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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Dear Erwin, Neal, (Nelson,) other family and friends of Kathleen, members of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, and other brothers and sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
As some of you know, I had the privilege of ministering to Kathleen one week ago, last Tuesday afternoon, before God Wednesday summoned her soul from this valley of tears to our eternal home. With eyes open, she gave me her attention, as I read her Psalm 23, prayed with her, commended her to God’s care, and, at the conclusion of my visit, blessed her. In connection with Psalm 23, I spoke to her about God’s continued shepherding of her, even through the valley of the shadow of death, and, in connection with Psalm 23 and the rest of our Readings this day on that same shepherding theme, I now speak to you about “Kathleen, the Lord’s Lamb”.
As you probably know, Kathleen went out of this life, to a great extent, as she came into it: totally dependent on the care of others. After her birth, Kathleen’s parents fed her and tended to her needs, and, for the last six years, nursing home staff have largely done the same. Kathleen’s diabetes and other afflictions, her diseases and her death, are vivid reminders of the consequences of sin in this world—this world that God created perfect but humankind soon corrupted. Like our first parents, all we after them “have gone astray,” every one of us has turned “to his [or her] own way” (Isaiah 53:6).
If you saw Kathleen’s earthly remains yesterday, you saw that she looked quite lovely, although I am sure not as lovely as she looked when she was younger. Beauty fades—a truth the first part of the Old Testament Reading uses to contrast us sinful human beings to our Holy God. All flesh is like grass that withers, and the beauty of all flesh is like the flower of the field that withers, but the Word of our God—and much more God Himself—stands forever. We are impotent, perishing, and limited, but God is omnipotent, eternal, and all‑determining.
Kathleen’s parents were mindful of that contrast between sinners and God, and so, shortly after her birth, they brought Kathleen to a Baptismal Font like the one here. There, with the water and the Word of Holy Baptism, God forgave Kathleen’s original sin and all her sins, rescued her from death and the devil, and gave her eternal salvation, as she believed in Jesus Christ. Kathleen came into the Church dependent on others: God working through her parents and pastor to make her His child. Throughout her life, Kathleen lived, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in that baptismal grace, drowning her sinful nature as she repented of her sin, and letting her redeemed nature arise so that she ultimately could live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
As we heard in the Epistle Reading, the God‑man Jesus suffered and died on the cross to make Kathleen and all people holy (righteous and pure) through His own blood, the blood of the eternal covenant. God the Father, Who shares the same divine substance as Jesus, laid on Jesus the iniquity (the sins) of us all (Isaiah 53:6). After Jesus had paid the price for our sin, the God of Peace raised our Lord Jesus, the Great Good Shepherd of the Sheep. And, resurrected from the dead, Jesus sent out under‑shepherds to feed His lambs, to tend His sheep (John 20:21-23; 21:15-17). So, in Kathleen’s more than 34 years as a member here at Our Redeemer, she had a number of such under‑shepherds, including Pastor Bragdon, who is away in Maine.
Of course, we could say Kathleen did some “shepherding” of her own—mothering her two sons, her niece Heather who was like a daughter to her, and the more than 20 foster children who came through her home. Also a long‑time Sunday School teacher, Kathleen would want each one of us, fully dependent on God, to hear and favorably receive God’s call to repent of our sin and trust Him to forgive our sin for Jesus’s sake. She would want each one of us to hear and favorably receive to God’s call to be baptized and so made God’s child as she was. And, she would want each one of us who believe to eat the family meal in the Sacrament of the Altar, as she did, receiving bread that is Christ’s body and wine that is Christ’s blood, given and shed for her, for you, and for me, for the forgiveness of our sins, and so for life and for salvation.
In the Gospel Reading, we heard Jesus say that His sheep hear His voice, that He knows them and they know Him, that He gives them eternal life, that they will never perish, and that no one will snatch them out of His hand, for no one is greater than His Father Who gave them to Him. Kathleen was a sheep, a lamb, of the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd. She heard His voice, He knew Her and she knew Him, He gave her eternal life, she has not perished, and no one has snatched her out of His hand. We who believe know that even now, while her mortal remains are before us, Kathleen’s soul is already present with the Lord.
Kathleen loved to travel, going all over the world, from what I understand, even through at least one particular place at a rather dangerous time. In a sense she has one more “trip” to make, but no danger is involved. In the second part of the Old Testament Reading, God gives the prophet Isaiah a vision of the Lord tending His flock like a shepherd, gathering the lambs in His arms, carrying them in His bosom, and gently leading those that are with young. So, when He returns, Kathleen and all those who have gone before us in the faith, reunited with their bodies, come with and before Him as His reward and recompense.
Erwin, in our conversations this past week, I appreciated your telling me how you and Kathleen met and literally “fell” in love at a roller‑skating rink, and you recognized how God brought you through more than 51 years of marriage, although bumpy at times, enabling you both to “take a little and give a lot”. Now, in a sense, is one of those bumpy times, but you are being given all you need. If you, by God’s grace persevere in the faith as Kathleen did, you will see your beloved wife, mother, aunt or other relative, our sister in Christ, Kathleen, the Lord’s Lamb, again. As I had the privilege of ministering to Kathleen last Tuesday, so I have the privilege of ministering to you all today. Be comforted in your grief at the temporary loss of Kathleen’s soul from this world. She has been delivered from her earthly afflictions, and at the resurrection, when you see her next, she and you will have glorious bodies so much better than these that they are not even worth comparing. As the Lord Jesus has shepherded Kathleen, so also He will shepherd us all the days of our lives—as our Psalm put it, in green pastures, beside still waters, in paths of righteousness, through the valley of the shadow of death—until all who believe dwell together with Him in the house of the Lord forever.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +