9/17/12 - Hilda Schlott's Funeral - Philippians 3:20

A LONG JOURNEY HOME

A Long Journey Traveled

            Hilda didn’t have the easiest journey in this life.  She used to tell me the story about when she was in the Ukraine as a young woman during the time of WWII.  And because Hitler’s army needed to be fed, he forced those in the lands he had conquered to work in the fields to support the troops under his command.  Hilda was among those who were forced to work to feed the German army.  Unfortunately, the fields to which Hilda and her family and her friends were assigned were located in Yugoslavia.  So they had to travel under armed guard to get there.  Once there, they worked in the fields all day, still under armed guard, with only a few hours of sleep at night outside.  And this went on day after day until Hitler was defeated.  Which meant that one morning Hilda and the rest of the group that was with her found themselves in a field in the middle of Yugoslavia, with no one else around and nothing more to do then turn around and make the long journey home.  It took them weeks, walking all day long, scrounging for any food they could manage, sleeping in the ditches at night, to finally complete the trek and settle in Austria.  And according to Hilda, it was one of the worst times of her life - understandably so!  But I would imagine that after she made that journey, home must have never looked so sweet.

            I would doubt that Hilda’s life got much worse after that incident, but I don’t know if it got a whole lot better either.  Many of you who knew Hilda either know of or have heard about many of the things that she had to go through when she lived in this world.  Not the least of which is the fact that she was a widow longer than I have been alive.  Her journey through this life was difficult, filled with pain and trouble and disappointment.  And as she was struggling with more of the same in the past few months of her life, she told me many, many times that all she wanted to do was to go home.  And she didn’t mean going back to her house over on the east side of town - although she wouldn’t have minded that either, and she certainly didn’t mean that she wanted to go back to Austria either.  Hilda wanted to go “Home” home - to heaven, to the Paradise where her Savior was.  Because Hilda understood something that God clearly says in the Bible: “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Hilda may have been born in the Ukraine, she may have spent time in Austria, she may have been a long time resident of Colorado, but she was most importantly a citizen of the kingdom of heaven because she believed in Jesus as her Savior.  And when she finally did make it home just a few days ago, I can imagine that “home” never looked so sweet.

A Long Journey Evaluated

            I had many conversations with Hilda through the years I knew her, but especially in these last few weeks as her health deteriorated I got to talk to her more and more.  And as we would talk about life and death, about the journey she has taken in this world and the glories awaiting her in heaven, sometimes she would get a little frustrated because the Lord hadn’t taken her home yet.  She was ready, she was longing to enter that life of perfection with her Lord, but he hadn’t taken her as soon as she wanted.  And she said to me on more than one occasion: “Maybe I’m just too big of a sinner.  Maybe that’s why God hasn’t taken me yet.”  Now, I didn’t tell her that she wasn’t a big sinner… Instead I told her: “So am I!  Welcome to the club!  I’m a big sinner just like you are.”  And that was true!  I wasn’t just trying to make her feel better.  She was a big sinner in this life.  And so I am.  And so are you.  We have done things and said things and thought things that were awful and disgusting and mean and selfish.  And Hilda understood that for even one of those sins she did not deserve anything good from her Lord.  None of us are good enough to deserve anything good in return from the perfect God. 

            But that wasn’t the end of our conversation either.  “Welcome to the club,” I said to Hilda.  “You may be a big sinner, but you are a forgiven sinner as well.  Your sins are completely wiped away because of what Jesus did for you on the cross.  Jesus was treated like the biggest sinner of all, so that when God the Father looks at you now, all he sees is his perfect child.  He’s not refusing to take you because you’re a sinner; he’s just waiting for exactly the right time for someone he loves so much.”  And that was true too.  I wasn’t just trying to make her feel better.  Because of the sacrifice of himself that Jesus offered on the cross and the fact that he actually rose from the dead to prove that he was true God as well, Hilda’s faults and errors and evils, and my faults and errors and evils, and your faults and errors and evils have been forgiven.  They are no longer held against you.  No matter how many sins you have committed in this journey of life and no matter how big they were or how big they will be, the shadow of Jesus’ cross covers them all and the depth of Jesus’ empty tomb buries them forever.

