The Rev. Paul J Cain
Psalm 43
Thine Forever
Saturday of Trinity XXII, 29 October 2016
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
Funeral Sermon for Vera
Laura (Kaufmann) Rhoades
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Death is on our minds today. We mourn, but we have hope in Christ, for
He has defeated death by a death of His own and a Resurrection of His own that
He will one day share with us.
We miss Vera, our sister in Christ. She felt like family, even to many
of us who were not related to her by blood or marriage. The Lord makes us
family through Holy Baptism. He makes promises to us in His Word and He keeps
them, of that we can be sure. One such promise is Mark 16:16. “Whoever believes
and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Vera was baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, according to Christ’s command, and into this promise. We rightly leave
the rest up to the Lord.
Elements of today’s service tell of the gifts Christ gave to Vera and
the story of her life in Christ. She was baptized on the Sunday before Ash
Wednesday, Quinquagesima, in 1918. Our Epistle lesson today was likely heard
that day.
The Sunday before Palm Sunday was Vera’s Confirmation Day in 1930, and
at least a portion of Psalm 43 was heard that day. (Read underlined verses on
next page.)
1Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from
the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! 2For you are the God in
whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about
mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3Send out your
light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and
to your dwelling! 4Then I will go to the altar of God, to God
my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. 5Why
are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in
God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
We read the whole of this psalm responsively earlier in the service. It
speaks to God’s vindication and deliverance of us, the light and truth of His
Word guiding us each day and all our life long, His gathering of us to be His
people in the place where He delivers His gifts to us, and that He is the
source of our hope, the object of our praise, both our Savior and our God.
On a Confirmation Sunday in a German Lutheran congregation in 1930
Nebraska, one would probably also hear this verse from the mouth of Jesus:
Sei getreu bis an den Tod, so will ich dir die Krone des Lebens geben.[1]
The English of Revelation 2:10b is: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Sei getreu bis an den Tod, so will ich dir die Krone des Lebens geben.[1]
The English of Revelation 2:10b is: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
In Holy Baptism, Vera is in Christ. At her Confirmation and First
Communion and every Communion since, even those in her room with us at Green
House Living, she is in Christ. Now, she is at peace, at rest, in Christ, and
in His presence. With her we await the return of Christ and the Resurrection of
all on the Last Day, when all delivered and saved by Christ will be with Him
and one another face to face, knowing in full, fully in Christ.
Years ago, I asked Vera about her favorite hymn. “Well, I like them
all!” she said in her “happy-grumpy” voice. And then we opened up her hymnal
and looked at some, including “Let Me Be Thine Forever.” You may be noticing a
theme develop. Together, the readings and hymns echo her confession of faith.
When a pastor visits a Christian like Vera on her deathbed, he has a
wonderful resource in a book called the Pastoral Care Companion that
accompanies the hymnal Lutheran Service Book. (And yes, there’s even an
app for that on my smartphone.) Some call it “Last Rites.” We call it “Commendation
of the Dying.” What an excellent opportunity to comfort a believer who received
the washing of water and the Word, heard Jesus’ Words of forgiveness, drank
deeply of Sacred Scripture, and feasted upon Christ’s own Body and Blood. Near
the end of the “commendation,” or, when death is near, the pastor speaks or
chants the Nunc Dimittis, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart
in peace…”
Then, the pastor may say or sing stanza three of the classic Lutheran
hymn “Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart,” LSB 708: ¯ “Then let at last Thine angels come, To Abram’s bosom bear me home
That I may die unfearing. And in its narrow chamber keep My body safe in
peaceful sleep Until Thy reappearing. And then from death awaken me That my own
eyes with joy may see, O Son of God, Thy glorious face, My Savior and my fount
of grace! Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, my prayer attend, And I will
praise Thee without end.”
What comfort! Even in this wicked world, His love surrounds you. He
blesses you here in His Word and Sacrament according to His Gospel promises. He
has given you family and friends to love you, and a congregation of other
forgiven sinners to care for you and encourage you. He will never leave nor
forsake you. And He is with us until the end of the age, the time of His
reappearing.
For a Christian with a Lutheran background, this was Vera’s hope as she
despaired of any so-called righteousness in herself and clung tightly to the
forgiveness of sins Jesus won for her. This is your hope as well. Jesus tells
us the Truth in His Word. I invite you to hear His Word on a regular basis,
believe in the Father who sent Him, and by faith, receive the gracious Gifts of
God delivered by God the Holy Spirit: Life in Him now, eternal life in the
world to come, and Resurrection on the Last Day. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1]
Luther, M. (2001). Biblia: das ist: Die
gantze Heilige Schrifft (Re 2:10). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems,
Inc. 1545 translation.
