afternoon that from the perspective of heaven, Gertie’s was also a remarkable life! In Psalm 116, which we considered a few moments ago, we’re told: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of one of his servants.”
Part of the problem with living in this world is that we’ve grown too accustomed to death. We look at the death of someone who has reached nearly ninety-eight years of age and say, “She lived a good life. She was healthy almost near the end.”
And that’s true in this world. But in judging things from the perspective of this world, we display a lower standard for our lives than God has for us.
The book of Genesis tells us that we were “made in the image of God” and in Ecclesiastes, we’re told that God has set eternity in human hearts.
God built us not for death, but for eternity. With Adam’s and Eve’s fall though, we have become inheritors of things like aging and disease and death, along with an inclination to rebel against God just as Adam and Eve did. We’ve become accustomed to death.
But God never has!
That’s why He sent His Son Jesus on the first Christmas to bear our sin and mortality on a cross, then raised Him from the dead so that all who believe in Him can have forgiveness for sin and life with God, life as it was meant to be. As Jesus put it to His friend Martha as she grieved the death of her brother, Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
God hates death!
And that’s why the psalm tells us that the death of one of His servants is precious to God.
And Gertie was a servant of God. Her servant heart could be seen in the three most important realms of her life: her church (the same church in which Eric and I were confirmed together), her family, and the west side.
My personal recollection of her is that she never, in a phrase I learned from my Jackson County mother-in-law, “put on the dog.” Over the years, my mother has remarked more than once that Gertie was one of the few women in the Westgate Elementary PTA who didn’t spend most of the meeting time bragging on her kids.
Now, I’m sure that Jan and Eric did many things that she could have bragged about. But bragging isn’t what servants of God do.
They let their serving and their lives of steady commitment to God and to the important things in life do their talking for them. Like the apostle Paul in the New Testament, a servant’s attitude is “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness,” because it’s in the recognition of our weaknesses and vulnerability that we become more dependent on God and His power will shine through lives of service and love and good humor.
I know that in making these observations about Gertie, I’m preaching to the choir, so to speak. The people here at the apartment complex knew what kind of person she was.
Her family also know what kinds of people you have been for her: warm, caring, considerate friends with servant hearts.
The community you share, in fact, may be remarkable because it’s so unremarkable. No great drama. Just aging children of God living in the kind of fellowship, community, and mutual encouragement and support for which God made each and every one of us.
You have been Gertie’s cheerleaders and God wants us all to be cheerleaders to each other. You’ve exhibited the confidence in God’s grace and goodness that makes it possible to live life as the apostle Paul said believers should live. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,” he writes. “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves…” Your love for Gertie has been a witness to her family!
A few moments ago, I said that we’ve grown too accustomed to death. That’s true in one way. But in another way, it’s not. If we were as accustomed to death as we often seem to be, family and friends wouldn’t grieve over the loss of a mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend. You will miss this woman who has been such a remarkable (and long-time) presence in your lives. It would be unnatural for you not to grieve!
But there is good news! God did send Jesus into the world to ensure that death need not be the end of our life stories. Jesus says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” For all who turn from sin and trust in Christ, that is a promise to latch onto today and for all eternity. We may endure all kinds of griefs and deaths in this world, but God has crashed into this world and destroyed the hold of griefs and death over us. He has set us free to be servants of God, who even as we face our own deaths, can say with the apostle Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
The good fight to which Christ calls us, the good fight I believe that Gertie fought each day, was the fight to hold onto Christ. To trust in Jesus, to believe in Him.
To those willing to trust in Him, Jesus gives the power to believe, the power to hold on, the ability to be servants of God who don’t need to “put on the dog” because God has already proven their value on Christ’s cross, and the privilege of living with God forever.
Hold onto Christ today and always.
He will be your comfort, your strength.
He will dry your tears.
And one day, Jesus Christ will give you happy reunions with Gertie and with all the saints who have trusted in Him. God bless you. Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Psalm 116:12-16
2 Timothy 4:6-8
John 11:21-27
On Thursday, Eric said something about his mother that stuck with me. “Her life was remarkable for being so unremarkable.”
By that he meant that Gertie’s long life, though not always easy, wasn’t marked by much in the way of tragedy. Born and raised in Jackson County, she and her husband Frank came to Columbus in search of greater opportunity for themselves and, eventually, for their sons, Jan and Eric, on the west side. They raised their children. Gertie doted on her grandchildren and loved her great-grandchildren. I understand what Eric meant by saying Gertie’s life was remarkable for being unremarkable.
But I can tell you this afternoon that from the perspective of heaven, Gertie’s was also a remarkable life! In Psalm 116, which we considered a few moments ago, we’re told: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of one of his servants.”
Part of the problem with living in this world is that we’ve grown too accustomed to death. We look at the death of someone who has reached nearly ninety-eight years of age and say, “She lived a good life. She was healthy almost near the end.”
And that’s true in this world. But in judging things from the perspective of this world, we display a lower standard for our lives than God has for us.
The book of Genesis tells us that we were “made in the image of God” and in Ecclesiastes, we’re told that God has set eternity in human hearts.
God built us not for death, but for eternity. With Adam’s and Eve’s fall though, we have become inheritors of things like aging and disease and death, along with an inclination to rebel against God just as Adam and Eve did. We’ve become accustomed to death.
But God never has!
That’s why He sent His Son Jesus on the first Christmas to bear our sin and mortality on a cross, then raised Him from the dead so that all who believe in Him can have forgiveness for sin and life with God, life as it was meant to be. As Jesus put it to His friend Martha as she grieved the death of her brother, Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
God hates death!
And that’s why the psalm tells us that the death of one of His servants is precious to God.
And Gertie was a servant of God. Her servant heart could be seen in the three most important realms of her life: her church (the same church in which Eric and I were confirmed together), her family, and the west side.
My personal recollection of her is that she never, in a phrase I learned from my Jackson County mother-in-law, “put on the dog.” Over the years, my mother has remarked more than once that Gertie was one of the few women in the Westgate Elementary PTA who didn’t spend most of the meeting time bragging on her kids.
Now, I’m sure that Jan and Eric did many things that she could have bragged about. But bragging isn’t what servants of God do.
They let their serving and their lives of steady commitment to God and to the important things in life do their talking for them. Like the apostle Paul in the New Testament, a servant’s attitude is “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness,” because it’s in the recognition of our weaknesses and vulnerability that we become more dependent on God and His power will shine through lives of service and love and good humor.
I know that in making these observations about Gertie, I’m preaching to the choir, so to speak. The people here at the apartment complex knew what kind of person she was.
Her family also know what kinds of people you have been for her: warm, caring, considerate friends with servant hearts.
The community you share, in fact, may be remarkable because it’s so unremarkable. No great drama. Just aging children of God living in the kind of fellowship, community, and mutual encouragement and support for which God made each and every one of us.
You have been Gertie’s cheerleaders and God wants us all to be cheerleaders to each other. You’ve exhibited the confidence in God’s grace and goodness that makes it possible to live life as the apostle Paul said believers should live. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,” he writes. “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves…” Your love for Gertie has been a witness to her family!
