+ Sara M. Myher +
Funeral • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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June 19, 1977 — December 2, 2023
13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve in the same way as the others, who have no hope. 14 Indeed, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then in the same way we also believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. 15 In fact, we tell you this by the word of the Lord: We who are alive and left until the coming of the Lord will certainly not go on ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, encourage one another with these words.
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 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. 3 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. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Funerals and grief go together. Sadness and bereavement are normal when a loved one dies; but there is a significant difference in the type of grief evidenced at funerals.
On the one hand, there are many funerals where the sorrow of the bereaved is inconsolable, where widows or widowers and children of the deceased weep and lament without hope. Nothing anyone says or does can allay their grief.
On the other hand, at Christian funerals the bereaved also evidence great sadness, but mixed in with their sadness is their Christian hope, which enables them to dry their tears and even smile in the midst of their sorrow.
St. Paul speaks of this significant difference in grieving when he writes in the words of our text, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13).
The apostle goes on to say that believers in Christ, by contrast, grieve with hope! This hope is expressed in the closing words of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in . . . the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”
We grieve with hope because . . .
We Do Not Have to Fear Death
We Do Not Have to Fear Death
There is probably nothing in life that people fear more than death. This fear is demonstrated in the fact that we avoid the noun death and the verb die. In medical circles, a patient doesn’t die; instead, he or she “expires.” In daily conversation, we often employ the euphemism “passed away” rather than to say that a person has died.
We who are believers in Christ do not have to be afraid of death. Jesus explained why we need not fear death when he said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11:25–26). For people who trust in Jesus for forgiveness and life, death is but the door through which they enter into an even better life. By Jesus’ death and triumphant resurrection, He has made complete payment for all sins.
It’s interesting that St. Paul refers to death three times in our text as a “sleep.” Paul writes about the “dead in Christ” (1 Thess 4:16): “We do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep. . . . God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him . . . We who are still alive . . . will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thess. 413–15; emphasis added).
It’s a pleasant experience to fall asleep, especially if we are tired after a day of hard work. Actually, the bad experience is to be unable to sleep, to toss and turn as we wait for morning to come. To sleep, however, is pleasant, and to awaken from sleep refreshed and strengthened is one of the most pleasant experiences of all.
When the Bible refers to death as a sleep, it is reminding us in a very powerful way that you and I who believe in Jesus do not have to be afraid of death any more than we are afraid of falling asleep at the end of the day. That’s why our parents taught us at an early age to pray at bedtime: “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep; and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take; and this I ask for Jesus’ sake.”
We grieve with hope because . . .
We Look Forward to Eternal Life
We Look Forward to Eternal Life
We who believe in Jesus Christ do not grieve without hope and do not fear death, because our faith in Christ assures us of the gift of eternal life. Jesus himself said this in the best-known Bible verse of all when he declared, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
It has been well over 11 years ago, but I’ll never forget that point in our life when my wife and I left my mother’s funeral in April, her Dad’s funeral two months later, and my Dad’s funeral the following month. Within a period of three month we buried three of our parents. Makes one wonder, how can anyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus cope with the death of a loved one?! To be separated by death from a loved one is a frightening experience. But we know that death for the child of God is the beginning of an even better life, and we look forward to a joyful reunion in heaven.
St. Paul speaks of that day of celebration when he writes in our text:
“The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1Thess. 4:16–17).
“And so we will be with the Lord forever!” We can’t really imagine or comprehend what eternal life will be like.
One Sunday school youngster did a pretty good job of summarizing the joy of eternal life when she was asked to define heaven. “Heaven,” said the little girl, “is when it’s Christmas every day!” What a precious and accurate summary! We all remember the days of our childhood, when we couldn’t wait for Christmas to come. And when that great day finally arrived, we wished that the joy of Christmas would last forever.
So, dear family, as you grieve this holy season, remember that your dear Sara is experiencing Christmas everyday now. When Christmas rolls around in a couple weeks, I encourage you to give thanks to God that even though it happened way too early for you, Sara is at peace and enjoying blessings of heaven that we all look forward to. And the joy of Christmas will last forever.
And it will! That’s why the apostle concludes by saying, “Therefore encourage each other with these words” (1Thess. 4:18).
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.