...and this one so sad. A 48 year old mother who had, for all that I can see (and I can't see everything, of course), walked away from the covenant of her baptism and apparently died "in the far country." How to preach and hold forth Christ to her family? She's not being buried from the Church, but I could not turn down the opportunity to bring a Word from God at the funeral home. Pray, friends, that the Lord gives wisdom and the right words to say and the grace to say them so that they might be heard. "O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare Your praise." And remember in mercy, Lord, Janis Sue whom You once named Your own in the waters of Holy Baptism. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
To those who wander far and to those who live close to the water that gave them life, we proclaim one thing only, the same thing, the mercy of God... for all who will be saved, will be saved by the mercy of God in Christ Jesus and no other... so as Franzmann's wonderful hymn says, "Come... the good and the bad..." and then we leave judgment up to the Lord knowing that His desire is mercy... and that will be good enough... but to those wounded by grief... stay close to the water... stay close to the Lord whose mercy once called and still calls... "Come... the good and the bad..."
ReplyDeleteI'll keep you and the family in my prayers. These are always rough.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you want to pull out that email you wrote me when I was telling you about my buddy who died in the nursing home, who also did jail time, crack and everything else?
ReplyDeleteI know you got it in you.....
JT
"In the far country"...what does that mean? She left the faith?
ReplyDeleteNever heard that before.
Dear Rev. Weedon. People often say, “I can imagine how you feel.” In this case, how you feel is way beyond my imagination. But I recall the death of my father seven years ago, when he was 95 years old. He had not been inside a church since he married our mother more than 60 years earlier. He openly ridiculed my faith, and that of his older son, a pastor and seminary professor. Three hours before he died, my brother spoke to him over the phone, and knowing that the end was near, he blessed him. I was with my father and I sat down and I read several Psalms to him. Then, seeing that he was asleep, I kissed him goodnight, and as I was leaving, I heard him mutter something. I kept trying to figure out what he said, and 15 minutes later, on the way to my hotel, it finally came to me, “Read more.” Three hours later his soul left him, and I believe rose to be with our Lord.
ReplyDeleteAs Lutherans we believe, and I think rightly so, that people can reject the calling of the Holy Spirit, but I also believe that the Faithful One does not let those whom He created to be His children in the water of Baptism go easily. I suspect that He marshals forces we cannot begin to imagine in order to rescue the lost ones. I suspect that Paradise will be full of those who responded to our Savior at the last moment, even as he whom tradition calls Dismas.
Peace and Joy,even in suffering.
George A. Marquart
These cases are always difficult. I will pray for you and the family. A quick question. Would you adapt the funeral rite? How would a service like this one be different than one in the church? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good thoughts and kind words and prayers, all.
ReplyDeleteLucci, that's from Luke 15 - the Prodigal Son.
Pr. Gallas, I will adjust it. I'm not sure how yet.
I think Pastor Peters and George Marquart have it exactly.
ReplyDeleteGod has told us what he wants us to do, and the means of grace he has given us to do it. I do not think there is anything in there to warrant taking it as a limitation God places on himself, or a confinement of what he does himself, indeed "forces we cannot begin to imagine".
And whether through us or not, it is always the grace of God, even when through us, that saves. And so, from the most dedicated churchgoer to the one no-one can remember the last time he was seen in church, the judgement is God's and not ours and entirely dependent on his grace. Otherwise we judge by works and obscure our own message.
In this way, her life no less than any other leads straight to the mercy of God.
May her Memory be Eternal.
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