Asking for the World (Pentecost 10, Proper 12c, July 28 – 2013)

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Pentecost 10, Proper 12c, 2013 (July 28)
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rocklin, California
Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn
Luke 11:1–11

TITLE: “Asking for the World”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. Luke chapter ten. Let us pray:

O Lord, let Your merciful ears be attentive to the prayers of Your servants, and by Your Word and Spirit teach us how to pray that our petitions may be pleasing before You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

When we pray, more often than not we ask for too little. God’s grace and mercy, so it seems, is limited not by Him but by us. It is easy to think of God’s mercy and love when we are talking about asking for something up there or out there, but it is much harder to believe when it is to pray for healing for your mother, or forgiveness, or hope, or consolation and comfort. The more concrete we make our prayers, the harder it is for us to get our expectations up too high. After all, nobody wants to be disappointed.

That’s why this story of Abraham negotiating with God is such a strange one. God has spoken to Abraham and told him what is going to happen to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He is going down to visit and to judge them on their sin. Certainly this would be a daunting and unpleasant experience for the best of us. Abraham knows that his nephew, Lot, lives there along with his family. What will Abraham do? He does not want to see his nephew die with his family. But what could he do? Would God listen to the likes of him?

Faith, beloved, sometimes means asking the impossible. And so that’s what he does. He actually goes into negotiation with the almighty God for the lives of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now if you are a good negotiator, what you need perhaps more than anything else is what we’ll call leverage. If you negotiate, you have to have something to negotiate with. Money, a trade in car, whatever it is, negotiating means convincing the other person that what you have is worth what they have, maybe even more.

So what does Abraham use to negotiate with God? What does Abraham have to offer in this bargaining process? What he has is God’s character. Now you have to admit, that is a pretty weird negotiating chip. I mean, doesn’t God know his own character? Surely God knows who He is?

Well, yes He does. So what Abraham does is he dares to hold this character of God up and to pit God’s justice against God’s mercy. Will you destroy the city if there are fifty who are righteous? Surely the God of mercy would not do such a thing. No, I would not, He said. Well, what if there are only 45? 40? 30? 20? What if there are only ten righteous who are left in the city? Will you keep the city for the ten? Yes, God sighs. I will keep the city even if there are only ten righteous.

So here’s the deal on this whole story, which we will also see from Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer. God is merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Like in the days of Noah, or perhaps even worse, the time is coming for the world’s end. We don’t know exactly when, but we know that it will happen. The reason that God spares the world is not because we deserve it. Our efforts at helping our neighbor are feeble, and we are all full and filthy with sin. No, God spares the world for the sake of those who will be saved. He delays His final judgment because of love. And because of this, you are free to be bold in prayer, and to act without fear before God.

So let’s fast forward to now and to your life in Christ every day. Each day you have troubles, you have fears, you have worries, hurts of body and soul. Every day you know people whom you love that are in great, desperate need. You may not even know what to pray for. But you have been call in holy baptism to a great and wonderful purpose. Hear how St. Paul described it in Colossians:

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
(Col. 2:6–7)

God has called you to walk in Christ. You were filled up in Christ when you were baptized, and now Christ fills Himself up in you by Holy Communion. You are in Him and He in you. You are rooted, built up, and established in the Christian faith. What that means is that God’s promises still drip off of your head in the waters that you received, where it was days or weeks or months or years or decades ago.

Walking in Christ means not walking in fear. It means knowing how much God loves you and continues to be with you no matter what. It means, as St. Paul said, abounding in thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, by the way, is the word eucharisto, from which we get the word Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper.

But what if you are afraid? What if the fires of Sodom seem to be raining down upon you? What if you are too pressed down to ask for help? What if you can hardly walk, because of the burdens that you bear for yourself and others? When that happens, and it happens to all Christians who walk in Him, when that happens, it is then that Christ comes down again and again and again to show you His mercy and love. He does’t just give you marching orders and expect you to carry them out. No, He fills you with Himself. And when that sack is empty, He fills you up again.

This, beloved, is why we call God our Father. This is why His name is holy, and His will is to be done among us. This is why His kingdom comes among us. This is why His will goes out into all the world. This is why He feeds us with our daily bread. This is why He keeps us from temptation, and delivers us from evil. He does all this out of Fatherly divine, goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us.

Abraham negotiated with God and used God’s own mercy as the bargaining chip. You, too, have that great bargaining tool above all. You have Jesus Christ, the very mercy of God made flesh. God to Him. Pray for the world, for you just might get it.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith to life everlasting. Amen.

Compassion (Pentecost 7, Proper 9c, July 14, 2013)

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Pentecost 7, Proper 9c, 2013 (July 14)
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rocklin, California
Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn

sermon07-14-2013.mp3

TITLE: “Compassion”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. Luke chapter ten, the parable of the Good Samaritan.

There is a saying that you can tell the level of civilization of any culture based on how they treat the helpless in their midst. Those in need, the homeless, the suffering, the unborn, the unemployed and underemployed, really anyone who is not in a position of power is in need of mercy. And mercy, beloved, is where the character of a person or society really comes into play.

Already in Leviticus, at the time of Moses, we see how important mercy is to the character of God and therefore to God’s people. The children of Israel were to care for their neighbor. That meant their friends and relatives, but that also meant their servants, the deaf and blind, the poor, and the foreigner living in their midst. How they treated these people was a direct result of how God treated them. If they refused mercy to those around them, what they were saying was that they did not want God’s mercy shown to themselves, either.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I hear that kind of talk, it convicts me and holds my own sinfulness up before me for all to see, at least in my mind. I don’t show love as I ought, and neither do you. I want love to be on my terms, with whom i want and in the way I want. Frankly, my own nature’s view of love doesn’t sound like the biblical picture of love at all.

That is the way of love, isn’t it? Love does not mean “do what you want, to whom you want, whenever you want.” No, love means doing what the other needs where and where and how they need it. IT may not be convenient. It may mean sacrifice and even pain, but love means thinking of the other before yourself. One of our hymns expresses this character of God as “love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be.”

This is what our friend, the lawyer, is so upset about. He thought of the Law as a means to an end for him. He might as well have said, “Lord, I’ve don’t pretty well here. What is the least I can do at this point and still get to heaven?”

It’s kind of alike a child at the dinner table. “How many bites do I have to eat? Is five enough to get mom and dad off my back? Could I get away with three? And does it have to be the lima beans or can it be the potato chips?”

Yes, I think we can all see ourselves inthis lawyer. We all have a tendency to want the path of least resistance. But the problem is that like the lawyer in our text, we utterly mistake the law and the point of it all.

To show the lawyer this, Jesus tells a parable. This is a familiar parable for us. It’s usually called the Good Samaritan. A man is on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves. They stripped him, beat him and left him for dead. So there he is, stuck alongside the road, utterly helpless. Three men walk past him. The first is a priest and the second is a Levite, that is, another person in the religious system of the day. These first two men saw the half-dead one along the road, and rather than get themselves dirty, they pass by on the other side.

Now they may have had very good reasons for passing by on the other side of the road. They would become ritually unclean. They wouldn’t be able to do their religious duty. Perhaps they were afraid that it was a setup, and that they would be robbed as well. Imagine stopping to help someone along the road, and it isn’t exactly in the nicest neighborhood. You might fear for your own life more than you have sympathy for them.

The priest and the Levite may have had the best reasons in the world for passing by on the other side. They may have ever thought they were keeping the Law of God by passing by on the other side. But the simple reality is that the man needed help. It wasn’t about the purity of the priest or the Levite. It wasn’t about anything or anyone else at all. It was about the fact that this man was dying, and no one else was there to help him.

Before we get to the Samaritan, one more note is in order. When we talk about motivations for good works, the question is never “what’s in it for me”. Good works aren’t for you. They aren’t even for God! Martin Luther once put it this way: “God does not need your good works; your neighbor does.” When we talk about good works we are always talking about what is going to actually help those in need around me. It is never about you or me. That is what the priest and the Levite did not understand. While there may have been reasons for not helping the man, the fact is that the man needed helpful more than anything else, and that is what God had placed them there to do.

Back to our Samaritan. When this Samaritan, this foreigner came by, he saw the man and had compassion. Compassion meant that the half-dead guy on the road and his needs were more important than anything else. I’m sure the Samaritan had things to do. I’m sure it was a tremendous inconvenience to him to help this man. But he did it. He didn’t do it for himself. He did it for the man. That is compassion. That is mercy. That is love. What’s more, when they came to the inn, the Samaritan even went one step farther and said, “Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.”

How much is this stranger worth to the Good Samaritan? Whatever the price, I will pay it. The work than the Samaritan has done is not going to get him in good with God. It’s going to cost him a lot of money. Who knows what the consequences of his mercy will be in the future. As the saying goes, “no good deed goes unpunished.” But the Samaritan does it. It’s irrational. It’s a gut feeling that moves him to show mercy to this man on the road. But it doesn’t matter. The man is saved, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

Now this is the point in most Good Samaritan sermons where you get the “go and do likewise” line about how we are to go out and show mercy to our fellow man. Obviously, that is true. But that isn’t the point of the parable. The point of the parable, beloved, is that doing good is never about yourself. It’s always about the one who needs help. And do you know who needs help more than anyone else in the world? You do. Do you know who lies along the road of life, half dead and in desperate need? You are. Do you know whose wounds lead to death without a radical intervention? Yours do.

And here’s the real key. God doesn’t just love you. He is love. God doesn’t just show compassion on you, dead in your trespasses and sins. He is compassion in the flesh. God sent His Son to die so that you might live. He pours on the oil of His mercy, feeds you with His own body and blood. He brings you to the inn which is His Church. And He gives you all things in His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. You are what is on God’s mind. Your life and salvation are for Him and in Him.

Each day we face choices of care and love and service to our neighbor, the one on the road in front of us. Sometimes we reach down and help them. We may not even know we are doing it. Sometimes we pass by the other side. Each day our successes and failures pile up, and usually it is the failures that seem to stick with us.

But our heavenly Father always reaches down. He always shows you you His love. He always washes, always cleanses, always forgives, always feeds. He is the one who will repair your body and soul so that you are fit for eternal life. That is why Jesus is the Good Samaritan. That is why He is your God.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith to life everlasting. Amen.

Hearing the Word of Jesus (July 7, 2013)

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Pentecost 7, Proper 8c, 2013 (July 7)
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn
Luke 10:1–20

sermon 7-7-2013.mp3

TITLE: “Hearing the Word of Jesus”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. Luke chapter Ten.

In much of the Lutheran Church throughout the country, this is ordination and installation season. New graduates from our seminaries are being dispersed all over the land, really all over the world. Churches are receiving their newly minted pastors. Our sister congregation, Mt. Olive in Folsom, will be receiving her new pastor at a special service next Sunday afternoon.

That kind of optimism is rather contagious, don’t you think? It is easy to think of the future as an unpainted landscape waiting to be colored. And of course, there is an element of truth to that. Our future is secure in Christ, and because of that, tomorrow is bright indeed, for all of us.

So in our Gospel today, we have the story of Jesus sending out the seventy-two to announce His coming. What do you think was going through these men’s minds as they went out into the countryside? Jesus gave them the sacred task of announcing His coming, the ushering in of the new creation. They went out two by two, like animals from the Ark, sent out to proclaim that things are different in the Kingdom of God.

Before we see how they go out, and the counsel Jesus gives them, it is important for us to pause for a moment and remember that this is the character of the Christian Church. The Church is always moving. It is either expanding or contracting. It stays the same in the sense that the message of the Gospel is the same, and yet the Church is ever changing. Just like each child is different from another, in the same way God brings forth His holy family in each generation. Each generation is different, unique, and yet each generation receives the same mercy and the same gifts from God. This is who we are as God’s people. If we forget that, we forget who we are. The heartbeat of the Christian Church is that God’s love is always going out, always moving, always seeking the lost and the lonely, the suffering and in need. If we become a preservation society, we have lost it. If we see ourselves as a spiritual museum, simply put here to remind people of a bygone age, we have lost it. If the most we can hope for and desire is that things don’t change, we have lost it. God preserve us from turning our head back to the plow, but let us look out to where God has placed us in His

(Ha! You got a sermon inside a sermon!)

Okay, back to our main point. Jesus sends them out, the text says, as “Lambs in the midst of wolves.” That’s kind of graphic, don’t you think? It’s hardly the cute, pastoral scene one might expect. Jesus might as well have said, “Oh my friends, today you go out as a divine mutton sandwich for the world to devour. I hope you’re tasty.”

So Jesus sends them out basically helpless, without any means of support other than generosity. They are day laborers in the fields. God gives them a message to send, an announcement to make, and with them comes the very Kingdom of God into the midst of the wolves. And some of those wolves, in the strangest biological cross breeding ever, some of those wolves will actually become lambs themselves. It’s lousy zoology, but it is great theology.

Oh and one more thing. Jesus ties His own presence to them. Remember Jesus’ words:

““The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”” (Luke 10:16 ESV)

So imagine a pair of these men coming into your town, announcing that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Imagine that these men claim God Himself is coming into your town, in the flesh. Imagine that kind of event, and you can start to imagine the response these men wherever they went. Some received them, some rejected them, and the men themselves were amazing at the power and authority of Jesus’ name.

But of course, you don’t have to imagine it, do you? That is what Holy Cross Lutheran Church experiences every day, and has done so for nearly twenty-five years. Holy Cross stands as a beacon of hope in a lost and dying world. The goods are here. Forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Jesus’ very body and blood given and shed for you for the remission of your sins. God Himself is present in this place, day after week after month after year after decade. Some things change. New saints come in and old saints are carried up to heaven. Some times the day laborer changes, but the Church is still here.

So how does our community receive us? For most, I doubt they know we are here. Others may have some awareness. Still others might say, “oh that’s nice, but I’ve got a different place.” It is always a challenge for the Christian Church to continue to be the Church where God has placed her. We face apathy, boredom, the desire to be entertained, and sometimes even outright hostility to the message of the Gospel. And sometimes, people listen, and receive the Gospel, and God’s peace goes to them, and it is a wonder to behold. Sometimes God grants us that image of Satan falling, of hell itself being under the subjection of the Gospel. But sometimes we don’t see it, that is for us.

When this is the case, there are two important things to remember. The first is from St. Paul, and the second is from Jesus Himself.

First, St. Paul writes in our epistle from Galatians six:

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:9–10 ESV)

Paul here encourages us not to grow weary. It is worth it, he says. When you are neck deep into stuff to get done, whether we talk about church or family or work or wherever God has placed you, when you are neck deep, it’s hard to look up and see the good that is coming. But it is coming. This is why, I think, Paul exhorts us first of all to take care of each other. It is impossible for us to care for our neighbor, and to be a light to the world if we cannot even learn how to love one another. That is where our encouragement comes from. When you see a brother of sister in Christ who is burdened and in need, help them. It’s that simple. They need you.

And that brings us to the words of Jesus for when we grow weary and worn. We hear from Luke at the end of our text:

“The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”” (Luke 10:16–20 ESV)

In success or failure, God is at work. Your rejoicing doesn’t lie in your success or failures. Those are fickle, and as often as not you can’t even tell if something is a success or failure until much later. No, your joy comes from the beautiful fact that your names are written in heaven. You have a place here! That is where true joy is to be found.

The new pastors being placed around the country are in a great place, and so are you. Your names are witten in the book of life. You are washed. You are fed. You are healed. You are at peace with God.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith to life everlasting. Amen.

Rejected and Accepted (Pentecost 5, Proper 7c, June 30, 2013)

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Pentecost 5, 2013 (June 30)
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn
Luke 9:51–62

sermon06-30-2013.mp3

TITLE: “Rejected and Accepted”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. Luke chapter nine.

Jesus sets His face firmly toward Jerusalem and His death on the cross for the whole world. That is His purpose and His intention. He will not be moved from it. It was in place before the foundation of the world. St Paul reminds us that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2Corinthians 5:19 ESV) This has been God’s plan from the very beginning.

But that plan, as simple and as beautiful as it is, that plan is not as popular as you might think. The disciples announce it to the Samaritans on His way to Jerusalem, and the Samaritans reject Him. They don’t want God’s forgiveness. We will see in the weeks and months to come that the Pharisees reject Him, the Saducees reject Him, and eventually that even His own disciples forsake Him and flee on the night of Jesus’ death.

Can you imagine that kind of rejection? All He wants is to love them, to forgive them and to give them eternal life, and they will have nothing to do with it. Even His own disciples have a hard time with this kind of rejection. Hear again the words from Luke:

“But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them.” (Luke 9:53–55 ESV)

Jesus’ disciples see this rejection as a slap in the face. They see it as an offense, and they want to respond in kind. Truth be told, we react the same way to rejection. If you offer a kindness to someone and they toss it aside, you aren’t really motivated to help them again, are you? No, our kindness and mercy tends toward the quid pro quo, that is, we want to help people who will help us in return. This is what we see with the story of Elijah in our Old Testament today. Elijah feels that He is alone, that all of His acts of mercy have resulted in isolation, in rejection, and probably in His own death. Elijah, like Jesus’ disciples, really wants to stick it to all of these people who want nothing to do with the true God.

This is a time in the Church when we are being tempted to do the exact same thing. Christianity seems to be attacked and beleagured on every side. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about the decisions of the Supreme Court, or the over-sexualization of our culture, the greed and materialism that is so rampant, the coverage of Wendy Davis or Kermit Gosnell, or pick your own topic. Today the impression that we get is that traditional Christianity is in the minority and shrinking, and that people are leaving the Church in favor of a god and a religion of their own creation.

So we in the Christian Church are faced with a choice: Do we call down fire from heaven like Jesus’ disciples, damn the torpedoes like Admiral Farragut and go on the attack for God and country? Or do we go the way of the cross with our Lord, risk rejection and death, all for the sake of the love of God toward wayward sinners like you and me?

Make no mistake about it, this is a great challenge and temptation for the people of God today. The picture of the Christian Church as the moral majority that is out to force everyone into the straight jacket of white surburbia is a powerful one. What does it mean to cling to the truth of God’s Word, while at the same time act in love and mercy toward those in need all around us?

Both Jesus and St. Paul have much to say to us about it. St. Paul in Galatians puts it this way:

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:13–15 ESV)

What this means in English, brothers and sisters, is that God’s call to you and me is to love one another, to build one another up and to care for one another in mercy. God does not say “show mercy to people just like you” or “love people who are going to love you back” or even “serve people who agree with you.” What St. Paul says here is that we are to serve one another. Period. Everything that we do serves as a witness to our neighbor. That means when and where we go to Church, our behavior toward both those we love and those we don’t love, and it means how we show mercy to those in need.

And let’s be clear about this. Love means thinking of your neighbor and what they need more than you think of yourself. And that, beloved, does not come naturally to any of us. I want to do what I want to do, and it doesn’t matter if my witness hurts those around me. Yet if I use my freedom as an excuse to sin, I will become enslaved to that sin, no matter how much it feels right or makes sense at the time.

And that brings us to another huge point for our Lord. The point is repentance. Repentance doesn’t mean being right all the time. It doesn’t mean doing the right thing all the time. It means recognizing who you are, a weak sinner who messes up all the time, that lives only by the mercy of God. That is what it means to “walk in step with the Spirit,” as St. Paul put it (Gal. 5:25).

Jesus walks the path of rejection for you. He goes the hard road, the road of love for you. He does this because you cannot, not on your own. We all look back from following Jesus. None of us are fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). And yet, because you are Baptized into Christ, you are fit for the kingdom. Jesus keeps all things for you. Rest in His great salvation, and be at peace with yourself and with each other. Follow Christ, for He is the one who leads the way to eternal life. And love all those who cross your path, for they are in need, just like you are.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith to life everlasting. Amen.

A Joy that is Full (Funeral Service for Ed Fogarty, June 29, 2013)

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Saturday of Pentecost 4, 2013 (June 29)
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn
John 15:7–11
Funeral Service for Ed Fogarty

TITLE: “A Joy that is Full”

Friends and family of Ed, and especially you his children, David, Scott and Michelle, and his dear wife Ann, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. John chapter 15 (7–11). We will focus especially on the words, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24 ESV)

Edward Thomas Fogarty was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 22, 1931, the son of John and Florence Fogarty. He was baptized into Christ that same year. He was confirmed in the Lutheran faith on February 16, 1969. He married his dear wife, Fran nee Miller, on December 27, 1951, and was married to her until Fran’s death in 2003. Ed and Fran have three children, David, Scott and Michelle. He married his dear wife, Ann, on January 29, 2005. Ed died in Christ after a long illness on Saturday, June 22, in the year of our Lord, 2013. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”” (Rev. 14:13 ESV)

Keep it fun, Ed would say. I’m pretty sure that the first time I met Ed two years ago, that came up in the conversation. Keep it fun. Ed has a remarkable talent for bringing joy into a situation. Frankly, there are a lot of sayings Ed had which could each be their own sermon. They certainly were for him. I’m pretty sure just about everyone here could recount a favorite line from Ed. “The problem with churches is religion!” That was probably my favorite.

