June 28, 2014

Text: John 3:16-21

In Nomine Jesu

“When I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross my burden gladly bearing He bled and died to take away my sin; Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, How great Thou art” [LSB 801:3]. For much of Ron’s life he laid in infirmity at the gate of this broken earthly life. With an anxious heart, he sought answers to the many mysterious maladies that laid him low in the bitter dust of this fallen creation. Bowed down, he begged the doctors to restore his life, to soothe his sores, to restore his strength. But to no avail. The medical community would have no answers for him, just life-span predictions. Yet the King of Glory would come not with predictions and shots in the dark about life. No. He would bring, by His very flesh, not a span of life, but eternal life. He would bring abiding life by His very gruesome death. The King of Glory would bow His head in death, on a tree no less, so that He would raise Ron’s head and body unto eternal glory and life. Life itself was brining life into the world of death. And that gave Ron the joy to sing with all his might, a sublime tenor’s voice that filled the walls of this sanctuary, giving honor to Him who stole him from death’s grip. Singing, doxology, confession, it all gives way to the work of this King of Glory, this mighty One in battle, strong to save us from sin, death and the grave. The King would become a peasant so that the peasant would become a king. By the power of Christ who has now ascended to the right hand of His Father, who fills all things, who holds the keys to death and Hades, has now carried Ron to Abraham’s side, the poor man, now the rich man, with treasures eternal. And though for a time his body lies in dust and ashes his tenor-soul continues praising: my God, how great thou art.      

So family and friends of Ron, especially you Inez, his mother and catechist, and Rebecca, his sister and protector, he now rests in the boundless love of Christ. This love makes his heart glad. This love is of a fleshy nature, holding him in the hands that were pierced and redeeming him, perishable unto imperishable, by the side that was pierced for the healing and rescue of the world. He smiles, he laughs his signature laugh, his cup of joy runs over the lip of earth into an ocean of eternity because this love has conquered in weakness the seemingly unconquerable enemy of sin, death, and the grave. This love has joined him, the sinful and perishing branch that he was, that we all are, to the vine, to Christ who nourishes us with His Body and Blood, with His forgiveness of sins and who gives us the shade of His mercy and peace all the days of this troubled life. Ron is a new creation by water and the Word. Though in this life, he, like us, are swept along on mortality’s wave. Willingly or not, we move toward that shore, where life in this world shall be no more. Though death scared Ron, he knew by the Word that he heard and confessed as his own, it was better to die before we die, to be joined to the God-man the world crucified, to find in Christ release from the grave, swept into eternal life by a grand baptismal wave.   

It was no secret that that Ron loved his mother and his mother loved him. Though she didn’t give birth to him, he was her child in every way. He was 6 ½ when he entered her and Elmer’s one flesh union. Though he was broken and battered, little by little she educated him in the things of this world and in the world to come. I can easily see Proverbs 3 summing up their relationship, not only as mother and son, but as fellow pilgrims in this barren land, not building homes but tents, “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” [Heb 11:10]. “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights [3:1-3, 6-8, 11-12].” God’s love of the world is amazing not because it overlooks or turns a blind eye to sin, but because it swallows it whole, it takes it into itself by forgiving what man knows in his heart to be unforgivable. Behold, my children, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, who forgives your personal and grievous sin. For God is not an “it” he is the personal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So He loves personally. He never loves generically, always specifically with eyes and hands fixed on the suffering and sins of man. The true nature of God’s love is uncovered. He doesn’t love the loveable. He loves to love the unlovable. And while His first word is a word of discipline, a call to repentance and examination of one’s life, He joys most exceedingly in speaking His final and last word, a word of love, forgiveness and grace.

