John 3:16-18; Romans 8:31-39; Romans 14:7-9; Job 19:21-27
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Billie, Kathleen; Scott, Steve, Stacy; Ellen; Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren, family, and friends of James Alan Soldwisch, “Jim,” grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I’ve been blessed to serve here at St. John six years now. That is the entire time I’ve known Jim, Billie, and Ellen. The first two and a half of those years, Jim and Billie came to church, or I visited them in their home. The last three and a half of those years were affected by the pandemic, and then by Jim’s declining health and mental condition. While it’s fair to say that I knew Jim, it is also fair to say that I didn’t know him well. As you all know, Jim was a man of few words when he was healthy, and fewer still when he wasn’t. But Jim came to church; he wanted to be here; that was important to him. And that says a lot about Jim.
As I met with the immediate family this week in preparation for today’s service, I learned more about the Jim that I didn’t know. I learned where he grew up and where he went to school. I learned about his parents, his family, and his upbringing. I learned about his interests and what he did for a living. I was somewhat surprised to learn about his love for motorcycles and John Deere lawn tractors. I learned about his love for his sons and for his grandchildren, and how he loved to watch them play sports or whatever it was they loved to do. I never would have guessed that Jim loved motorcycles and used to ride all over the country. I never would have guessed that he went to Sturgis nearly every year, but that’s what the family said, and yesterday I saw all his Sturgis t-shirts on display to prove it! Jim loved cars also, particularly his ‘69 Firebird and his Camaro. Jim enjoyed woodworking, gardening, and collecting and restoring John Deere lawn tractors. I learned about a time when Jim was hauling two tractors and forgot to tie the second one down; it rolled off down the road as he pulled away thinking all was well. Another time he hauled a three-wheeler on the roof of a Grand Prix. Where there’s a will, there’s always a way! And Jim loved to have fun with his kids and grandkids on the farm. Four-year-old Stacy got a ride on the back of a truck over deep ruts in the mud; by the grace of God, he was able to hold on! Jim turned the other way when Steve and Scott put Stacy in a suitcase and slid him down the stairs. At least they gave him a radio! Or the time when they put Stacy in the dryer; at least they didn’t turn it on! Jim loved to watch Kyle play football, and he always beat Billie in checkers. How proud was Jim of his grandchildren? When his first grandson was born, Jim put on a suit and rented a limo to take mother and son home; he even had a dozen roses in hand for Kandi. I think that’s just scratching the surface of who Jim was.
Those are some of the things that I didn’t know about Jim. But here’s what I do know about Jim: Jim is a baptized child of God. God claimed Jim as His own child when He was baptized into Jesus eighty-two years ago. Jim’s sin was washed away in that cleansing flood, the sin that he was conceived and born in, and the sins he had committed since himself. Jim was robed in Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sins. God the Father looked upon Jim as His own holy, righteous, sinless son, through Jesus Christ. Years later Jim was confirmed; after years of studying the Bible and the Catechism, Jim made a public confession of the faith the Holy Spirit created in him in Holy Baptism. Jim confessed his faith and trust in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he began to receive Jesus’ body and blood in Holy Communion for the renewed forgiveness of his sins and for the strengthening of his faith. Jim was sustained in this faith throughout his life, and he passed this faith on to his children as best he could, which is why we are here today, to honor and respect Jim’s faith and to commend him to our Lord until the day of resurrection, and to find comfort and hope in the words and promises of our Lord which can never fail, neither for Jim or for us.
This is not to suggest that Jim was perfect. He wasn’t. No one is perfect, not Jim, not you, not me. Still, it is a truism that only sinners can be forgiven, only the lost can be found, and only the dead can be raised. Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus died so that those who bear the curse of sin, which is death, may live. Jim believed and trusted in His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the LORD will not and cannot break His promise made to Jim. In truth, Jim died long ago, in Holy Baptism; and so did each of you when believed and were baptized. Therefore, Jesus teaches, “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.” Indeed, this is why the Son of God became the man Jesus – to fulfill God’s Law for Jim, for you, for me, and for all men, and to suffer and die for our sin and be raised to new life that cannot die: “For God so loved the world in this way: He gave His only Son over to death on the cross, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is what Job, in the midst of his terrible suffering, confessed nearly two thousand years before Jesus’ birth: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job confessed his faith in a Redeemer, long before His birth; yet more amazing still, Job confessed his faith in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is precisely the resurrection that is our hope and comfort when we face death, whether it be our own or the death of those we love. We do not grieve as others do who have no hope, for we believe that we will be raised with new, glorified, flesh and blood bodies having eyes to see, ears to hear, and arms to reach out and touch and hold those we love who have died in the Lord. “Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on,” says Jesus, for they are with Him, “and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” Indeed, God is for us. God is for Jim. And we are sure that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes! This is the LORD’s doing, therefore we can trust in it and depend upon it. This is the LORD’s doing, therefore we have hope. Jesus lives! And because He lives, we shall live also. Do not be afraid! He is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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