Monday, December 20, 2021

Funeral Sermon - Tina Sawall

 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

English Standard Version

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O death, where is your victory?

    O death, where is your sting?”

 

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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One of the things I spoke with Tina about in the last few weeks was the promise of the resurrection.  I visited her, and of course we prayed for healing, knowing that God does sometimes answer with a miracle.  But we also knew, and Tina was at ease saying, that this disease had no cure, and she knew that in all likelihood her time was limited.  She spoke as one who had faith in Christ, and believed in the promise of the resurrection.  And we talked about how if God doesn’t answer her with healing here and now, he will certainly free her (and all believers) from all troubles in the resurrection.

And so today, we gather because God has called Tina from this earthly life to himself.  Her spirit rests secure in paradise the blest, in the presence of her Savior.  And there she will rest, in peace, until that day when God fulfills the promise of the resurrection to glory.

We read about this promise, especially, in 1 Corinthians 15.  It is often called the “Great Resurrection Chapter” of the Bible.  We heard a part of that chapter already – a few moments ago.  Let us look closer at what St. Paul teaches us about the resurrection, and find comfort in this promise even amidst our grief.

Paul begins, “Behold!”  Anytime scripture invites us to “behold!” it means, “look here!”, “pay attention!” what follows is something very important.

“I tell you a mystery”.  The promise of the resurrection is a mystery.  For Christians, a mystery isn’t something we have to figure out.  It’s not a whodunit murder mystery with plot twists and you find out in the end that the butler did it.  A mystery is a truth of God that we can’t know about on our own.  It has to be revealed.  It is inaccessible to our human powers, apart from God showing us.  The Holy Trinity is a mystery.  The Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar is mystery.  Holy Baptism is a mystery.  Even the way scripture speaks of us Christians as both sinners and saints – it is a mystery.  Tina believed and confessed all these mysteries.  She did so, not because she understood them, but she did so in faith, and that faith itself, a mystery – a gift of God – a work of the Holy Spirit through the Word.

She was baptized at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, in Hazelwood, MO  March 26, 1961.  At 13, she was confirmed at Peace Lutheran Church in Hurst.  And she remained a faithful Lutheran throughout her life, including her 30 years here at Messiah.  How many times in her life did she confess these mysteries, reciting the creeds, One baptism for the remission of sins, The communion of Saints, and also – “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come.”

You see, for the Christian, death means something different.  For us who are in Christ, death is swallowed up in victory.  It is swallowed up, by Jesus.

Jesus faced death, and boy did he.  He suffered greatly and died a terrible death by any human standard.  He was a man of sorrows well acquainted with grief.  Even in our Christmas hymns we remember Christ’s suffering for us, “nails, spears, shall pierce him through, the cross be borne for me, for you”.  More than that, he bore the sins of the world on that cross – Tina’s sins, yours, mine.  And that’s why his death was so important and so critical to us – this is the mystery – by his death he destroyed death.  He took the sting of death away.  Death has no teeth, no terror anymore, for us who are in Christ.

For us, death has no sting.  Because our sins are forgiven in Christ.  Therefore death is no longer a punishment for Christians.  It isn’t a sign of God’s displeasure.  We do not fear death because we do not fear his judgment.  Our breaking of the law is put away in Christ.  Our sins are as far from us as the east is from the west.  Death is therefore harmless.

Tina’s sins were forgiven in her baptism, both on the day she was washed by the rebirth and renewal of the Spirit, and every day of her Christian life as she drew on that baptismal promise.  She heard, regularly, the words of Christ’s absolution.  She received, often, the very body and blood of Jesus – for the forgiveness of her sins.  There is therefore no sting, no poison left in death for her either.

For us Christians, death becomes instead the gate to eternal life.  And Tina knew this well.  I know she didn’t relish the idea of departing from her family and loved ones.  She wasn’t in a hurry to go.  Indeed, she endured her own share of suffering as she fought this disease for the past year.  Life is a gift, and we treasure the time we have.  But she also had a peace about her - knowing that greater gifts would be revealed, and that her future was secure in her Lord.

Death wasn’t the end of Jesus, and it isn’t the end of Tina, either.  On the third day, Christ rose from the dead, and demonstrated his victory to the women at the tomb, to the bewildered disciples, and eventually even to a crowd of over 500 at one time.  He gave “many convincing proofs” that he was no ghost, but that his body, his flesh and blood, rose from the grave.  “Here, Thomas, stick out your hand – touch the wounds – put your fingers here – stop doubting, and believe!”  He spoke with them, he ate with them, he opened their minds to understand the scriptures – and the mystery – that the Messiah had to suffer, and die, and rise on the third day.

But the resurrection of Christ isn’t just his victory – it is ours, too.  God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, Christ’s resurrection is just the beginning.  He is the first born of the dead, the first fruits of the dead.  That means that others will follow.  One day – on the last day – Christ will return.  He will come again in glory, to judge both the living and the dead.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  And all of us who are in Christ – alive at that time and freshly risen from death – all believers who share in his victory – will be glorified. 

It may be hard, from where we are today, to see that victory.  To stand in the valley of the shadow of death and know that just across the way are green pastures and still waters.  To believe and know that one day we will stand, after we have died and risen from death to glory.  To know that we will see our savior with our own eyes, and not another.  To look forward to that day, when all who are in Christ have a blessed reunion also with those we love who have died in the faith.  And that we will see Tina again.

Behold, I tell you a mystery!  At the last trumpet Tina will be raised incorruptible, and all the saints at rest along with her.  And then the mortal will put on immortality.

In other words, we will live forever.  What a thought.  Not just as a disembodied spirit, but a whole person – body and soul – together again and better than ever.  Never to face death again.  This is our promise and hope in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for us.

And so today we say farewell to dear Tina.  We commend her to the loving arms of the Lord – there to rest and wait with all the faithful who have gone before us.  We know she is with Christ, and she is at peace.  But that’s not the end of the story.  I tell you a mystery.  There is a resurrection coming.  Tina will rise again.  And we who are in Christ the same.  We will see her again, with our Lord, face to face. 

(Obituary)

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