1.
In the
name of Jesus. Amen. Today we will meditate on Leo’s confirmation
verse, Psalm 145:18-19 and also the verses we have selected for his funeral
service today. Leo’s confirmation verse
from Psalm 145 says, “18The
Lord is near to all who call on
him, to all who call on him in truth. 19He fulfills the desire of those
who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves
them.” Dear friends and relatives of our departed
brother Leo, especially you, Leo’s children and all others who consider
themselves close to Leo. May Jesus our
Good Shepherd who hears us and knows our needs give you His comfort and hope in
His resurrection from the dead at this time.
2.
In
Psalm 23 David says, “Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death . . .” (v. 4). Our whole life is
lived under the shadow of the enemy called death. Life has its joys and
celebrations—marriages and births, graduations and promotions, barbecues and
banquets. But it’s also lived under the shadow of death that lies ahead and
won’t go away even when we celebrate and laugh. Mark Twain said he would look
in the paper each morning to make sure his name wasn’t in the obituaries.
3.
Today we are here to remember our beloved brother
in Christ, Leo Schleifer. He was a
loving and caring father, grandfather, and husband. Many of us here
today have some fond memories of Leo. One of them was celebrating Leo's 90th
birthday this past Dec. and seeing Todd and his great grandchild. That made Leo very happy. Leo’s family
still remembers surprising him and his wife Juanita for their 25th & 40th
wedding anniversaries. There were many memories that were made having a
family meal at Leo & Juanita's place on Sunday evenings. Leo loved his black lab, Tisha, dearly and he
also had a fondness for jelly bread, and since he loved his dog Tisha he also
made sure that she had the jelly bread too. He dearly missed his wife Juanita
and would often visit her graveside. One memory I have of Leo as his
pastor is his pipe smoking. It reminded me very much of my Grandpa Taggatz, who
also was an active pipe smoker. Even up to the age of 90, Leo was an
active church goer, in fact he worried about not being able to go to church,
but I told him, "Leo, if you can't
get to church, then the church will come to you,” and he took comfort in
that, whether he was sick at home, in the hospital, or preparing for surgery.
Leo would always stay in communication with me when he needed pastoral care.
He knew to call upon the Lord when he needed help and he would call on
his pastor to proclaim the Word of the Lord Jesus to Him, to announce that his
sins were forgiven, and to give him the medicine of immortality in Christ's
body and blood in the Lord's Supper. Leo
knew his confirmation verse from Psalm 145:18-19, that when He needed Jesus his
Good Shepherd that Jesus would hear him, “18The
Lord is near to all who call on
him, to all who call on him in truth. 19He fulfills the desire of those
who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves
them.”
4.
Whether
we’re 5, 15, 50, or 90 years old, our bodies suffer the effects of living in a
world that’s in bondage to decay. God didn’t create this world and us to suffer
in life. But, ever since the transgression of Adam and Eve, which caused this
world’s fall into sin and death, human life—and all life on earth—is lived out
in the valley of the shadow of death. And when that shadow of death creeps over
a loved one, like our dear brother Leo, we who are left feel torn apart as one
life is cut off from the rest of us who yet live. The hope of enjoying another
day together and of doing things tomorrow is taken away. We feel an emptiness.
5.
The
journey through the valley of the shadow of death can seem like a lonesome walk
that ends in isolation, defeat, and despair. But, we who are in Christ have
God’s promise that we don’t walk alone, that Jesus our Good Shepherd Hears us and has come to save us. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who stands beside
us today in our grief. And Jesus
deliberately walked into the valley of death to save us and Leo. He left the
brilliance of heaven, descended to earth, was conceived by the Holy Spirit of
the Virgin Mary, and took upon Himself our human form and became one of us,
though without sin. His perfect life was a display of God’s merciful love and
care for all people. He exercised His power to forgive sin and overcome death,
disease, and the devil. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out
demons. His ministry led to the cross. There, the sinless Lamb of God was made
to be sin for us. God laid on the Righteous One the iniquity of all humanity. He
died in our place as a sacrifice pleasing to the Father. God accepted His
sacrifice for us, and Jesus was raised to life. After showing Himself alive to
His apostles and followers, Jesus ascended to heaven and is now seated at the
right hand of the Father. He has stopped God’s anger for us because of our sin
and brought us grace.
6.
The
psalmist’s prayerful poem in Psalm 23 is directed toward Jesus our Good Shepherd who hears us. As we’re gathered here in His
name, He’s present to hear our pleas for help in the hour of mourning. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble,” He
said, promising, “I will deliver you”
(Ps 50:15). Again He said, “Come to Me,
all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt
11:28). And Leo’s confirmation verse
from Psalm 145:18-19 reminds us, “18The
Lord is near to all who call on
him, to all who call on him in truth. 19He fulfills the desire of those
who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves
them.” We’re not alone as we walk in the valley of
the shadow of death. The Lord Jesus has walked it before and is walking it with
us today.
7.
Jesus
our Good Shepherd walked with Leo in the valley of the shadow of death and He
took Leo from this vale of tears to paradise in heaven. Let’s look at what this looks like from
Revelation 7. We see a great multitude that no one can count, from every tribe
and nation, people and language. They’re standing before the throne and in
front of the Lamb. And who are these people? They are those who have come out
of the sufferings of this life, through the valley of the shadow of death, like
our beloved Leo. They are those who have passed through and are now on the other
side of the valley. We can’t see them, except in memory. But through the
apostle John, God has given us a vision of their joyful glory. Leo has laid
aside the burdens and stresses of life in this sinful world. He has joined the
great multitude in the throne room of heaven.
8.
And
what is it that enables these multitudes to stand in the presence of God? Those
who enter before the throne “have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). They,
like our dear brother Leo, have been washed in Baptism. That washing applies to
them the cleansing power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. They’ve been given
faith by the power of the Holy Spirit and with that faith they’ve received the
forgiveness of sins achieved by Jesus on the cross for all humankind. They’ve
received the Savior and His new resurrection life. Jesus our Good Shepherd who hears us died in the valley of death so
that we might live on the mountain of heaven.
9.
If
there were a window into heaven, we might see Leo standing there among the
white-robed saints. He believed in Jesus as his Savior. Leo’s robes were washed
in the blood of Jesus through his Baptism. Upon death Leo came out of the
valley of suffering into eternal life on the mountaintop. And these white-robed
saints are singing, because the Lamb at the center of the throne is their
Shepherd. He leads them to springs of living water. Jesus wipes away every tear
from their eyes. When we’re in the face of death it can cause us many tears,
both by those who are dying and by those left behind. But Jesus, our Good Shepherd who hears us, will wipe away all tears
with His love. Those before the throne sing because they’ve been freed from all
pain and sorrow.
10.
And
we can join them in singing. By God’s grace, our destination is with the
white-robed saints. We’re confident in God’s promise that soon we, too, will
join all of God’s saints, along with Leo, in glory and remain with them forever
and ever. We look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. His position
is before the throne of His Father as our our mediator. He pleads for us. Jesus
has prepared a place for us in heaven. Jesus our Good Shepherd who hears us says
in John 10, “I have other sheep that are
not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So
there will be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). When Jesus first spoke
those words, most of His followers were Jewish believers. Jesus spoke of a time
when many from the rest of the world’s nations would be brought into His flock.
Jesus removed the wall dividing Jews from Gentiles. In this age of the
Christian Church, all people of every nationality are welcome in the flock of
His followers.
11.
While
on earth Leo listened to the Shepherd’s voice. And, we can look forward to
seeing him again. Jesus will come from
heaven (1 Thess 4:16; Rev 21:2) with all His holy angels. In a moment, in a twinkling
of an eye the dead will be raised with imperishable and immortal bodies (1 Cor
15:52), and all those still in the valley of death will be changed. And, all of
us who believe in Jesus will be gathered into one flock, united with our
Shepherd and Lamb, Jesus. Through Jesus we will see our dear brother Leo and
all the saints who have gone before us in the Christian faith again. I pray that these words of the Lord may
encourage you in your Christian faith and also in your hope that we will all be
together with the Lord Jesus forever.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment