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"From Baptism to Burial--and Beyond" (Funeral sermon)
May 24, 2008 | The Rev. Charles Henrickson

Posted on 05/30/2008 10:17:37 AM PDT by Charles Henrickson

“From Baptism to Burial--and Beyond” (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:3-5)

Today we began the service with the Invocation and a Remembrance of Baptism. Why did we do that? What does that have to do with a funeral service? What comfort does that give to us, Millie’s family and friends, to hear those words about baptism? Lots, actually. May these words give you great comfort now, as we go “From Baptism to Burial--and Beyond.”

We began with the Invocation, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That’s appropriate, for those are the words--that is the name--with which Millie was baptized. That was the beginning for Millie, really, when she was baptized and had the name of the triune God placed on her. What did it mean for Millie, that God put his name on her? It means that the triune God claimed her for his own, that she belongs to him. That is a tremendous thing, my friends. For when Millie was baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the Father then became her Father, the Son became her Savior, and the Holy Spirit became her Sanctifier and Life-Giver.

In Holy Baptism God the Father took Millie as his own dear child. “Children of the Heavenly Father”--that includes Millie. In Baptism, the Father took Millie into his mighty, ever-loving and everlasting arms, and he will never let her go. The heavenly Father loves Millie even more than any of us do. “Neither life nor death shall ever From the Lord His children sever; Unto them His grace He showeth, And their sorrows all He knoweth.”

Ah, but her sorrows! What about that? How could God be a kind and loving Father, when he let Millie go through all that she suffered? And indeed, Millie did have her sorrows, both physical and otherwise: The disease that racked her body in recent years and caused her so much pain. Then there were the broken relationships in her life that also caused her pain.

How could Millie believe that God was her kind and loving Father, in spite of all that? But she did. I know she did--we talked about it many times over the last couple of years. Her faith in God’s goodness was strong. Millie knew that God loved her very much and had something much better in store for her, right around the corner. The ultimate healing was on its way.

Now she has begun to enjoy that healing. Now Millie is at rest, asleep in Jesus. She is with the Lord. No more pain, no more sorrows, no more tears. And that healing will be completed at the Last Day, when Christ will come again and raise up this mortal body, which we entrust to the bosom of the earth today. He will give her a new and glorified body, like unto his. This is our hope as Christians, for this is God’s sure and unshakeable promise.

Millie believed that God was her kind and loving heavenly Father, in spite of all the sorrows. And maybe we should too. For yes, dear friends, God is your Father also. He loves you very much, each one of you. He will not let your bear more than he will also give you the strength to handle. The Father is taking you in his arms today, and holding you, and assuring you of his love. He knows you loved Millie and hated to see her go and you will miss her greatly. God knows that. Your Father knows your other sufferings as well, whatever they may be.

And here is how you can know for sure that God still loves you, no matter what: The answer is found here at the cross. For God so loved the world--for God so loved you--that he gave his only Son, that you who believe in him should not perish but have eternal life. Oh, the amazing grace of God, that he should love us so! That is how you know God loves you, no matter what: by looking to the cross of Christ. If God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, then we can know for sure that nothing--not cancer, not leukemia, not pain, not the loss of our loved one--nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For in the sorrows of Christ we find our peace and our healing. There on that cross the holy Son of God died for the sins of the world. Jesus paid the price for all our rebellion against God, all our failures toward our brothers and sisters, all this big ugly mess of sin that afflicts us all and infects us all and kills us all. Jesus took it all on himself and carried it to the cross, there to die with him. And it did die. The debt is paid, the sin is atoned for, your guilt is removed, and death itself is conquered. Christ did all that for you by his death on the cross. And to show that he had removed the barrier of sin and destroyed the power of death, Christ Jesus then rose from the grave on Easter morning, showing forth the victory he now shares with those who trust in him.

So that is also what it means for you and for Millie to be baptized in the name of the triune God. Not only has the Father become your Father, the Son likewise has become your Savior. For you and I and Millie--we have all been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. This is where the words from the Remembrance of Baptism come into play: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

What great comfort this gives us, what great hope this affords, to know that in our baptism we have been joined to Jesus in his death and burial and resurrection! It means that our sins are forgiven, all our sins washed away in the waters of Holy Baptism. It means that the old man of sin is dead and buried, and that we are new people in Christ, clothed in the white robe of Christ’s righteousness. It means that this body we place in the grave today will be raised up, new and glorious, when Christ comes again. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Our risen and ascended Lord Jesus will not let his brothers and sisters be apart from him. Millie’s soul is with her Savior right now, at home and at peace, forever. And she awaits the blessed hope of all the baptized, the resurrection of the body at the Last Day.

Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son--and of the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit became Millie’s Sanctifier and Life-Giver when she was baptized. The Holy Spirit gave her faith in her Savior and kept her in that true faith unto the end. The Spirit was at work in Millie, working through the Gospel, through the Word and the Sacraments that Millie received at church throughout her lifetime. And when she became too weak to make it here to church, we brought church to her, bringing her the Word and the Sacrament in her home or at her hospital bed.

“From Baptism to Burial--and Beyond.” It really is a miracle, folks, when someone is baptized. God is beginning a lifelong work in that person. Eternal life long! For God to put his name on you--as God placed his name on Millie--means that God is committing himself to you for the long haul. You and Millie have a Father who loves you very much, who cares for you through all the ups and downs and sorrows of this life. You have a Father who loves you so much he gave his Son to die for your salvation. And so you are baptized into the death and resurrection of that Son, Jesus Christ. You are robed with his righteousness, you have the forgiveness of sins, which in turn leads to the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. You have the Holy Spirit to guide and guard and keep you in this faith unto the end, a blessed end.

And yes, Millie did have a blessed end, despite all appearances to the contrary. It was a blessed end, because it was a death in the faith, it was falling asleep in Jesus. And that means the end is really just the beginning.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.


TOPICS: Religion
KEYWORDS: funeral; lcms; lutheran; sermon
This is a funeral sermon I preached this past Saturday.
1 posted on 05/30/2008 10:17:38 AM PDT by Charles Henrickson
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To: lightman; old-ager; Cletus.D.Yokel; bcsco; redgolum; kittymyrib; Irene Adler; MHGinTN; ...

Ping.


2 posted on 05/30/2008 10:19:03 AM PDT by Charles Henrickson (Lutheran pastor, LCMS)
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To: Charles Henrickson

read later


3 posted on 05/30/2008 10:35:58 AM PDT by LiteKeeper (Beware the secularization of America; the Islamization of Eurabia)
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To: Charles Henrickson

A very fitting Funeral sermon for any devout Christian, and doubly so for the Saturday of Holy Trinity week.

And how blessed it would be if such a sermon occurred before coming to the re-presentation of the Cross, at the table spread by the Father’s goodness by the sacrifice of His Son through the power of the Holy Spirit.


4 posted on 05/30/2008 11:45:56 AM PDT by lightman (Waiting for Godot and searching for Avignon)
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To: lightman
and doubly so for the Saturday of Holy Trinity week.

Yes, that was in my thinking, as well as using the Funeral Service in our new Lutheran Service Book for the first time.

5 posted on 05/30/2008 11:53:03 AM PDT by Charles Henrickson (Lutheran pastor, LCMS)
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To: Charles Henrickson

Thank you for posting this, Pastor. It is a beautiful funeral sermon.

I have always looked at the faces of those attending a Christ-centered and Christ-preached funeral service. The believers are so comforted and those who may doubt or not believe at all are often equally intent.

I like to believe that the message must be hitting hard as they stare in the face of reality. Not one of us will remain in the life we know now. But we who know Jesus are assured that what lies ahead is better than we can imagine. I pray that every funeral might bring forth a conversion or two.

Thank you again. I’m going to keep a copy of this.


6 posted on 05/30/2008 5:01:56 PM PDT by Southflanknorthpawsis
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Self ping


7 posted on 05/30/2008 6:08:15 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: Charles Henrickson
Funeral sermons are some of the most moving. I remember the service of my paternal grandfather being one of sadness mixed with joy. He had finally gone home, to be with Jesus he loved so much and to reunite with grandma.

When my maternal grandparents died, it was different. I don't know if they had much in the way of faith in God (my grandpa at least did), but most of Mom's sisters and brother are atheists or agnostics. It was held in a funeral home, and was filled with sadness.
The contrast was one that was very great.

8 posted on 05/30/2008 6:11:15 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: redgolum
The contrast was one that was very great.

Which is why the holy Apostle Paul writes "I would not have you grieve as those who have no hope."

9 posted on 05/30/2008 8:00:46 PM PDT by lightman (Waiting for Godot and searching for Avignon)
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