1.
Grace,
mercy and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Dear family and friends of
Ray, on behalf of the congregation here at Calvary I want to express to you my
deepest sympathies as you mourn his death.
But, I want to tell you today that even though we grieve over his death,
we don’t grieve as those who have no hope.
We can take hope and comfort that Ray was baptized into the Christian
faith through water and the power of God’s Word and was brought from death to
life on November 3rd, 1937 at Trinity Lutheran Church Mequon, WI. Ray knew that his baptism gave to him the
promise of eternal life, the forgiveness of his sins and salvation, because he
confirmed the faith that he received at his baptism at Trinity Mequon on May 16th,
1948. What a wonderful thing it is to
know that our dear Savior Jesus has offered to us eternal life with him in
heaven through His Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and through the
hearing of His Holy Word.
2. For his funeral Ray picked Job
5:6-11, 17-18 as one of his Scripture readings, and I would also like to add
Job 19:23-27. In the midst of all the
sufferings we undergo in this life, Christ Jesus our Savior has brought to us
full healing through His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and
His resurrection from the dead. The
message is entitled, “As the Sparks Fly Upward…The Lord Heals,” dear
brothers and sisters in Christ.
3. During this last year, as Ray was
on hospice, I had the privilege to get to know him a little bit better as his
Pastor. Ray told me that he always
wanted to be a conservationist and arborist.
But, at the age of 16 he unfortunately contracted polio. No wonder he picked the verses from Job 5
after undergoing such suffering early on in his life. Job 5:6-11, 17-18, “6For
affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the
ground, 7but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. 8“As for me, I would seek God, and
to God would I commit my cause, 9who does great things and
unsearchable, marvelous things without number:
10he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields; 11he
sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to
safety... 17“Behold, blessed
is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the
Almighty. 18For he wounds,
but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.”
4. The first time I met Ray as his Pastor, he was
faithfully working on cleaning the church sanctuary. I later learned that Ray was a
vegetarian. He loved plants and
trees. During his retirement he planted
over 1,000 trees and was welcomed by Hartman Creek State Park. He was also an avid Packers fan, until they
fired Coach McCarthy. Ray loved sharing
his time with his companion Joy and her dog Buttons. This was after his massive heart attack in
1995. In 1997 he was welcomed by the
people of Hartman Creek State Park and in 1999 he met his companion Joy. Ray said that these events had a profound
influence on his life and forever changed its pattern and direction.
5.
Ray
was a kind soul who so often extended the hand of friendship, as he did to me
as his Pastor when I first came here in 2014.
During my visits with Ray this last year, he felt guilty about wanting
to die and be with the Lord after his struggles with his health and the death
of his dear friend Joy. But, I showed
him as his Pastor that it was ok. Even
the Apostle Paul had his own struggles with wanting to leave this valley of
the shadow of death and be at home with the Lord. I showed him from 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 how, “inwardly
we grown awaiting our permanent heavenly dwelling.” In Romans 14:7-9, I showed him that, “whether
we live or whether we die we belong to the Lord.” And, from Philippians 1:21-23, “even St.
Paul had a great desire to depart and be with Christ in heaven, for that is far
better.”
6.
Here in Job
5 we learn that Eliphaz, the first friend who tries to comfort Job, only adds
to Job’s misery. His “encouragement” discourages Job because Eliphaz
never really connects with Job or his pain. He only offers pious platitudes.
When you reach out to a friend or family member, don’t give answers that simply
bandage deep hurts. Listen carefully to the sufferer and learn to share the
pain. God does use adversity to discipline His people, as Eliphaz points out
here (5:17–18; cf Heb 12:1–13). In the midst of trial, we may doubt God’s love
for us. But, the cross of Jesus shows us the measure of God’s love. By the
power of the Holy Spirit, we can see suffering as a tool to refine faith and
strengthen our relationship with God in Jesus Christ. Martin Luther writes, “When
faith begins, God does not forsake it; He lays the holy cross on our backs to
strengthen us and to make faith powerful in us.… Where suffering and the cross
are found, there the Gospel can show and exercise its power. It is a Word of
life. Therefore, it must exercise all its power in death. In the absence of
dying and death it can do nothing, and no one can become aware that it has such
power and is stronger than sin and death” (AE 30:126).