A few moments ago, I said that we’ve grown too accustomed to death. That’s true in one way. But in another way, it’s not. If we were as accustomed to death as we often seem to be, family and friends wouldn’t grieve over the loss of a mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend. You will miss this woman who has been such a remarkable (and long-time) presence in your lives. It would be unnatural for you not to grieve!
But there is good news! God did send Jesus into the world to ensure that death need not be the end of our life stories. Jesus says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” For all who turn from sin and trust in Christ, that is a promise to latch onto today and for all eternity. We may endure all kinds of griefs and deaths in this world, but God has crashed into this world and destroyed the hold of griefs and death over us. He has set us free to be servants of God, who even as we face our own deaths, can say with the apostle Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
The good fight to which Christ calls us, the good fight I believe that Gertie fought each day, was the fight to hold onto Christ. To trust in Jesus, to believe in Him.
To those willing to trust in Him, Jesus gives the power to believe, the power to hold on, the ability to be servants of God who don’t need to “put on the dog” because God has already proven their value on Christ’s cross, and the privilege of living with God forever.
Hold onto Christ today and always.
He will be your comfort, your strength.
He will dry your tears.
And one day, Jesus Christ will give you happy reunions with Gertie and with all the saints who have trusted in Him. God bless you. Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Friday, July 08, 2016
Cherish the Past, Let Christ Alter the Present & Future
[This was shared during the celebration of life and memorial for Jack earlier today.]
I only met Jack once, just a few weeks ago, when I spent about an hour with Jenny and him at their home. But I felt I knew a little bit about him before the moment I stepped through their front door. I’ve gotten to know more about him in the days since his passing. This knowledge, limited though it is, has come to me through family he loved deeply and who loved him deeply in return.
His life story is a remarkable one, really.
It’s the story of a young Jack, whose loving dad believed in his capable son. Jack suffered from dyslexia. But his dad found a school that could help his son on the pathway to achievement.
Jack’s is also the story of a man who himself was a fine husband, father, grandfather, and uncle. A man who built a remarkable business with talent and ability, who mentored people--children, fledgling engineers, nephews, even classmates; sometimes a taskmaster, but always affirming. A man of good humor, as I learned as soon as I met him and a friendly man, who reached out to shake my hand and called me Mark from the beginning. (That's rare; I'm usually called other things besides Mark.) A man who continued a tradition begun by his dad which, until this day has taken him and his extended family to Kentucky Lake in June every year.
Jack was a man loved and appreciated by his wife, Jenny, with whom he spent fifty eight years. And he was a man who, among other things, bequeathed a hearty laugh to his sons.
How do you fill the void left by the passing of a man like this? You don’t! You can’t! And it’s right that you should grieve your loss.
But there are two things I think that you should also do. The first is: Learn from his example. Love well. Work hard. Care about people. Laugh heartily. From what I know of Jack, the world could use more of his kind. I think that he and Jenny have done a good job in creating and nurturing more people who are like themselves. Keep learning from their example.
The second thing you can do is this: Put your trust in the God revealed to all the world in Jesus Christ. It’s Jesus (and only Jesus) Who can help us be the kind of people that we were made to be.
You know, we come into this world willfully self-centered. Sin is our default mode. In the book of Galatians in the New Testament, this common human default mode is called “life in the flesh.” According to Galatians--and according to the news you probably saw on TVs or your computer screens this morning, life in the flesh leads the human race to all sorts of destructive, hurtful ways of living.
But when we let Christ into the center of our lives--when we turn away from our sin and set our hopes for this life and the next on Jesus Christ--God unleashes the power of His Holy Spirit to work good in us. Galatians calls this “life in the Spirit.”
The fruits of this life, Paul says, are things like “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
I’m sure that there many of you here today who can attest that you’ve seen such “fruits” in the lives of believers in Christ, even though there isn’t a single believer in Jesus who is perfect. Trusting in Christ can change the way we live.
But trusting in Christ can also give us hope for eternity.
A moment ago, I read the Bible’s account of what happened in the village of Bethany after a friend of Jesus, Lazarus, had died. When Jesus, Who had already performed so many miracles and claimed that He and God the Father are the same being, one of Lazarus’ sisters, Martha, greeted Jesus with what can be seen as a note of scorn. Certain of Jesus’ power and oneness with God, Martha said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
We can feel that way some time. Even though we know that death is part of life in this fallen world, we can be angry at God when we lose someone we love. It’s understandable. Deep in our DNA, we know that we were meant for eternity. Death violates the way things are meant to be.
But remember this: You can only be angry with a God you believe is there.
Jesus doesn’t argue with Martha. He understands her grief.
Instead, Jesus makes a simple statement: “Your brother will rise again.” Martha affirms her faith in that proposition. She says that she knows that Lazarus will rise on the day of the resurrection of the dead.
But then Jesus underscores that the resurrection of the dead isn’t an abstract theological proposition. It’s not a religious fairy tale. Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
The God we meet in Jesus Christ has sole proprietorship over the resurrection of the dead. Resurrection is rooted in Him. It is a physical reality given to those who follow Jesus. All who believe in Jesus--the original Greek word in the New Testament which we translate as believe is literally, trust, or we could say, total trusting surrender--all who believe in Jesus have eternal life.
Resurrection isn’t just a promise, then.
It’s a reality as strong as the Savior Who secured it when He died on the cross, taking the condemnation that you and I deserve because of our default orientation to doing and living the way we want to without regard to God.
It's a reality as strong as the same Savior Who did not remain dead, affirming His power over life, death, and all that grieves us in this world.
Jesus lifts the death sentence that hangs over every human life apart from faith in Him.
Romans 8:1 says: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” There is hope when we trust in the God of the universe, Who makes it His business to give life with Him now and life made perfect with Him in eternity, to all who turn away from sin and turn to Him each day they live.
Jesus promises that those who endure in trusting in Him will live with God!
You have lost a good man whose influence can be a positive and inspiring one for as long as you live. Cherish that. Learn from his example of a life well-lived! Celebrate his life and its lessons even as you mourn. Thank God for how blessed you were to have Jack in your life.
And trust in Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, Who can fill you with the power to live a life of purpose and meaning today; Who gives life with Him that starts now and cannot be brought to an end even by death.
You can live with the same conviction and hope that we see in Romans 8, that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Count on the truth of those words today. Jesus died and rose to make them true for all who trust in Him.
Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church, Centerville, Ohio.]
I only met Jack once, just a few weeks ago, when I spent about an hour with Jenny and him at their home. But I felt I knew a little bit about him before the moment I stepped through their front door. I’ve gotten to know more about him in the days since his passing. This knowledge, limited though it is, has come to me through family he loved deeply and who loved him deeply in return.
His life story is a remarkable one, really.
It’s the story of a young Jack, whose loving dad believed in his capable son. Jack suffered from dyslexia. But his dad found a school that could help his son on the pathway to achievement.
Jack’s is also the story of a man who himself was a fine husband, father, grandfather, and uncle. A man who built a remarkable business with talent and ability, who mentored people--children, fledgling engineers, nephews, even classmates; sometimes a taskmaster, but always affirming. A man of good humor, as I learned as soon as I met him and a friendly man, who reached out to shake my hand and called me Mark from the beginning. (That's rare; I'm usually called other things besides Mark.) A man who continued a tradition begun by his dad which, until this day has taken him and his extended family to Kentucky Lake in June every year.
Jack was a man loved and appreciated by his wife, Jenny, with whom he spent fifty eight years. And he was a man who, among other things, bequeathed a hearty laugh to his sons.
How do you fill the void left by the passing of a man like this? You don’t! You can’t! And it’s right that you should grieve your loss.
But there are two things I think that you should also do. The first is: Learn from his example. Love well. Work hard. Care about people. Laugh heartily. From what I know of Jack, the world could use more of his kind. I think that he and Jenny have done a good job in creating and nurturing more people who are like themselves. Keep learning from their example.
The second thing you can do is this: Put your trust in the God revealed to all the world in Jesus Christ. It’s Jesus (and only Jesus) Who can help us be the kind of people that we were made to be.
You know, we come into this world willfully self-centered. Sin is our default mode. In the book of Galatians in the New Testament, this common human default mode is called “life in the flesh.” According to Galatians--and according to the news you probably saw on TVs or your computer screens this morning, life in the flesh leads the human race to all sorts of destructive, hurtful ways of living.
But when we let Christ into the center of our lives--when we turn away from our sin and set our hopes for this life and the next on Jesus Christ--God unleashes the power of His Holy Spirit to work good in us. Galatians calls this “life in the Spirit.”
The fruits of this life, Paul says, are things like “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
I’m sure that there many of you here today who can attest that you’ve seen such “fruits” in the lives of believers in Christ, even though there isn’t a single believer in Jesus who is perfect. Trusting in Christ can change the way we live.
But trusting in Christ can also give us hope for eternity.
A moment ago, I read the Bible’s account of what happened in the village of Bethany after a friend of Jesus, Lazarus, had died. When Jesus, Who had already performed so many miracles and claimed that He and God the Father are the same being, one of Lazarus’ sisters, Martha, greeted Jesus with what can be seen as a note of scorn. Certain of Jesus’ power and oneness with God, Martha said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
We can feel that way some time. Even though we know that death is part of life in this fallen world, we can be angry at God when we lose someone we love. It’s understandable. Deep in our DNA, we know that we were meant for eternity. Death violates the way things are meant to be.
But remember this: You can only be angry with a God you believe is there.
Jesus doesn’t argue with Martha. He understands her grief.
Instead, Jesus makes a simple statement: “Your brother will rise again.” Martha affirms her faith in that proposition. She says that she knows that Lazarus will rise on the day of the resurrection of the dead.
But then Jesus underscores that the resurrection of the dead isn’t an abstract theological proposition. It’s not a religious fairy tale. Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
The God we meet in Jesus Christ has sole proprietorship over the resurrection of the dead. Resurrection is rooted in Him. It is a physical reality given to those who follow Jesus. All who believe in Jesus--the original Greek word in the New Testament which we translate as believe is literally, trust, or we could say, total trusting surrender--all who believe in Jesus have eternal life.
Resurrection isn’t just a promise, then.
It’s a reality as strong as the Savior Who secured it when He died on the cross, taking the condemnation that you and I deserve because of our default orientation to doing and living the way we want to without regard to God.
It's a reality as strong as the same Savior Who did not remain dead, affirming His power over life, death, and all that grieves us in this world.
Jesus lifts the death sentence that hangs over every human life apart from faith in Him.
Romans 8:1 says: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” There is hope when we trust in the God of the universe, Who makes it His business to give life with Him now and life made perfect with Him in eternity, to all who turn away from sin and turn to Him each day they live.
Jesus promises that those who endure in trusting in Him will live with God!
You have lost a good man whose influence can be a positive and inspiring one for as long as you live. Cherish that. Learn from his example of a life well-lived! Celebrate his life and its lessons even as you mourn. Thank God for how blessed you were to have Jack in your life.
And trust in Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, Who can fill you with the power to live a life of purpose and meaning today; Who gives life with Him that starts now and cannot be brought to an end even by death.
You can live with the same conviction and hope that we see in Romans 8, that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Count on the truth of those words today. Jesus died and rose to make them true for all who trust in Him.
Amen
[Blogger Mark Daniels is the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church, Centerville, Ohio.]
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Set free to be who God makes us to be
John 11:21-27
A few years back, a large group of us from Living Water went out to eat together, then went to Poelking Lanes to bowl. Paul and I were on the same team. Although I used to bowl regularly in a league, it had been a few years and I was rusty. During the second game nonetheless, I thought that I was doing pretty well. One frame though, I failed to pick up a spare. I turned around to see Paul grinning. He asked me: “Do you try to bowl badly?”
That little incident, which I’ve shared with others many times, seems to crystalize much of what I came to know about Paul for myself and from the witness of family, friends, and fellow church members. Paul, who had several really good games that night, loved to be with people. Loved to bowl (and golf). Loved to have fun with others. And, even in a casual evening of bowling, he loved to do his best.
Lynn, Paul, David, David, and Lauren, all of us who knew Paul have some sense of the magnitude of your loss. Yours too, Mary Lou. Paul was a special man, in many ways.
Anyone who spent any time with him knew how bright he was. And his was an applied brilliance. He was an engineer for thirty years with Cincinnati Milacron, holding a Masters in electrical engineering and a Masters in business administration. He later worked for AMF, leading a team that improved that company’s products. After that, he taught engineering at Sinclair College.
But Paul was also a dedicated husband and family man. Lynn has reported on what a good listener Paul was, mentioning specifically the help he provided to her as she considered what her major would be by what, in my field, we call active listening: Hearing her out, asking evocative questions, helping her to reach her own choice. When his family was younger, there was croquet on the lawn and camping trips for getaways. The Ackermann house was filled with laughter, parties, and music: Paul was a tenor who was part of a barbershop quartet and could also play the ukulele and the piano. It should also be mentioned that Paul was a wonderful grandfather to David and Lauren.
And Paul had friends. It isn’t often true that men make and retain friends, you know. But Paul was the kind of man for whom friendships were always important.
Paul also was a follower of Jesus Christ. His faith showed in his decisionmaking and in his priorities.
In the two-and-a-half years since I began serving at Living Water, Paul was always among the first to arrive for worship each Sunday.
And Paul wasn’t just a Sunday morning guy. I once went to see him as he was recuperating from surgery. During the course of our conversation, he told me that there was some input he wanted to give. It was early in my time at Living Water; so, I braced myself for some hidebound advice from an unhappy traditionalist. Instead, Paul said, “One thing I hope is that as we grow as a church, we’ll be sure not to give up on serving the poor in places like Chevy Chase.” Paul gave living expression to that sentiment by being part of a crew of Living Water folks who go to that government subsidized housing community to tutor young people with their studies.
