+ In
Memoriam – Betty Moore +
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Revelation 21:1-7; John 14:1-7
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
For
everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time
to be born, and a time to die;
A time
to weep, and a time to laugh…
Solomon’s words ring true in our years, especially today.
There was a time to be born and a time to die for Betty. Just as there is a
time to be born and a time to die for all of us.
But this was not always so. In the beginning there was only
a time to be born and not a time to die; a time to laugh and never to cry; a
time to dance and never to mourn. The Lord God looked upon all that he had made
and behold it was very good. The world knew nothing of weeping and mourning and
death.
For
everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
Now it seems that is all we know. All we see on the news,
all we read in the papers (if haven’t stopped reading them yet because they’re
too depressing), all we hear on the other end of the phone lines from family
and friends seems to point us to the grave. It seems that we do not live under
heaven but under hell, not life but death.
Yes, Solomon’s words ring true. But they do not tell the
whole truth. For that we need Jesus’ words in Revelation:
Behold,
I am making all things new.
You see for Betty and for you, sin and death are not the
only season. They are but the fall and winter. Cold and cruel to be sure. Harsh
but temporary.
Christ was born, lived, suffered, died, was buried, and rose
from the dead in order to begin an eternal Spring and Summer. If there is a
time to die, then there is also a time to rise. Christ is greater than our sin
and death. Christ’s death overcame death. By his resurrection he thawed the icy
grip of the grave upon him and upon all who are called by his name. Yes there
is a time to be born and a time to die, even for God. God was born for you,
lived for you, suffered, bled, died, and rose for you.
For
everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
And so for Betty there was a time – September 22nd,
1922 – to be exact, where she died and was born all in a matter of a few
moments and three splashes of water. I baptize you in the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Behold I make all things new. Betty’s Baptism was truly a time to
die. Her sin was drowned and washed away. And her Baptism was also a time to be
born. A time to receive the new birth from above, to be born anew by water and
Spirit, born a new creation by Jesus command and promise: Let there be life.
And behold, in God’s eyes, Betty was very good. In fact she was better than
good. She was perfect, holy, sinless. All of that because of all that Christ
did for her on the cross and poured over her at the Font and fed her with at
the Altar.
This faith in Christ is the confession of faith that Betty
received at Baptism. This was the faith that gave her strength when there was a
time of depression or a time of plenty. She lived Solomon’s words about a time
for planting and harvesting, and a time for casting away and gathering stones.
This Christian faith is the firm foundation that Betty – and
countless young Lutherans like her – received as they learned and studied and
memorized each week in Sunday School and Church, in the home and later in
confirmation class. And she simply carried her faith everywhere she went, from
her family and friends in Lancaster, OH all the way to her family and friends
here in Huntington Beach.
This faith in Christ also led her to a life of service to
others. Freely she received Christ’s mercy, freely she gave to those in need.
Especially as a nurse, and a teacher of nurses. She knew that there’s a time
for tearing and a time for sewing.
But above all, this faith in Christ gave her words of
comfort. Words she learned in from the wisdom of Solomon, comforting words
resounding John’s Revelation, and the Good News which comes to our ears
straight from the lips of Jesus in the Gospels.
Words like we hear in John’s Gospel:
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in
God; believe also in me. In my Father's
house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare
a place for you? And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself,
that where I am you
may be also.
Yes, there is a time for death and mourning and weeping. But
for you who mourn and weep, Jesus has words of comfort and assurance. For
Betty, and all who rest with Christ, Jesus promises:
“Behold, the
dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they
will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He
will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no
more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for
the former things have passed away.”
Yes, there is a time to mourn; but there is also a time to
dance. For death has no dominion over Jesus, over Betty, or you.
Yes, there is a time to weep; but there is also a time to
laugh and rejoice. We see and hear that now in part in the Scriptures, hymns,
and promises of Christ in Baptism and in the Supper. We will see and hear it in
full voice before the throne where the Lamb of God makes all things new.
Yes, there is a time to die; but there is also a time to
rise; a time to be planted in the earth for a rest from our labors; and a time
to be plucked up from our graves by our Lord Jesus Christ.
And then there will be no more time for sin, and sorrow, and
tears. No more seasons. No more fall and bitter cold winter of death. For the
former things will pass away. These words are trustworthy and true. It is
finished, Jesus declares. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the
end. He was for Betty. And he is for each of you as well in every season of his
life, and in every matter und heaven.
Christ has done all of this for you so that in every season
of your life you would know that you have a Savior who has endured everything
under heaven and earth for you.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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