The Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 8)

(Audio)

Matthew 7:15-23; Romans 8:12-17; Jeremiah 23:16-29

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Listen carefully, for I have an important truth to share with you today: It is not alright to say that it is alright to do what the LORD has said is not alright to do. That seems simple enough, doesn't it? Yet, apparently, it isn’t.

Likewise, it is not alright to say that something is sinful when the LORD has not called it sin. That is simply the other side of the same coin. No one should permit, encourage, or bless what God has forbidden, and no one should forbid or condemn what God has not forbidden. Whoever claims to speak for God must say only what God has said, without adding to it and without taking away from it. That is what it means to be a prophet: a mouthpiece through whom God speaks His own Word.

Yet the LORD warns through Jeremiah that false prophets will arise, speaking “visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.” They continually tell those who despise the Word of God, “It shall be well with you,” and “No disaster shall come upon you.” In other words: “Keep doing what you're doing. God didn’t really mean that. It’s alright. God loves you just the way you are.” Go ahead and curse like a sailor. Go ahead and steal music and movies. Go ahead and live together and have sex outside of marriage. Go ahead and cheat on your taxes. Go ahead and terminate that pregnancy. Go ahead and affirm LGBTQ+ and same-sex marriage and bless what God has not blessed. Those old-fashioned preachers have misunderstood God. They’re not even Christians but they are bigots, misogynist, homophobes, and worse. God only wants you to be happy, and kind, and nice.

The LORD says such prophets “heal the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” They call evil good and good evil, they put darkness for light and light for darkness. “I did not send the prophets,” says the LORD, “yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.” Had they truly stood in His counsel, they would have proclaimed His Word and called His people to repentance.

There will always be false prophets because there will always be people who want to hear them. As St. Paul warned, “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” Therefore, it is imperative that Christians learn to distinguish true prophets from false ones, true doctrine from false doctrine. How can you tell the difference? Jesus answers: “You will recognize them by their fruits.”

What are the fruits of a prophet? Jesus compares prophets to trees. Healthy trees bear good fruit; diseased trees bear bad fruit. You do not gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles. Good fruit comes only from a good tree. The fruit of a prophet is his preaching. If he proclaims God’s Word in its truth and purity, that fruit nourishes faith and strengthens God’s people for eternal life. But if he corrupts, waters down, or twists God’s Word with human opinions, that fruit is poisonous. False doctrine rarely destroys faith all at once. Rather, like a slow poison, it gradually dulls the conscience until a person no longer recognizes truth from error.

Jesus also warns that false prophets rarely look dangerous. They come in sheep’s clothing, though inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You cannot judge them by their outward appearance. Some are polished, charismatic, wealthy, and successful. Others appear humble, compassionate, and sincere. None of those things prove anything. The question is never, “How impressive is he?” The question is always, “What does he preach?” Does he proclaim God’s Word faithfully, even when it convicts both preacher and hearer? Or does he reshape God’s Word to satisfy the desires of sinful men? His fruit is his preaching.

To understand this better, consider the beginning. In Eden stood two trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. By appearance both were attractive. But God’s Word made all the difference. One gave life; the other brought death. Then came the first false prophet. Disguised as a serpent, Satan twisted God’s Word. He promised that disobedience would not bring death but wisdom and enlightenment. Adam and Eve judged by appearances instead of God’s Word. They believed the false prophet, ate the forbidden fruit, and sin and death entered the world. Ever since then there have been true prophets and false prophets.

The true prophets were sinners like us, yet they faithfully proclaimed both God’s condemning Law and His comforting Gospel. Above all, they pointed to the coming Messiah. The false prophets followed the pattern of Satan. They mixed God’s truth with human opinion. They obscured the Gospel. They either taught salvation by human works or assured sinners that they needed no salvation at all.

Then, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son, the True Prophet. Jesus came to destroy the death that entered through the forbidden tree and to restore to sinners the Tree of Life. He took into Himself the poison of our sin and death. He drank the cup of God’s wrath to its bitter dregs until nothing remained. Then He was nailed to the cursed tree of the cross.

There was nothing outwardly attractive about Him. As Isaiah says, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.” He was despised and rejected by men. Yet He alone is the true Prophet of God. Blessed are those who are not offended by Him. He is the Truth. His cross has become for us the Tree of Life. From it He gives the fruit that grants eternal life. Whoever feeds on Him lives forever. He is the righteousness of sinners and the justifier of the guilty. He is mercy for the fearful, forgiveness for the condemned, peace for troubled consciences, and life for those who must die. He gives the medicine of immortality. Those who hear His voice receive Him with joy, and He welcomes them into the kingdom of heaven.

So Jesus is right: you will know a prophet by his fruits. Ask this question: What fruit does he set before me? To whom does he direct me? What does he feed me? The true prophet always places before you the fruit of the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of your sins. He feeds you with Christ’s pure Word. He gives you Christ’s holy body and precious blood, the blessed fruits of the cross, now become for you the Tree of Life with every good.

Your Savior is not far away. He is near. By His wounds you are healed. By His suffering you have peace with God. Everyone who calls upon His Name is saved from sin, death, and hell. Come, then, and eat from the Tree of Life. Receive the good fruit of the true Prophet. Feed upon Christ and live forever.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 7)

(Audio)

Mark  8:1-9; Romans 6:19-23; Genesis 2:7-17

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Part of the curse Adam brought upon himself, his children, and the entire world when he rebelled against God was that the earth would no longer provide sustenance freely apart from man’s labor. In the beginning, “the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” But after the fall, the ground was cursed because of Adam’s sin. It brought forth thorns and thistles, and in pain, sweat, and toil man would eat his bread.

Yet for all his labor, man’s bread cannot give true and lasting life. Like the widow of Zarephath and her son, fallen man can only expect to work hard, eat his daily bread, and then die. As the old coal-mining song says, “You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.” For all our striving, what do we finally receive? We get what we have earned. We receive the wages of our sin, and “the wages of sin is death.” Man does not live by bread alone.

Then, four thousand years after Adam’s fall, Jesus came to break the curse. He was born in Bethlehem, the House of Bread, the city of David and the town of Messianic promise. He came as our Bread King to give a bread no man can make, a bread that gives true and everlasting life. Jesus is the bread from heaven that sustained Israel for forty years in the wilderness. He is the widow’s flour and oil that never failed. He is the bread that satisfies four thousand today and five thousand tomorrow, not because anyone deserved it, earned it, or merited it, but because He has compassion upon sinners. He is the true Passover Bread, without the leaven of sin. He is food for the journey as He leads us in the true Exodus, from sin, death, and the devil into everlasting life through His death and resurrection.

For Jesus carried our sixteen tons of sin to the cross. Throughout His earthly ministry He scattered the seed of His Word wherever He went, and He sent His apostles to sow that same seed to the ends of the earth so that, when the harvest comes, the barns of heaven might be filled with precious wheat. That is why the Feeding of the Four Thousand, and later the Feeding of the Five Thousand, is so much more than a miracle. It is a sign that Adam’s curse is being undone. In Christ, men eat and live. In Christ, the wilderness becomes a garden once again. In Christ, the Tree of Life stands once more before sinful man. No one who comes to Him is turned away. Whoever feeds upon Him by faith shall live. Though he dies, yet shall he live, for Christ will raise him up on the Last Day.

Our Lord looked upon those crowds with compassion because they had been with Him three days and had nothing to eat. Yet the same condition exists today. We live surrounded by abundance, yet we are starving. Our cupboards and refrigerators overflow. Our stores are filled with every imaginable luxury. We spend ourselves chasing comfort, pleasure, success, and possessions, believing they will satisfy us. Yet none of these things can overcome death. Every meal postpones death for another day, but none can conquer it. Every earthly bread eventually leaves us hungry again.

The prophet Isaiah asks, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” That question is as timely now as it was then. Our sinful flesh continually hungers for the wrong things. Conceived and born in sin, it desires what ultimately destroys it. It promises life where there is only death. It promises satisfaction where there is only emptiness. Perhaps we are not so different from Israel after all, looking everywhere for life while the Bread of Life stands in our very midst.

But Jesus has compassion on you. He allowed His holy body to be broken and His precious blood to be shed so that you might eat and drink and truly be satisfied. His gifts never run out. His mercy is never exhausted. There is always more than enough for you and still enough to feed others besides. For the life He gives is not earned. It is not wages. It is gift. It is like the fruit of Eden before the fall, freely given by God apart from your labor, your sweat, or your merit.

You know these words well from Saint Paul: “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That gift became yours in Holy Baptism. There the old Adam drowned with Christ. There a new man arose, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the watery womb of the Church. There you were made part of something far greater than yourself.

