1.
Grace,
mercy and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Dear family and friends of
Ed, on behalf of the congregation here at Calvary Waupaca I want to express to
you my deepest sympathies as you mourn over 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
Ed was baptized into the Christian faith through water and the power of God’s
Word and was brought from death to life through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. As Ed’s Pastor these past 5 years, I know
that he’s confessed time and time again that Jesus is His Lord and Savior when
he came to worship here at Calvary. Ed
was also a regular Adult Bible Study attendee, so I know he loved to hear the
Word of Truth. He certainly believed the
words of St. Paul who says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing the
message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Ed loved 1 John 4, especially because the
Apostle John tells us that God is love and perfect love drives out all fear. It’s because of this that Ed wasn’t afraid to
die. He was ready to meet his Lord and
Savior Jesus. What a wonderful thing it
is to know that 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.
As all of you know, Ed was deeply
loved by his family and friends. Ed told
me a number of times that his father died when he was at the early age of 3. In some ways, the death of his father made
him have to grow up rather quickly. One
recollection the family has of Ed during his early days, was that by the age of
16, he prided himself in helping his mom pay the town in which they lived for
the street gutters that were put in near his home. Ed was a salesman, who made many friends with
his customers, even after he was retired, he would visit some of his former
customers when he and his family were making some trips up North in Wisconsin. He always enjoyed having coffee at the Truck
Stop here in Waupaca with his friends.
He was known for his warm and friendly smile and a terrible joke. One of his daughters would say, “Don’t
laugh at his jokes, you’ll only encourage him to say more.” Ed loved to fish as well and enjoyed
spending time with some of the men here at Calvary going on some fishing trips.
3.
We’re here today because sin has
caused our loved one to die. The Apostle
Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that, “the wages of sin is death.” Sin came into the world when Adam and Eve
disobeyed God by eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil in the Garden of Eden. Sin is what
has caused all the suffering, pain, and toil that we go through in this fallen
world. It’s because of our fall into sin
that we rebel against God and harm our neighbor through our words and deeds. Sin also causes us to not fear, love, and
trust in God above all things. Sin makes
us into idolaters. All of this Ed learned here at Calvary as he
attended worship and Adult Bible class regularly. If death is the result of sin, how is it that
the Apostle John can say here in 1 John 4:17-19 that, “17By this
is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of
judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world?” John continues in saying, “18There
is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with
punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19We
love because he first loved us.”
4.
There
was an evangelism approach used by some churches years ago with the question,
“If you were to die tonight, do you know for certain where you’d be?” People
who look at themselves and their lives for the answer don’t know for sure—and
are afraid of the question. People who look to God’s love in the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ know certainly that their death will mark the
beginning of eternal life with their Lord.
The same John the Apostle writes in his Gospel, where Jesus our Lord says
in John 15, “16You did not choose me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should
abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These
things I command you, so that you will love one another.” In that same chapter of John 15 Jesus
assures us that, “1[Jesus said:] “I am the
true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
2Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every
branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already
you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and
I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the
vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the
branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,
for apart from me you can do nothing.” That word for abide can also mean to remain. Ed remained in the Word of God and the
receiving of our Lord’s body and blood given and shed for him for the
forgiveness of his sins.
5.
As
Ed’s Pastor these past few years, I know that He was confident that his
salvation was sure in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. In fact, this past Monday Nov. 4th
I visited Ed at Theda Clark Hospital in Neenah to share with him God’s Word and
the Sacrament of Holy Communion after his emergency surgery. We looked at the text from Revelation 7:13-17
where John the Apostle says that, “13Then
one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes,
and from where have they come?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said
to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15“Therefore they are before the throne of
God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not
strike them, nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he
will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear
from their eyes.” When Ed heard those words from John the
Apostle that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, his face lit
up. He showed to me his assurance once
again that he knew that Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, was preparing a place
for him in heaven. Ed longed for that,
especially after all of the tribulation and difficulty he has had with his
health this past year.
6.
The
Apostle John says here in 1 John 4 that God’s love for us in Christ offers us
that wonderful assurance. And in love God proposed that we might be able to
approach the great day of judgment boldly. But some people might say isn’t it
very cocky and arrogant to say we know that our eternal destiny with Jesus is
sure? No! To say anything less would be a doubting denial of what Jesus
accomplished on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and the free gift of
eternal life.
7.
St.
John says that we’ve been made like Jesus, even though we’re still in the
world. That is not to say we have reached perfection here, but that we are now
the adopted sons and daughters of God. We are the objects of our Father’s love,
as Christ was loved by his Father. We have been credited with the perfectly
righteous life Jesus lived for us. He has paid for and removed our sins, which
would otherwise have banished us forever from God’s presence. So even though we
are still on this side of judgment day, we who in baptism have “put on
Christ” (Galatians 3: 27) face that day with boldness as our dear friend Ed
has done.
8.
But
how is it that we should be bold? Doesn’t the Bible tell us to be meek and
humble? It tells us to be all of these at once: meek and humble as we
evaluate ourselves and our miserable works, which are all tainted by sin; but bold
and confident as we see the grand and glorious works of Christ and his
righteousness, all of which belong to us by faith.
9.
Our
Christian hope isn’t some vague wish for the future. It’s the eager
anticipation of an assured future in heaven in both our body and our soul that
fills our present with meaning. We’re not to build our future upon the present,
but our present upon the future. The empty cross and tomb of our Lord Jesus
Christ points to our crown of glory in heaven. It gives us new courage. It
lifts up our drooping spirits. And it brightens up our gloomy faces with the
sure message that Christ is our Savior, God is our Father, and heaven is our
home. Fix our eyes on the crown of eternal glory your love has secured for us,
dear Savior, that we may live boldly for you in our time of grace. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all
understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life
everlasting. Amen.
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