1. Dear family and friends of
Roger. Grace, to you and peace from God
our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May the God of all hope fill you with His
comfort and peace through the power of His Holy Spirit as your mourn Roger’s
death at this time.
2.
Today we are here to remember our beloved brother
in Christ, Roger Topping. Many of us
gathered here today probably have some memories of Roger. Along with his wife Karen, Roger was known
for his love of horses and dogs. Roger
served his country through the National Guard for the State of Wisconsin. He also worked many long years for the
Waupaca County Post as a Lithographer. He
was married to his beloved wife Karen for 43 years and their marriage was
blessed with three boys. Roger was in a
lot of pain near the end of his life, but God gave him comfort by the Gospel
through the Word of Christ that was preached to Him from early in his life at
Trinity Lutheran Church of Waupaca. The
place where his family brought him to learn more about Jesus and to believe in
Him as his Lord and Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
3. Funerals are terrible affairs. Losing a loved one invokes sorrow that is
rarely felt in life. Such is the case at
Lazarus’s funeral here in John 11.
Lazarus’ sisters, Mary & Martha, are grieving deeply, as those
gathered here today for Roger are. And
like at most funerals, many come “to console them concerning their brother”
(vs. 19). I can only imagine what was
said. Maybe it was the standard funeral
fare. “He’s in a better place now,” one
might have said. Or “At least he’s not
in pain anymore.” But such statements
still do little to stop the sorrow that the death of our loved one can bring.
4. Then Martha spots the one man who
could have brought real relief to her grief.
Comfing down the road, Martha sees Jesus. And Martha decides she needs to have a word
with Jesus concerning His absence in their time of need. So she rushes to Jesus and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died.” (vs. 21). Jesus
responds, “Your brother will rise again,”
(vs. 23). “Oh great,” Martha must have been thinking, “another pious platitude.” And so she answers, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the Last Day” (vs.
23).
5. One pious platitude deserves
another. Jesus speaks of the
resurrection of Lazarus and Martha responds, “Yes, yes, that fine and good.
He’ll rise again on the Last Day.
Everyone knows that. That’s what
I learned in confirmation class. But
that doesn’t help me now.” Martha
misunderstands Jesus. Jesus is not in
the business of giving out trite statements that might be helpful someday. Jesus continues, “I am the resurrection and the life” (vs. 25). Jesus takes the future tense promise of the
Last Day’s resurrection and brings it into the present: “I am
the resurrection and the Life. Death has
been put on notice. Jesus says, I am
here to bring life!”
6. These words of Jesus that He is the
resurrection and the life must have given Roger comfort in the midst of the
pain he experienced near the end of his life.
Not just the pain of the death of his beloved wife, Karen, a few months
ago, but also the pain of his body failing in health. But, the Psalmist reminds us in Psalm
25:16-18, “Turn to me and be gracious to
me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The
troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and
forgive all my sins.” Like Roger
near the end of his life, and Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus who had
died here in chapter 11 of John’s Gospel, the world is full of people who are
in suffering and pain. Because of all of
this suffering and pain, how could Roger and us who are gathered here today in
grief over Roger’s death, know that God cares about us, much less looks upon
us.
7. In Isaiah 43:1 the Lord says, “I have called you by name, you are
Mine.” By name the Lord called
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jeremiah, Mary & Joseph, the disciples, Mary
Magdalene, and our beloved friend, Roger, and Jesus stayed by them all their
days. Likewise, God promises His
presence to every troubled and distressed soul.
He promises us comfort in the midst of our grief through the Gospel of
His Son Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead for the forgiveness of
our sins.
8. But, some of us may wonder, “Shouldn’t I hide from God because of all my
rebellious thoughts, all my sins?” If
it were not for Jesus and His sacrificial love on the cross, you, me, Roger,
and all of humanity, would tremble in fear in God’s presence, for we are unholy
because of our sins and our shame. But
God’s Son Jesus died and unholy and shameful death, becoming sin for us, that
we may be holy and whole in Him. Jesus
touches us with His healing hand, He draws us to His loving hearth, and He
blots out all our sins.
9. Even if the pain continues, like
the pain over Roger’s death and the recent death of his wife Karen as well, our
burden is made lighter because we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. His love and power will see us
through every difficulty and bring us a ray of light even in the darkest
night. And so, we can rest and sleep
knowing that He’s watching over us with His tender care every hour of every
day. We can rest easy because Jesus has
put death on notice.
10. When I was in grade school, if one
of us misbehaved my teacher would write his or her name on the board to put
that student on notice that a behavior needed correction. If the bad behavior continued, my teacher
would add check marks behind that name. One
check marked equaled a missed recess.
Two check marks equaled staying after class. And after three check marks, you were out to
the principal’s office.
11. In John 11, death is put on
notice. And later, after three days, it
is out. Jesus conquers death by His
resurrection. As Paul writes, “Death is swallowed up in victory… Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1
Cor. 15:54, 57)! This is where we draw
our comfort and strength through the promise of eternal life that we have
through our Lord Jesus that our beloved brother in Christ Roger has received
through faith in Him. Through Jesus we
will see our dear brother Roger 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.
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