+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Dear Pamela and Fred; Sammy, Rebecca, and Steven; and the rest of Ann’s family and friends,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen.)
Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
Among Ann’s papers was found a printed version of John 11:25-26, which passage was just read, set in its immediate context. On the paper, Ann had written, “I like this very much. It has been a comfort in surgery”, perhaps her hip, pacemaker, or both surgeries. As Ann, at the time of her surgery, was comforted by Jesus’s statement, so you can be comforted, at this time of her loss from this world, by Jesus’s statement, both about His being the Resurrection and the Life and about believers’ living eternally regardless of whether or not they die in this world—the only question is not whether or not the person is alive at the time but whether or not the person believes. Since, as I know from ministering to her, she believed, you can be comforted: “Though she died, yet Ann lives!”
Maybe Ann had identified a little with Martha, to whom Jesus spoke, both about His being the Resurrection and the Life and about believers’ living eternally regardless of whether or not they die in this world. Certainly Ann could have identified with Martha, for we know from St. Luke’s Divinely-inspired Gospel account that previously Martha had welcomed Jesus into her home, where she focused on serving him and others (Luke 10:38-42). In this case, however, after Martha’s brother Lazarus had died and been buried for at least four days, Martha went out to meet Jesus and expressed at least some regret that, despite Martha and her sister Mary’s having sent word to Jesus about Lazarus’s being ill, Jesus had not been there to keep her brother from dying.
Certainly, considering Ann’s health issues at least the past five years, and especially this past year with the coronavirus pandemic, Ann herself and those of us who knew Ann might have expressed at least some regret either about God’s not giving Ann better health or about His not delivering her from her earthly afflictions by death sooner. We might wrongly think that life with a loved one now is somehow better than the life to come, or we might wrongly want suffering loved ones’ earthly lives to end not so much because they are suffering but more so because we do not want to have to care for them.
Whether we all sin in these or in other ways, we all sin, for we all are sinful by nature. Our sinful nature leads us to think, say, and do things that we should not think say and do, and our sinful nature leads us not to think, say, and do things that we should think, say, and do. As St. Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). As much as one might think of Ann as the best-possible sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, or sister in Christ, she was not perfect. Ann’s mortal remains before us are evidence that she was a sinner, as we are sinners. Ann’s mortal remains before us are a reminder that, on account of our sin, we also face death here in time, unless Jesus returns first, and, at the time of either our death or Jesus’s return, on account of our sin, we also face eternal torment in hell, unless we repent.
God calls and so enables us to repent: to turn in sorrow from our sin, to trust Him to forgive our sin, and at least to want to do better than to keep sinning. When we so repent, then God forgives us. God forgives our sinful “regret” over how He dealt with Ann. God forgives our sinful “motivation” for why we might have thought that He should have dealt with Ann differently. God forgives all our sin, whatever our sin might be. God forgives our sin by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. We seek help from the Lord, Who knows the secrets of our hearts, Who by our sins is justly angered, Who is a worthy and eternal judge, but Who does not deliver us into the bitterness of eternal death.
Ann’s children remember a Valentine’s Day letter that she wrote them, pointing to 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which was read earlier; they think of that chapter as epitomizing Ann’s love and compassion, her putting others ahead of herself, as was the case, for example, with her being the last in their immediate family to attend their beloved Texas A&M, from which she proudly graduated with her degree at the age of 61! Of course, St. Paul wrote that “love” chapter seemingly to rebuke the Corinthian Christians, by contrasting their behavior with the love of God, love seen most clearly in God the Father’s sending His Son into human flesh, with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, to offer Himself as the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, including your sins and mine. Jesus died on the cross in our place, the death that we otherwise would have deserved. But, Jesus also rose from the dead, showing that God the Father accepted His sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus not only is the Resurrection and the Life, but He also gives the resurrection and the life, to those who repent and believe in Him. Jesus asked Martha if she believed what had Jesus said, and she confessed her faith—not a vague, general faith, but a defined, specific faith,—that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, Who was coming into the world.
Ann reportedly both had a freezer full of garden-grown fruits and vegetables and was a very good cook, using food in her efforts to make every occasion special, whether a birthday or the annual start of school. We can relate to such a use of physical things like food. In a far greater way, God uses His Word with things that we can touch and taste to forgive our sins for Jesus’s sake. For example, God’s Word with water in Holy Baptism by the Holy Spirit gives birth to us from above and enables us not only to see but also to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5). And, those so baptized, in the Sacrament of the Altar, receive Bread that is the Body of Christ given for them and wine that is the Blood of Christ shed for them. Jesus says that those who so feed on His flesh and drink His blood have eternal life and will be raised up on the last day (John 6:54).
So forgiven by God through His Word and Sacraments, Christians do good works in keeping with their various callings in life. All children at times might think of themselves as “indentured servants”, though not all children have to peel peaches or shell peas until their fingers blister! Ann did good works in her family, as a sister, wife, mother, grand and great-grandmother. Ann did good works in her church, as a choir and women’s group member), and Ann did good works in her community, for example, working at a bank. No doubt that, from those with whom she interacted, she also in some sense expected good works, according to their relationships to her, such as children to their mother. Such good works do not earn God’s favor, but such good works please Him as they flow from faith in Him, faith that is refined by suffering that draws believers closer to God.
Whatever caused Martha and her sister Mary anguish, Jesus used for the glory of God. You may know that Jesus later raised their brother Lazarus from the dead, though, to be sure Lazarus later again experienced temporal death en route to his eternal life. Similarly Ann has passed through temporal death to eternal life. Not only is her soul reunited with her beloved Gerald’s soul, but one day also will our souls be reunited with theirs, if we repent and believe. And, not only their and our souls, but also their and all bodies laid to rest will be resurrected, those of unrepentant unbelievers to eternal torment and those of repentant believers to eternal life in the glorifying presence of God.
“Though she died, yet Ann lives!” We grieve but not as those with no hope. We celebrate her life lived in Christ and still living. As great as traveling, shopping, and sitting on the back deck together were, far greater will be, what the psalmist called, the fullness of joy in God’s presence, the pleasures at His right hand forevermore.
Amen.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +