1.
Grace, mercy, and, peace to you from God our Heavenly
Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Dear family and friends of Duane.
At a time of grieving like this, those who are present, and I on behalf
of this church, offer your family and all who were close to Duane our deepest
sympathy. May our Lord, who knows your
needs, comfort and give you strength and faith to uphold each another. Today we’re going to look at Duane’s
confirmation verse from Psalm 86:11, which says, “11Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to
fear your name.” We are also going
to look at Matthew 11:28-30. We hear the
words of our Lord Jesus who says, “28Come
to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take
my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light.” This verse is fitting for
us to look at, since the last few months of Duane’s life haven’t been easy with
all of the health problems that he’s suffered through. The message is entitled, “Teach Me Your Way, O Lord, That I May Rest in Thee.”
2.
Christians know that when we’re confronted
with struggles, sickness, and sorrow we have a sure source of comfort, strength,
and hope in Jesus our Savior, the one who died on the cross to save us from our
sins. When we live by faith in Jesus, we know that He will lead us through all
the valleys of life, until that blessed day comes when his angels will welcome
us to our eternal home in heaven. This is why Duane’s parents brought him to the
baptismal font on June 25th, 1933 to be washed and cleansed of all
of his sins and to know that on that day, Duane was clothed with Christ and
received the promise of eternal life. And
this faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior from sin, death, and the power of
the devil is what led Duane to confess with his lips that Jesus Christ is Lord
when he confirmed his Christian faith on the day of his confirmation on March
30th, 1947. Duane’s
confirmation was important to him, in my visits with him he was often reciting
the words of his confirmation hymn, “Let
Me Be Thine Forever,” in which the first verse says, “Let me be Thine forever, My faithful God and Lord; Let me forsake Thee
never Nor wander from Thy Word. Lord, do
not let me waver, But give me steadfastness, And for such grace forever Thy
holy name I’ll bless.”
3.
Everyone who
knew Duane can tell you how devoted he was to Jesus as His Savior and Christ
Lutheran Church here in West Bloomfield.
For over 40 years Duane faithfully served as our church’s custodian
making sure that the church was well taken care of. He faithfully took care of fixing things
around the church building, ringing the bell for church services, shoveling the
sidewalks in the winter, and mowing the lawn in the summer months. And, he never liked missing worship either to
receive God’s Word and Sacraments in which he knew that he would receive God’s
forgiveness, grace, and mercy in Jesus his Savior. Duane had a Christian servant’s heart, that’s
why his confirmation verse is so applicable to him. Psalm 86:11 says, ““11Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth; unite my
heart to fear your name.”
4.
When King David
wrote this Psalm in Psalm 86 he was in great distress. Earlier in the Psalm he says, “Great is Thy mercy toward me; and Thou hast
delivered my soul from the lowest hell.” The word translated “hell” is “sheol,” in the Greek “Hades.” This is David’s way of saying that God had
delivered the him out of extreme danger. This was probably written at a time
when King Saul was persecuting David, seeking to kill him. During that
persecution there were times when David despaired of his life. But, God had
kept David safe. David regarded this deliverance as divine “mercy.” But, David felt that he had not
deserved the great mercy that God had given to him. That’s why when God in mercy saves a soul He
saves it from sin, death, and hell. Remembering God’s mercy was an encouragement
to David in his distress. And because of God’s mercy given to him, David wanted
to serve God and devote himself to learning God’s Word and walking in God’s
ways. That’s why David wanted the Lord
to teach him His Holy Word so that he may live his life in accordance with
God’s will. This fits Duane’s life so
perfectly, for he too like David, devoted his life in service to God and His
church and being a lifelong learner of God’s Word.
5.
We all know that Duane
recently dealt with some difficult health problems these last few months. When he was going through all of his health
problems, where could he and his family turn to for peace and comfort? The words of our Lord Jesus here in Matthew
11:28-30 speak to the problems that Duane faced. Our Lord Jesus says, “28Come to me, all who labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
6.
Jesus
continually invites us to leave our burden of sin and shame on his shoulders
and in return to accept a light burden from him. Those who leave their heavy burden of sin
with Jesus aren’t going to be without a burden altogether. Duane’s illness that he fought can remind us
of that. And when we think of our own
lives as Christians, all of us have problems and burdens of our own we have to
deal with. But, Jesus has given us
another burden to carry in the place of the heavy burden of sin. It’s the yoke of the cross of Calvary. This yoke of the cross is what every
Christian bears as a result of being a disciple of Jesus. For in the same way they have persecuted me,
so they will persecute you, Jesus says.
Though our heavy burden of sin has been lifted, there will still be
trials and tribulations, for a disciple isn’t above his master.
7.
And yet, compared with the heavy burden of
sin which has been lifted from us, the yoke of Jesus is easy and his burden is
light. A Christian knows that these
crosses don’t come upon him by chance. They’re
sent into his life by a loving God and are intended for our good. The Christian also knows that God will never
let the cross become heavier than he’s able to bear. With each trial of faith God will also
provide the ability to endure. God will
supply to you the necessary strength for each new day. That’s why the burden of being a disciple and
follower of Jesus will draw us closer to Him.
The afflictions that we encounter in our body, which is slowly wasting
away because of our own sinful nature, will be turned to the eternal good of
our soul on account of what Jesus did for us through His death on the cross and
His resurrection from the dead.
8.
Finding rest in Jesus doesn’t mean He will
remove and shield us from all pain and sorrow, or lift each heavy agony of
life. That’s not His promise. The promise of Jesus is that He will be with
us in our pain and suffering and see us through it. Christ will lighten every heavy load. At the end of each day we have the comfort as
we place ourselves in His care. Rest in
Jesus means that we as Christians have certainty for our salvation. In Christ we have sure forgiveness of our
sins. Through His cross we are
reconciled with God our Heavenly Father.
God’s wrath toward our sin is removed.
Through Duane’s baptism into Christ this promise was given to him as
well, as the Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 6.
9.
What matters most of all is to be able to
live—and to die—with the sure confidence that when our Lord calls his people to
their eternal home, Jesus our Good Shepherd himself “will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes” (Rev 7:17). Living and Dying in Faith in Christ Jesus—we
receive our eternal rest. Amen.
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