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 Harland. On behalf
of the congregation here at Christ Lutheran we offer to you our deepest
sympathy. But, we know as
Christians that this isn’t the end for Harland, but just the beginning. The beginning of eternal life with his Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Life may have
begun for Harland at his birth in Pine River on August 15, 1918, but he entered
into God’s heavenly Kingdom through the waters of holy baptism when he was
baptized at St. John's Lutheran Church in Saxeville. It was the power of God’s Word and the water
in baptism that cleansed Harland of his sin and gave to him the assurance that
he was a follower of Jesus Christ.
2.
There are a
lot of things that we can remember about Harland. But, one of the things that stands out the
most is that he was a hard worker. His
biography gives us a good summary of his work ethic. Harland grew up on a farm and farmed
throughout his life. He served in the CCC. Harland served his
country in the U.S. Navy in W.W. II. He worked for many years as a
machinist for Rockwell International in Oshkosh. He was a lifetime member
of the American Legion. Harland enjoyed hunting, fishing, trapping,
travel, woodworking, family and his dogs. And, he was an active church
member here at Christ Lutheran Church in West Bloomfield.
3.
People who
knew Harland know that he loved to work with his hands. He learned this from growing up on a farm and
enlisting in the Navy. He would carry
that strong work ethic throughout his whole life. It’s because of Harland that we have the
wooden individual cup dispensers up here near our altar. Harland was the one who helped to treat the
wooden floors that we have in our Christ Lutheran gymnasium. He was also gifted in making beautiful wooden
clocks as well. His life exemplified the
importance of hard work and laboring for the Lord. Through his hard work he was able to show how
much he cared for his family, friends, and his church.
4.
I recently
read a story that exemplifies Harland’s love to work with his hands and to show
through his labors how much he loved those around him. The story begins with a young boy seeing his
grandfather look at his hands while seated on a patio bench outside. The boy recounts what his grandfather said to
him after he asked why he was looking at his hands: “Yes,
I’m fine, thank you for asking,” said Grandpa. “I
didn’t mean to disturb you, grandpa, but you were just sitting here staring at
your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK.” The boy said. “Have
you ever looked at your hands?” grandpa asked. “I mean
really looked at your hands.” I
slowly opened my hands and stared down at them.
I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my
hands as I tried to figure out the point he was making. The boy thought.
5. Grandpa smiled and related this story: Stop
and think about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout
your years. These hands, though
wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to
reach out and embrace life. They braced
and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my
back. As a child my mother taught me to
fold them in prayer. They have been
dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent.
They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn sons and
daughters. Decorated with my wedding
band they showed this world that I was married and loved someone special. These hands wrote the letters home and
trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse and walked my daughter
down the aisle. These hands have held
children, consoled neighbors and shook in fist of anger when I didn’t
understand. They’ve covered my face,
combed my hair, and washed the rest of my body.
They’ve been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. To this day when not much of anything works
well, these hands hold me up, lay me down and continue to fold in prayer. MOST IMPORTANTLY it will be these hands that
God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands, He will lift me to His
side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of my Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
6.
What powerful
words this grandfather spoke to his grandson.
Yet, the story that this elderly man spoke speaks so eloquently of the
life that Harland Hansen lived. He too
loved to work with his hands—woodworking, farming, hunting, and fishing, and
praising Jesus his Lord and Savior.
7.
Someone else
loved to work with his hands. He was born the son of a carpenter. But, this carpenter, Joseph, wasn’t His real
father. Jesus left the glories of heaven
to live among us and the sin that he so greatly detested. He did it out of love for you and for me. His hands probably built many different
pieces of furniture and houses for people in the town of Nazareth where he
lived. Jesus’ hands showed love to his
mother Mary and his father Joseph. When
he entered His public ministry Jesus’ hands were raised up to heaven to praise
His heavenly Father for the baptism He received from John. Jesus’ hands did so much. They healed the sick, raised the dead and
stilled a storm. They caused the blind
to see, the deaf to hear and healed people of their leprosy. And his hands also were stretched out one
day. They were pierced for our sins and
were lifted up one last time so that He could breathe his last breath. And with those same hands He rolled away the
stone on Easter Sunday proclaiming His victory over sin, death and the power of
the devil for us and for Harland.
8. Jesus’ hands showed the labor of love that He had for
you and for me in the same way that Harland showed his love for his family and
friends by the work that he did. Let us
never forget the love that our Savior has for us. Romans 6:23 tells us that, “23 the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This is a love that God our
Creator gives to us, even though we were rebellious against Him, that sent His
own Son to win for us eternal life and for our dear brother Harland. Revelation
21 tells us that because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross for the
forgiveness of our sins the hands of Jesus will wipe away every tear from our
eyes.
“1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw
the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the
throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell
with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as
their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death
shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.”
9. It’s because of Jesus our Good Shepherd that nothing will be able
to snatch us out of God our Heavenly Father’s hands as Jesus tells us in John
10. Jesus says in John 10, “14I am the good shepherd. I know
my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know
the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 27My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal
life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Jesus showed His hands to His disciples
after He had risen from the dead to prove of the sacrifice on the cross He had
made for the forgiveness of their sins, our sins, and the sins of Harland. And, when Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples
wasn’t with them Jesus showed his hands again to Thomas to prove that He had
truly risen from the dead. John 20 tells
us, “24Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was
not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him,
“We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the
mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my
hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and
Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then he said to Thomas,
“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in
my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My
Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because
you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
10. Even though Harland didn’t see Jesus in His earthly life, he still
believed in Him as His Creating & Redeemer Savior, for Paul reminds us in
Romans 10:17 that, “faith comes by
hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.” Let us
thank God for the life that Harland lived in praise to God His Heavenly Father
and to His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
May Harland go with God and rest in peace. AMEN.
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