Our world worships the individual. It tells us that life is about self-expression, self-fulfillment, and self-interest. But there is no room for such individualism in the Body of Christ. A member that lives only for itself is like a cancer in the body. Instead, Christ gives us His own life, a life of love, compassion, and self-sacrifice. As husband and wife die to themselves in Holy Marriage and become one flesh, so the members of Christ’s Body live not for themselves but for one another.

Having been raised with Christ, you now live in the world but not of it. You have been sent back into this fallen creation to be leaven, not with the corruption of the world, but with the mercy, righteousness, and compassion of Christ. And so Christ continues to sustain you. He feeds your new life through His holy Word. He feeds you with the Living Bread from heaven. He feeds you here at this altar with His true body and blood.

Listen again to Isaiah: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Here Christ has turned the bread of death into the Bread of Life. Here He gives you His own body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Here the curse of Adam gives way to the blessing of the Second Adam. Here the wages of sin are swallowed up by the free gift of God. And that free gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 6)

(Audio)

Matthew 5:17-26; Romans 6:1-11; Exodus 20:1-17

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The past three Sundays we have listened to the Holy Scriptures, prayed the prayers, sung the hymns, and heard proclaimed to us the grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness of God our Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Today we turn, necessarily, to the question: How then shall we live?

We just heard the Law of God summarized in the Ten Commandments. We have heard St. Paul exhort us, baptized and forgiven, not to continue in sin but to walk in newness of life. And we have heard our Lord Himself declare, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

It may seem to you that, after having the Gospel lavished upon you so richly, you have now been thrown back under the condemnation of the Law? That is the accusation of your bad conscience. For the Law of God is good, holy, and wise. Our Lord teaches that it will not pass away until He returns and this world is no more. Until then, our lives are lived under God’s Law and are ordered by it from our first breath until our last.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” “Honor your father and your mother.” “You shall not murder.” “You shall not commit adultery.” “You shall not steal.” “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” “You shall not covet.”

This Law is not given so that you might do it and so earn God’s favor or deserve His blessing. Rather, it reveals what your Lord commands of you and, at the same time, reveals that you cannot fulfill those commands perfectly. The Law always exposes our sin. It demands perfect obedience from us in thought, word, and deed, and it shows that such obedience is beyond our power. Thus, the Law drives us to despair of ourselves so that we no longer trust in our own righteousness.

But do not let that despair become bitterness or resentment. Do not imagine that the Lord is a harsh master who demands the impossible and has neither grace nor mercy. He has not given you His Law because He delights in condemning you. He has given it because He loves you. Further, He has not taken His Law away, but He has fulfilled it for you in His Son. Christ’s perfect obedience is now yours as a free gift of grace. Therefore, you are free to obey the Law, not out of fear or coercion, but out of love.

Neither should you puff yourself up with pride, however, thinking that you have kept God’s Law better than most. Beware, lest you become a Pharisee. The Pharisees were remarkably disciplined. Their prayers were regular and devout. Their tithes were generous. Their observance of the Sabbath was meticulous. Yet they trusted in those works. They believed themselves righteous because of them, and so they could not receive the righteousness that is given freely in Christ.

When the Law has accomplished its holy purpose, then the Gospel speaks. There is hope for the hopeless and comfort for the troubled. The Gospel makes no demands. It issues no commands. It simply proclaims your Savior. “It is finished.” Your salvation is complete. Christ has fulfilled the Law for you. He has borne your sin, endured your condemnation, and bestowed upon you His righteousness. The perfect love of God has been revealed in His Son, and that love has set you free.

How then shall we live? Shall we continue in sin because this grace abounds? By no means! As St. Paul says, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” In Holy Baptism you died with Christ. Your old man was crucified with Him. You have been raised with Him to live a new life. Therefore, “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

And this new life has a new motive. The old obedience was driven by fear. The new obedience is inspired by grace. Love is the fulfillment of the Law because God’s love in Christ has first fulfilled the Law for you. Having been loved so completely, you are now free to love.

The Law has not been abolished. It has been fulfilled in Christ. Therefore, it is no longer the crushing burden it once was. Those who have been set free from the Law’s condemnation are now free to delight in God’s commandments. No longer do they obey because they fear punishment; they obey because they have been loved.

This is the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. It is not a greater quantity of good works. It is the righteousness of Christ Himself, bestowed upon you by grace through faith. The Pharisees obeyed outwardly, but they did not know the love of God or their need for His mercy. Consequently, they neither loved nor showed mercy to others.

So, when Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,” do not look within yourself. If you do, you will either despair, grow angry with God, or become proud. Instead, look to Christ. His righteousness is your righteousness. His love is your life. Clothed in Him, you are free to love as He has loved you.

Consider how Jesus teaches the commandments. The commandment “You shall not murder” forbids not only violence but also anger, contempt, and hateful words. The commandment “You shall not commit adultery” forbids not only the outward act but also lustful desire. The commandment “Remember the Sabbath day” is fulfilled not by mere outward rest but by receiving God’s gifts and showing His mercy to one another. Love reaches deeper than outward behavior because love seeks the good of the neighbor. As St. Paul says elsewhere, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the Law.”

Dear saints, in Christ your righteousness does indeed exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. You have been baptized into Christ. In Him you have died to sin and been raised to newness of life. The Law has not passed away, but it has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ for you.

Now your Lord continues to sustain this new life. He absolves your sins. He strengthens your faith. He feeds you with His own true Body and Blood in this sacred feast of His love, giving you even now a foretaste of the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, where faith shall become sight, love shall be perfected, and the Law shall never again accuse, because Christ has fulfilled it forever.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 5)

(Audio)

Luke 5:1-11; 1 Peter 3:8-15; 1 Kings 19:11-21

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

God’s ways are not our ways. You, and I, all of us know that to be unequivocally true. But why? Are our ways always so wrong? Do we never do the right thing, the righteous thing, the virtuous thing? Of course we do. We build hospitals to heal the sick. We give food, clothing, and money to provide for the poor. Our young men and women lay down their lives to defend our freedoms and to secure freedoms for others. Of course, we also destroy infant lives, we better ourselves at the expense of others, and we tend to think more of ourselves than of anyone else. But why must God’s ways always be so very different from our ways? Why must God’s thoughts be so completely the opposite of our thoughts?

There is an answer to that question, and I think that you will agree that it is every bit as true as the fact that God’s ways are not our ways, even if you don’t find it very satisfying. The answer to the question “Why?” is, “Because He is God, and you are not.” That’s why.

We so want God to act in the ways in which we think that He should act. We so want God to be like us. It’s only human after all. But God is not like us; God is not a human creature. God created humanity in His image, not the other way around. So, whose ways must be conformed to whom? Whose thoughts must submit to whom?

The greatest obstacle to faith, and the greatest contributor to suffering, is pride. Pride is your idol, your god. An idol is anything that you put your fear, love, and trust in before God; an idol is anything that gets in between you and God. It’s a First Commandment thing: You shall have no other gods before me – not even yourself. It’s an Original Sin thing – man is not content to be created in the image of God, but man wants to be God himself. We want to determine what is wisdom and what is foolishness, what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. But it is pride. It is arrogance. It is self-righteousness and self-centeredness and self-ISH-ness. And it is sin. And it brings death. And it is utterly, and truly foolishness.

Each of our lessons today speak to us of foolishness. For it is foolishness in the eyes of the world that God would speak to Elijah, not in a mighty wind, not in a jarring earthquake, and not in a blazing fire, but in a still, small voice – even a whisper.

Likewise, it is foolishness in the eyes of the world that you do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling but rather do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you, even love your enemies.

And so also was it foolishness in the eyes of the world, indeed foolishness in the weary eyes of Simon, James, and John, when Jesus told them to “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.”

Foolishness. But the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. God’s foolishness is wiser than man’s wisdom. God’s thoughts are not man’s thoughts, neither are man’s ways His ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than man’s ways and His thoughts than man’s thoughts.

Man’s pride separates him from God. The man who trusts in himself does not seek God – he is a fool. But God is merciful and just, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. He calls the fool to repentance and afflicts man’s pride to break it. Elijah feared for his life because he trusted only in himself and knew that he had not the strength in himself to survive. But in his self-despair, Elijah was receptive to God’s Word. God demonstrated to Elijah that He would act, not in ways that men find impressive – winds, earthquakes, and fire – but in His way, the way of His Word.

Simon, James, and John despaired at the failure of their own efforts to catch fish. But in their broken and weary desperation they were receptive to Jesus’ Word “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” By that Word alone they put to their boats and let down their nets, not expecting anything, but catching instead a great catch of fish.

Why are God’s ways and thoughts so different from ours? Because He is God and we are not – thanks be to God. In His grace and mercy, God loves us enough to crush us; God loves you enough to crush your pride, to beak your self-reliance, to destroy your self-righteousness. It is a good thing to be broken by the Lord – for He is powerful and willing to put you back together again, not as you were before, but as a new creation, restoring you once again to His image.

God’s foolishness is wiser than man’s wisdom. He does the unthinkable. He does what men would never do. He saves the best wine for last. He eats and drinks with sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes. He touches the unclean with no concern for Himself. And He lays down His own life for men who hate Him. Foolishness.

And so, thanks be to God, His ways and thoughts are not your ways and thoughts. He afflicts your ways and thoughts. He afflicts your pride, your reason, and your assumed wisdom. He breaks you, so that He can re-create you in the image of His Son.

Through the foolishness of the Gospel – the preaching of Christ crucified – a great catch of fish – you – is still brought into the boat – the Church. The message of the cross is foolishness and a stumbling block to the world; but to you, that cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Christian Funeral for Wendell Edward Arends

(Audio)

John 14:1-6; Romans 8:18-28; Lamentations 3:22-33

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Death is always an intruder. It separates those whom God has joined together in love, and it leaves our hearts heavy with grief. But for the Christian, death never has the final word, because Jesus Christ does. Today we gather to commend our brother, Wendell Arends, into the Lord's keeping, confident in the promise of Christ: “Let not your hearts be troubled... I go to prepare a place for you.”

Wendell was a big man with an even bigger heart. He was a gentleman who wore his Sunday best to church and was well put together the rest of the week. He treated people with respect and carried himself with dignity and honor. He had a firm handshake — honest, sincere, and strong. It was the handshake of a man who worked hard, kept his word, and quietly lived his faith. Wendell wasn't perfect. He knew he was a sinner. But he also knew something even greater: he was forgiven in the blood of Jesus Christ.

He worked hard to provide for his son, Matthew, and to care for his mother, Grace. For more than thirty years Grace lived with Wendell, and he did whatever was necessary to keep her at home until his own health made that impossible and they entered Clarksville Nursing and Rehabilitation together. Along with good genes and a healthy lifestyle, there is little doubt that Wendell's faithful love contributed to his mother's remarkable longevity and well-being.

Grace helped raise Matthew alongside his father, and together they were a close family. They especially loved golfing at CARD in Clarksville. Wendell and Grace treasured their purple golf cart, Barney, and even when they weren't golfing, he delighted in taking his mother for rides. They played Farkel with John and Carol Lilienthal, watched sports together, cheering for the Patriots and for whoever happened to be playing the Packers, and they enjoyed long drives in Ruby, Wendell's red Nissan Rogue, looking for eagles, hawks, and other wildlife. A trip to Wisconsin usually included a stop at Breitbach's in Balltown on the way home. Wendell appreciated a good ribeye, chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and his favorite vegetable was the yellow one: butter. Not long ago, when I visited him at the nursing home and asked if there was anything he wanted, his answer came quickly: “A cheeseburger.” Wendell and Grace also enjoyed a sweet red wine. On one visit to their home, Wendell even served me Dr. McGillicuddy's Cherry Liqueur. It was sweet, and it was red.

More importantly, Wendell and Grace loved being here in God's house. They worshipped faithfully at St. John whenever they were physically able. They loved their Lord, and they loved His Church. Together they donated the rose-colored paraments and vestments that adorn this sanctuary on Gaudete Sunday in Advent and Laetare Sunday in Lent. They saw them in use only a few times before Grace's funeral last December, when those rose colors once again proclaimed Christian joy in the midst of sorrow. Wendell served as an usher for years, and later his service became quietly caring for Grace, making sure she got safely into church and received Christ's body and blood. That was Wendell. Quietly serving others.

He was a tool-and-die journeyman whose skills made him valuable wherever he worked. He changed employers not because he was unreliable, but because he was dependable. Good craftsmen are always in demand.

Yet for all his strength, Wendell's physical heart was failing him. In December of 2023 he suffered a cardiac arrest at work. His implanted defibrillator shocked his heart back into rhythm, but he blacked out, fell, and suffered a serious head injury. After a lengthy hospitalization he emerged noticeably weaker. Then came another cardiac event, another hospitalization, more rehabilitation, and finally long-term nursing care.

For a man like Wendell, that was difficult. He had always been the one caring for others, not the one needing care. He was accustomed to working, providing, driving, walking, golfing, and enjoying God's creation. Gradually even breathing became difficult. I suspect what he missed most was simply getting outside, taking a drive in Barney or Ruby, or walking through God's beautiful creation.

