“Jesus the Good Shepherd Leads Us to Our Heavenly
Home” (Psalm 23) Elvera Mahan’s Funeral Sermon
(9.27.12) Pastor John M. Taggatz St. John Lutheran
Church Baldwin, IL
1.
In
the name of Jesus. Amen. Dear family
and friends of Elvera, our thoughts and prayers go out to you as you mourn her
death. But, Elvera wouldn’t want you to
grieve as one who doesn’t have any hope.
She would want you to know that she was a baptized child of God, who was
brought into God’s Kingdom through water and the power of His Word here in this
church at St. John Baldwin on Feb. 19, 1922.
It was there that Elvera was connected to Christ’s sacrifice on the
cross for her sins and also raised to new life, just as Christ was raised from
the dead. On her Confirmation Day here
at St. John on March 25th, 1934, Elvera came to confess the faith
she received in her baptism, that Jesus Christ is her Savior. On that day she received her confirmation
verse from Psalm 145:18-19, “8The
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.” Elvera wanted her funeral sermon to be from Psalm 23, which
points to the fact that Jesus our Good Shepherd hears our cries for help, as
her confirmation verse says, and leads us to everlasting life. The message is entitled, “Jesus the Good Shepherd Leads Us to Our Heavenly Home.” Dear family and friends of Elvera.
2.
Over
the past five years I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Elvera and her
husband Russell. I always enjoyed my visits with them and I know that as her pastor I will
deeply miss her, but I know that one day, we who believe in Jesus as our Savior
& Good Shepherd, will see her again for all eternity in the glories of
heaven. Elvera was a matriarch to her
family. For her, family was always
number one, as one can see from the fact that she was married to her husband
Russell for 69 years. She was an
organizer and planner; I’ve seen that full well in the Church Record Book she
translated from German into English along with her sister Emma in the early
1980s. The church greatly thanks her for
that work she and her sister did. Elvera
loved to plan family gatherings where she would have a slip & slide ready
for the children to use before slip and slides were even invented. She would plan hay rides too for these family
gatherings along with homemade chicken noodle soup. Her and her husband Russell would tell me about
the travels they had taken across the world to Africa, Australia, and other
parts of the United States. Elvera enjoyed music and dancing and even had her
own Country Western Band where many people remember her playing her signature
song, “Behind the Barn.” Many family members still remember the
Christmas carols she would sing with them while playing the accordion in
celebration of our Savior’s birth.
Elvera showed her dedication to her family after her daughter Diane died
when she drove many, many times to take care of her grandchildren, David &
Catherine.
3.
As
her pastor I always appreciated being able to give to Elvera & her husband
Russell our Lord’s body and blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion for the
forgiveness of her sins. She and her husband Russell truly did want to
hear God’s Word and receive the gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation that
our Lord Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd freely gives.
4.
As
I said before, Elvera had asked
that her funeral sermon be from Psalm 23.
Let me read it to you again, “1The Lord
is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He makes me lie down in green
pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your
staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell
in the house of the Lord forever.”
5.
Why does God compare us as His people to
sheep and Himself as our Good Shepherd? After
all, sheep are helpless animals. They
can’t outwit their enemies. They don’t
have sharp hoofs to ward off an enemy’s attack.
They don’t have sharp teeth to tear at the flesh of an attacking
animal. They don’t have great speed to
outrun their predators. They really have
only one means of defense. That’s their
shepherd. If it were not for the
faithful shepherd, the sheep would perish.
I guess it’s no coincidence then that God’s Word compares us with
sheep. We, too, are helpless, the Bible
tells us that we were conceived and born sinful from birth and we could do
nothing on our own power to earn God’s forgiveness for our sin. We were at one time spiritually dead in
trespasses and sins, helpless and destitute, but Jesus our Good Shepherd
through His death and resurrection has raised us up through the hearing of His
Word and the Sacrament of Baptism and made us one of His sheep. Elvera knew this and that’s why she took
confidence in the baptism that she received here at St. John and the hearing of
Jesus her Good Shepherd’s Word for the forgiveness of her sins and eternal
life. Elvera knew that in and of ourselves we can’t stand against the attacks
of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. If it weren’t for the constant care of our
Good Shepherd Jesus, we too would perish.
6.
It’s for good reason that Jesus is called
“The Good Shepherd.” The prophet
Ezekiel foretold the fact that the shepherd of God’s people would be a king
descended from the line of King David in Ezekiel 34. Zechariah prophesied that this shepherd Jesus
would be struck down (13:7), sold for 30 pieces of silver, (11:2) and pierced
through His side (12:10). All of this
coincides with the words of Jesus in John 10:11, “I am the Good Shepherd. The
Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Elvera knew that Jesus her Good Shepherd
died for her so that she could have eternal life in Him, and not just for her
soul, but for her body as well, when Jesus comes in glory at the End of the Age
to raise her body from the dead so she will be with the Lord for all eternity
in heaven in both soul and body. This
promise is for all who believe in Jesus as their Good Shepherd who laid down
His life for them, His sheep. And, Jesus
not only cares for His flock’s physical needs, he has taken care of our
greatest need, the need for the forgiveness.
He did this by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the
dead.
7.
Even though Jesus’ lifeless body was in the
grave for a brief time, He rose from the dead triumphant on the third day. And we too, the members of His flock, have
the assurance that Jesus lives to preserve us as His own until we stand with
Him in heaven. And, we will be with
Elvera too in a reunion that will have no end on account of the faith we have
in Jesus as our Savior as St. Paul promises us in 1 Thessalonians 4. There
in heaven we’ll see the glorious vision of St. John fulfilled from Rev. 7:17, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their
eyes.”
8.
When we become frightened by the troubles
in our lives, by the death of our loved ones, like our dear sister in the faith
Elvera, and our own frailty and mortality, let us as the sheep of Jesus our
Good Shepherd turn our eyes to Him.
For Jesus says to us, just as He promised Elvera all the days of her
earthly life, “My sheep listen to my
voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch
them out of my hand.” (John 10:29).
9.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, know
that as your Good Shepherd, Jesus guides you, He feeds you, and He gives you rest.
He leads us through his Holy Word, where we find nourishment and rest for our
souls. He guides us in the paths of righteousness, which lead to eternal life,
as He has done for our dear sister in the faith, Elvera. These paths of
righteousness are not our own righteousness and good works but the way to
eternal life opened by Christ’s righteousness. Our Good Shepherd Jesus
gives us rest when He delivers us from the burden of sin and from our pointless
efforts to save ourselves by our own works. Jesus says to us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). His Word revives our
souls whenever the assurance of forgiveness brings peace and joy to our hearts.
10.
This brings us to the final verse of
this psalm. Our Good Shepherd brings us all the way from the green pastures and
still waters to His Heavenly Father’s house. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.” In John 14:2–3 the Lord Jesus says to us, “… I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye
may be also.” We have a wonderful Shepherd in Jesus. Elvera knew this and trusted her salvation in
Him, and she wanted you to hear this wonderful message as well, that’s why she
wanted her funeral sermon based on Psalm 23. If you can say, “The Lord is my shepherd,” through the faith
you received in your baptism and the hearing of His Holy Word, then you can be
sure that all the wonderful promises of this psalm are yours. You can be assured that you will join Elvera
and all the sheep of God in the glories of heaven to sing praises to the Lamb
who was slain and rose again for all eternity.
What a wonderful reunion without any end it will be! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment