Funeral of Roberta Pieck

The most important day of Roberta’s life was September 10th, 1968. This was the day that God granted her the new birth of the Holy Spirit through Holy Baptism. On this day God wrote Roberta’s name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He sundered her from the number of the unbelieving, and placed her safe and secure in the Holy ark of the Christian Church, where she remained all the days of her life on earth. On that blessed day, God made a solemn, unbreakable promise to Roberta: “Today, I have become your Father, and you have become my child.”

Roberta was now a precious daughter of the King of kings, a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, but it would be another fifty years before God would call her to that eternal home. Fifty long years in this broken world, fifty years during which she would experience much suffering and trials of faith, fifty years as a sojourner in this wilderness of sin and sorrow. Fifty years is a long time to be away from your home, and so God gave Roberta a precious gift to carry her through. He said to her, “Now that you are my child, now that I am your Father, I want you to say these words. Whenever your burden is heavy, when your way is dark, when your faith is weak, I want you to ask me for these things – and even as I command you to ask, I am promising to give you the things for which you ask.”

First, you shall pray in this way, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” Certainly, God’s name is holy by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that God’s name would be kept holy among us. How is God’s name kept holy? When we hear the Word of God with gladness and live holy loves according to it. This Roberta did. She came regularly to the house of God to hear his Word. She treasured the Holy Scriptures above all earthly treasures, and she exemplified the love of Christ in her words and deeds. Even so, because Roberta was a sinner, because she like us was plagued with unholy thoughts and desires, she longed for the day when she would live completely in the holiness of God.

Second, Roberta prayed, “Thy Kingdom come.” Certainly, God’s kingdom will come whether we pray or not, but we pray in this petition that his kingdom would come among us. We who live in the midst of chaos of sin yearn for the coming of God’s kingdom in all its fullness, when the evil of this world is ended at last.

Third, “Thy will be done.” The will of God is that all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Roberta prayed that this good and gracious will would be done in her life. She prayed against the wicked will of the devil, who sought to snatch away the seed of faith that had been planted in her heart. She prayed against her own sinful nature, which did not want to hear God’s Word, to hallow his name, or let his kingdom come. She prayed that God would strengthen and keep her in his Word and faith until death.

Fourth, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Of course, God gives daily bread to all people, even unbelievers. But in praying this way, Roberta recognized that every blessing in life came from the hand of her heavenly Father, and she received her daily bread with thanksgiving. And God did bless her. Beyond the basic things that we need in this life, God gave Roberta a loving husband. He blessed her with three believing children, with grandchildren, and with countless other family and friends. Roberta received her daily bread and more with thanksgiving to her gracious Father in heaven.

Fifth, Roberta prayed, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Roberta would be the very first to say that she was a great sinner. Indeed, she was as everyone here is, but she could not out-sin her Savior. Roberta lived every day of her life in the forgiveness that flows from the cross of Christ. She came again and again to the Lord’s house, where the very Body and Blood of Christ was placed into her mouth for the forgiveness of all her sins. And when she was no longer able to come to church, she gladly received her pastor into her home and hospital room. Roberta lived and died trusting in Jesus, who had promised to forgive every sin and present her before his Father in heaven as a spotless and redeemed child of God.

Sixth, “Lead us not into temptation.” Roberta prayed that God would guard and keep her so that the devil, the world, and her sinful nature would not lead her astray. Although she was daily attacked by these things, she prayed that she would finally overcome them and win the victory.

Finally, Roberta prayed, “Deliver us from evil.” She asked that her Father in heaven would rescue her from every evil of body and soul, and finally, when her last hour came, give her a blessed end, and graciously take her from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

Roberta and I prayed this prayer together three weeks ago, the last time that she was awake to see me. These words that had sustained Roberta from the day of her baptism fifty years earlier were nearing their fulfillment. The day of Roberta’s victory was almost at hand. To my knowledge the last food Roberta received on this earth, as she awaited her entrance into heaven, was the Holy Sacrament, which she received in faith, trusting that the Body and Blood of Christ were given for the forgiveness of all her sins. She had run her course, she had kept the faith. She did not fear death. Instead she longed to be with her Savior and she awaited his call.

Last Thursday, during the final days of Advent, as the church on earth prepared for the coming of Christ, our Lord came to gather Roberta in his arms and bring her home. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, she was changed forever. This mortal has now put on immortality. She needs never pray the Lord’s Prayer again, for God has answered every petition in full. Roberta lives in the presence of the holy God, in the realization of his kingdom. God’s perfect will to give Roberta eternal life has been accomplished. She has no need to ask for daily bread, for now she sits at the heavenly banquet that knows no end. She needs never pray again, “Forgive us our sins,” for she has been purged completely of every sinful thought and desire. She is now only a saint and never again a sinner. She lives without possibility of temptation and has been delivered at last from every evil. God has kept the promise he made to Roberta on the day she received Holy Baptism. He kept and preserved her in the holy ark of the Christian Church until she reached her final home. In life and now in death, which is but the gateway of eternity, our heavenly Father has answered her every prayer. To him be the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

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