“Fear Not!” Isaiah 41.8-10 & John 14.1-6, Beverly Buchholtz Funeral June ‘20

1.                Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  At a time of grieving like this, those who are present and I on behalf of this congregation, offer your family and all who were close to Beverly my deepest sympathy.  May our Lord who knows your needs, comfort and give you strength and faith to uphold each another.  Today we’re going to look at two sections of Scripture from Isaiah 41:8-10 and John 14:1-6, where God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ tell us to “Fear Not!”  In the face of sin, death, and the power of the Devil, we as Christians have nothing to fear, for Jesus our Good Shepherd is with us, just as He began watching over Beverly in her baptism on November 6^th, 1932 and led her to confess with her lips that Jesus Christ is Lord on the day of her Confirmation on May 19^th, 1946.  The message is entitled, “Fear Not,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ. 

2.                The family has many memories of Beverly.  Where Beverly grew up on Shaky Lake Road between Dale and Reedfield, their farm was on a high hill.  So, one thing unique about her childhood was that in the winter, she would often ride her sled down the hill to Hickory Grove School.  In High School Beverly was very good at shorthand and typing and after graduation she worked at AAL on the 4^th floor of the 222 Building in downtown Appleton.  In the early 1950s her salary at AAL was $125 a month and she shared an apartment in Appleton.

3.                But, Beverly gave it all up to be with her beloved husband Bob and enjoy West Bloomfield for the rest of her life.  Beverly would again put her typing skills to work as she assisted Bob with the Secretary-Treasurer duties of the local chapter of AAL Branch 1109 here at Christ Lutheran West Bloomfield.  She would type up all the invites for the AAL insurance policy holders and their families, for the yearly summer picnic, and wrap all the bingo prizes and other gifts for the kids.  She would also organize the annual meeting and luncheon held in November and bring all the prizes for the drawing.  Everyone waited with anticipation, as to who the top two lucky people would be to win the Butterball Turkeys.  But, everybody got at least one prize, even if it was just a pound of cheese.

4.                But, most notably the Buchholtz family remembers, all the effort and paperwork Beverly put in to apply for and maximize the matching funds available through AAL and fundraisers to benefit those in need or someone with cancer.  Also, many local emergency and fire departments, libraries, non-profits and our own Church and School received donations through these volunteer projects.  Beverly did that for 35 years and was happy to serve the Lord Jesus and His Church and her fellow neighbor in Christian love.

5.                The Lord says through the Prophet in Isaiah 41:8–10—⁸But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; ⁹you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; ¹⁰fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah shifts our attention away from the unbelieving world to God’s people, “But you …” God’s people also saw what the nations saw. They noted the victories of their conqueror and, no doubt, were  filled with fear. But God desired to comfort His people and addressed them in the most tender way. God called His people, “Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend.”  It is these words we need to hear and remember today as we mourn Beverly’s death.  For God has called Beverly and us too, to be His chosen people, His friends, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

6.                Each of these terms is important. When God calls His people “Israel” and “Jacob,” He takes them back to their origins. God’s people became known as Israel, the name God gave Jacob when He reissued his promises to Jacob at the Jabbok River, when He wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32:22–30). This special nation had become God’s special servant because of God’s choice. From the very beginning, God had special plans for this nation. Jesus our Messiah would come into the world through them. God describes the nation as the “descendants of Abraham my friend.” That designation took these people back even further to the very father of the nation. Abraham was God’s special and close friend.

7.                So, no matter what these people saw in the world, they were to remember God’s grace toward them. And it was grace. Personally, Abraham was no better than any other ancient man.  He was a sinner just like everyone else. He was great because God chose him. God made him the father of believers. These verses so clearly indicate that God actively made these people His own. “I took you.… I called you. I said … ‘I have chosen you and have not rejected you.’” All this emphasizes God’s grace, undeserved and free, toward sinful and fearful humans.

8.                Verse 10 piles comfort upon comfort. It begins with words we so frequently hear in the Scriptures: “Do not fear.” As God’s people endured their captivity, being taken to a foreign land, they could easily worry. God casts out their fear with the promise that He is with them and is their God, that is, He is next to them and pledges to remain with them as a powerful source of help.

9.                Through the Prophet Isaiah, God says He will do all this with His “righteous right hand.” God’s powerful hand is righteous. Righteous means, “right, correct, straight, appropriate, and proper.” In righteousness God had determined to bring about the deliverance of all humanity from sin, death, and hell. He had promised to do so and would remain faithful to all those promises. God’s people could depend on His righteousness to do what was necessary to fulfill all His promises. On the other hand, those who don’t know the Lord can expect quite another thing from His righteous right hand. For them God’s righteousness will bring judgment and punishment.

10.             The terms of these verses, of course, apply to God’s Old Testament people, but they also apply to God’s people of all time. All believers are descendants of Abraham by virtue of their faith in the God of Abraham. When God directed Abraham to look up to the stars and count the great number of his descendants, God had more in mind than the little nation of Israel. He had all believers in mind, God had you and Beverly in mind, as the apostle Paul says so clearly, “Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7).

11.             Jesus our Messiah is the fulfillment of God the Father’s promises to Abraham.  In John 14:1-6, Christ our Lord says, ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to where I am going.” ⁵Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

12.             It was going to be a night of doubt and despair for the Twelve. It was the night of Jesus’ betrayal and trial and sentence of death. Before 24 hours had passed, Jesus would be crucified, dead and buried. They would wonder if they could still think of Him as Savior, whether God was still their loving Father.

13.             They had been so secure in Jesus’ company while He taught the crowds and healed the sick and raised the dead. But before morning they would see Him arrested and humiliated. To prepare them for that terrible experience which would tempt them to despair, Jesus said: “Trust in God; trust also in me.” My Father can be trusted. He has always proved himself to be trustworthy, just as He did for Abraham. Jesus says, “I can be trusted.” Place your confidence in me and don’t let panic rob your hearts of faith.  As Beverly’s Pastor, I can assure you that she placed her trust in Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

14.             There are things in our future which we can’t foresee. But we know from the Word of God and from human experience that our lives can change so quickly.  Just like it has done during this Covid-19 Pandemic. Today prosperous and secure, tomorrow unemployed. Today cheerful and content, tomorrow broken and weak. Today confident in the loving concern of our Savior, tomorrow wondering whether God still cares.

15.             Jesus tells us, “Don’t leap to any false conclusions about Me and My concern for you. I cared enough to join the human race when I could have just continued in My majesty forever. I suffered for the human race through My death on the cross for you for the forgiveness of your sins, suffered more than you will ever suffer. I did my Father’s will and finished My Father’s work. I carried out His plan for your salvation as your Representative before His bar of justice.”

16.             God the Father was pleased to raise Jesus from the dead to demonstrate that His justice is satisfied, and you are forgiven. Jesus says, see My hands and My side, My empty tomb. Can you doubt My good will? “You trust in God; trust also in me.” The important thing to remember here is that Jesus is strong and loving. We quickly find out how weak our faith is. But our God is strong. It’s not that we’re so good at trusting, but that He’s trustworthy. Where shall we find confidence for the future? In Jesus’ cross, in His empty grave.  Because Jesus lives, we too shall live and have eternal life in His name.  He has done that for Beverly, He has done that for you.  Fear not!  Amen.  The peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ until life everlasting.  Amen.

“Witnesses to Hope,” 1 Peter 3.13-22, Easter 6A May ‘20

1.                 Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this 6^th Sunday of Easter is taken from 1 Peter 3:13-22, it’s entitled, “Witnesses to Hope,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                There’s an old Chinese parable about a poor man who lived with his son in an abandoned fort. One day the horse they owned and depended on to haul vegetables to town—their sole means of support—ran away. When the neighbors heard about it they went to the old man and expressed their sympathy. “Too bad,” they said. “How do you know it’s bad?” the old man responded. “The horse returned and brought back with him a dozen wild horses.” The neighbors said, “This is good!” “How do you know if it’s good?” he: asked. “When my son tried to tame the horses he broke his leg.” “Bad,” they said, “very bad.” “How do you know that?” the old man replied. “Shortly afterward a war broke out, but my son was laid up and did not have to go to the front.” 

3.                Events by themselves often are looked on as hopeless situations.  Just like some people might say during this Covid-19 Pandemic in our Nation and throughout the world. But no setback, failure, loss, or suffering stands alone. Always there is another chapter, to follow. Always there is a final word, and that word is God’s. Throughout his epistle Peter calls attention to suffering, but in every, instance it has a good consequence.

4.                Peter urges his readers here in 1 Peter 3:15: “Be prepared to give an answer to everyone who, asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” This is the “living hope” given to them through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Elsewhere Peter reminds them to pay attention to the Word of God in 1 Peter 2:2, “that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (2:2). The hope is kept alive as they meditate on that Word.  St. Paul writes in Romans 15:4, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4). In the Bible we see again and again that God will not give up even when the situation seems hopeless.

5.                Some 800 years before Christ, a prophet named Hosea, whom we spoke about last week, bought his faithless wife from her lovers for the price of a slave. He tried to win her back with love and patience. His way with her typified God’s dealings with the wayward nation Israel.  Hosea 2:14-15 says, “I am now going to allure her . . . and speak tenderly to her. . . . I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope” (Hos 2:14–15). Still, Hosea seems to waver between punishing and forgiving his chosen people.  Hosea 4:17 says, “Ephraim [his name for Israel] is joined to idols; let him alone!” (4:17). You think it’s all over, but, later on Hosea 11:3, 8-9 says, “It is I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms . . . How can I give you up, Ephraim? . . . For I am God, and not man” (11:3, 8–9). A clear picture of the heart of God!

6.                St Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15-16 that as Christians we are to, “give the reason for the hope . . . with gentleness and respect.” Peter had learned that words harshly spoken—even though they are true—turn people off. But beside the witness by words it’s evident that the witness of our lifestyle is also effective and necessary. One of the finest examples of this is his advice to Christian women who are married to pagans.  Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:1-2, “Be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives” (3:1–2).

7.                So also husbands are urged in 1 Peter 3:7, “in the same way [to] be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life” (3:7). Even to civil rulers believers are to show respect.  1 Peter 2:13-15 says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors. . . . For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men” (2:13–15).

8.                St. Peter gives us the reason for our hope as Christians here in 1 Peter 3.  He repeats that, “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous and the unrighteous,”  Here’s a good illustration of this.  Four high school boys made a habit of getting on the bus, staring at the driver in a challenging way, and then jaunting past the toll box. One day the driver stood at the door and refused to let them on the bus. The response was that the boys dragged him off the bus and beat him up, leaving him bleeding and near death as they fled. At the trial they were found guilty. But their lawyer pleaded with the judge. If these boys were convicted they would not be able to graduate, and their record would be marked for life.  The judge turned to the driver and said, “You are the one who suffered. What would make you happy?” He looked at the thugs and said, “The thing that would make me happy would be to serve their sentence, to go to jail on their behalf so they could finish school and change their lives.” The judge said, “That’s ridiculous. Absurd, impractical. Nobody has ever done that.” The driver replied, “Oh, yes. Jesus did.”

9.                But, there is even more to the reason for our hope in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Peter goes on to say in 1 Peter 3:19-21, “in which he [Jesus] went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, How many times have we thought something has reached its superlative state only to be surprised by something even greater?” “There can never be a bigger flood than this,” Noah must have thought after a catastrophic flood decimated the earth. And, in one sense, Noah was right. God promises, “Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:11). God even offers a rainbow to seal the deal. But though there may never be another worldwide flood, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be a greater flood than even that of Noah’s day. Indeed, this is Peter’s argument when he references Noah’s ark, in which, “a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”

10.             Peter writes, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you.” In the original language text, the word for “correspond” is the Greek antitypos, meaning a “copy” or “type.” Peter is arguing that the waters of Noah’s flood, as mighty as they may have been, are no match for the waters of Baptism. Noah’s flood is only an antitypos, or a “type,” of the original and greatest flood of Baptism.

11.             The preacher of Hebrews makes a similar argument when he says in chapter 9:24: “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24).

12.             The Greek word for “copies” is antitypos. There’s a heavenly temple and an earthly one; the earthly temple is only a dim copy of the glorious heavenly one.  As it is with the two temples, so it is with Noah’s flood and Baptism. Noah’s flood was only a dim copy of the glorious flood of Baptism. For the glorious flood of Baptism not only drowns our sins, it also saves our souls. It not only condemns and buries our old Adam, but it also raises us to life as new creations. Finally, the glorious flood of Baptism is done in the name of Jesus, and nothing is greater than Jesus.

13.             Our ancient Christian Creeds echo Peter’s words here in our text. “He descended into hell to proclaim victory; he rose triumphantly; he ascended into heaven; and he sits at God’s right hand to rule over all things.” Many fine films depicting the life of Christ with color and drama have been produced in our day. Unfortunately, they usually end with the crucifixion.

14.             We may find it difficult to relate to our Lord’s exaltation. That he was born, that he ate and drank, that he suffered pain—these human experiences we share with Jesus. But the descent, ascension, and being at God’s right hand are not part of our own existence. But, it is important that we consider each of these steps or stages of exaltation if we are to witness to the hope we have. Christ didn’t descend into hell to give those who died in unbelief another opportunity to believe. Therefore, our witness is urgent. It may be the only time the questioner will hear the Good News. The Savior’s ascension into heaven, which we celebrate this coming Thursday of this week, is linked with his visible return when “every eye will see him” (Rev 1:7). That Jesus rules over everything in heaven and on earth assures us that even as his kingdom of glory and power is real, so is his kingdom of grace. “[My Word] will not return to me empty, but will . . . achieve the purpose for which I sent it,” The Prophet Isaiah says in, Is 55:11.

15.             Because God works through his Word, we can be effective witnesses to the hope we have, although for the moment it seems to produce few if any results. Because God will have the last word we won’t give up.  Joseph Conrad, in Typhoon, his epic story of the sea, furnishes us with a picture of this very thing. Winds and waves pound the ship as the sailor shouts to the Captain, “The [life] boats are going now, sir!” Again and again he hears a voice “with a penetrating effect of quietness in the enormous discord of noises, as if sent out from some remote spot of peace beyond the black wastes of the gale: ‘All right’ (Joseph Conrad, Typhoon and Other Tales of the Sea [New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1963] 38). Through the turmoil that threatened the safety of the disciples in their tiny boat on Galilee, that tested the faith of the early Christians in Peter’s day, and still threatens us today comes the voice of Jesus who conquers all: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Mt 14:27).  Amen.  Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen.