Folks, Below is the sermon that will be preached next Tuesday at the funeral of a 90-year-old member of the church.
Pr Bell ----------------------------------------------------------------- +In Nomine Iesu+ Funeral of KENNETH MARIUS LARSON Romans 6:20-23 23 March 2010 Ninety years. Thats a long time, isnt it? Almost a century. Kenneth was born in 1920 only two years after the end of World War I. And when he was born there was no way his parents could have imagined how life would change by the time their baby reached his 90th birthday. <> But while we may think 90 years is a long time, the Bible reminds us otherwise. Consider the patriarchs of the Old Testament. Adam lived for 930 years. Noah, 950. Methuselah, 969. Looking at those numbers we cant help but notice a difference. We have to wonder what happened between their time and ours. We marvel at 90 years. Yet thats only one tenth of what we find in an earlier age. What happened? <> In our text today one word is mentioned three times. Its a word that describes how things have gone in the world. That word is sin. Notice what St Paul writes. The wages of sin is death. In other words, we earn our death. Fifty years from now only a few of you will still be alive. I certainly wont be. The wages of our sin will have been given out. Sin will have taken its toll. <> But then in the middle of Pauls description of death there is a wonderful little word. A little word we must savor. That word is but. We die the death we deserve, Paul says, BUT there is something more. BUT God has had mercy on us. BUT death is not the end. There is a gift that is set before us. In the face of death, there is something more we need to hear. The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. <> Do you see the distinction? Death is something we earn. Thats what wages are. We earn wages. We earn death. Death is our due. We have it coming. But eternal life thats something completely different. Eternal life is a gift. And, as a gift, it is entirely free. Gifts are never earned. They are simply received. And gift trumps wages every time! <> In those words, my friends, you see the mercy of God writ large. God does not intend for us to die. He never did. Man was created to live forever. The problem is that man rebelled. We have gone our own way. Last Sunday the gospel reading in the Church was the story of the prodigal son. He is the example of all people. Never satisfied, he demands what is his and marches off to find himself. And find himself he does. In a pig pen. Totally alone. Totally helpless. Totally hopeless. In the realization of his poverty he devises a plan. He will go back to his father and offer his services as a hired hand. But the father wont hear of it. Indeed, the father wont even let this rebellious son explain his plan. Instead the father bestows an incredible gift upon this son. He is restored to son-ship. The father insists. Son-ship is his gift to give out. <> Each of you has been treated in the same way by your Father in heaven. And its during this time of year that you especially hear the details. The Church is in the midst of Lent right now. In the middle of that season of the church year during which our eyes are focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Early on in Lent we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. There He is praying to His Father in heaven. Father, if you are willing, remove this cup (of suffering) from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but yours be done. Did you catch it? Nevertheless. Interesting word. Its simply a variation of the little word we saw before But. But, your will be done. <> And what is the will of the Father? That Jesus die. That He die for the sins of all the world. For yours. For mine. For Kenneths. And so, Jesus does. He gathers all sin to Himself. Sins from here. Over there. More from the back. Have I got them all? I do? Good. Now to the cross with them. Jesus takes all sins to the cross and dies. And as He does, all those sins die as well. Jesus, in His death, is buried. All those sins, also dead, are buried with Him. <> But then something incredible happens. Jesus rises back to life. It has to be that way. It has to happen. Remember, its a borrowed tomb in which Jesus is laid, right? Borrowed because its only needed temporarily. Jesus isnt going to stay there. He cannot remain dead. After all, Jesus is God. He is the creator of life. He is life itself. Jesus will live, but the sins he carried into His tomb thats a different story. They will be left behind. They remain dead. All the life has been sucked out of them. Theyre finished. They can no longer condemn. Did you hear that? In another place St Paul says exactly that. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Baptized into the death of Jesus, you become new creatures because of Gods mercy. You are given a new life. And with that new life you are given the gift of faith. Faith that believes the promises of God made to you. Faith that God intends to make stronger and stronger through your life in His Church. Faith that God feeds week-by-week through His Word and Sacraments. <> Gods mercy. What wonderful words. Thats the story of the prodigal son. The bestowing of mercy. And thats your story as well. You. Objects of Gods mercy. Jesus has collected all the wages earned by your sins. He died as the condemned One. He died for you. And He did so, so that you could live. Yes, our physical bodies will eventually die. Sin wears them out. But for those in Christ Jesus that death is not the end. Indeed, the death of our physical body is simply our transfer into eternal life. The fourth-century theologian St Augustine painted a beautiful word picture of death. He said, The body of a Christian is never laid into a dark, cold grave. Rather, our graves become simply the dormitories of the faithful departed, already warmed by the body of Jesus. <> Salvation. Forgiveness. Eternal life. Choose whatever term you wish. Its all the same. Its all gift. Gods gift for you through Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God! In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen +Sola Deo Gloria+ ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Unsubscribe? 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