Sermon Text: Isaiah 43:19 & John 5:19-24
We just heard a beautiful synopsis of the life of our beloved brother-in-Christ Daniel.
“Thank you” Candy for providing that wonderful gift of love which reminded all of us so well what a great & special gift from God Daniel’s life was – or should I say is.
Because the correct word to use is “is” because, as Saint Paul so clearly proclaimed in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”
What this means is that Daniel is now with Jesus & all the other Saints who have gone before him. We know this is true because, as we heard in our service‘s opening verses from Romans 6, the cross & resurrection of Christ has vanquished sin & death forever.
Furthermore, Jesus gave to Daniel in the waters of His Baptism, an event which took place right here in this very church 70-odd years ago, a personal promise. It was the Lord’s promise that all Daniel’s sins were forgiven because of the cross & that He too would receive the resurrection victory of new & eternal life in the kingdom of God.
So, today, this event of Daniel’s Christian Funeral is now the place where the Lord wishes to publicly declare to you that He’s fulfilled the promise He gave to Daniel in His Baptism to bring him home to the heavenly mansion that was prepared for him before even the beginning of time. From the dry wilderness of death, God has created for Daniel a new, beautiful, & eternally bountiful wilderness for him to freely & safely enjoy in the company of all his beloved family & friends, forever. In short, Daniel’s truly in paradise.
And, as we just heard so well, Daniel’s personal “happy place” was the forest. Or as we say here in da U.P.: “The Swamp”. After all, Daniel was one of the original members of the “Swamp Boys” band. In fact, if I were a betting man, I’d place money on saying that he’s warming up for a massive “jam session” with His brother Eddie over a cool drink or 2 tonight. Now that’s a happy thought: Daniel & Eddie making a joyful noise to the Lord!
In that regard, I can say as Daniel’s friend & his Pastor, that’s a big thing that I’ve been thinking about with his death. You see, I had the pleasure of visiting frequently with him over the past year and we shared both the Word of God and, well, lots of other words. As you know, Daniel was quite the “social butterfly”. And he was quite the storyteller!
So, for sure, I got all the “Swamp Boys” stories! And he always promised me that he’d find for me a “Swamp Boys” cassette so I could hear them play. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to do that before the Lord called him home. So yes, I do mourn with you at His loss. Daniel was, of course, a faithful member of Bethany Lutheran, but also my friend too.
And I’ll miss him. And I’ll be sad about that too because, there’s no way to sugarcoat it, death creates for all of us here a barrier between us & Daniel that we can’t overcome.
Now I understand that for many people in our culture, maybe even many of you, what I just said may come across as being “depressing” or even “negative”. If it did strike you that way, don’t feel bad, as a Pastor I have heard many people say that to me over the years when I talk about death’s impact so your reaction is quite natural & quite human.
So natural & human in fact, that many people, Pastors included, want to avoid the subject.
And the more beloved a person, the more we want to avoid it. One of my seminary professors once told me a story about a colleague who attended the famous politician Hubert Humphrey’s funeral. At the funeral, a famous Televangelist took to the pulpit & began to wax eloquently about Hubert’s life. He talked about how jovial Hubert was & how he never let things get him down. He spoke about how he was always on the upswing, always positive. He praised Hubert to the heavens but not one word about death, the cross, or the resurrected Christ. He then concluded with a joke, not Jesus.
At that point, the seminary professor looked over at the casket & said to himself: “Well Hubert, how’s your positive attitude working out for you now? Would you rather have Jesus?”
Now, if your answer to that first question was like my seminary professors, “Not too good”, and your answer the the second question was like his too, “heck yes”, you’d be exactly right too.
The point is, avoiding the reality of death won’t help. But having said that, there’s something I always like to point out to those who still want to say that it’s “depressing” or “negative” to acknowledge death’s awfulness. It’s that these terms are to be found nowhere in the Bible when it comes to death. Why?
It’s because neither term really addresses the human predicament when it comes to death.
Given that, what is the Christian message about death? What terms does the Bible use?
It speaks of Christ, His cross, & His resurrection. In short, as Paul put in Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Yes – Sin, death, Christ, & life – these are the terms that get to the heart of things.
And God’s called me here today to speak them to you because your life matters to Him. He uses serious terms because He takes your death seriously because He loves you. As such, He also defeated death for you, just as He did for Daniel, in the cross & resurrection. By dying for you, He has overcome death for you. As such, He promises to give you life.
Yes, true hope is given this day to you because Jesus Christ has met you at your deepest point of need, the deep desert of the grave, and has done a new thing. He’s spoken a new Word to you this day that’s forgiven your sin & overcome your death so that, in Him, you, like Daniel, might also have a heavenly river of life & an eternal future in His kingdom.
It is now for you, by the Holy Spirit’s power, just as Jesus spoke & promised to you today in John 5:24: “[You do] not come into judgment, but [have] passed from death to life.”
Yes, you will, someday, in the fullness of time, enjoy a big reunion with Jesus & Daniel.
You’ll be able to share stories, roam the woods together hunting & fishing, & then share a session of “Swamp Boys” music for as long as you want! Yes, thanks be to God! Amen!
Bethany Lutheran Church, Covington MI 