Funeral for Brenda Avis [1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a] (5-Feb-2018)

This sermon was preached at the Maryborough Crematorium, 1pm.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and form our Lord Jesus Christ.

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, send to all of us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear well. Amen.

At a Christian funeral, we come together to hear about two things. The first thing is that we come to remember the life of a person who has died. Today we have heard the life-story of Brenda, who was a wife, a mother, a grand-mother and friend to all of us who have gathered here today. She lived a particular life that no-one else has lived.

But also there’s a second thing that we also come to hear about at a Christian funeral, and that is that we come to remember the life of Jesus Christ, who also died, but three days later, rose again from the dead. Jesus also lived a particular life that no-one else has lived, and because he has risen from the dead, he is still living, he is still alive, and is the Saviour of the world.

And we might think: what has Jesus got to do with a funeral? We’re not having a funeral for Jesus. However, when we come to a funeral, the death of our loved one, the death of Brenda, is sad news. But the death of Jesus and the fact that he rose again from the dead is good news. The fact that Brenda has died is the reason we have come together today in our grief. But the fact that Jesus has died and rose again is the reason why we have comfort.

When we sit and write a eulogy or an obituary for a person, we like to give a picture of that person, and we have been given a bit of a picture today of who Brenda was and the impact that she had on us. Also, there are certain facts about her life: her mum gave birth to her in Kingaroy, she was baptised there—here’s the beginning of her life. But also in the last few days, her earthly life has come to an end.

And also, we read in the bible about the life of Jesus Christ. He was born at a certain time, not in Queensland, or in Australia, but in Israel, in a small town near Jerusalem, called Bethlehem. He was born of a human mother, but didn’t have a human father. God the Father was his Father, and his mother was a virgin. And just as many people today are born in very humble circumstances, Jesus also was born in a stable, and put in the feeding trough that the animals would eat out of. Christians believe then that Jesus was both a true man, and a true human being like each of us, and also that he was true God, at the same time. He is both a true man and true God in one person. Everything that Jesus did was God’s work. When he touched someone or spoke to someone, it wasn’t just a man touching or speaking to someone, but this was God. He had God the Father as his Father, and also a real human woman as his mum.

Now, all of us are not God. We have two human parents—and we all know that all of our parents have their faults. And right from childhood, no-one ever needs to teach a kid to be naughty, they do it completely by themselves. So when we were born, we were born as sinners. Sin is not just doing wrong things, but includes wrong words, wrong thoughts, and also sin is the way in which our whole thinking and our minds and our hearts are turned away from God from the very start. Just as we inherit all kinds of good things from our parents, we also inherit a family debt, which is passed on from generation to generation. We are all part of the human race, and even though God created us, and was pleased with human beings, the human race fell into sin. So when we come to the funeral of a person who has died, we have many things to be thankful for which we received from their unique life. But also, as Christians, we don’t pretend that the person was sinless, or perfect.

Now, when we look to Jesus, the exact opposite is the case. Because Jesus was not just a man but also true God, he had no sin at all. There was nothing wrong in anything that he thought, that he said, or that he did, and his whole mind and heart and thinking was completely in harmony with God the Father in every single thing that he did. The book of Hebrews in the bible says that Jesus in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. So with us, we were created and made with a body and a soul at a particular time in our mother’s womb. So was Jesus in his mother’s womb, but unlike us, he also existed right from before the beginning of time, because he was God, and so when he was conceived in his mother’s womb, he entered into the world and he took on a human body and human flesh.

Now, even though Jesus was not a sinner like us, he took on himself all the sin of the world. You see, a crime needs to be punished. If we find ourselves in a situation where someone has committed a terrible crime against us, and they do not serve their time in prison for it, we think that justice wasn’t done. And we might look at our life and have some really serious regrets for the things that we did or didn’t do. And then we start to think, “Now I have to live with it.” “I did the crime, now I have to do the time.” Or we think, “God’s already done with me. There’s no hope for me. There’s no turning me back. I’m getting my come-uppance. I deserve this.” And then we start to think, “I have to carry all of this by myself, because no-one can pay off someone else’s wrongs. I have to do the time for my own crimes.”

But here’s where Jesus comes in. All of that come-uppance, all of that payment, all of those loads that we all carry around, all the time for the crimes, all of that, Jesus took upon his shoulders. And what did he do with it? He made a payment. He was crucified, he was nailed to a cross. Getting yourself nailed a cross was the punishment that the Romans gave to rebels. If Ned Kelly or someone like that lived in Roman times he would have been crucified too. Jesus wasn’t a rebel, but he died the death of a rebel, and died for all the rebels in the world like you. We’ve all rebelled against God. And all that rebellion against God is on Jesus’ shoulders.

Now with Brenda, she was sick for a long time and struggled with bad health, and when she died, she died a very quiet and peaceful death at home in bed.

Jesus died quite a different death. He was whipped, beaten, flogged with whips, stripped of his clothes, made to carry his wooden cross, and then they nailed him to it. And in enduring all of this, Jesus suffered and died for the sin of the whole world. He made a perfect sacrifice for you. All your debt, everything in your life that you’ve ever completely stuffed up, every single second of the time for your crimes, all your come-uppance was put on him and came down on him. When someone says to you that you’re getting your come-uppance, you can say that what has “come up” on me “came down” on Jesus. That’s what the little verse means that I read at the beginning of the sermon: You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

But here’s the next thing: After Jesus died he was buried. And he didn’t stay buried for long, but he rose again three days later on Easter Sunday. He’s not a ghost, he’s not an angel, he’s not a disembodied spirit… but his body and soul came back to life, he walked out of the tomb, and he will never die again. And he goes to his Father with all of our accounts, with all of the debts of our sins and crimes, and all of our rebellion, and he presents it to his Father, with a red stamp on it. This is the red stamp made with his blood which he shed for you. And the stamp says: Paid in full. Nothing owing. You were bought with a price. You belong to me.

And sometimes, we might think: Yeah… maybe Jesus died only for the good people, but not for me. That’s not what the bible says. It says: God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. It doesn’t say: God so loved the good people. It says: God so loved the world. Also John says: He is the propitiation for our sins—propitiation means atonement, or sacrifice, or payment—and then he says: and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And if it says: the whole world, it means, that your sins have been paid for too.

You are not your own, but you were bought with a price.

And so, here we see how when we come to grieve a loved one, like Brenda today, because God created her, we see a life full of blessings that we have received, and we also see because of sin a life with debts still owing and payment still to be made.

But all of our debts and payments that all of us have, were never going to be paid by any of us individually, because that would be completely impossible. And so at a Christian funeral, we also remember the life of Jesus Christ, because he is our Saviour, and he is not just a true man, a human being like you and me, but also true God. And because he is God, we know that there is going to be nothing owing, nothing still to be paid, nothing wanting, but everything paid in full, everything dealt with, everything stamped and sealed with his holy and precious blood.

You are not your own, but you were bought with a price.

And that same Jesus says to us today: Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Amen.

Dear Jesus, we commend our hearts and our minds, our bodies and souls, into your hands. Strengthen us in the comfort of your word in our time of grief, and send to each one of us your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Funeral of Elaine Hansen [Luke 23:39-43] (8-Nov-2017)

This sermon was preached at the Maryborough Crematorium, Maryborough, 1.30pm.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today as we come here for Elaine’s funeral, we have the wonderful privilege of entering into God’s presence, and receiving our comfort from him. Every time we gather together to hear God’s word, there is always something new to learn from him. God’s own comfort is not something that is natural to us, because we are human and he is God, and so it always must be taught. Especially today when we gather for a funeral in the face of death, it is a wonderful privilege and joy to receive our strength and comfort from God himself.

And so today we come together to thank God for Elaine’s life, to remember the good things that God has given to us through her, and to commend her to God and his mercy and grace.

Today for our funeral text, I’ve chosen a passage from the Gospel of Luke, from the part where he tells about the events of when Jesus was on the cross. Often when we see the cross depicted in a painting, or something, there are three crosses. The reason for this is because Jesus was crucified between two criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And our reading tells of a discussion that occurs between the two criminals and Jesus while they are there.

But let’s just leave this passage for a moment, and come back to Elaine. On the 18 March 1928, at the Nitschinsk family home, Elaine was baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The reason why this was because we Christians believe that Jesus died for the sin of the world on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday he rose from the dead. After he rose from the dead, he sent his twelve apostles out on a special mission and to them: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

And so when the pastor, all those years ago baptised Elaine at her family’s home, he didn’t baptise her in his own name, and by his own authority. Instead he baptised her in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus promised the apostles: I am with you always to the end of the age. So it’s not simply a pastor, or a human being, who baptises people, it is Jesus who does it. He is the one who works invisibly alongside and behind the pastor doing it.

So who is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Well, let’s go back to the very beginning of the bible, where it says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It also says that he made people in his own image, male and female he created them, and God blessed them. We also read where it says: And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Later in the psalms, the poetry written by King David, it says: You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

We learn here from these passages that God is our creator and maker. God has made each person on this earth in his own image, but also makes each person unique. And it’s not as if God simply wound the world up like a clock, and then went on holiday ever since. He still provides for people and for the world. And so, when Elaine was a child, God provided her with a mother and father and a home. When she was older, God provided her with a husband, and children, and a home of her own. God provided her to you, however you came about to know her. And so all of this is part of God’s way of ordering the world, and providing for us and looking after us.

We also learn from the Scripture, that the world fell into sin. Adam and Eve, the first people, disobeyed God’s commandment to them, and they came under God’s judgment. They once could enjoy God’s presence in a perfect and wonderful way, but then after they had brought sin into their lives by their own doing, they could no longer live in the same way together with God anymore. With sin, came also suffering and death into the world. What this means for us today is that on one hand, all of us have been created in a wonderful way by God. And from our parents, we have inherited all kinds of good things. But also, because of sin, we also inherit the family debt. With all the good things that are passed down from generation to generation, sin is also passed down. We know that you don’t have to teach a child to do wrong—they do it all by themselves, because it’s already there, and it doesn’t need to be taught! St Paul says: There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And later he says: The wages of sin is death.

But this brings us back to words that were spoken to Elaine on the day of her baptism: in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We have spoken about God the Father, our wonderful Creator, but also about the terrible way in which sin has come into the world. God the Father also sent his Son into the world, Jesus Christ. Jesus is both a true man, a real human being in every way, but also was true God at the same time. This is because Jesus had a human mother—the Virgin Mary—but had God the Father as his Father. And so, Jesus also lead a life that was completely and totally sinless.

Now, at Christmas time, we remember the event where Jesus was born. We remember the wonderful event where the Son of God who had existed from all eternity, who had been there with his Father at the creation of the world, now took on human flesh, and was born as a baby, just like you and I were. Christmas is the event where we remember who Jesus is—both true God and true man in one person. And then at Easter time, we remember the event what Jesus did, how he died on the cross, and rose again from the dead.

And this passage that I read before about the two criminals shows to us why Jesus died. And these two criminals in some sense give a picture of the whole human race. Everyone is a sinner without exception. And so the first criminal, we read, railed at Jesus—we might say, he mocked him, heckled him. And said: Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! What he meant to say was: If you really are the Son of God, why don’t you just get down off the cross? You don’t have to go through this!

And in some sense, he’s right. Jesus didn’t have to go through it, but he chose to. Jesus had once said: No-one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. So why doesn’t Jesus just get off the cross, if he has the power and the authority being the Son of God to do so? He doesn’t get off the cross, because he is doing something very important, in fact, he is doing the most important thing that has ever been done in the whole history of the world. He is making an atonement for sin, he is paying the price for our wrongs with his own life and with his own blood. And without him doing this, not one single one of us would have any hope at all.

And so this is where the other criminal comes in. We read: The other [criminal] rebuked him, meaning, he told him off, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

He says: What’s wrong with you? We’re being crucified because we committed a crime. The Romans used to crucify people who were rebels. And so these rebels knew that they were rebels, and they knew what the punishment was if they were caught. And now they had been caught. And the criminal says: we deserve what we are getting. But Jesus hasn’t done anything wrong. He doesn’t deserve crucifixion, but he is doing it for you. He has done nothing wrong, and he makes a payment for you, who have done plenty wrong. And so, Jesus takes all of your sin and dies for it, and he gives you all of his innocence and perfection and he gives it to you, completely freely. St Paul says: The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. For Jesus eternal life costs him his life, but because of this, he offers and gives it to you for free.

And so the criminal then says to Jesus: Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom. And [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Jesus does not require anything from this criminal. The criminal commends himself to Jesus and his mercy. And Jesus promises him the gift of eternal life.

There’s a wonderful text in the book of Romans, where St Paul says: God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. What this means is that the only person God has mercy on is a sinner. The only people that Jesus died for are sinners. This is what the thief on the cross came to recognise. He knew he was guilty, and that Jesus was innocent, and Jesus takes him with him, just as if the thief were innocent. The reason Jesus did this is because Jesus had taken the thief’s guilt on himself, and died for it himself.

And so, in the same way, we thank God for giving Elaine to us, and for blessing us with her. Let’s thank God for creating her, and thank Jesus for the wonderful way in which he died on the cross, and made an atonement for the sin of the whole world. And so, as we remember all the many blessings we have received from God through Elaine, let’s commend her to God’s mercy and grace.

Jesus says: Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.