God’s
grace, peace and mercy be with you. To family members and friends of Ken I offer the sympathy and
prayers of Trinity Lutheran Church. May God offer you comfort and consolation as
you mourn the passing of Ken. Today, we look at Ken’s life in light of our
readings and how they offer us comfort and consolation.
Let
us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “Surely goodness and mercy follow
me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”[1] As we gather to reflect on
Ken’s life, your Spirit reminds us that he now dwells in your house forever. We
thank you for the 88 years he lived on earth. As the Preacher wrote, “For
everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time
to be born, and a time to die.” We thank you for the opportunities you gave him
to heal and build up; to weep and laugh; to mourn and dance; to embrace and
refrain. You blessed his life with many rich moments and memories, and for
this, we offer you praise and thanksgiving.
We
thank you for instilling in his heart the gift of faith and his joyful quest
for eternal life in you, our Triune God. Blessed Trinity, after we finish our
mourning and leave from here to take pleasure in Ken’s memory, remind us that
this too is your gift to us. Amen.
A good
funeral serves the living by caring for the dead.[2] It sounds strange because
we never discuss how good funerals serve the living. Yet, our gospels relate
how Jesus’ family and friends gave him a good funeral – a proper burial and a new
tomb.
Today,
we give Ken a good funeral. From the time the staff at Friendship Manor Nursing
Home released his body to the staff at Campagna’s, to Cheryl preparing the
bulletin, Lois playing the hymns and Trinity Lutheran cemetery preparing the
grave, we give Ken a good funeral. We go the distance with him today – all the
way to her grave – as the family and friends of Jesus did.
We
prepared Ken for this day. Undoubtedly, he prepared himself for this day. He
heard and read our Scripture passages many times in worship and in prayer. From
the time Ken first took the Body and Blood of Christ in, with and under the
bread and wine on her confirmation day 75 years ago at Immanuel Church in
Okawville, he prepared himself for this day.
Because
Ken believed in our Lord Jesus, he prepared for this day, over his perishable
body he put on the imperishable. He covered his mortal body with immortality on
his baptism, twenty days after his birth.[3]
By
meditating on how God met Ken and accompanied him throughout his life, he prepared
for this day. By meditating on how God meets us and accompanies us through the
means of grace – through the waters of baptism and in the Lord’s Supper, when
we first received it at Confirmation and many times thereafter, we prepare
ourselves for this moment. In other words, we prepare for death by dealing with
the dying.
That
said; I am certain Ken was grateful to you for remembering him. He was not
warehoused and forgotten, but remembered and treasured as a member of Trinity
Lutheran Church, the Junge Family and the Nashville community. We see that when
we enter any store where we find buckslips displaying his obituary. That tells
me that the community remembers its dead and treasures the living moments these
individuals lived.
We
remember Ken by imitating him. St. Paul encouraged Christians to imitate him
and grow strong in the faith.[4] If you are going to
imitate Ken, take time to contemplate how he lived the Gospel as a lifelong
member of Trinity Church, where he taught Sunday school and sang in the choir,
and how he lived his faith in the wider community – Lutheran Witness Digest,
Woodlands Lutheran Campgrounds and his own garage. As I looked at the display
of photos yesterday, I saw they were not only about Ken, but also about the
people around him.
Likewise,
our Gospel is not only a story of Jesus, but his followers as well. The passage
we heard today was one that Mark’s community knew well. From the very
beginning, Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection constituted the very heart of
the Gospel.[5] Everything that occurred
in Mark, including the prologue, pointed to Jesus’ passion and resurrection.
Jesus’
passion, according to the world, is a tragic shame, bad news – an innocent man
put to death. To the believer, the Gospel shows how Jesus actually gave his
life for others. Betrayed and arrested, Jesus did not resist. Instead, he took
on our infirmities and fulfilled the will of his Father. Such was his prayer in
Gethsemane when he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for
you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”[6] In the
passion-resurrection, Jesus, the Son of Man, heroic and unflinching, represents
an ideal to which we are called but never fully attain.[7]
The
reason I said this is a story of Jesus and his followers is because Christ’s
dying and resurrection evokes baptism. Baptism into Christ’s death and
resurrection challenges us to follow Him. Through baptism, God invites us to
follow Jesus all the way to his death.
Recall
the dialogue between Jesus and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. Jesus asked
them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the
baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, “We are able.” To this,
Jesus replied, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with
which I am baptized, you will be baptized.”[8] For Christians, like Ken,
dying with Christ in baptism becomes a daily challenge, to which they recommit
themselves every time they drink Christ’s cup at the Lord’s Supper.[9]
Living
as an active Christian in America today or over the last 88 years – the span of
Ken’s lifetime – is simply a loving response to God’s call. Motivated only by
pure love and grace, God called Ken, and Ken responded. God called him to be
baptized with the baptism of Christ. Ken responded. God called him to drink
from the Lord’s cup. Ken responded.
Ken
lovingly responded to God’s gracious invitation, but also heard the voices of
mockers. These, however, were drowned out by Christ’s cry on the cross – “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”[10] During his final days,
Ken, like Christ, abandoned himself to the Father. The passion, like
Alzheimer’s, is not a pleasant experience for anyone, but seeing suffering
through the eyes of faith helps us understand and appreciate Jesus’ passion and
death.
In
Mark, Jesus’ ‘why’ is not a protest.
Jesus is not questioning the will of God. Jesus is asking God to disclose the
purpose for abandoning him to death.[11] That purpose is revealed
in two events that marked Jesus’ death.
First,
the veil that separated God in his special dwelling, the holy of holies, was
torn top to bottom, welcoming all people into the house of God. Second, the
eyes of the Roman centurion, who saw Jesus breathe his last, were opened. He
saw and believed that Jesus was truly the Son of God. He was the first to
confess Jesus as Son of God. He was certainly not the last. Ken too confessed
Christ.
He
confessed his belief and his love for Christ throughout his life. Today, if
Jesus squeezed Ken’s hand, you know that Ken would repeat that squeeze three
times, indicating, like Peter on the seashore, that he does indeed love our
Lord. Amen.
May the peace of God that surpasses
all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.[12] Amen. …
Stand
for ...
[1] Psalm 23:6
[2]
Thomas Lynch,” The Good Funeral and the Empty Tomb,” Interpretation, Volume 68,
Number 2 (April 2014). 172ff.
[3] 1
Corinthians 15:51-57
[4] 1
Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Philippians 3:17
[5]
LaVerdiere, 214
[6]
Mark 14:36
[7]
LaVerdiere, 222
[8]
Mark 10:38-39
[9]
LaVerdiere, 222
[10]
Psalm 22:1
[11] L
303
[12]
Philippians 4:7
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