Matthew 6:25-33; 2 Timothy 4:6-8; 1 John 3:1-2
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I was born. I was baptized. I was confirmed. I was married. That’s pretty much how Jerry began a letter about six years ago summarizing his life up to that point, a letter that would eventually become the basis of his obituary. I don’t know if Jerry was aware of it or not, but that is precisely the order in which the rites appear in the Lutheran Service Book hymnal: Holy Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, and lastly the Funeral Service which we are observing today. This order is not coincidental. These are the rites that mark the stages of a Christian’s life. These are the rites that marked the stages of Jerry’s life. And these rites mark the stages of your life and my life too. These events were of the utmost importance to Jerry, and so he began his letter summarizing his life stating plainly and clearly that he died in the waters of Holy Baptism and was born again, cleansed of his sins in Jesus’ blood, having received the gift of the Holy Spirit and faith, and that he made public confirmation of his faith before both God and man, and that he was joined in Holy Matrimony to a Christian woman whom God had brought to him. And today we observe and mark the next, though not final, stage of Jerry’s life, His death in Christ. Today marks the end of Jerry’s earthly life, but it also points us to Christ’s promise that those who believe in Him, though they die, yet shall they live, and everyone who lives and believes in Him shall never die. Truly, Jerry would like for nothing more than for the people he loved to know this and to believe this and so receive with Him life that cannot die, life in Jesus Christ that will never perish or fade away.
Now, of course, these rites are not the only important things in a Christian’s life. Jerry also noted his time in two different country schools in rural Nebraska, his education at St. Peter’s Parochial School, and High School graduation in Ruskin, Nebraska. Those were formative years for Jerry, years that shaped him into the Christian man you all knew and loved. I had very few conversations with Jerry in which he did not mention that he grew up in Nebraska and went to church in Ruskin. In fact, there’s a red hat with Jerry right now that reads “St. Mark Lutheran Church – Ruskin, Nebraska.” Jerry wore that hat all the time. After high school – six days after graduation – Jerry enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and spent time in Texas, Mississippi, Idaho, and Japan. Jerry has another hat with him honoring him as a veteran, and he will be honored as such at the cemetery later today. Thank you for your service, Jerry. Then Jerry moved to Waverly with his parents and worked several jobs, learned the appliance repair trade in which he was self-employed for thirty-three years, owned and operated a tropical fish store, and did custodial work at Wartburg College. Jerry was married to Lyne Mohling and became father to Diane, Chris, and Corey. Twenty-three years later Jerry married Vera Sherburne and became father (stepfather) to Susan, Darwin, Teresa, Jeff, and Rodney. And the story continues with grandchildren and great-grandchildren, with an additional great-grandchild due any day now.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” Jerry became God’s child on May 30, 1937, and he lived his life as God’s child in all his many vocations: Son, husband, father, grandfather, friend, soldier, custodian, laborer, fish monger, appliance repairman, church trustee, head usher, congregation vice-president, and numerous others. What Jerry received from the Lord you also received from him: love, kindness, charity, mercy, forgiveness, patience, help in time of need, support and encouragement in all things. Jerry fought the good fight of faith. He finished the race. Now he rests from his labors, and there is laid up for him the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to him, and to all who love His appearing, when He comes.
Jerry loved his family – his great big, blended family. Blood or marriage, it didn’t matter, it doesn’t matter still. Whether it was the lake house in Minnesota or omelets in Shell Rock for Christmas, it was about having the family together, the more the merrier. Jerry’s confirmation verse was Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jerry did, and they were. Just as Jerry marked his life by baptism, confirmation, and marriage, so did Jerry live his life as Christ’s child. God was always first for Jerry. That didn’t mean that others were second, but it was because of Jerry’s love for God that you experienced such love from Jerry. As the Apostle John has written, “We love because He first loved us.” Jerry’s love was the love of God in Christ Jesus. It was selfless and sacrificial love. It was patient and enduring love. It was love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Jerry didn’t always have much. And life was most certainly not always easy. In the few years I’ve known Jerry and Vera it seems that they have always had family members on the prayer list and there have been numerous serious illnesses and quite a few deaths along the way as well. However, the very same love of God that Jerry received made him a rock through those turbulent times, and Vera too. Jerry was not anxious about his life, what he would eat or drink, nor about his body and what he would put on. He knew that his life was more than food and his body more than clothing. More than that, He knew, believed, and trusted in God’s love for him and for all in Christ Jesus and, seeking Christ first, Jerry knew that everything that was needful would be provided him in God’s way and in God’s time. Again, Jerry would like nothing more than that those whom he loved should know and experience and share this same peace and comfort and love in Christ Jesus.
Jerry didn’t want the homily at his funeral to be all about him. Although I’ve said much about Jerry and his life and I’ve mentioned his name many times, still I insist that this homily has not been all about Jerry, but it has been all about Jesus who loved Jerry, and gave His life for Jerry, and lived in and through Jerry’s life, in whose presence Jerry is now at peace and rest until the day of his reappearing. Jerry was God’s child in his earthly life, but just because his earthly life has ended does not mean that Jerry’s life is over. Jerry, and all those who have died in the Lord, along with all the faithful here on earth, are looking forward to that “yet more glorious day” of Christ’s return, when “the saints triumphant rise in bright array” and “the King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia! Alleluia!” “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. […] Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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