The Rev. Paul J Cain
Psalm 51:10-12
That’s the Savior
Funeral Sermon for Jean Robinson
Tuesday of Trinity XXIV, 17 November 2016
At Champion Funeral Home
While Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, WY
In the Name of Jesus Amen.
Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your
presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your
salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Jean Robinson prayed
these verses of Psalm 51 on countless occasions during her life. In so doing,
she confessed her sins. As a Christian, she also confessed her Savior.
When I was invited
by the family to visit Jean at Sheridan Manor, I took the weekly bulletin and
my hymnal with me. My wife and Jean’s daughters were there, too. As soon as
Jean saw the bulletin for the Third Sunday of Easter, featuring Jesus as our
Good Shepherd, she exclaimed, “That’s the Savior!” Over the course of that
visit and many others, we read Scripture, including John 10, prayed, and sang.
Jean was able to sing along with us on many hymns that remained in her heart by
faith and in her long-term memory, even in the midst of the horrible disease
that afflicted her. And Judy and Jody both read, prayed, and sang with her,
especially in these last weeks. They were also smiling, crying, and hugging
because of Jean’s response to the Word. The family had prayed for God the Holy
Spirit to work through the Word and He did, answering those prayers.
Christians are not
perfect. We are forgiven because of who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
His suffering, death, and resurrection creates in us clean hearts by the work
of God the Holy Spirit. He creates a right spirit within us. In the Father’s
love, mercy, and grace, because of the atonement of Jesus, He does not cast us
away from His presence. The Holy Spirit abides in us and we abide in Him by
faith. The joy of salvation is restored, joy that the family and others saw for
ourselves. The Lord Himself upheld Jean, gave her a willing spirit, and she
joyfully heard the Word of the Lord, prayed with us, and sang with us. Today,
as we miss and remember her, we sing some of those hymns and scripture songs.
In this life, each
Christian is simultaneously a sinner and a saint, still in the flesh and in
this world, yet forgiven in Christ. Jean’s family was important to her, and you
know it. She loved kids. She also loved gardening and moving rocks…repeatedly.
Jean Robinson also loved her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She confessed her
sins and was forgiven. She confessed her Beautiful Savior and is now at peace,
at rest, and with Him and all who trusted in Christ in this life. With Jean, we
await the Last Day and the Resurrection, when the Lord’s long-term plan for her
and us and all creation will be fulfilled. Creation itself will be restored.
And we will rejoice.
Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your
presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your
salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.
As you look at the
picture of Jesus the Good Shepherd on the cover of this bulletin, pray Psalm 51
and confess with Jean, “That’s the Savior!”
Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
