1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message for today is taken from Psalm 23, Revelation 7:9-17, & John 10:14-16. It’s entitled, “Peaks & Valleys,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. I personally didn’t have the privilege to get to know Lee. I only had the opportunity to meet him once while I was visiting his wife, Carol. But, I know that God our Heavenly Father knew him. For He not only created him and gave him life and breath in his mother’s womb, but God chose him to be His own through the waters of Holy Baptism, when he was baptized at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Milwaukee. And, God the Father led him through the power of the Holy Spirit, to confess with his lips that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
3. Those that knew Lee tell me that he was a wonderful man. He was a selfless person with a giving heart. In fact, after he married his beloved wife Carol in 1982, he went out of his way to adopt Jeff as his son. He wanted to do so much for his family.
4. The gift of family was truly Lee’s greatest joy. He was the one who was in charge of the Magestro family reunions. He even worked on two books to record his family’s history and he was beginning to work on a third. Whenever a family member passed away or there were any changes in the family, it was Lee who would let his relatives know about it. Lee was someone who used his time and talents for the sake of his neighbor. He was someone who could attest to the words of Moses to Joshua from Joshua 1:9 that says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Lee presented great strength when he was going through his heart problems. His sudden death has come to a shock to all of us. But, the Scripture reminds us that even though the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and that as in Adam all die, we still have a Savior, a Good Shepherd in Jesus, who is our strength and will give us victory, even over death itself (Romans 5). It’s in this victory over death and the grave, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we place our hope and trust in today, for ourselves, and for our dear Christian friend Lee as well.
5. A coin has two sides. When you see one side, you don’t see the other. In a similar way the Bible gives us different sides or pictures of life. In Psalm 23, David portrays his life on earth as he’s guided by God toward eternity in God’s house. John in Revelation 7 points to life going on right now in heaven. Jesus tells us in John 10 that he’s the link connecting the two realities, making them one reality with a great future. Jesus says in John 10:14-16, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
6. David in Psalm 23 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . . ” Our whole life is lived under the shadow of the enemy called death. Life has its joys and celebrations—marriages and births, graduations and promotions, barbecues and banquets. But, it’s also lived under a shadow of death that lies ahead and won’t go away even when we celebrate and laugh. Mark Twain said he would look in the paper each morning to make sure his name wasn’t in the obituaries. The Bible tells us in the book of Genesis that God didn’t create this world and us to suffer death. But, ever since the disobedience of Adam and Eve, which caused this world’s fall into sin and death, human life is lived out in the valley. And when that shadow creeps over a loved one, like our dear friend Lee, and the enemy called death is allowed by God to swing his sickle, we who are left feel torn apart as one life is cut off from the rest of us who live. The hope of enjoying another day together and of doing things tomorrow is taken away.
7. The journey through the valley in the shadow of death can seem like a lonely walk that ends in isolation, defeat, and despair. But, we who are in Christ have God’s promise that we don’t walk alone. With us walks a Friend who has walked this same path before us. He’s the Good Shepherd who stands beside us today in our grief to give us guidance and direction.
8. The Shepherd that David confessed as his Lord deliberately walked into the shadowy valley. He left the brilliance of heaven, descended to earth, was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and took upon himself our human form and became one of us, though without sin. His perfect life was a display of God’s love and care for all people. He exercised his power to forgive sin and overcome death, disease, and the devil. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons. His ministry led to the cross. There, Jesus the sinless Lamb of God was made to be sin for us. God laid on the Righteous One the sins of all humanity. He died in our place as a sacrifice pleasing to the Father. God accepted his sacrifice, and Jesus was raised to life. After showing himself alive to his apostles and followers, Jesus ascended to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He has taken God’s wrath from us and brought us grace.
9. The psalmist’s poem is directed toward Jesus, our Good Shepherd. As we’re gathered here in his name, Jesus is present to hear our cries for help in the hour of mourning. “Call upon me in the day of trouble,” he said, promising, “I will deliver you” (Ps 50:15). Again, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). We’re not alone as we pass through the valley of the shadow. The Lord Jesus has walked it before and is walking it with us today.
10. Let’s change scenes now. We move from the valley to the mountaintop, to the other side of the coin, where people are living with God in the next life. John takes us there in Revelation 7. We see a great multitude that no one can count, from every tribe and nation, people and language. They are standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. Who are these people? They are those who have come out of the sufferings of this life, through the valley of the shadow of death. They are those who have passed through and are now on the other side of the valley, like our dear friend Lee. We can’t see them, except in memory. But through the apostle John, God has given us a vision of their glory. Our loved one Lee has laid aside the burdens, the stresses, and strains of walking through this valley of the shadow of death. Through his baptism into Jesus’ name and his belief in Jesus as his Lord and Savior, Lee has joined the great multitude in heaven.
11. If there were a window into heaven, we might see Lee standing there among the white—robed saints. Through Holy Baptism and the hearing of God’s Word, he believed in the Lord Jesus, the only Savior from sin. Lee’s robes were washed in the blood of Jesus. Upon death he came out of the valley of sorrow into eternal life on the mountain top. And these white-robed saints are singing with joy! They sing because the Lamb at the center of the throne is their Shepherd. He leads them to springs of living water. He wipes away every tear from their eyes. The process of dying produces many tears, both by those who are dying and by those left behind. But Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will wipe away all tears with his love. They sing because they have been freed from all pain and sorrow. Their place in glory is forever. We can join them in singing. By God’s grace, our destination is with the white-robed saints. We’re confident in God’s promise that soon we too will join all of God’s saints in glory and remain with them forever. We look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12). His position is before the throne of his Father as our advocate, our mediator. He pleads for us. He’s prepared a place for us among the multitude gathered before the Father.
12. On earth, Lee listened to Jesus the Good Shepherd’s voice. We can look forward to seeing him again. In the Bible, Jesus looks forward to the time of his return. He will come down out of heaven (1 Thess 4:16; Rev 21:2) with all his holy angels. In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet, the dead will be raised with imperishable and immortal bodies (1 Cor 15:52), and all those still in the valley will also be changed. Even those who have shut their ears to the Savior’s voice will be raised, but their eternal fate is torment in body and soul in Hell (Jn 5:28–29; Rev 20:14–15). But, all of us who are in Christ Jesus will be gathered into one flock, united with our Shepherd and Lamb, Jesus.
13. We’ve covered a lot of “ground”, walking through the valley, rising to mountaintops, and glimpsing our future in Jesus. I pray that these words of the Lord may encourage you in your living faith and also in your hope that we will all be together with the Lord Jesus forever. Amen.
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