Why We Can Both Grieve And Rejoice At Funerals
The following 'Funeral Sermon' is posted with family permission. May the Lord give to the family of Bill Braun, and all who mourn, comfort in their grief and a sure confidence in the Lord's loving care.
Text: Isaiah 61:1-3, 10
In the name of Jesus: Amen.
In our
day and age, many people struggle with
death and especially funerals. And so,
many modern-day funerals attempt to steer
the focus away from death. In other words, rather than focusing on the death of a loved one which may cause sorrow,
heaviness, and grief, these modern-day funerals,
rewind the clock to focus on more joyful times when the deceased was
alive. Now, let it be said that there is nothing wrong with
rejoicing over the wonderful memories of
the past, especially with our loved ones who have died. In fact,
these memories are precious; may the Lord
bless these memories. However, it
becomes problematic when too much attention is
put on the person’s life resulting in a funeral service ignoring the
person’s death. A whole funeral service filled with uplifting stories, funny
memories, and poems that do not address the fact that a person has died, accomplishes
very little, except to ignore the reality of death.
With
all of this in mind, though, what shall we say about Bill today?
Well,
dear friends, Bill has died. That is painful to say, as I am sure that it is
painful to hear. In fact, it should make us cringe.
Right about now, we might even be tempted to want to change the subject of death and focus on something more joyful and
positive.
But
what if I told you that we do not have to steer the focus away from Bill’s
death today and that we can still have
joy? I am not referring to a
manufactured joy – the type of joy that you plaster on your face when you
pretend that you are happy. But I am
referring to real joy – a genuine joy amid
death. Yes, what if I told you that we
do not have to navigate our attention away from death
this morning but can still have joy?
Think
about this for a moment with me.
We do
not obtain joy from death. The Lord
takes no pleasure in the death of His
saints, like Bill. Death is our
enemy. However, for us as Christians,
things are different with death – there is joy amid
death.
You see, we do not need to ignore Bill’s death
this day and try to pretend that he is not dead. And we do not need to downplay the
seriousness of death by trying to convince ourselves that Bill is holy enough
for the pearly gates of heaven by a bunch of things he accomplished. But
instead, we can boldly acknowledge that Bill died because of sin. Bill, like you and me, was a sinner. He sinned in thought, word, and deed. And Bill is in the grave because the sting of
sin is death. However, in spite of all
of this, we can and should have joy this day.
But
why should we have joy, especially when death has struck Bill?
We
have joy this day, because of what the Lord has done for Bill. The Lord has clothed Bill with the garments
of salvation. The Lord has covered Bill
with His robe of righteousness. Indeed, Bill
was suited in salvation – he was
outfitted in righteousness. Jesus fashioned a robe from the threads of His perfect life. Then Jesus wove this robe on the cross and
colored it with His red blood. And then the
Lord God freely gave this robe of Jesus’ perfect life to Bill, so that Bill
would be covered in salvation.[1]
And
so, when we look at Bill, we grieve;
however, when we consider that Bill is clothed
in Christ’s robe of righteousness, we rejoice.
Yes, we rejoice because the Lord God covered Bill and Bill’s sin with
the robe of righteousness in baptism, and the Lord preserved Bill in life and even
into death.
In
case you did not notice it, this is the reason why Bill’s casket is covered
today. The garment that is draped over Bill’s casket represents Bill’s suit of salvation. The garment
represents this robe of righteousness.
The garment represents and reminds
us that Bill is baptized! Therefore, we see the casket, and we grieve.
But then we see the white garment
over the casket, and we rejoice!
Dear
friends, rejoice this day for we know that the Lord Jesus Christ claimed Bill
as His own, marking Him with the sign of the cross. We know that Bill belongs to Jesus because He
has been clothed in the robe of
righteousness – Bill was baptized into
Christ. All
of Bill’s deepest stains of sins are covered by Jesus’ robe.
And
so, at the great resurrection, Bill will
stand before God dressed in this robe.
And God will see Bill clothed with the perfection of Jesus – and the
Lord God will welcome Bill into His presence.
And just as the Lord will raise Bill from the dead and welcome him into
His presence, the Lord welcomes Bill’s soul into His presence right now, as
Bill awaits the resurrection.
It is
quite remarkable! All of our rebellion,
all of our sins, and all of our guilt are
covered by the robe of righteousness, which is what Christ accomplished
at the cross and delivers to us in Holy Baptism. Truly,
the robe of Christ’s righteousness is long and wide enough to cover every
twisted human thought, word, and
deed.
So,
today, we see death, and we grieve.
However, we do not grieve as if we do not have hope, for we surely do
have hope – and joy! We have joy that our sin, and Bill’s sin, are no longer
visible before the eyes of God. By the
gift of baptism through faith, we know that Bill is wearing the spotless robes
of Christ – He is guiltless, righteous, and a saint in Christ! Rejoice, dear friends.
Dear
friends, let the preached word and promises of God wrap you up in assurance,
hope, and joy. For by the promises of
God in His spoken Word, as well as in baptism, you are clothed with a robe of
righteousness, so that death cannot end your gladness just as it cannot end Bill’s gladness
and joy.
Isaiah
chapter 61, verse 10,
“I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of
salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness…”
[1]
John Braun, People’s Bible Commentary:
Isaiah 2 (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 335.
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