7.
Job chapter
5 tells us that
as sinful human beings we were born to trouble! Into this world of affliction,
we have come, born into this pit of despair. Into this vale of tears, with all
of its sorrow, all of the groaning and moaning, and all of the weeping and
gnashing of teeth, we have come. Born into trouble! Deserved or undeserved, just
or unjust, earned or inherited—who really cares? Trouble is trouble, and from
this condition there’s no escape. We have tried to alleviate the pain, we have
attempted to avoid the struggles, the path around these problems has been taken
(or so we thought), but we find ourselves right in the middle. To this you were
born! “Man is born to trouble” (Job 5: 7).
8.
Destruction, famine, poverty of body
and soul—how can we escape from such a birthright? We can’t, but there is One
who has also been born into this trouble-filled place. There is One who has
come into the midst of our suffering. There is One who has come, but He has
come to bring relief. To this He was born. Christ Jesus, the LORD, was born
into our world, a troublesome place, a sinful place, a death-filled reality. He
was born as we are, but His task was far different.
9.
All are born to die, but Jesus was
born to die so that all might live. To this He was born. He was born to take up
our burdens, to carry our griefs and bear our sorrows. Upon Jesus was placed
the sin of all, and this He carried, for our sake, to the tree of the cross.
For this He was born, to journey to the cross to die. Jesus was born to be that
sacrifice, to be the ransom, to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins
of the world. For this He was born, and in His birth did hope arrive into
our valley of the shadow of death. Our trouble became His, and Jesus
bears it. We still are born to this world and its troubles, pain, and
suffering. The world remains a tearful place. But, as we see the One who was
born to die, as we see the One whose death brings life, as we look upon the
tree of His cross, we see assurance and have hope, even in the midst of our
trouble.
10.
Because Jesus our Savior was born to
die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised from the dead
to promise that we too shall bodily rise from the dead, this is our hope and
solid foundation. This is the faith that
Ray confessed and put his hope and trust in.
This is the faith we can put our trust in as well. Job confesses in chapter 19, “I know that
my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after
my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see
him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
(Job 19: 25-27).
11.
Job was sure he was dying, just as
our dear friend Ray was. Job was in agony. His strength had completely left
him. All hope of recovery was gone. What was left? Job’s only comfort was the
living hope of the resurrection. There’s nothing that helps a Christian through
difficult days more than meditating on the resurrection. Christ is risen, and
so we too shall rise, like our dear friend Ray.
12.
It’s a glorious future that awaits
us in heaven. That sunbeam of eternity can pierce through any misery that weighs
us down. The thing that’s so remarkable about Job was that he could express so
clearly the same hope we have. Even though he lived hundreds of years before
Christ rose from the dead, he could see with eyes of faith his living Redeemer
standing on the earth at the last day.
13.
With those same spiritual eyes he
could see himself in front of the Savior, looking at him with his own eyes, his
bones once more clothed with flesh, ready to hear the blessed invitation of
Christ: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25: 34).
That faith which Job had is the same faith we need when everything seems to
fall apart. When death itself appears to be at the door, it’s our hope of the
life to come with Christ that sustains us. A faith which looks to the future
can say with Paul, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8: 18).
14.
Can we see that glory? Can we look
beyond the grave with Job to the day when our bodies will be raised and made
like Christ’s own glorious body? Can we fix our vision on the day when we will
see the Lord with those same eyes that so often see only misery and suffering
on this earth? Job conquered all with his triumphant faith in the resurrection.
We can too. Amen. Now the peace that passes all
understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life
everlasting. Amen.
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