May 6, 2009. For Lawrence Schmidt, age 97.
Pastor Michael Harman,
St. Peter LCMS - Newell, IA
vacancies at ...
Immanuel, Pomeroy and First Evangelical, Fonda
"My sheep HEAR My voice
And I KNOW them
And they FOLLOW Me
And I GIVE unto them eternal life
And they shall never perish
And no one shall pluck them
out of My hands."
Grammar is important in the Bible. The first four verb tenses here are
(present) continual. My sheep continue to hear My voice. I continue to
know them. They continue to follow Me. I continue to give them eternal
life. They all happen at the same time.
We continue to hear and follow as Christ continues to know us and give
us life eternal. No man, no earthly shepherd, could give life to any sheep.
Christ promises life, eternal life, to His sheep.
Nor does promised life-in-Christ end when earthly life ends. "Sheep
shall never perish." You can say 'nothing in all creation can separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus' (Romans 8) with absolute confidence.
A believer may turn away from Christ on his own - be a straying sheep - but
nothing outside can pry us away from Almighty God.
Christ's sheep, true Christians, hear His voice, believe Him and follow
His Words. Our actions of faith and love are the effect, or the result, of
what theologians (God-talkers) have labeled "election". That means God has
chosen us to be His own people. The fact that Christians hear the voice of
Christ is a sure sign of their election. The Book of Concord, which
accurately defines Christian teaching, quotes Lawrence's confirmation verses
many times, saying God has chosen us to be His Own in time and eternity, and
we can be certain of our eternal destination in heaven. Epitome XI, Solid
Declaration XI.
Lawrence lived in that certainty of God's continuing gift of faith.
The Voice that spoke creation into existence spoke in the Holy Baptism
of Lawrence Henry William Schmidt thru the mouth of his father, Rev. Henry
Peter Schmidt. Horse Power, as he was nicknamed, was serving Immanuel
Lidderdale in November 1911. HP also officiated at Lawrence's wedding to
Lola Dorothy Voge on Easter Sunday 1935 at St. John in Storm Lake. That's a
story Lawrence loved to TELL.
But the story he loved to HEAR was about God's love in Christ. Lawrence
continued to hear and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd thru out his 97
1/2 years. He knew the Good Shepherd as true God and true Man. But he
loved to hear about Jesus because Lawrence knew that Jesus knew him! Not
just a face on Sunday mornings, but all-day, every-day.
Jesus knew this little lamb and called 'even him by his name' as the
song goes. As I said earlier, he told me as important as it was that he
knew Jesus, it was much more important that Jesus knew him.
Where could he go from His presence (Psalm 139)? Jesus was with
Lawrence as a little boy; as a young man in the military; as a grocer, as a
meat inspector; in his retirement; and every place in between. Jesus knew
him and is with him always, even to the end of his age here on earth, and
now forever with the Lord.
He followed Jesus. No, not perfectly. Lawrence did a LOT of things
well, but he knew he fell far short of God's glory. He trembled at the
voice of God's Law. He also loved to hear the Gospel: God's rescue in
Christ; & follow.
Lawrence tried to do his best at whatever he did. You could say he was
particular. He also valued self-reliance: he was able to cook, keep house,
sew, accomplish basic mechanics, keep track of finances, maintain a garden,
hold a good conversation, preserve friendships and many other things. He
did so hearing and following the Good Shepherd who knew him and endlessly
gave him forgiveness and life eternal by grace.
One thing I admired greatly was his fidelity. We live in a sorry time
where God's gift of marriage has been tossed in society's trash heap. When
this man promised before God "for better, for worse" to Lola - he kept the
vow. Numerous trips to the hospital and endless hours at home caring for
Lola was not just proof of Lawrence's love for her, it was also proof God's
love in Christ was there. When Lola left us, many thought Lawrence would
only last five weeks. But it has been over five years (9/2003). He often
wanted to join her in heaven, but he also learned and lived the phrase "Thy
will be done" from first-hand experience. He kept his vows. (See Matthew
22:30).
Eternal life for Lawrence was not something given to him last week when
he died at home. It is something that Lawrence has been receiving and
enjoying all of his life. God continued giving it to him since Lawrence was
declared a child of God in Baptism; since he heard about Christ crucified
from his father and mother, other pastors and teachers, and fellow believers
like you.
Many things no doubt shook at his faith. Imagine turning 20 at the
start of the Great Depression. Picture being in your early 30's when a wave
of global terrorism washed over Europe and Asia, then the cold terror of
socialism in your middle age. Consider what it was like running a grocery
store in (how many places in Nebraska and Iowa?). Reflect on the heart ache
of loving a woman so much; but God withholding the gift of children and
grandchildren. Yes. Lawrence's faith was tested.
I'm sure this sheep strayed (Isaiah 53:6). But, I am also sure the
Good Shepherd, Who laid down His life for the sheep and opened the Door of
heaven, in His mercy, kept calling and leading so Lawrence would hear and
follow.
All the while, Lawrence knew he was known by God in Christ and kept
receiving the gift of life eternal. Yes, all four things; all the time; now
forever without time or end.
Death did not pluck him from Christ's nail-pierced hands. Lawrence
went to be with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven:
including all who have heard and followed, been known and received eternal
life; all saints in Christ.
As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12, Lawrence did remember his Creator
in the days of his youth; and all his life. For him, the end of the matter
was to fear God and obey His holy Commandments, knowing that God would bring
his work into judgment. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Cor 5:10). But Lawrence
did not depend on his own goodness. He fell asleep in Jesus with the
confidence that he was saved by grace, free and boundless (our last hymn).
Just as all Christians can.
We can not, and we should not, try to sum up the nearly one hundred
years God gave him on earth in just a few minutes; any more than trying to
sum up the eternal life given to all people in the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Instead, we give thanks to the Only God for
all of His gifts to us, including and especially those coming from Lawrence.
Lawrence was confident he was a child of God and a sheep in Christ's
flock. He kept hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd, comforted in His
knowing him. He followed, by faith, all his life, and he rejoiced in the
continuing gift of eternal life. And he shall never perish, And no one
shall pluck him out of God's hands.
May we, as sheep of God's pasture (Psalm 95), continue to hear the Good
Shepherd, Who knows us, follow Him all our lives, rejoice in His continuing
gift of life, and rest securely that no one can pluck us out of the nail
pierced hands of Christ. Amen
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