But underneath the joking, the one-liners, the speeches and the sermons was a real joy that was hard to miss or deny. Now I don’t simply mean that Ed was happy. He was not always happy. There were many times in his life when happiness was not on the menu, even if there was a grilled cheese sandwich. No, Ed’s joy went far deeper than any passing emotion or plan. Ed’s joy came from his identity as a Baptized child of God. In other words, Ed’s joy did not come from his accomplishments but from his Savior, Jesus Christ.

One of the hardest things in the world is watching someone like Ed decline in their advancing years. Most of you here knew him far better than I do. You know what kind of a…force of nature that Ed could be. He had a way of involving everyone with whatever his plan at the moment was. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about sanding the cross, caring for his family, or mentoring a young Christian. Somehow, if Ed was involved and you knew him, there was a fair chance that you were going to be involved by the end. You may not have even known it was happening.

But things began to change some time back. The energy that once had kept him going just wasn’t there anymore. He lost weight. He couldn’t catch a breath. The hospital visits became more and more frequent, as did the blood transfusions. He was, for all intents and purposes, fading away to a shadow of the man that he once was. Now don’t get me wrong, here. Ed was still Ed. But it was clear that he was different. Things had begun to change.

Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to die? It seems so unfair, so unreal that this would happen now. He had a list of things that he wanted to get done still. He had a plan, and this…interruption had messed with them all! But Ed would be the first one to remind us of St. Paul’s words, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 ESV)

All of us, from the youngest to the oldest, all of us are dying to live. We may long for eternal life with God, but our brokenness and sin keeps us from Him on our own. In many ways, I think Ed’s sicknesses served him as a reminder that he could not plan and control his own destiny. That was in God’s merciful hands, which is right where they belonged. Being in the hands of God is a good thing.

That brings us back around to the word joy or rejoice. St. Paul, when he was near the end of his own life, St. Paul reminds the Philippians in our Epistle that we rejoice not in ourselves or in our own merits or works. We rejoice in God. Hear again Paul’s words,

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4–7 ESV)

St. Paul, even as he neared his own death, reminds us to rejoice in the Lord. Why? Rejoice because God is at hand. God is present here, in this very house of prayer which Ed was so instrumental in building. Here God promises that He will be here for you through thick and thin, through sickness and health, through conflict and even through death itself. God will be present for you.

Why? How can God be here even in the face of death itself? God is here not in a “god is everywhere” sense. No, God is here for you because His Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross so that the sting of death would not last forever. The sting is just that, a sting. Because Jesus has taken the road to death and the grave already, we can know and be certain that Ed is following the same path that our Lord followed. Jesus’ death ended in resurrection, and so for our dear brother, Ed, the end of this journey doesn’t lie in the simple grave of a dumb Irishman, but in eternal life forever.

That was what made Ed tick, if anything did. His baptismal faith in Jesus Christ was what drove him and defined him. In the jokes, in the stories, in the plans and schemes which all of you know in one way or another, in all of it there was and is this crazy, wonderful joy in His Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now, make no mistake about it, we are now in the middle of grief. This is a time for both sadness and joy. Sadness because Ed is gone from us for a time, but joy because in Christ, Ed is at peace. I, for one, chuckle every time I think of all the questions that he must be asking St. Peter and St. Paul. “No! You gotta explain this so that a dumb Irishman like me can understand it!” As Jesus Himself said, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24 ESV)

But until the time when we will all join Ed, and Fran, and all the saints who have gone before us, until that time we weep, but we weep with an Irish twinkle in the eye, knowing that God’s mercy is for him, and for you and for me and for all of us broken sinners redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

So rest well, Ed. Rest well until we are united again at the Altar of God to sing praises with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. God guard and keep you until that day.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith to life everlasting. Amen.