“Be Strong & Courageous” (Joshua 1:9) Loretta
Piller’s Funeral Sermon Dec. 31st, 2011
Preacher: Rev. John M. Taggatz of St. John Lutheran
Church Baldwin, IL
1.
Grace, mercy
and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen. Dear family and friends of Loretta. On behalf of the congregation here at St.
John we offer to you and your family our deepest sympathy. May the promise of our Lord Jesus’
resurrection victory over death give you hope and peace this day to know that
through faith in Christ you will see your loved one Loretta again in heaven. Today we’re going to look at Loretta’s
favorite Bible verse that she read very often Joshua 1:9, which says, “9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go.” The message is entitled, “Be Strong & Courageous.” Dear brothers and sisters in
Christ.
2.
Loretta will
be deeply missed by all of us, but she would want us to know that we don’t need
to weep tears of hopelessness that all is lost, that we’ll never see her
again. No. The faith that Loretta received in Jesus Christ her
Lord and Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil gave to her the
hope that even death couldn’t separate her from the love of God in Christ Jesus
her Lord. With this faith we can face each day with
courage knowing that our Lord God is with us wherever we go. Loretta knew that God was with her, just like
Joshua 1:9 says. She received the
blessings of the forgiveness of her sins and eternal life through Holy Baptism
on August 3rd, 1941. Through
baptism she knew that she was buried with Christ by baptism into death so that
just as he was buried in the grave and rose from the dead, she too would rise
from the dead through faith in Him. And
she confirmed that faith she received in her baptism here at St. John Baldwin
to Pastor Miller and our entire congregation on Nov. 25th, 1956. Loretta was married to Jim for 51 years. Their marriage truly has been a testament of
what it means for a husband and wife to remain faithful to one another. No doubt that Loretta trusted that God would
be with her and Jim to be strong and courageous as they raised three children
together and lived through the joys and sorrows of life all these years.
3.
Hear from
Loretta’s favorite Bible verse again from Joshua 1:9, “9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go.” When the Lord sent this Word to the children of Israel they were very
full of fear. In fact, it was their fear
that kept them from the Promised Land.
It was because there were difficulties in taking it. The people who lived there were very strong
and their cities were protected with heavy walls. So the children of Israel were afraid to try
to go in. God has promised that he
would give them the land, but they weren’t willing to take him at his word. That’s why God still tells us in His Word, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” The Lord takes care of us as we walk! He’s our Good Shepherd, defending us with his
strong rod, and guiding us with His staff.
He’s our Comforter and Protector in the valley of death. Wherever we go in faith, we can go with confidence
because he goes with us.
4.
Be strong and
courageous and go with God. This was the
message given to Joshua and the people of Israel. And this is the message for us, especially as
we face the grief and sorrow over the death of our beloved Loretta. God gave the land to Joshua and the faithful people
of Israel. The forbidding walls of Jericho crumbled
before the blast of their trumpets. The
inhabitants of the land fled in fear before the army of God’s people. “The
Lord is with them and he fights for them,” the people of Israel’s enemies
cried. And so too our enemies of sin,
death, and devil cry out in fear because they know our mighty and strong Savior
Jesus is with us. He is the one who
has conquered death and the grave for us and who promises to take us to our
heavenly home. Loretta trusted in her
Lord Jesus to do this for her and dear brothers and sisters he has taken her to
heaven through the faith she received in her baptism and lived out all these
years through Word and Sacrament.
Our Lord Jesus the Good Shepherd, the greater Joshua, has brought her to
our Promised Land of heaven where there is no more crying, suffering, or pain.
5.
Isaiah 43:1–3 says, “1But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have
called you by name, you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when
you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume
you. 3For I am the Lord
your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” In the
face of the death of our beloved Loretta, those words, “Fear not,” seem like an
unreasonable request. In fact, even
more fear comes across us when we know that one day we will all stand in the
presence of our Creator God and Judge as a broken and sinful creature. God’s holiness is an unquenchable fire, and
we are afraid to be burned and consumed.
6.
But, the Lord
God does speak to us, and His Words are not of judgment but of forgiveness and
comfort. Our Lord Jesus spoke to His
disciple Peter, “Fear not,” when he
was terrified as a sinful man to be in Jesus’ presence. Because Paul reminds us in Romans that the wages of
sin is death and that there is no one who is righteous, no one who does good
(Romans 6:23; Romans 3:10-12), we know from Holy Scripture that we can’t stand
before God because of our own merits and deeds. But, here’s the Good News! Even though we are sinful and unclean, we CAN
stand strong and courageous, just like our beloved Loretta has done in the face
of death before God because He has redeemed us through Jesus. In fact, as Isaiah says he calls us by name,
you are His. God did that for Loretta in
her baptism and He has done it for you as well when you were baptized into the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
7.
In Holy
Baptism the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit offers
forgiveness, life, and salvation. For where there is
forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. God does not forget the promise He made to
us, just as He did to Loretta, in our baptism. He
remains ever faithful to it, “when you
pass through the waters, I will be with you.”
8.
We were buried
into Christ’s death in our baptism, but we were also raised to a new life in
Him. This new life isn’t without hurt,
trial, or temptation. In fact, our new life is beset with them, and the old fear creeps in on
us, just like it did to Joshua and the people of Israel before they entered
into the Promised Land. But, the promise of God isn’t
for only one day. He guides us waking
and guards us sleeping every day. Even
when we are most vulnerable, our God will not leave us nor forsake us. Loretta knew this, that’s why she
cherished the words of Joshua 1:9, because she knew that her Lord and Savior
Jesus was with her, even in the face of death. Anxious thoughts and the troubles of the
world threaten us, but in our all powerful Lord Jesus they can’t! It’s not our own strength that quenches the
fiery darts of the devil. It’s the
promise and presence of God, who on the cross defeated sin, death and the devil
for Loretta and for you. Our own
strength will fail, but God’s strength in our Lord Jesus never will. For our God is with us. So be strong and courageous. Know that our Lord Jesus will be with you all
the days of your life, just as He was with Loretta. And that one day through your faith in Jesus
as your Lord and Savior, He too will take you to heaven with Him so that you
can see Him and your beloved Loretta again.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment