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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Dear Cappie and Connie, other family and friends, and 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 did not personally know Christina, or “Chris”, whom the Lord called from this world a little more than one year before I was called to serve Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Kilgore, but I did know Harold. And, I knew that since Chris’s death, Harold seemed to be waiting, waiting in at least some sense for the Lord to call him to join her in the Lord’s eternal presence. Just recently Harold and I discussed that waiting for the Lord, and so it seemed appropriate for us in the next few minutes to reflect on God’s Word under the theme “Waiting for the Lord”.
“Waiting for the Lord” is a theme common more obviously in the Psalm we read and in the section from Romans, though the theme “Waiting for the Lord” is also evident in the reading from John’s Gospel account. The Psalmist says, for example, that he waits for the Lord more than a watchman waits for the morning, when darkness is light and the risk of attack from one’s enemies is less (Leupold, 906). For the Romans, St. Paul contrasts the suffering of the present world to the glory of the new world, and he says that one lives out righteousness as one saved in hope who waits patiently. And, as St. John records Jesus’s speaking, both those who die in this world before His return and those who are living when He returns in some sense wait for the resurrection and eternal life in glorified bodies.
So, we realize that Biblical “waiting” is not just killing time doing nothing or passing the time idly, but “waiting” is a
theological hope focused on a goal, an eager and confident expectation of the end and all that God promises that end will bring. For example, the Bible uses the same term of a hired hand waiting, or “looking”, for his wages (Job 7:2; confer Sirach 6:19).
No doubt Harold appreciated such “waiting” for wages. He worked as a tradesman, a cement finisher and a member of the mason’s union, ending his career, he told me years ago, with office work for the union. As a Christian, of course, Harold knew that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and, when I would come to see him a couple of times most months, he generally would confess his sins. For people in his circumstances, sins such as depression are especially common, but sin in general is common to all people. As we heard St. Paul tell the Romans, the creation was subjected to futility, because the first man listened to his wife and ate of the tree God had forbidden (Genesis 3:17-19), and, ever since, we all have suffered under that original sin and the resulting actual sins, sickness, and death.
When people feel their existence or life is called into question, they wisely reflect on the prospects and hopes of human life. And Biblical “waiting” is what God intends to come with and by His Holy Spirit wants to bring about from that reflection. The Psalms, other wisdom writings, and the Prophets, especially as they are influenced by the Psalms and other wisdom writings, make that clear. God changes our hearts from being like concrete Harold knew so well to flesh (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26). Particularly when God might appear to be hiding His face, withholding His blessings, and in times of judgment (Isaiah 8:17), we nevertheless wait for the Lord: we turn in sorrow from our sin, trust God to forgive our sin, and want to do better than to keep on sinning. When we so repent, then God forgives our sin. God forgives our sinful nature and all our sin for Jesus’s sake.
Harold and Chris joined Pilgrim Lutheran Church 22 years ago this very day, and people in the congregation have fond memories of them from over those 22 years: for example, where they sat in the Divine Service, how sharply-styled Chris always was, and Harold’s involvement in the breakfast the men served on Easter. Even in the few years I knew Harold, primarily shut-in at home or a care facility, he continued to take an interest in how things at Pilgrim were going, especially that breakfast. How appropriate for Harold, who was waiting for the Lord, to take so much joy in something related to Easter! In a sense Harold was like the Old Testament saints who waited, endured their suffering patiently, in the confident hope that God would act decisively for their salvation (Genesis 49:18). And, act decisively, God did! Out of His great love for Harold, for you, and for me, God sent His Son to be born of the virgin Mary, suffer under Pontius Pilate, be crucified, die, and be buried—all in order to save us from our sins. As the people waited, God’s Suffering Servant showed His power in weakness (Isaiah 51:5). Jesus’s death on the cross conquered sin, death, and the power of the devil—for Harold, for you, and for me! Jesus’s resurrection showed that God the Father accepted Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf. When we repent and believe, then God forgives all our sin. As the Psalm put it, we wait for the Lord, our souls wait, and in His Word we hope. And, as Paul put it to the Romans, in this hope we are saved. We hope—wait with patience—for what we do not yet see, although some aspects of our salvation we do see.
Cappie and Connie, I especially appreciated your descriptions of Harold as a loving dad, who made you the center of his life, and who shared sensitive, special moments with you. His adoption of you as his daughters reflects God’s adoption of us as His children. God adopted us in Holy Baptism, when God through water that we can see combined with His Word worked forgiveness of sins, rescued us from death and the devil, and gave eternal salvation to all who believe. So given the Holy Spirit in Baptism, we eagerly wait for the completion of God’s plans.
As we wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Last Day, we are not lacking any gift (1 Corinthians 1:7). God forgives our sin individually in Holy Absolution, a rite we can see, a rite like that I regularly shared with Harold. And, in the Sacrament of the Altar, God gives us Jesus’s real, physical body and blood in bread and wine we can see, body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of sins and so also for life and salvation. In that Sacrament we commune not only with Jesus but also with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, including those who have gone before us in the faith. What a great way to stay connected with our loved ones who even now are living in God’s eternal presence!
Harold told me how he played football and ran track, so I am sure he understood about endurance. As he steadfastly waited—sometimes more or less patiently—he confessed his faith in a very meaningful way (Psalm 130:5). Whether or not we saw it, in waiting his strength was renewed (Isaiah 40:31); waiting for the Lord, he was strong and took courage (Isaiah 27:14). And, we can, too. As St. Paul said to the Romans, we who believe have the firstfruits of the Spirit, and we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the full and complete redemption of our bodies, with its final purging of our sinful natures. Until then, with daily repentance and faith, we live in the forgiveness of sins, from God and for each other.
To some extent, as the girls put it, the light in Harold’s eyes may have gone out when Chris passed from this world to the next, but their souls are now together again before the Lord, even as their remains this day are interred together. We may grieve them, but not as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). On the last day, they, with all creation, will be restored, be set free from bondage to decay, and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Then, with resurrected and glorified bodies, sight will replace faith (confer 2 Corinthians 5:7). Then, they and all those who have waited for the Lord with repentance and faith will be fully glad and rejoice in Him and in His salvation (Isaiah 25:9).
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +