In Memoriam: Funeral Sermon for Eugene Schroeder

+ In Memoriam – Eugene Schroeder, July 11, 1941 – September 13, 2019 +

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Psalm 23; Isaiah 35:1-10; 2 Timothy 4:6-8; John 14:1-6

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

For someone, like Gene, who loved all things outdoors, Isaiah 35 is a fitting section of Scripture for our meditation this afternoon. For our Lord himself also loves his creation. resting on the 7^th day, he declared his creation to be very good. 

I imagine that this is one of many reasons why Gene enjoyed spending time outdoors, camping with family and friends, enjoying God’s handiwork at the end of his fishing pole, or digging in the dirt of his own backyard garden as our Lord once did when he created Adam out of the earth of Eden. In spending time outdoors, Gene saw God’s beauty and craftsmanship. 

But more than that, Gene knew that behind all these gifts of daily bread, outdoors, family, and so on, there is God, the Giver of all things. Gene knew that everything we have and enjoy, outdoors or indoors, is gift from our gracious heavenly Father. The same Heavenly Father who gave his only begotten Son to die for us, as he did for Gene, that we would not perish but have eternal life. 

It is this cosmic, world-turning, life-changing event – Jesus’ dying on the cross and rising from the dead – that Isaiah had in mind when God spoke through him to Israel in Isaiah 35. Isaiah foretells a great reversal of everything that plagues us in this fallen world. 

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.
The parched ground shall become a pool,
And the thirsty land springs of water;
In the habitation of jackals, where each lay,
There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

When God called Isaiah to deliver these words to Israel, they were in exile, waiting the Lord’s redemption, living by his promise. Our life in this world can often feel that way too, like we’re exiled. We may not be in a strange, foreign land like Israel was, but we experience suffering, pain, sorrow, and hurt all the same. Cancer that devours our loved ones. The death of a spouse, father, grandfather, or friend. The waves of grief that follow. Our own sin that infects our thoughts, words, and deeds. 

Gene knew those things all too well. Which is why he found comfort in our Lord’s promises. The kind of promises that are with us in good time and bad. The kind of promises that our Lord comforts us with today.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 

Israel’s hope. Gene’s hope. Our hope. Are all found in Jesus. For as great as our sin, disease, and death seem to be, Jesus’ love for us, Jesus’ life laid down for us, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead for us, are far greater.

Like Israel, through Jesus we are God’s chosen people, children of the heavenly Father. Through Baptism into Christ, so is Gene, and all who are baptized. For by his water, word, and Holy Spirit, Gene is, and you are, washed and cleansed. Clothed in Christ. Crucified and risen with Christ in Baptism. In Christ you are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come.

Through Isaiah, promised Israel rescue and restoration from exile, a new creation from a fallen world, resurrection and life from death. This rescue and restoration promised to Israel, is finally fulfilled and accomplished in Jesus.

To strengthen our weak hands and our feeble knees, Jesus was born – for Gene and for you. Jesus stretched out his hands in weakness, let his knees become feeble under the weight of our sin and death as he died on the cross for Gene and for you.

To redeem, rescue, ransom, and restore Gene, and all of us, Jesus became thirsty and unclean; he became the blind, the lame, the deaf; he became our disease, sin, and death, so that in him we would be his ransomed, redeemed, and restored people. 

 the ransomed of the Lord And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on our heads. That we, along with Gene, would obtain joy and gladness. That our sorrow and sighing would flee away. 

Eventually, YHWH brought Israel home, out of exile and back to Jerusalem. God did not abandon his people. God did not forget. God kept his promise. Our Lord does the same for us too. Like Israel, we await with Gene, and all the faithful departed, that joyful, long-expected Day of our Lord’s return – the Last Day. The endless Day. The Day of new creation. The day when our Lord will change our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. The day that we, Gene, and all the faithful will rise from our graves and come to Zion with singing. With everlasting joy on our heads. The day that all our sorrow and sighing will flee away. The day that we can forever join St. Paul and Gene in confessing, 

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting.

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