Still, as long as Grace was with him, and Matthew, and Anne, and John and Carol, there was joy. After Grace died last December, I believe that was especially hard on Wendell. He missed her terribly. But he was also happy for her because he knew exactly where she was. She was with Jesus.

That wasn't wishful thinking. It wasn't crossing his fingers and hoping everything would work out. It was faith. Faith takes Jesus at His Word. And what does Jesus say? “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms... I go to prepare a place for you... I will come again and take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.” Those are not simply comforting words. They are promises purchased by Christ's own blood. Jesus does not merely point us toward heaven. He is the Way there. He does not merely teach the truth. He is the Truth. He does not merely give life. He is the Life. Wendell knew that.

As his body became weaker, his confidence in Christ did not. It wasn't that he had given up. It wasn't despair. It was hope. His hope was not in another procedure, another medication, or a different type of therapy. His hope was in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ.

For years Wendell had cared for Grace. He watched over her. He provided for her. He made sure she got where she needed to be. He made sure she was safe. But there came a day when Wendell could no longer care for Grace. The good news is that Jesus never stopped caring for either of them.

The Good Shepherd cared for Grace until He called her safely home. The Good Shepherd cared for Wendell through every hospitalization, every setback, every disappointment, every weakening heartbeat, and every labored breath. He cared for Wendell through His holy Word. He cared for him through Holy Absolution. He cared for him through His own Body and Blood given and shed for the forgiveness of sins. The Shepherd never abandoned His sheep. “The LORD is my Shepherd.” Not “was.” Not “used to be.” “The LORD is my Shepherd.” Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You are with me.

Death is still an enemy. Scripture never pretends otherwise. We weep today because death separates us from those we love. Matthew has lost his father. Family has lost someone they dearly loved. St. John has lost a faithful brother in Christ. Death hurts. But notice what David calls it. Not the valley of death. The valley of the shadow of death. A shadow can frighten us, but it cannot ultimately harm us. At the cross Jesus bore our sin. At the empty tomb He conquered our grave. Death is now but the shadow left behind by an enemy Christ has already defeated.

That is why St. Paul can write, “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Those words are easy to read and much harder to live. Wendell knew suffering. He knew what it was like to lose his strength. He knew what it was like to surrender his independence. He knew what it was like to watch his body fail him. But he also knew something greater. He knew that his Redeemer lives. He knew that Christ had claimed him in Holy Baptism. He knew that Christ continually spoke forgiveness into his ears. He knew that at this altar Christ fed him His own Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

These were not empty rituals. This is how the Good Shepherd cared for His sheep. This is how Christ sustained Wendell's faith. This is how the Lord prepared him for the day He would finally call him home.

Jeremiah writes, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Every morning. Not just the healthy mornings. Not just the mornings when Wendell could golf or take a drive in Ruby. Every morning. Even the mornings in the nursing home. Even the mornings after another hospitalization. Even the final morning of his earthly life. The Lord's mercy was new. The Lord was faithful. And He is faithful still.

Today Wendell rests from his labors. His heart no longer struggles. His breathing is no longer labored. His suffering has ended because he is with Christ, which is far better. But this is not the end of Wendell's story. The body we commit to the earth today is not discarded. It is sown like a seed in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the body. The day is coming when the trumpet will sound. Christ will return in glory. The dead in Christ will rise. The grave will surrender its dead. And Wendell will stand again, not weakened, not frail, not struggling for breath, but whole, perfect, and glorified, because Jesus Christ lives. That is our comfort today.

Our comfort is not ultimately that Wendell was a good man, though he was. Our comfort is not ultimately that he faithfully cared for Grace for so many years, though he certainly did. Our comfort is not ultimately that he loved his family and friends so well, though they were richly blessed by his love. Our comfort is Christ. Christ crucified for sinners. Christ risen from the dead. Christ reigning at the Father's right hand. Christ coming again in glory to raise the dead and make all things new.

Jesus says, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” Because He is the Way, Wendell is safely home with Him. Because He is the Life, death could not hold him. And because Jesus lives, Wendell shall live also.

Dear friends, that same promise is for you. Trust in Christ. Cling to His promises. Receive the gifts He freely gives in His Word and Sacraments. For the Good Shepherd who faithfully led Wendell through the valley of the shadow of death will likewise lead all who belong to Him into the house of the Lord forever.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.