1/11 Funeral in Memory of Marian Frances Siegfreid
January 11, 2020
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from risen our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Those women obviously weren’t thinking very clearly. They’re walking to the tomb and suddenly it dawned on them, “Whose gonna roll the stone away?” That’s what death does to us, doesn’t it? It causes us to not think clearly.
Then after they got to the tomb, heard the message from the angel, and saw that there was no body. What did they do? The Bible records:
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out, and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.1
Well that’s not very good news. They’re supposed to be happy, not confused and afraid! But that’s what death does to us, doesn’t it? That’s why we don’t like going to funerals. That’s why we don’t know what to say. We don’t what to do.
For these women there’s more trouble. The angels says:
You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.2
You know what? That was bad news to them! The women had gone there looking for a dead Jesus, and He wasn’t there. The women had gone to the graveyard looking for death and they were disappointed. They didn’t find it.
Of course they did exactly what you and I would have done! You see they had already accepted death. Of course they couldn’t think straight. Of course they were confused. Of course they didn’t know what to do or say. Neither do we, but they were there.
They were there when Jesus was hanging on that cross. The other disciples ran away, but the women were there, and they could tell you. He was dead! They saw it with their own eyes. They followed them to the cemetery. They saw Jesus’ body placed in the tomb. That was that. They accepted it. They made plans to go on with their lives. Just like you and I would do; have done.
We’re confused about death. Our world today tells us that we’re supposed to accept death. I’m sure you’ve heard many people say, ‘death is just a part of life.’ Many people see death as an escape, as a relief, as a friend. If that’s true, then why are some of the largest and most expensive buildings, in every town across America, hospitals? If death is an escape why is one of the single largest expenditures health care? If death is our “friend” and something to be accepted, why do we spend so much time and money fighting it? You see, we’re just as confused as those women at the tomb!
There is, however, no confusion for God. While Satan has managed to pull one over on us, and get us to accept death, God is not confused! What does God call death? “The enemy.3” Not a friend, but a foe. Not something to be accepted, but something to be defeated. Something to be put under His foot, and squashed like a snake.4 That is just what God did.
That is why we are here today. Because Christ is risen! Death is defeated, and our future is a future of life, and hope, and peace, and joy! Which is why we need to stop trying to get so used to death, and start getting used to life! Because that is what you and I will be doing for eternity – living! You heard it in our second reading today.
As everyone dies because of Adam
so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ.5
That’s what we really want, isn’t it? We want to live. We want our friends to live. We want our family to live. My message for you today is, “Get used to it!” Stop trying so hard to accept death. Start getting used to life. Because in this world of death, God is in the life-giving business. On that first Easter morning Jesus was not in the tomb. God came back.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise. They shouldn’t have been confused. It’s the way God does business. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, God came back. After 400 years of slavery in Egypt, God came back. Time after time, when God’s people turned their backs on Him, He allowed them to be defeated by their enemies, but God never left them there. God always came back.
While His people were under Roman tyranny, God came back. A man named Joseph found out that Mary the woman he was engaged to was pregnant, but you know what he really found out? God was coming back!
So when are we going to learn? The Bible says, “Everyone dies because of Adam…” sure we get that, we accept it…, but we forget the rest, “everyone will be made alive because of Christ!” When are we going to stop trying to get used to death, and start getting used to life? God always comes back!
Today we can celebrate the living not just because God came back to the grave and rose from the dead, but because He keeps coming back! He came back for Mary. He keeps coming back for you. To give you His life. To carry your burdens. To lead and guide you. To forgive your sins. To wipe away your tears. To hear your prayers. To listen to your cries and frustration. To comfort you when you mourn. To give you what you need. To be there with you when you die, so that He can take you through death into the eternal life of Heaven. God comes back.
You know, that statement’s not quite right – “God came back.” Because that would suggest He left, but He never really left. It seems like it sometimes. It seems like we’re sometimes left alone, left to get ourselves out of the mess, but that’s not the way it is. God may sometimes hide Himself from us, to test us, to strengthen our faith, but He never leaves us alone. Mary knew that. She was very proud to be there and to be a part of that wedding as she read God’s Word of hope. She read:
Two people are better than one because together they have a good reward for their hard work. If one falls, the other can help his friend get up, but how tragic it is for the one who is all alone when he falls. There is no one to help him get up. Again, if two people lie down together, they can keep warm, but how can one person keep warm? Though one person may be overpowered by another, two people can resist one opponent.
A triple-braided rope is not easily broken.6
Who is that third cord? Jesus! His coming back to us is really His revealing to us that He was never really gone, and that He has not forgotten us. He is always there, and that is always important to remember. So instead of focusing on this life, with those problems and struggles, thinking God has left us alone, let us remember that it is exactly in that mess that God is coming to us? To work in your life. To deliver you. To save you.
Is that really so unexpected, God coming back to us? Realize that what may be unexpected to you is not unexpected to Him, and that the crosses or the joys in your life do not happen by chance? When you think you are defeated remember God comes back, to give you His victory, to fight for you, to be your strength?
That is what the women discovered when they got to the tomb. What they thought was bad news was good news! That time of sorrow ended in great joy! It was joy because instead of finding death, there was life! Just like Mary found some days ago.
There were days when she admitted she was scared. Death is our greatest enemy and it was coming for her. She got that “bad news” from the doctor; that disappointing news, but it wasn’t really “bad news.” Because the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ was there first.
When death finally came for her it found Jesus standing in the way. It was Jesus who took her hand and took her safely home. Home to a place where death can never reach, and never touch us again.
So get used to it! Get used to God coming back for you. Get used to God coming to give you life, in all that He does. In Jesus you are alive, and will live eternally! The tomb was found empty! Christ has arisen! Since He is risen, all who believe in Him have eternal life.7 Mary has eternal life!
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
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NOTES
1Mark 16:8
2Mark 16:6
31 Corinthians 15:26
4Genesis 3:15 – I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make your descendants and her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.
51 Corinthians 15:22
6Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
7John 11:25 – Jesus said, “I am the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself. Those who believe in me will live even if they die.
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