John 14:1-6; Revelation 7:9-17; Job 19:21-27
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dearly beloved family and
friends of our departed brother in Christ Ralph Bloker, sons Steven, Kenneth,
Roger, daughters Cheryle, Marie, Laurie, sister Evelyn, adored grandchildren
and great grandchildren, friends – Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God
our Father and from our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. We are gathered here
today to remember, to celebrate, and to give thanks for the faith and life our
Lord granted to His servant, His child, and His son Ralph, whom the LORD in His
providence has seen fit to call home to His heavenly pastures where His sheep
may safely graze.
Jesus said, “In My Father’s
house are many rooms.” I expect that you Blokers could say the same. Indeed, these
past seven weeks I have observed the immense love you hold for one another, for
Mom and for Dad, for grandchildren and great grandchildren. Indeed, each time I
paid a visit, whether to the rehabilitation in Tripoli, to the hospital in
Waterloo, to the rehabilitation in Waterloo, back to the hospital, and finally
to the rehabilitation in Denver – relatively large rooms were filled beyond
capacity with hearts, and hands, and voices of love. How many rooms there must
have been in that farmhouse in Janesville where you all grew up! Many rooms,
filled to overflowing with love. But, that’s how it is with our God and those
who trust in Him and obey His Commandments; He fills us full with His love,
mercy, grace, and forgiveness, and then He keeps on pouring, filling, and
giving until we overflow with His love and gifts towards others. Indeed, that
is the image He presents us with in Psalm 23, isn’t it? “My cup runneth over.”
Tears and laughter,
hand-holding and kisses, stories and remembrances, and Gospel bluegrass too! – That’s
how love was shown and shared these past several weeks as you walked with Ralph
through the valley of the shadow of death. That’s how love was shown and shared
all your lives together, from the farm where you ate Dorothy’s home-cooked
meals together as a family, to your own homes today. Today, there is great
grief and sorrow, and rightfully so. You feel this way because death is not
natural. In truth, death is the most unnatural thing there is. God did not
create us to die, but He created us to live with Him. God did not create Ralph
to die, therefore He did the unthinkable, the unimaginable – He sent His
only-begotten Son Jesus to die for Ralph, for you, for me, and for all the
world.
“Let not your hearts be
troubled,” says your Lord Jesus. That is not a command of the Law, but a
promise of the Gospel. I know that your hearts are indeed troubled, your hearts
are grieving and rent asunder, and rightly so! But, Jesus speaks to you a word
of comfort, of hope, and of peace. “Let not your hearts be troubled” is not a
command, but a proclamation: For those who believe and trust in Jesus, there is
peace and comfort for troubled hearts, for Christ has defeated death and the
grave for Ralph and for us all so that He can also proclaim, “I am the
resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he
dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” So certain is this
new life that cannot die that Jesus had already prepared a place in His
Father’s house for Ralph. And, so also has He prepared a place for you and for
all who will believe.
Not only has Jesus prepared
a place for you, but He has prepared the way for you to get there as well!
Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Jesus has already walked through the Valley of the
Shadow of Death in which you live your lives, and He has knocked down the gates
at the end of that valley that would have kept you in your graves. And He has
made them to be an open door into His Father’s house and kingdom. Moreover, He
who has passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death has defeated death for
you. And, now He accompanies you as you make your way through the Valley. He is
your Good Shepherd who guides you and leads you on your way, who nourishes,
cares for, and protects and defends you, who, in fact, is the very way upon which
you walk and enter into the Father’s house, for Jesus is “the way, and the
truth, and the life,” and “no one comes to the Father except through [Him].”
That’s how that multitude
of saints no one could count got there; they entered the Father’s house and
kingdom through Jesus, who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” In Holy
Baptism, they “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.” They have come out of the great tribulation that is our lives in the
Valley and they have passed through death into life that cannot die. They are
with God and with the Lamb, Jesus, and they lack no thing whatsoever, they have
no want or need for anything at all. They hunger and thirst no more, they
struggle to breathe no more, they battle cancer and disease no more, for the
Lamb in the midst of the throne is their Shepherd, He guides them to springs of
living water, and God Himself wipes away every tear from their eyes.
And yet, Ralph’s new life
did not begin at physical death, on Monday morning October 30th, but
in spiritual death and rebirth in Holy Baptism many, many years ago. Indeed, it
is not only the blessed dead who stand amongst that heavenly host, but it is
all who have been washed in the blood of Jesus in Holy Baptism, who trust in
Him for forgiveness, life, and salvation. For, you too are in that number, if
you trust in Jesus and are washed in His blood. Yesterday was All Saints Day,
and we will commemorate that this Sunday here at St. John. On All Saint’s Day
we give thanks to God for His promises kept for His people, His saints, all
those who have lived, died, and who live in faith and trust in His Son and bear
His fruits. Truly we remember and give thanks for them every Lord’s Day when we
pray the liturgy singing “with angels, archangels, and with all the company of
heaven.” All the company of heaven includes the blessed saints who have
died in the Lord, a number in which Ralph is now blessedly included. But, we
join with them, the saints, in singing praise to God and the Lamb as we gather
at the communion rail and receive His precious body and His holy blood. For, the
saints are there, even if we cannot see them – Indeed, the Preacher to the
Hebrews says that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses – even if we
cannot see them, they are there, on the other side of the altar, completing the
circle of all the saints, on earth and in heaven, the family of faith, the body
of Christ, the Church, His Bride. I often share with those mourning the death
of a loved one, “You can go to the graveside, kneel down, say a prayer, and
leave some flowers to be near your loved ones, but how much more can you be
with them, sing with them, and bask with them in Jesus’ glory at the communion
rail in the presence of the Lamb of God.”
Now, I can’t say that Ralph
had a lot in common with Job, except that both men were blessed richly by God. As
Job’s story goes, however, Satan challenged God saying that Job only loved Him
because God had blessed him so richly – take away his blessings, Satan accused,
and Job will curse you to your face. So, God gave Satan permission to afflict
Job that His righteousness might be proven as Job remained faithful in spite of
severe affliction and suffering. Satan attacked Job’s wealth and possessions,
killing all his herds and flocks. Then Satan attacked Job’s children and killed
them. Lastly, Satan afflicted Job’s body with horrible sores so that all he had
left was his life. Throughout it all, Job would not curse God and die. Instead
Job confessed, “The LORD has given, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the
Name of the LORD.” I believe that Job’s confession is a confession that Ralph
would make as well, for his faith and trust was not in material possessions or
even family or health, but in the LORD. In the midst of His suffering, Job was
able to make a powerful confession of faith in the resurrection of the body even
two millennia before the birth of Jesus saying, “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.” That confession must be our confession
too, now, as we mourn and grieve that the LORD has taken away our Husband, Father,
Grandfather, brother in Christ, and friend. We confess that, in Jesus Christ,
we will see Ralph again with our own eyes, hear his voice with our own ears,
and hug him with our own flesh and blood arms.
That is why your hearts
need not be troubled. You believe in God? Believe also in His Son Jesus Christ,
who is the way to the Father and life now and forever. Ralph was a baptized
child of God who trusted in Him throughout His life. All that Jesus died to
give to Ralph, Ralph received through baptism into Christ and faith. God has
kept His promise to Ralph, and He will keep His promise to you. This is God’s
gift that we celebrate on All Saints Day and every day. Let us remember and
trust that we may be encouraged and have hope all the days of our lives,
through death, unto life that never ends.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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