May the words of my mouth and the
meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight O Lord, our rock and our
redeemer!! AMEN!!
Let us pray! Gracious Heavenly Father, we come together today
mourning the loss of Ila on Good Friday, but reassured of the empty tomb we celebrated
Easter morning because of the promises You made to her and each of us in our
baptism. We are assured of the promise
of life and salvation given to Ila and now fulfilled with her entrance into the
Church Triumphant. For today Ila has the
resurrected perfect body that no longer has cancer, neither pains nor ills and
now rests with You in Your loving arms. Though
the veil of death separates us today from Ila, may we be comforted by Your
Gospel and hear clearly the promise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the
message of salvation offered through Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection
for all of mankind, but especially the saints of Ila’s family and all the
saints gathered here at Emmanuel to say goodbye. AMEN.
Here in Goodland there is a
tradition that Michele, Sarah and I enjoyed since our arrival. It is the Cancer Society walk that occurs on
the high school track. When we went,
Sarah was so desperate to be involved that when the Cancer survivors, including
Ila, walked or rode the first lap as an encouragement and remembrance of those
who have battled with this disease and for those who had lost the battle with
this dreaded disease, we had to hold on to her and keep her separated from the
group in honor and respect for those walking.
Ila was one of those being honored who had battled cancer many years and
her dedication and determination were an inspiration for all who witnessed and
knew her history and story. But Sarah
didn’t understand the history nor story so keeping her separate and away from
those being honored was a challenge, because of her determination and drive. In a similar way our Epistle lesson for this
morning asks a question about being our being ‘separate’ that God has an answer
for us today.
Paul’s question that he is speaking
to the Romans states, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” For the faint of heart or someone who does
not have any faith, this question could easily make us question God and His
love and commitment to us His children.
As we gather here this morning to say goodbye to Ila, we might question
God as well. But the truth of the matter
is that we cannot be separated from God, but we do have someone who is against
us and it is Satan. Satan at every turn
reminds us of our sins and that we were conceived in sin and attempts to strip
us away from God and the faith. Whenever
the cares of life like “tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness,
peril, sword”, hunger and sickness smash into our lives, Satan is right there
trying to get us to question God and fall victim to our sins, both the ones we
remember and the ones that we cannot remember.
I know in Ila’s life with her nearly forty year battle with cancer, she
daily fought the battle against Satan and the unmerited and undeserved
manifestation of all human sin with cancer in her body, but God had given her a
gift that made her life and her battle against sin and cancer not a struggle,
but a constant reminder of the promises of God.
You see it was through Ila’s
baptism in February 1962 that she was given not only the greatest gift of
salvation, but Ila was given the answer that buckles Satans knees and set Ila
free from sin, death and the devil this past Good Friday. On the day of her baptism, Ila clearly
understood Paul’s response inspired by God that buckles Satan’s knees. Paul answered our initial question of
separation with, “God is the one who justifies” or keeps us from being
separated from Him and has now set Ila to be free with her heavenly Father in
heaven. For Paul further says, “For I am
convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This firm
conviction we can be comforted with today.
For it is in the promise of life
and salvation that God offers us the assurance of Ila’s presence for eternity with
Him in His kingdom and through her baptism which knocks the wind out of Satan
and his attacks and clearly with the our baptism into Jesus Christ life, death
and resurrection sets us free. Yes, we
lost Ila to this earthly life on Good Friday, the same day we mourned Jesus
Christ earthly death on Calvary, but on Easter Sunday we came to the tomb and
found it empty of Jesus. We did not find
His body, because Jesus Christ rose from the grave. In His rising Jesus Christ offers Ila and all
of us who gather here life as well. For in
our baptism God promises our being with Him in His kingdom. Just as Ila is now with Him in His kingdom for
all eternity waiting for all of us to be called home and set free.
When I would visit with Ila in her
home since my arrival here at Emmanuel, I felt my calling was to visit and
provide comfort and assurance during her daily struggles through sharing both
the Word of God and the Sacraments. But
what is ironic is that I would leave, not having ministered to her, but being blown
away by the model of her faith and life and how in this gift of faith given to
her by God she ministered to me. Though
she daily experienced the pains of the disease, Ila’s faith in God was rock
solid and modeled for everyone who knew her the strength of God that clearly
connected her faith, with her life and clearly pointed to the answer that Paul
gave the Romans. “God is the One Who
justifies.” And that justification was
and is found in Jesus Christ Who lived on this earth, walked among the Jewish
people, healed the sick, bound up the broken hearted and suffered on the Cross
of Calvary for all of mankind and ultimately died, but was raised on the third
day. Jesus Christ the cornerstone of our
faith, the faith which Ila was baptized into and which we celebrate today in
her life as a child of God. This is the
faith that clearly was modeled and articulated in Ila’s life and was the
ultimate gift given to her and now fulfilled with her entrance into eternal
glory.
May we who gather here this morning
also share this gift of faith with one another, and clearly hear God’s calling
us through His Word and promises where He makes us His own through our baptism
into His Son Jesus Christ, life, death and especially His resurrection. For the answer and the promise Ila found
through Jesus Christ is offered for all of us who gather here to say
goodbye. The answer is clear, Jesus
Christ died for Ila, for all of us and nothing can separate us from the love of
God found in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. For the gift of salvation through Jesus
Christ is offered to all of mankind, but especially for all of the saints of
Ila’s family and friends gathered here to say goodbye. AMEN.
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