Funeral Sermon for Todd McDonald: "Lost and Found"

+ In Memoriam – Todd McDonald – June 22^nd, 1967-February 11^th, 2018 +

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14; Romans 8:18-30; Matthew 18:12-13

Redeemer Lutheran, HB

“Lost and Found”

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Lord is my shepherd, declares Psalm 23. These words are both familiar and unfamiliar all at once. We know and love this Psalm, perhaps even by memory; these words of Scripture bring us comfort, as they did for Todd in his final days of life. And yet, even if we have never set foot on a farm or seen any sheep except at the Orange County Fair, these words fill us with peace:

The Lord is my shepherd.

The Lord is Todd’s Shepherd. The Lord is your shepherd.

Jesus is the kind of shepherd described in Matthew 18:  

If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.

Jesus reveals himself in this story of lost sheep and rescuing shepherds. Jesus reveals his love for you as he did for Todd in this parable. Jesus is the kind of shepherd who cares nothing for making profit from his sheep; his care is only for the life of his sheep. He is not a cold, calculating business man, or else he would let the one lost sheep go; cut his losses, save the other 99. But not Good Shepherd Jesus. Jesus is the kind of shepherd who chases down the one lost sheep to rescue it, pick it up, place it on his shoulders, and bring it home. Jesus is the kind of shepherd who follows us into the valley of the shadow of death, as he did for Todd, to come out again alive through his death and resurrection. Jesus is the kind of shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, as he did for Todd and for you.

This is what our Lord, the Good Shepherd, does best. He finds us lost sheep and brings us home. Jesus the Good Shepherd found Todd in his lostness and declared him to be his own dear sheep and child in Holy Baptism. Jesus led Todd to the still waters of life and restored his soul.

Jesus the Good Shepherd followed Todd all the days of his life, just as he does for you, even when it looks to everyone else around us that we are not following him. Still, he watches over us, his goodness and mercy following us, chasing us down like a pair of sheep dogs. Still, he searches us out, finds us, brings us home in his dying and rising for us.

Jesus the Good Shepherd laid down his life for Todd and for you, and for all. This Good News, above all other good things in life, gave Todd comfort in his last days. For Todd knew that all we like sheep have gone astray, each to our own ways. Yet, Jesus the Good Shepherd carried our disease, despair, and death all the way to his death on the cross. He knew that though our sins are as scarlet, in Jesus we are white as snow. And he knew that the Lord was, and is, and ever shall be his Shepherd.

In Jesus the Good Shepherd, we who were lost are found. In Jesus the Good Shepherd, we who were dead in sin are alive in Christ Jesus. In Jesus the Good Shepherd, we who suffer are redeemed and restored, just as St. Paul declares:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved.

Todd knew this sad and painful truth as well. That in this life there is much suffering.

But he also came to know, and find comfort in a greater truth. Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, or cancer, or despair, or any other darkness, Jesus the Good Shepherd is with us. More than that, Jesus the Good Shepherd laid down his life for us, suffered for us, died for us, and rose from the dead for us, just as the did for Todd.

And that’s why, even today in our grief and tears, there is joy, hope, and comfort in Jesus the Good Shepherd. When Jesus tells this same parable of the lost sheep in Luke’s Gospel there’s rejoicing at the end.

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

So it is for you today. We rejoice that Jesus the Good Shepherd has defeated death for Todd and for you. We rejoice that Jesus the Good Shepherd rose from the dead for Todd and for you. We rejoice that Jesus the Good Shepherd will one day raise our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Like Todd, you are no longer lost; you are found; you are rescued and redeemed. For the Lord is, and always shall be, your Good Shepherd.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.