The text this morning is from the Gospel of John, the fifth chapter:
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.Thus far the text.
Dear Dan, Jerry, Ron, Joan, all of Jo’s family, and my dear friends in Christ,
My friend, your mother, your grandmother, your friend, Jo, has fallen asleep in our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is a sad day. For us. It is an awful day for us. For we mourn her loss. She is gone from our presence here now and we miss her. It wasn’t that Jo was in perfect health. It wasn’t that she was young. In fact, we all know, she was 93 and was suffering from cancer and pain. She was dealing with much in her life, but, in her own stubborn way, she held on as long as she could in this life, but yet was prepared for the next.
We, in some way or form, have been expecting Jo to die and be with the Lord for any amount of time. But, that’s not because of the cancer. It’s not because of pneumonia. It’s not because of any disease or pain or infirmity. We knew that she would die in this life, because, as Jo knew, she was a sinner. Jo was conceived with original sin, she committed sins, she said, thought, and did things that were against God and against her neighbor. And for her sin, Paul tells us, the wages are death.
And so Jo has died. But, she was not without hope. Jo has died but she is not lost. Jo and I often spoke about the treasures she kept in her home, and she even arranged to show me some when she could get a box up from the basement or down from some shelf. Jo always seemed to know right where her treasures were. She always kept a good record in her mind. These things were important to her, and she always knew where they were.
And for Jo, her Lord Jesus Christ is the same. He knows right where she is, and that is by His side, in His care. You see, our Lord knew where Jo was when she was baptized for the forgiveness of her sins, both the sin that she inherited from her parents and the sins she would go on to commit. And the Lord knew where she was when He spoke to her in the Church, telling her that her sins were absolved, forgiven, sent away from her. And the Lord knew where she was when she came to the Altar, and He gave to her, from His hand, His body and blood to eat and to drink for her forgiveness of her sins and the strengthening of her faith.
You see, Jo was sinful, yes; we all are. But, Jo was redeemed by the very blood of Jesus Christ, who went to the cross in her place to die for her sin. And Jo was saved, and is saved by that same Man, who on the third day of His death, rose from the grave, and gave to Jo the promise of everlasting life. This is what our Lord means when He says that whoever hears His word and believes in Him has eternal life. And Jo knew this.
As I’ve visited Jo over the last two years, that eternal life is what she wanted, she wanted Christ’s forgiveness every single time. In fact, two weeks ago now, when I visited her in the nursing home, she asked for that forgiveness at the end of the visit, making sure that I had brought her the body and blood of her Lord. She desired it, needed it, urgently, for she knew that it was by our Lord and His gift that she would be strengthened through the trial ahead, her suffering and death, to receive the promise of everlasting life. And so she took, she ate, she drank, and she received the full pardon of all of her sins.
Our Lord loves Jo, even more deeply than we do, and He came to her to give her life and the promise that she would, even though she die, be raised to everlasting life in Him. And in that promise, though her suffering was great, she persevered and had a good death, a death not without pain and suffering, but a death where when she closed her eyes, she opened them and saw her Lord.
Jo’s body before us today reminds us of our mortality. It reminds us, that we sinners, will die someday, too. Yet, we need not fear, for our Lord has promised us also that we are His, and that He knows us, knows where we are, and He shall always keep us safe in Him. There is no true fear of death for we have heard his Word and have been chosen for His glory, which is the resurrection of all the dead.
When that happens, and that day is fast approaching to be sure, we shall be raised from our graves, we shall see that His Gospel was true, that our belief in Him was good and right, and we shall be with Him and with one another for eternity. Indeed, our Father loves Jo, and He loves us, for He created us, He sent His Spirit to sanctify us and keep even our bodies safe until the resurrection, and He sent His Son to die for us. This was and is Jo’s faith.
There is great comfort in this, even while we mourn the loss of Jo from our presence. But, again, Jo is not lost. She is known to her Lord. She is kept safe in His hand until His return. And so shall we be also. He knows you, He loves you, and He has done and is doing the Father’s work for you, comforting you, guarding you, protecting you, shielding you in the one true faith until His return.
That is the greater work: that our Lord shall raise all who believe in Him and give to you eternal life. And there, in that day, we shall be reunited with our friend, our mother, our grandmother, Jo, and we shall rejoice, for our Lord is faithful and He will keep us until that day for His purpose, which is to fulfill the Father’s will. Jo is asleep, but only for a little while, and so shall we, too, sleep in our graves. And she and we will pass in that place from death to life everlasting. Our Lord is faithful, and He will do it. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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