It was no secret that Ron loved his sister and his sister loved him. Though they were 7 years apart, and while I am sure they had their share of sibling rivalry, they would spend hours together playing baseball, imagining all kinds of scenarios where they snatched victory from impending defeat: bottom of the ninth, two outs, two strikes, needing two to win. Then there were the rides to church; an eventful occasion with barnyard noises echoing from the backseat. I can only imagine what mom and dad thought. I am sure that underneath that German armor, a smile cracked or bubbly laugh escaped. And whether it was his Ron-isms that left her quandary, or his bottomless stomach that could eat her under the table, or simply his enlarged heart that could love her, mother and father, without a sweat, he had room for all in his heart. As the medical dilemmas increased, as the hospital visits became more frequent, as his heart and body became weaker and weaker, and though the miles separated them, Rebecca was still that same girl who played baseball with him in yard, though at this time, she was finding ways to make his homecoming, peaceful and without fear. She would do what she could. Mom would do what she could. We would all do what we could. But it would never be enough.

He would need more than a loving mother, a sympathetic sister, and a huge circle of family and friends. He would need God in the flesh. He would need the life of the Son that would come by His cruciform love. Yes we could love Ron unto his death. Yet we could not love Ron so as to bring Him through death unto eternal life. Only in the Son is their abiding life. Only the love of Him who created Ron in the beginning could resurrect him in the end. No one could love him more than the Father who sent His Son to die for him, for you, for us all. No one can have a bigger heart than God, that insatiable desire to hear the cries of His lamenting creatures, to comfort them in the shadow of death, to take mortal ash and bring forth immortal soul and body. God loves you more than you could ever know. No thought can reach and no tongue can declare the depth of God’s love. It can only be received with an empty hand and a contrite spirit.

It was an ordinary night, so ordinary you wouldn’t think something heavenly, so divine, was about to happen. But it was. And so, with the simplicity that only Ron could garner, he looked at his mom and said, “Well, goodnight mom, I am going to watch the Brewers.” From that point on Ron’s room went from being a tent to a house, eternal in the heavens, a dwelling place ordained before the foundations of the world, in the love of the Trinity. Ron, by the loving life of the Son would over come that dogged last enemy: death. Yes, his body will go to the earth to wait for the resurrection on the Last Day. But again, he is free from all pain, sorrow, and regret. Though the innings of his life were not long, the ones He was given he played nobly. He made the good confession. He left an honorable legacy of faith and love. We weep that we are separated from him. And yet we grieve with hope, the certainty that he is free from sin, has overcome the last enemy, death. He has His Lord and in Him he has found his true home.     

He does wait. The finale of God’s sending forth His Son in life and love, are not bodiless, faceless souls floating in heaven. The finale is a new heavens and a new earth, paradise restored. Ron waits for the resurrection, for the return of his body. He waits for his perfected and glorified body to be reunited with his soul. He waits for you, just as Elmer waited for him. For the Church is one in Christ, one body over the expanse of earth and heaven. The division of heaven and earth is just as unnatural as is death itself, the separation of body and soul. So he waits, eagerly, for the time when the separations on earth come to an end, for the time when the Church will be as She was ever meant to be: one in Christ. And we shall be one, even as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one.     

Rebecca was right, in her nicely written ode to her brother, he didn’t get to play all the innings of this earthly life. And yet I would impress upon you, and comfort you with hope springing eternal: this is just the warm-up, even you might say, spring training. For in Christ we are not limited to nine innings, but to an eternity of playing catch with our bother, speaking to one another the forever Gospel saturated in the love of Him who saved us from a lackluster start. This is the only thing that can make your heart glad on this day, and every day of this temporal life: there is amazing love in the Son, this manifested by the giving of eternal life. I know that my Redeemer lives, therefore I live in Him, and I shall one day live again with Ron. I look forward, as you do, to hearing that sweet tenor voice, that infectious laugh, those barnyard animals giving him a run for his money, and playing catch in the green pastures of heaven’s eternal field, not of dreams, but of abiding and real life. In ageless age of the Son, “I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim, ‘My God How Great Thou Art’ ” [LSB 801:4].    

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son [+] and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.