1.
In
the name of Jesus. Amen. Dear family and friends of Richard &
Connie. Our hearts go out to you this
day as you mourn over their death. Today
many may be questioning God asking Him why He allowed this to happen. It’s hard enough to deal with the death of
one loved one, but two at the same time.
To have both parents die together, it doesn’t seem fair. But, God our Heavenly Father would have us
look at things from His perspective, from the promises He’s given to us through
His Son Jesus in His Word. That’s why I
find Connie & Rich’s confirmation verses so appropriate on this day we
mourn their death. Richard’s verse lets
us hear the words of our Savior Jesus who tells us in John 14:6, 6“I am the way, and the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And Connie’s Confirmation verse
from Romans 8:28 tells us that, “8
We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for
those who are called according to his purpose.”
The
message is entitled, “At a Time Like
This, Jesus Works for Our Good.” Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Connie
& Rich were deeply loved by their family, friends, our community, and also
our church. Their work for the Lord’s
Kingdom impacted many people as the Holy Spirit worked through them to touch
many lives. As we read from Connie &
Rich’s biography, we all can see that they were deeply involved in the life of
church. And Rich, faithfully served our
country in Vietnam, protecting the freedoms we enjoy so much here in America,
and for his service we’re very grateful.
Connie tirelessly worked to care for her family and those both within
and outside the church. I know that they
cared, because they also reached out to my wife Roxanne and I when I first
began my ministry as Pastor here at St. John Baldwin. Connie & Rich would often check and see
how Roxanne and I were doing and were willing to lend a listening ear. That was helpful to me as a newly minted
Pastor just coming out of Seminary to know that there were laypeople who cared
for me and wanted me to do my best as a Pastor in the Lord’s Church.
3.
One
experience that really touched my wife Roxanne and I was when Connie & Rich
Buch and Gilbert and Julia Kahle offered to watch our children, Eddie &
Marty, so that my wife and I could go to a Lutheran Marriage Encounter Event in
St. Louis for a weekend in November of 2011.
I didn’t know it, but as my wife Roxanne and I were attending the event
I came to find out that not only were Connie and Rich watching our boys, but
they were also praying for us, for our marriage, for our children, and for our
ministry at St. John Baldwin. I was
overwhelmed when I came to find out and it still brings tears to my eyes to
this day that Rich and Connie were deeply committed to helping couples remain committed
and steadfast to one another and honor the vows that they had spoken when God
our Heavenly Father joined them together in the bonds of Holy Matrimony. They were a couple that greatly believed that
marriage is a sacred union of husband and wife, and what God has joined
together let no man put asunder. This is
why we read the text from Ephesians 5 this morning. And Rich and Connie were willing to fight the
good fight of faith, not only to point people to Christ in their lives, but
also to fight for marriage as a sacred institution that God has created and
that should not be tinkered with and changed by the whims and wishes of man.
4.
But,
many of us are wondering, why did God let Rich & Connie fall asleep in
Jesus, at a time when they had so many people that depended on them? It just doesn’t see right. Some of us may think that they still had more
work to do. How can we say, “At a time like this, Jesus works for our
good?” How can poor health,
suffering, loss of possessions and other kinds of tragedy and disaster possibly
work together for good? Connie’s
Confirmation verse from Romans 8:28 tells us that, “8
We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for
those who are called according to his purpose.”
The Bible
tells us that things work together for the good of those who love God. For those who are baptized through water and
the Word of God into Christ’s death and resurrection, like Connie &
Rich. Those who have died to sin and
have been raised to newness of life in Jesus all things do work together for
good.
5.
The
person who doesn’t believe in Jesus as their Savior from sin, death, and the
power of the devil can’t believe that in tragedies, like a fatal car accident
that kills two dearly loved people, that at a time like this, Jesus works for
our good. The unbeliever can’t
understand how tragedies in life can serve to draw someone closer to God and to
strengthen one’s faith and assurance in Jesus.
He can’t understand how afflictions, or what he would call bad luck, can
draw one away from the world and lead one to a rich prayer life and stronger
reliance on God. What the unbeliever
sees is only the things of this earth, they can’t see things through the eyes
of faith and the promises found in God’s Holy Word.
6.
But,
the children of God, like Rich & Connie, understood that in all things
Jesus works for our good. Connie &
Rich learned through Confirmation Class that God doesn’t desire the death of
the sinner. When God first created us as
human beings, He created us without the taint of sin, perfect in His
sight. It was because of Adam and Eve,
the first human being’s disobedience, that we now experience physical death. But, God wouldn’t leave us this way without
hope of life everlasting. Though God
will have nothing to do with our sinful disobedience that we commit against Him
in thought, word, and deed, because He’s a just, holy and righteous God, He’s
provided a way for us as His people to be forgiven of our sins and receive
eternal life. The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel writes in chapter 18:30-32, “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your
ruin. 31 Cast away from you
all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart
and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the
death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live."
In seeking to be merciful and spare us of our sins, God laid the
punishment of our sins on someone and that someone was our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ through His death on the cross for us.
7.
Because
Jesus died on the cross for our sins we can say that even in tragedies, like the
death of Rich and Connie, there is hope and that, we through Jesus, will see
them again in the gates of paradise.
Rich’s confirmation verse points us to this fact from John 14:6,
but let me read the context of this passage, 1[Jesus
said:] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in
me. 2In my Father’s house are
many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a
place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4And
you know the way to where I am going.” 5Thomas said to him, “Lord,
we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6Jesus
said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.” Did you hear the comfort in Jesus’ words for
those who put their faith, trust, & confidence in Jesus as their Savior
like Rich and Connie did? Jesus came to
this earth from heaven above to live the perfect life that we couldn’t live, to
die the death that we deserve, and to rise from the dead to be the firstfruits
of those who fall asleep in Him. Because
Jesus lives we too shall live who believe in Him. And, when our last hour comes, when we walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, we know that Jesus will be at our side.
8.
Whatever
sufferings that we as Christians have to endure the promises of God removes all
our weeping and sighing. The promises of
God that in a time like this, Jesus works for our good. Jesus has gone to heaven to prepare a place
for us, and He’s coming back to take us who believe in Him to be with Him so
that we may be where He is also. If you want
this promise of eternal life and the forgiveness of sins, if you want to see
Rich and Connie again, and Jesus your Savior in the gates of paradise, then
repent of your sins. Acknowledge those
sins you’ve committed against others and against God your Creator by your
failure to love God with your whole heart and to love your neighbor as
yourself. Repent of your sins and
receive from God His forgiveness in Christ.
Be baptized into the Christian faith and live out every day in your
baptism, daily repenting of your sins and striving to live in the righteousness
and holiness that Christ has clothed you in.
And, continually come to receive the gifts Christ has poured out for you
in the Divine Service of worship. Hear
His Word preached so you know your sins and that your sins are forgiven,
receive Christ’s body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of
your sins. And, as we await that great
day when Christ calls us to our heavenly home, we hold onto the promise of God
who tells us in Rev. 7:17, “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.” Remember
also vs. 6 of the hymn, “Abide with Me” (TLH 552), “I need Thy presence every passing hour; What but Thy grace can foil
the Tempter’s power? Who like Thyself my
guide and stay can be? Through cloud and
sunshine, oh, abide with me!” Amen.
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