Paul's outward focus was a byproduct of his faith in Christ. When you belong to the King and Creator of the universe Who laid aside His glory in order to die and to rise and to set you free from sin and death, you’re also set free from worrying about yourself or what will happen to you.
You can focus instead on the family that you love, the friends you care about, the work for which you were made, and the poor who need the kinds of love and opportunities you want everyone to have.
That was the freedom--what another Paul, the saint and evangelist of the New Testament called our “freedom in Christ”--in which Paul lived.
I think that knowing about Paul’s faith goes a long way in explaining how he lived, how he cared, how he laughed, and how he enriched the lives of those he came to know. The freedom Jesus Christ gives to those who dare to turn from their sins and follow Him was the freedom in which Paul daily moved.
I hope that knowing the freedom in which Paul lived each day will lighten the burden of grief you feel today and will feel in the days ahead. Jesus’ words to Martha, the sister of his friend, Lazarus, are meant to comfort you as much as they were meant to comfort Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die.”
Those, of course, would only be pretty words were it not for the fact that, a few moments later, Jesus called Lazarus back to life from the tomb.
Even then, they would be little more than words if it weren’t for Jesus Himself rising from death a short time after that.
Jesus has authority over life and death.
And He gives new and everlasting life to all who dare to follow Him.
He gives His followers the power to face life, death, adversity, success, failure, joy, and challenge with equal faith and power.
Today those who knew and loved Paul grieve. And it’s right that you should. He was a wonderful man who loved you and was a powerful presence in your lives.
But you can take comfort from a truth that other Paul talks about in Romans 8: Nothing can separate followers of Jesus from His love. Not even death.
Today, Paul is in the nail-scarred hands of the Savior Who died and rose to set him and all who believe in him free to be the loving, caring people we were made to be.
And all who turn to Christ for life know that one day, we will be united in eternity with Christ and all his saints, including the saint we remember and to whom we say goodbye today, a sinner made saint by the grace of God given in Christ, Paul. Amen
[This was shared on Saturday during a memorial service for a member of Living Water Lutheran Church.]
[Blogger Mark Daniels is the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church, Centerville, Ohio.]
A few years back, a large group of us from Living Water went out to eat together, then went to Poelking Lanes to bowl. Paul and I were on the same team. Although I used to bowl regularly in a league, it had been a few years and I was rusty. During the second game nonetheless, I thought that I was doing pretty well. One frame though, I failed to pick up a spare. I turned around to see Paul grinning. He asked me: “Do you try to bowl badly?”
That little incident, which I’ve shared with others many times, seems to crystalize much of what I came to know about Paul for myself and from the witness of family, friends, and fellow church members. Paul, who had several really good games that night, loved to be with people. Loved to bowl (and golf). Loved to have fun with others. And, even in a casual evening of bowling, he loved to do his best.
Lynn, Paul, David, David, and Lauren, all of us who knew Paul have some sense of the magnitude of your loss. Yours too, Mary Lou. Paul was a special man, in many ways.
Anyone who spent any time with him knew how bright he was. And his was an applied brilliance. He was an engineer for thirty years with Cincinnati Milacron, holding a Masters in electrical engineering and a Masters in business administration. He later worked for AMF, leading a team that improved that company’s products. After that, he taught engineering at Sinclair College.
But Paul was also a dedicated husband and family man. Lynn has reported on what a good listener Paul was, mentioning specifically the help he provided to her as she considered what her major would be by what, in my field, we call active listening: Hearing her out, asking evocative questions, helping her to reach her own choice. When his family was younger, there was croquet on the lawn and camping trips for getaways. The Ackermann house was filled with laughter, parties, and music: Paul was a tenor who was part of a barbershop quartet and could also play the ukulele and the piano. It should also be mentioned that Paul was a wonderful grandfather to David and Lauren.
And Paul had friends. It isn’t often true that men make and retain friends, you know. But Paul was the kind of man for whom friendships were always important.
Paul also was a follower of Jesus Christ. His faith showed in his decisionmaking and in his priorities.
In the two-and-a-half years since I began serving at Living Water, Paul was always among the first to arrive for worship each Sunday.
And Paul wasn’t just a Sunday morning guy. I once went to see him as he was recuperating from surgery. During the course of our conversation, he told me that there was some input he wanted to give. It was early in my time at Living Water; so, I braced myself for some hidebound advice from an unhappy traditionalist. Instead, Paul said, “One thing I hope is that as we grow as a church, we’ll be sure not to give up on serving the poor in places like Chevy Chase.” Paul gave living expression to that sentiment by being part of a crew of Living Water folks who go to that government subsidized housing community to tutor young people with their studies.
Paul's outward focus was a byproduct of his faith in Christ. When you belong to the King and Creator of the universe Who laid aside His glory in order to die and to rise and to set you free from sin and death, you’re also set free from worrying about yourself or what will happen to you.
You can focus instead on the family that you love, the friends you care about, the work for which you were made, and the poor who need the kinds of love and opportunities you want everyone to have.
That was the freedom--what another Paul, the saint and evangelist of the New Testament called our “freedom in Christ”--in which Paul lived.
I think that knowing about Paul’s faith goes a long way in explaining how he lived, how he cared, how he laughed, and how he enriched the lives of those he came to know. The freedom Jesus Christ gives to those who dare to turn from their sins and follow Him was the freedom in which Paul daily moved.
I hope that knowing the freedom in which Paul lived each day will lighten the burden of grief you feel today and will feel in the days ahead. Jesus’ words to Martha, the sister of his friend, Lazarus, are meant to comfort you as much as they were meant to comfort Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die.”
Those, of course, would only be pretty words were it not for the fact that, a few moments later, Jesus called Lazarus back to life from the tomb.
Even then, they would be little more than words if it weren’t for Jesus Himself rising from death a short time after that.
Jesus has authority over life and death.
And He gives new and everlasting life to all who dare to follow Him.
He gives His followers the power to face life, death, adversity, success, failure, joy, and challenge with equal faith and power.
Today those who knew and loved Paul grieve. And it’s right that you should. He was a wonderful man who loved you and was a powerful presence in your lives.
But you can take comfort from a truth that other Paul talks about in Romans 8: Nothing can separate followers of Jesus from His love. Not even death.
Today, Paul is in the nail-scarred hands of the Savior Who died and rose to set him and all who believe in him free to be the loving, caring people we were made to be.
And all who turn to Christ for life know that one day, we will be united in eternity with Christ and all his saints, including the saint we remember and to whom we say goodbye today, a sinner made saint by the grace of God given in Christ, Paul. Amen
[This was shared on Saturday during a memorial service for a member of Living Water Lutheran Church.]
[Blogger Mark Daniels is the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church, Centerville, Ohio.]
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Easter's Coming!
[This was shared earlier today during the funeral for Phyllis, a disciple from the Living Water Lutheran Church family.]
Job 19:23-27a
Romans 8:31b-39
John 11:21-27
As Phyllis' family, friends, and fellow Christian disciples gather to honor her memory, to grieve together, to laugh together, and to draw strength, hope, and encouragement from the God we know in Jesus Christ, it’s good to remember that today is Holy Saturday...and Easter is coming!
On the first Holy Saturday, you know, Jesus’ lifeless body lay in a tomb. Jesus' first disciples were left with their grieving thoughts.
What would they do now?
How would they cope with the void?
For those first disciples, Saturday was hard and sad.
And no matter how grateful you may be that Phyllis’ battle with an implacable enemy has ended and that her suffering has ended, for you, in many ways, you experience this Saturday much of what the first disciples experienced on that first Holy Saturday. It’s a day that’s hard and sad.
There is a void in the lives of those who called Phyllis mom, grandma, great-grandma, aunt, sister, friend, fellow believer. The love, the infectious laugh, the good story, the unshakeable devotion to family: all of these things are irreplaceable. Phyllis is irreplaceable.
But take heart, though it’s Saturday now, Easter is coming!
In the eleventh chapter of John’s Gospel in the Bible’s New Testament, we’re told about the reception Jesus received in Bethany from his friend, Martha.
Martha’s brother Lazarus, also a friend of Jesus, had died. Martha was upset that the One they had come to see as Lord, Jesus, hadn’t been there when Lazarus was suffering. Jesus hadn’t been there at the moment of Lazarus’ death.
Martha was disappointed and angry that Jesus, in Whom she had reposed so much trust, hadn’t been there for Lazarus. “‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’”
But then, Martha said something remarkable to Jesus. “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
It’s not clear what Martha believed exactly when she made that statement. What is clear from the rest of her conversation with Jesus is that she had no idea that Jesus was about to raise Lazarus from the dead.
Despite her grief over her brother’s suffering and death, despite her anger and frustration with Jesus that Jesus had not come sooner, and despite not knowing what might happen next in her life, Martha still trusted in Jesus.
And this, when I think about it, was one of Phyllis’ remarkable qualities.
At the end, she didn’t deny the frustration or the pain of her circumstances. (She told me last week that the morphine took "some of the pain away.") Yet she kept going in faith.
Last Saturday when I visited her, I told her, “Phyllis, you have one of the most remarkably positive attitudes I’ve ever encountered.” She simply said, “Well, I always try to have a positive attitude.”
And, she didn’t make the mistake of blaming God for having a disease that exists because we live in a fallen and imperfect world--a Holy Saturday world. She still trusted in the God we meet in Jesus.
That’s why she listened to Luke’s account of Palm Sunday as I read it to her and talked about it with me for a few minutes, as we always talked about Scripture when we met. It’s why she gladly received Holy Communion.
Phyllis knew the truth of what Jesus told Martha later in their conversation at Bethany: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” Then, Jesus asked Martha: “Do you believe this?” And Martha, as well as she was able to at that moment, confessed her faith in God the Son: “Yes, Lord...I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Earlier in His ministry, Jesus had told an old teacher of the Jews, Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Martha believed in Jesus. In purely human terms, that must have been pretty hard at that moment. But the Spirit of God stirred her to entrust her life and all of her hope in Jesus.
Today, two thousand years later, we have far more reason to believe in Jesus than Martha did at that moment. That’s because, shortly after Jesus’ conversation with Martha, though He was sinless, Jesus voluntarily took the punishment for sin you and I deserve, by dying on a cross, killing off the power of sin and death over the lives of those who like Martha, and like Phyllis, believe in Jesus.
You can trust a God Who dies for you because He loves you.
But, we have even more reason to believe in Jesus.
Things didn’t end on Good Friday, when Jesus died. They didn’t end on Holy Saturday, when His flesh and bones lay in a tomb. They didn’t even end on Easter Sunday, when God the Father raised Jesus from death.
And today, Jesus, Who raised His friend Lazarus from the dead that day in Bethany, can raise anyone out of the prison of sin and death. Jesus can give eternal life with God that begins here and now as we trust in Jesus to be our God, King, Savior, and Best Friend.
The promise of Easter belongs to all who turn from sin and the ways of this world and turn instead in faith to Jesus Christ.
It’s a promise fulfilled for Phyllis that she will enjoy for all eternity. She is now in the presence of the One in Whom she believed, free from the confinements of age and disease, free from grief, walking and laughing and celebrating at the great heavenly feast with all the saints who have gone before, including the mother she lost when she was just a baby and the husband she adored.
As I was walking out of the door to Phyllis’ hospital room last Saturday, I stopped, turned to her, and said, “I’ll see you soon, Phyllis.”
After I walked into the hallway, I wondered whether I should have said that. I knew that her condition was worsening, maybe I wouldn’t see her soon.
But then I smiled and thought, “If Phyllis is as close to death as her doctors seem to think, I will see her soon, at least in eternal terms, in the twinkling of an eye. I will see her beyond the gates of death when all who have trusted in Christ will begin a new chapter in our lives--an eternal chapter--bathed in the love of God, perfected by His grace and ready to laugh again, to love more, to be more than we can even ask or imagine on this earth.”
Let the thought of Phyllis resurrected bring you comfort today.
Let the example of her faith in Christ spur you to faith in Christ and to ever-deepening faith in Christ so that you too will know the resurrection with God.
Today, it’s Holy Saturday. But in Christ, Easter Sunday has invaded this darkened world.
Let Christ take you captive for the eternal kingdom of God by trusting in Him and so that, like Phyllis, you can be assured of an eternity of Easter Sundays. Amen
Job 19:23-27a
Romans 8:31b-39
John 11:21-27
As Phyllis' family, friends, and fellow Christian disciples gather to honor her memory, to grieve together, to laugh together, and to draw strength, hope, and encouragement from the God we know in Jesus Christ, it’s good to remember that today is Holy Saturday...and Easter is coming!
On the first Holy Saturday, you know, Jesus’ lifeless body lay in a tomb. Jesus' first disciples were left with their grieving thoughts.
What would they do now?
How would they cope with the void?
For those first disciples, Saturday was hard and sad.
And no matter how grateful you may be that Phyllis’ battle with an implacable enemy has ended and that her suffering has ended, for you, in many ways, you experience this Saturday much of what the first disciples experienced on that first Holy Saturday. It’s a day that’s hard and sad.
There is a void in the lives of those who called Phyllis mom, grandma, great-grandma, aunt, sister, friend, fellow believer. The love, the infectious laugh, the good story, the unshakeable devotion to family: all of these things are irreplaceable. Phyllis is irreplaceable.
But take heart, though it’s Saturday now, Easter is coming!
In the eleventh chapter of John’s Gospel in the Bible’s New Testament, we’re told about the reception Jesus received in Bethany from his friend, Martha.
Martha’s brother Lazarus, also a friend of Jesus, had died. Martha was upset that the One they had come to see as Lord, Jesus, hadn’t been there when Lazarus was suffering. Jesus hadn’t been there at the moment of Lazarus’ death.
Martha was disappointed and angry that Jesus, in Whom she had reposed so much trust, hadn’t been there for Lazarus. “‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’”
But then, Martha said something remarkable to Jesus. “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
It’s not clear what Martha believed exactly when she made that statement. What is clear from the rest of her conversation with Jesus is that she had no idea that Jesus was about to raise Lazarus from the dead.
Despite her grief over her brother’s suffering and death, despite her anger and frustration with Jesus that Jesus had not come sooner, and despite not knowing what might happen next in her life, Martha still trusted in Jesus.
And this, when I think about it, was one of Phyllis’ remarkable qualities.
At the end, she didn’t deny the frustration or the pain of her circumstances. (She told me last week that the morphine took "some of the pain away.") Yet she kept going in faith.
Last Saturday when I visited her, I told her, “Phyllis, you have one of the most remarkably positive attitudes I’ve ever encountered.” She simply said, “Well, I always try to have a positive attitude.”
And, she didn’t make the mistake of blaming God for having a disease that exists because we live in a fallen and imperfect world--a Holy Saturday world. She still trusted in the God we meet in Jesus.
That’s why she listened to Luke’s account of Palm Sunday as I read it to her and talked about it with me for a few minutes, as we always talked about Scripture when we met. It’s why she gladly received Holy Communion.
Phyllis knew the truth of what Jesus told Martha later in their conversation at Bethany: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” Then, Jesus asked Martha: “Do you believe this?” And Martha, as well as she was able to at that moment, confessed her faith in God the Son: “Yes, Lord...I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Earlier in His ministry, Jesus had told an old teacher of the Jews, Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Martha believed in Jesus. In purely human terms, that must have been pretty hard at that moment. But the Spirit of God stirred her to entrust her life and all of her hope in Jesus.
Today, two thousand years later, we have far more reason to believe in Jesus than Martha did at that moment. That’s because, shortly after Jesus’ conversation with Martha, though He was sinless, Jesus voluntarily took the punishment for sin you and I deserve, by dying on a cross, killing off the power of sin and death over the lives of those who like Martha, and like Phyllis, believe in Jesus.
You can trust a God Who dies for you because He loves you.
But, we have even more reason to believe in Jesus.
Things didn’t end on Good Friday, when Jesus died. They didn’t end on Holy Saturday, when His flesh and bones lay in a tomb. They didn’t even end on Easter Sunday, when God the Father raised Jesus from death.
And today, Jesus, Who raised His friend Lazarus from the dead that day in Bethany, can raise anyone out of the prison of sin and death. Jesus can give eternal life with God that begins here and now as we trust in Jesus to be our God, King, Savior, and Best Friend.
The promise of Easter belongs to all who turn from sin and the ways of this world and turn instead in faith to Jesus Christ.
It’s a promise fulfilled for Phyllis that she will enjoy for all eternity. She is now in the presence of the One in Whom she believed, free from the confinements of age and disease, free from grief, walking and laughing and celebrating at the great heavenly feast with all the saints who have gone before, including the mother she lost when she was just a baby and the husband she adored.
As I was walking out of the door to Phyllis’ hospital room last Saturday, I stopped, turned to her, and said, “I’ll see you soon, Phyllis.”
After I walked into the hallway, I wondered whether I should have said that. I knew that her condition was worsening, maybe I wouldn’t see her soon.
But then I smiled and thought, “If Phyllis is as close to death as her doctors seem to think, I will see her soon, at least in eternal terms, in the twinkling of an eye. I will see her beyond the gates of death when all who have trusted in Christ will begin a new chapter in our lives--an eternal chapter--bathed in the love of God, perfected by His grace and ready to laugh again, to love more, to be more than we can even ask or imagine on this earth.”
Let the thought of Phyllis resurrected bring you comfort today.
Let the example of her faith in Christ spur you to faith in Christ and to ever-deepening faith in Christ so that you too will know the resurrection with God.
Today, it’s Holy Saturday. But in Christ, Easter Sunday has invaded this darkened world.
Let Christ take you captive for the eternal kingdom of God by trusting in Him and so that, like Phyllis, you can be assured of an eternity of Easter Sundays. Amen
Tuesday, December 08, 2015
What Faith Is
[This was the message at a funeral service for Tim.]
Hebrews 11:1-16
John 11:21-27
"...faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what do not see."
So says the first verse of one of Tim’s and Debi’s favorite passages of Scripture, Hebrews 11.
Since I have been Living Water’s pastor for little more than two years, I never knew a time when Tim wasn’t ill. But I also never knew Tim when he didn’t have the kind of faith that Hebrews talks about.
He had confidence in the eternity of perfect peace and healing with God he would experience one day. And he had the assurance that the Savior Jesus he could not see had won this eternity for him.
Tim was confident of the central teaching of Scripture: We are not saved by the good we have done, but by the great good God has done for us through Christ and by our faith in Christ alone.
Christ died for sinful human beings like us, taking on Himself the death sentence each of us deserves for sin and then Christ rose from the dead, taking all who turn from sin and follow Him by faith with him, to lives of purpose on this earth and of everlasting life with God in eternity.
Tim often told people he was unafraid of dying. He knew where he was going and to Whom he belonged.
This faith, this confidence in the God we cannot see, was forged early in his life, when he suffered from cancer at the age of twelve. He received the then-newest treatments for cancer at Miami Valley Hospital. He told me, as I’m sure he told you, that his father, who was Tim’s hero, often assured Tim that Jesus was right there with him and, when Tim asked what would happen should he die, his dad assured him that Jesus would be right there, leading him by the hand and giving him a hug when he entered heaven.
Are you letting Jesus hold you today?
Or do you only have a passing relationship with Jesus?
Tim held onto Jesus. One of the great joys in Tim’s life was that the Early Risers Bible study group purchased a device that made it possible for him for some time to read Scripture, the Word of God. And no one I have ever known more craved receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the body and blood of Jesus, given to believers to receive the presence of Jesus with them in a tangible way and, through it, just as Jesus promises, the forgiveness of sins.
In fact, it was during one visit with Tim at Saint Leonard’s rehabilitation center, sharing Holy Communion, that Tim had an amazing experience that I was privileged to witness.
We had just considered Jesus’ words, “This is My body, given for you...This is My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” I then handed Tim the bread and said, “The body of Christ, given for you.” He took the bread and then stopped, seemingly stricken.
“Oh,” he exclaimed. I thought that he was in pain.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
He was silent for some moments and then said, “I just had an experience I have never had before. I felt the Lord in this room. Just as I took the bread in my hand, I had the overwhelming sense of His presence, a feeling of peace like I’ve never had. I felt it throughout my body."
Now, lest you be skeptical, Tim was not on any medication at the time that would have induced an hallucination of some sort. Five minutes before, we’d been having as pedestrian a conversation as you and I might have over a dinner, at a barber shop, or in the clubhouse at a golf course. No, the God we cannot see, had come to Tim to reassure Tim that, no matter what may lie ahead of him in this earthly life, all was well.
And all is well for you today if, like Tim, you trust in the God in the flesh Jesus to be your Lord, Savior, King, and Best Friend.
In our Gospel lesson for this morning, Martha, one of Lazarus’ sisters, seemed to condemn Jesus. “Lord, if you had been here," she said, "my brother would not have died.”
We need not feel that Jesus was absent from Tim’s years of suffering or his death. We know that the Savior Jesus, Who bore scourging and death for us, was with Tim through all of his sufferings...and with Debi, who cared for him so faithfully, too.
And Tim knew something else which Jesus claims about Himself later in his conversation with Martha. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
Tim is alive today and with the Lord in Whom He believed, the Lord He experienced through the Word of Scripture, through the Word proclaimed in words and in the hymns he loved singing, through the waters of Baptism in which God washed and claimed Tim as a child of God, through the body and blood of Christ that Tim so gratefully received “in, with, and under” the bread and the wine.
But Tim also experienced the presence of Jesus in another way. I would be remiss in not mentioning this other way now: He experienced Christ through the fellowship of believers.
He loved the guys of the Early Risers Bible study group. That’s something he often expressed to me.
He appreciated the ad hoc group of singers from Grace, Epiphany, and Living Water who came to sing for and with him recently.
And he also often expressed appreciation for the people of Living Water.
In fact, if there’s one sadness I have this morning it’s that Tim couldn’t fulfill the one ambition he expressed to me many times.
“I want to get strong enough,” he would say, “to speak to the people of Living Water. I want to thank them. I want to tell them how much their prayers and their encouragement have meant to me. I want them to know what a special church it is.” And then, he would always add, “I feel the love of Christ the moment I open the doors to Living Water. Every person is just filled with the love of Christ.”
"...faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
We can trust in Christ this morning. He’s the God and King Who can destroy the power of sin and death over the lives of those who turn away from sin and turn each day to Him.
He’s the Lord Who promises that He will never leave nor forsake those who trust in Him, even when we experience illness, grief, or adversity.
He’s the Lord Who can be counted on to one day welcome to eternity those who have been faithful in following Christ, faithful in returning to Christ even after we have sinned.
There, those who trusted in Christ will be told by their Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome to the joy of your master.”
(And some of the saints who enter into the joy of the Lord in eternity might next hear, “By the way, the heavenly choir needs a bass. Report for duty immediately.”)
Today, I invite you to follow Jesus.
Today, you can find Jesus where Tim found him: in the fellowship of believers; in the Word of God; in the sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
And when you do find Jesus in these places, latch onto His strong hands of grace and power and never let go.
When we hold onto Jesus on this earth, we may not see Him. But one day, like Tim the moment he closed his eyes to this world, we will see Christ face to face.
And we will know that our lives with Christ here have been, in C.S. Lewis’ words, “....only...the cover and the title page,” as we step into the first chapter of a never-ending book entitled, Eternity with God.
Trust in Christ and let him give you your story with God to live out forever and ever.
Hebrews 11:1-16
John 11:21-27
"...faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what do not see."
So says the first verse of one of Tim’s and Debi’s favorite passages of Scripture, Hebrews 11.
Since I have been Living Water’s pastor for little more than two years, I never knew a time when Tim wasn’t ill. But I also never knew Tim when he didn’t have the kind of faith that Hebrews talks about.
He had confidence in the eternity of perfect peace and healing with God he would experience one day. And he had the assurance that the Savior Jesus he could not see had won this eternity for him.
Tim was confident of the central teaching of Scripture: We are not saved by the good we have done, but by the great good God has done for us through Christ and by our faith in Christ alone.
Christ died for sinful human beings like us, taking on Himself the death sentence each of us deserves for sin and then Christ rose from the dead, taking all who turn from sin and follow Him by faith with him, to lives of purpose on this earth and of everlasting life with God in eternity.
Tim often told people he was unafraid of dying. He knew where he was going and to Whom he belonged.
This faith, this confidence in the God we cannot see, was forged early in his life, when he suffered from cancer at the age of twelve. He received the then-newest treatments for cancer at Miami Valley Hospital. He told me, as I’m sure he told you, that his father, who was Tim’s hero, often assured Tim that Jesus was right there with him and, when Tim asked what would happen should he die, his dad assured him that Jesus would be right there, leading him by the hand and giving him a hug when he entered heaven.
Are you letting Jesus hold you today?
Or do you only have a passing relationship with Jesus?
Tim held onto Jesus. One of the great joys in Tim’s life was that the Early Risers Bible study group purchased a device that made it possible for him for some time to read Scripture, the Word of God. And no one I have ever known more craved receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the body and blood of Jesus, given to believers to receive the presence of Jesus with them in a tangible way and, through it, just as Jesus promises, the forgiveness of sins.
In fact, it was during one visit with Tim at Saint Leonard’s rehabilitation center, sharing Holy Communion, that Tim had an amazing experience that I was privileged to witness.
We had just considered Jesus’ words, “This is My body, given for you...This is My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” I then handed Tim the bread and said, “The body of Christ, given for you.” He took the bread and then stopped, seemingly stricken.
“Oh,” he exclaimed. I thought that he was in pain.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
He was silent for some moments and then said, “I just had an experience I have never had before. I felt the Lord in this room. Just as I took the bread in my hand, I had the overwhelming sense of His presence, a feeling of peace like I’ve never had. I felt it throughout my body."
Now, lest you be skeptical, Tim was not on any medication at the time that would have induced an hallucination of some sort. Five minutes before, we’d been having as pedestrian a conversation as you and I might have over a dinner, at a barber shop, or in the clubhouse at a golf course. No, the God we cannot see, had come to Tim to reassure Tim that, no matter what may lie ahead of him in this earthly life, all was well.
And all is well for you today if, like Tim, you trust in the God in the flesh Jesus to be your Lord, Savior, King, and Best Friend.
In our Gospel lesson for this morning, Martha, one of Lazarus’ sisters, seemed to condemn Jesus. “Lord, if you had been here," she said, "my brother would not have died.”
We need not feel that Jesus was absent from Tim’s years of suffering or his death. We know that the Savior Jesus, Who bore scourging and death for us, was with Tim through all of his sufferings...and with Debi, who cared for him so faithfully, too.
And Tim knew something else which Jesus claims about Himself later in his conversation with Martha. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
Tim is alive today and with the Lord in Whom He believed, the Lord He experienced through the Word of Scripture, through the Word proclaimed in words and in the hymns he loved singing, through the waters of Baptism in which God washed and claimed Tim as a child of God, through the body and blood of Christ that Tim so gratefully received “in, with, and under” the bread and the wine.
But Tim also experienced the presence of Jesus in another way. I would be remiss in not mentioning this other way now: He experienced Christ through the fellowship of believers.
He loved the guys of the Early Risers Bible study group. That’s something he often expressed to me.
He appreciated the ad hoc group of singers from Grace, Epiphany, and Living Water who came to sing for and with him recently.
And he also often expressed appreciation for the people of Living Water.
In fact, if there’s one sadness I have this morning it’s that Tim couldn’t fulfill the one ambition he expressed to me many times.
“I want to get strong enough,” he would say, “to speak to the people of Living Water. I want to thank them. I want to tell them how much their prayers and their encouragement have meant to me. I want them to know what a special church it is.” And then, he would always add, “I feel the love of Christ the moment I open the doors to Living Water. Every person is just filled with the love of Christ.”
"...faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
We can trust in Christ this morning. He’s the God and King Who can destroy the power of sin and death over the lives of those who turn away from sin and turn each day to Him.
He’s the Lord Who promises that He will never leave nor forsake those who trust in Him, even when we experience illness, grief, or adversity.
He’s the Lord Who can be counted on to one day welcome to eternity those who have been faithful in following Christ, faithful in returning to Christ even after we have sinned.
There, those who trusted in Christ will be told by their Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome to the joy of your master.”
(And some of the saints who enter into the joy of the Lord in eternity might next hear, “By the way, the heavenly choir needs a bass. Report for duty immediately.”)
Today, I invite you to follow Jesus.
Today, you can find Jesus where Tim found him: in the fellowship of believers; in the Word of God; in the sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
And when you do find Jesus in these places, latch onto His strong hands of grace and power and never let go.
When we hold onto Jesus on this earth, we may not see Him. But one day, like Tim the moment he closed his eyes to this world, we will see Christ face to face.
And we will know that our lives with Christ here have been, in C.S. Lewis’ words, “....only...the cover and the title page,” as we step into the first chapter of a never-ending book entitled, Eternity with God.
Trust in Christ and let him give you your story with God to live out forever and ever.
Saturday, November 07, 2015
The God Who Restores
[This was shared during the graveside service for Dan, the father of a member of Living Water Lutheran Church, earlier today. He had been an active member of a church elsewhere, but had moved to the area after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.]
Job 19:23-27
Psalm 46
John 11:21-27
Job 19:23-27
Psalm 46
John 11:21-27
First of all, I pray God’s peace and encouragement and the hope of Jesus’ resurrection on all of you in the times to come.
I did not know Dan. But through you, his family, I learned a little about him the other day. I know that he leaves a hole in your lives. His seems to have been a strong presence always. Not flashy or demonstrative. Not judgmental or free with unsolicited advice. But a man who demonstrated his love by his deeds more than his words. A man who was firm and fair with his children as they were growing up and then respectful of their adulthood. A man who derived a sense of pleasure in knowing how things worked and in restoring old cars that from the before pictures looked beyond repair.
And it’s to this last image from Dan’s life that I want to turn your attention briefly now: the restorer of old cars. I have a lot of respect for people who can do that. To me, there are few things more beautiful in this world than a restored car. To make the restoration happen, you have to possess several qualities.
First, you must have the belief that what others might write off as hopeless is possible. The old, worn out, even dead, can be restored. You have to be able to see the possibility of new life in what others dismiss as a junker.
Second, you must have patience. Whenever you restore anything old, you run into obstacles. Sometimes it’s hard to find parts. Often, you have to improvise. If you’re going to restore an old car, you have to have patience.
First, you must have the belief that what others might write off as hopeless is possible. The old, worn out, even dead, can be restored. You have to be able to see the possibility of new life in what others dismiss as a junker.
Second, you must have patience. Whenever you restore anything old, you run into obstacles. Sometimes it’s hard to find parts. Often, you have to improvise. If you’re going to restore an old car, you have to have patience.
Third, you have to have talent. You must have the ability to do the job. For some of us, restoring an old car would be an impossible task. But if you have the ability, you can accomplish a lot.
What our lessons from Job and from John’s gospel tell us today is that God is in the restoring business. He wants to restore us, free us from the power of sin and death. In Revelation, God says, “Behold, I make all things new.” And in 2 Corinthians, we’re told that if anyone is in Christ--if anyone believes in Christ, they are a new creation! That’s restoration!
From what I’ve been told, Dan had a tough childhood, a time of life brightened by going through it with his brother Bob. Nonetheless, we all know that not everyone gets free of the effects of difficult childhoods. People often replicate the ways of their elders in the way they are with their own families. From what I’ve been told, Dan didn’t do that.
From what I’ve been told, Dan had a tough childhood, a time of life brightened by going through it with his brother Bob. Nonetheless, we all know that not everyone gets free of the effects of difficult childhoods. People often replicate the ways of their elders in the way they are with their own families. From what I’ve been told, Dan didn’t do that.
I suspect that’s because of the gracious restoration from God Dan received when, through the ministry of a pastor he got to know, came to have a faith relationship we meet in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, God demonstrates that, like the restorer of old cars, God writes no one off as a helpless case; God has patience with us--the Bible says that God “remembers that we are dust”; and God has the power and the ability to make anyone brand new! He then empowers us to love and forgive others the way He loves and forgives us.
The restoration God gave to Dan allowed him, to be a different parent than his own parents had been. It allowed him to be the means by which Christ brought new and everlasting life to his beloved brother Bob.
Here’s the thing: God loves us all with a passion we can hardly imagine. God made us. We are His children. And though God is a gentleman who will never force a relationship with Him upon us, He wants to restore us. He wants us to enjoy an eternal relationship with Him desperately.
That’s why Jesus, God in the flesh, came into the world to take on Himself the burdens of our sin, even though He was sinless. He died, taking the punishment for sin we deserve. Then He rose from the dead, certifying His power over not just sin, but also over death, for all who turn from sin and surrender their lives to Him as their God, Savior, Lord, and King. As Jesus puts it: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
We can be assured this day that because he trusted in Christ as his Lord and Savior, Dan is alive and fully restored in the presence of the God to Whom he surrendered his life. Beyond the gates of death, in the presence of God, there is for the believer in Christ, no more Parkinson’s Disease, no more suffering, no more dying, no more tears.
And for those who are still here on earth, who follow Jesus Christ, there is the promise of God’s loving presence, the fellowship of believers, and the promise that the God we know in Jesus will continue to restore us day by day in this life and will give us a place in eternity with all of Christ’s saints, including Dan, when the dead in Christ rise again. There we will live eternally restored, the people God made us to be when He first knit us in our mothers’ wombs.
If you’re not today following Jesus, I invite you to do so. Turn to Him and live, now and in eternity.
May God give you comfort, hope, and peace. Amen
That’s why Jesus, God in the flesh, came into the world to take on Himself the burdens of our sin, even though He was sinless. He died, taking the punishment for sin we deserve. Then He rose from the dead, certifying His power over not just sin, but also over death, for all who turn from sin and surrender their lives to Him as their God, Savior, Lord, and King. As Jesus puts it: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
We can be assured this day that because he trusted in Christ as his Lord and Savior, Dan is alive and fully restored in the presence of the God to Whom he surrendered his life. Beyond the gates of death, in the presence of God, there is for the believer in Christ, no more Parkinson’s Disease, no more suffering, no more dying, no more tears.
And for those who are still here on earth, who follow Jesus Christ, there is the promise of God’s loving presence, the fellowship of believers, and the promise that the God we know in Jesus will continue to restore us day by day in this life and will give us a place in eternity with all of Christ’s saints, including Dan, when the dead in Christ rise again. There we will live eternally restored, the people God made us to be when He first knit us in our mothers’ wombs.
If you’re not today following Jesus, I invite you to do so. Turn to Him and live, now and in eternity.
May God give you comfort, hope, and peace. Amen
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