John 11:25-26
Funeral Service
Alive in the presence of the Lord

At a time of grieving like this, all those who are here present, and I on behalf of this congregation, offer your family and all who were closest to the departed our deepest sympathy. May our dear Lord, who knows your needs, comfort you and give you strength and faith to uphold one another.

Whenever people gather for a Christian funeral, there are two basic reasons for the worship service: first, to demonstrate by our presence the respect we have for the deceased, a life given as a trust from God; and secondly, to contemplate the meaning of our relationship to God and to other people for time and eternity.

The Lord has called my brother Carl home to Himself.  He is my brother, even though I knew him for less time than almost anyone in this room.  I have been here just two years, and our Lord gave Carl more than 97 years on this earth, most of them in this area.  And those years were productive years.  He told me just a few days ago that he “farmed potatoes for 40 crops, and then turned it over to the boys, then [he] spent the next 18 winters in Arizona.”

I was always pleasantly surprised to see Carl in church these last couple of years.  Surprised, because I knew that he was driving in from Kimball on his own; pleasantly, because I truly liked Carl.  He could have easily attended St. Johns Lutheran in Kimball, but his preference was to come to his own church, to come here to Grace, so he made the 25-mile journey.

In our Gospel lesson that was read earlier, Jesus had journeyed to the town of Bethany from Jerusalem; a walk of only about 2 miles.  He has come to bring Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus back from the dead.  He had delayed in Jerusalem until he knew that Lazarus was dead before he had traveled to Bethany.  Mary and Martha were grieving over the death of their brother, just as we are grieving over the death of our brother, Carl. 

Martha , even in her grief, explains the resurrection on the last day as she tells Jesus: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” But Jesus delays just a little longer, waiting for the confession of faith to be given by Martha, as “She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.’” Carl made that same confession: “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.”  He made that confession at his confirmation at Immanuel in Burns some 72 plus years ago.  He made that confession here regularly by his faithful attendance.  He made that confession to me less than 2 weeks ago as we celebrated the Lord’s Supper at his bedside.  “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Martha made her confession directly to Jesus.  Carl made his confession to the world.  Martha had the Lord present and standing directly in front of her.  We make that confession by the faith given us by the Holy Spirit.  The Lord promised Martha in that Gospel lesson that was read earlier: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25-26)  He gave that same promise to Carl, as Carl read and studied the Bible; as he listened to the Word of God preached from this very pulpit.  He makes that same promise to each and every one of us today, and every day: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

My brother in Christ, Carl, has died, yet I know that he lives.  Leonard and Melvin, your father lives in the presence of the Lord at this very moment.  From our secular human concept, Carl has been taken from us.  From our Christian point of view, at that very moment of death, God reached down and allowed Carl to enter into His eternal presence.  It was at that very moment that Carl, in a twinkling of an eye, was changed and was made a new creation, with a new body and a new mind, for he was a baptized child of God, who had been sealed with the Cross of Christ forever.  And because God is always faithful to us in His promise of salvation, eternal life has now been granted to Carl.  You must believe it, for this is the truth.  It is what we believe, teach and confess (within our rich Lutheran heritage) and so it is.

Life eternal, with God, has been won for all by Jesus Christ for us by His death on the cross.  And even though Jesus death on the cross was sufficient for all men, sufficient to cover the sins that all men, women and children have ever committed, or will ever commit, this blessing is meted out only to those to whom faith has been given; faith that is given in the waters of Baptism and sustained by the Word and the Sacraments.  For “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:5-6) 

We can only imagine the peace, joy and love that Carl is experiencing right now. For all of eternity Carl is surrounded by God’s glory.  We are certain of this.  Carl was baptized with earthly waters all those years ago.   Now our Great Shepherd leads him to “springs of living water, and [He] will wipe away every tear.”  That same promise of life eternal that Carl now has is for each of us, also.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

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