A funeral sermon for the family and loved ones of Werner K____.
February 14, 2004
Grace, mercy and peace to you all from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Dear family, as you know Werner wanted to have the hymn, “Take my life and Let it Be” sung today. He knew that the hymn was in fact a prayer. In fact it is one of the most moving prayers I know. When we sang this hymn this morning, we were basically asking God to take control of each soul here in this room. That is what your husband and your father wanted. He wanted you to all find comfort in this day, when comfort is often not an easy thing to have.
This is God’s purpose for us today as well. He too wants us all to find comfort in this day and also I believe God wants us to cling to the many joyous memories that He gave to us all, so that along with clinging to that OLD RUGGED CROSS, we can also cling to the joyful contentment that comes with good memories. My prayer is that after this day, we may all look back and see God’s hand and his mercy taking hold of this entire family. That mercy was there even from the beginning as Lois and Werner first heard the news of Werner’s latest trial.
So let us now take a look at some of those memories. I think we all prayed that there would be an extended time for Werner and his family to spend with each other, that is, as long as Werner was still Werner and basically remained unchanged by his trial at least on the outside. And God granted that time to spend with him, so that we could all create many fond memories that came with visits and conversations.
When Werner was at the Oakland Care Center, he shared with me His reason for why he thought God was allowing this trial to take place in his life. He was happy because he felt that his trial, was bringing his family even closer together than they were before. It’s a goal that all parents have. Our Father in heaven has that same goal. We all know we can never get too close to Jesus because there is always room to grow with Him and in truth we can never really draw too close to each other either. Your dad told me that all the stuff he was going through was worth it, if it meant that His family was closer today than they were yesterday. That is what he held onto. So that was Werner’s take on why God allowed this trial to take place in his life. And it is a very biblical take on what was going on. Look at what God did to heal the tension between Jacob and Esau. Jacob got a bum hip out of the deal, and before that Jacob had one trial after another, but in the end, these trials softened the heart of Jacob. That story is something to think about when you are wondering why God is allowing that new trial to capture your attention. But we know, that whatever trial God allows to take place, it is always meant for good. It is always meant to bring some sort of victory to our life. That is why we can rejoice even in the face of death, because even in death, Jesus gives us victory.
Going back to those memories now, I think you all as a family discovered a lot of good new memories and reacquainted yourself with some old ones plus I think we can all agree…you created some new ones for Werner. When you all gathered together as a family with your dad, and husband, I believe you gave to Werner a little bit more joy, even though he could not tell you how he felt. We laughed about some of the stupid things kids do to annoy parents, we joked about some interesting memories, and even one little shocking memory…right Rich? Then there were tears shed, and intimate moments between family and father, and husband and wife. God gave you all that one last moment to be with your dad/husband, to say goodbye and even see a little response from him where science said there should not have been any. When he moved his eyes as we sang an old hymn, or when he moved his fingers as we laughed with him in spirit, he let us know in his own way, that he was with his family. You all drew closer together that night, and Werner was a part of that effort. And then Lois… on the morning that God took him to be at rest, you shared with me that it was just you and he one last time, your daughter in law came up with a very wonderful insight. She said, “he was with his bride one final time.” A bride whom he loved to shop for! A bride whom he loved to cook for, a bride whom he loved…period.
We all have these memories to carry with us, and we can thank God for them. But we also have more than just memories. We also have promises. It was the promises of our Lord that Werner clung to, more so than anything else. At first he was upset about hearing the bad news about his health. He was upset as anyone would have been in similar circumstances. But something happened to Werner, something Holy, something wonderful. His faith became so alive and so secure that any Word from God, or any song from a hymn gave him so much joy and peace, that it almost seemed as if Werner had no worries. As I shared with you the other day, when he received the Lord’s supper, he just melted into Jesus’ words of promise and peace. If there was any stress upon his spirit before the Word came to his lips, that stress was gone as soon as he ate and drank, and prayed and received. Richard you recognized that didn’t you? You saw just how strong a faith your father had, in that he read the Bible cover to cover and loved the Words inside. That too was a gift that your father gave to you and to us all.
Now God adds to all these things yet another promise that was made all the more real as Werner was called home to Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the vine, and you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, will bear much fruit.” You can almost see the vine growing as we talked about Werner’s journey into paradise. The vine of faith seeded it’s way throughout all our hearts as we prayed, and wept, as we laughed and listened, and as we remembered and as we held our breath. God was working his vine in us all, and much fruit came as a result. The greatest fruit comes with the sure and certain truth that your husband, your father, our friend is with the Lord.
I kidded around with Werner that he will probably start building another train set up there on those streets of gold, and get the disciples in on the action just as soon as he could. He smiled and said, “Yup”. The fruit of faith and of confidence was with Him and now that fruit of faith and confidence is with us. We too can say, “TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE, CONSECRATED LORD TO THEE” because we know that Jesus did die to take away our sins and did rise again so that our sins would no longer keep us from our Father in heaven. The death he died, he died for all. The life he lives, he lives for all. Jesus’ victory for us 2000 years ago, is our victory today. That means Jesus can HAVE OUR LIFE, because he already saved it. And since he saved it, then we know that he would never do anything to our life that would be contrary to the love He showed us when he went upon the cross. Everything Jesus does with us and through us will always be for His glory and for a grand purpose because that is how deep His love runs.
We have victory in Christ, and that dear friends is the greatest fruit that will ever ripen in our lives. Fruit that takes away any doubt! Fruit that will leave us with just peace and certainty that one day we too shall meet our Lord, and walk with Him in paradise even as Werner does today.
I shared with you the other day some of the memories that Werner shared with me, as he struggled to keep a clear thought. He remembered the little train surrounding a bare Christmas tree, he remembered serving the congregation some fine cakes, he remembered the joy he had in building that train set in his basement. He also remembered the psalm that I read to him at almost every visit. He liked how we could look at it each time, and talk about something new in the verse. So for our closing thought, I would like to re-read a portion of that Psalm and ask you to reflect upon it, with the same joy and hope that was in Werner’s spirit.
“I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” We all know that Werner is singing yet another new song. My prayer today is that everyone here today will sing a new song with him today, tomorrow and every day to come. This is the time to mourn, but as the vine keeps growing in you, and the fruit continues to produce and ripen, there will be a new song in your heart as well. May it be a song of fond memories, joy and praise before God. May it be a song that says, “Lord, you know best! You’re in control, do what you need to do, for I will still be blessed.” That was the song of Werner in life, may it be yours as well.
Amen.