       
A Long Journey Finished

            It took a while for Hilda to come to terms with that wonderful gift of God’s grace.  It took her awhile to be convinced by the Lord that he really did forgive her completely, that he really did love her, that he really did want to take her home - even though he may have waited a little longer than she would have liked.  But as her body grew weaker, her faith grew stronger.  And through God’s Word her Lord assured her that her citizenship really was in heaven, and her Savior - the Lord himself, Jesus Christ, was waiting for her there.  And now that is exactly where she is: her long journey is finished, her difficulties are done with, not because she tried so hard, not because she did her best, but because her Savior did everything that was necessary for her.  Her journey on this earth has ended, but her journey in Paradise has just begun.

            That’s the beauty of the funeral of a Christian!  I can stand up here this morning and tell you with 100% confidence that Hilda Schlott is in heaven with her Savior right now.  I couldn’t read her heart, but I did hear from her own mouth what she believed.  She believed that Jesus was her Savior.  And Jesus himself has promised, “Whoever believes in me will be saved.”  God’s promises do not fail.  And so Hilda is with her God as we speak.

            That same promise is yours: “Whoever believes in Jesus will be saved.”  There are no exceptions to the rule, but there aren’t any strings attached either!  You aren’t required to do a thing!  Jesus has done it all for you!  And because this is true, every single person who believes in Jesus as their Savior will see Hilda again.  Not just “might,” not just “maybe,” not just “I hope we do…”  Every Christian will see Hilda again because our citizenship is in heaven too and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.  What a comfort that is.  What a joy to go home with.  What a profound happiness that Hilda is experiencing first hand at this very moment. 

            This journey of life may be long for you just as it was for Hilda.  It may be filled with difficulties and last longer than you would like just like it did for Hilda.  But just like Hilda, you can finish this long journey strong.  Because you can look forward to that wonderful home where Hilda now is.  Cling to your Savior who promises to take you there.  Because when you do arrive, home will have never looked so sweet.

            Amen.

9/16/12 - Pentecost 16 - Isaiah 35:4-7

SLOW DOWN

Tactics

             The devil likes to speed things up.  He likes to make us feel hurried and rushed.  He likes to get us frantic about all of the little things that are happening and all of the big things he throws at us at the same time so that we are overwhelmed by them all.  He likes to make it seem as if we are always behind, that we need to catch up, that we have far too many balls in the air to juggle all at once.  He wants us to imagine that we have to quicken our steps, that we have to move a little faster and accomplish a little more if we don’t want to get completely swamped by life.  He doesn’t want us to stop and think; he doesn’t want us to pause and consider the big picture; he doesn’t even want us to slow down.  He wants to speed things up to a point where our head is spinning because we are so frustrated and flustered and frazzled.

            The Lord, on the other hand, wants us to slow down.  He wants us to pause and take in the bigger picture.  He wants us to stop for a second and think about what is really important.  The Lord wants us to understand that we aren’t behind, that we don’t have to catch up, that we don’t have to juggle all of those balls in the air at the same time.  The Lord wants us to calm down, to relax, to step back from the situation and look at it in the light of God’s Word.  And so let’s do that.  Let’s step back and evaluate our lives in the light of what God says in Isaiah 35:4-7: Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.  Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.  Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.  Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. ”

            Be strong.  Do not fear.  Your God will come.  And he will save you.  When we trust in these powerful words of our Lord we don’t ever have to feel hurried or rushed again.  We can slow down in this life and relax because we can confidently rely on the promises of our God in whatever situation may come up.

Hurried & Worried

            And that’s important to remember because “situation” will come up in this life, wont’ they?  That’s why the Lord starts out with, “Say to those with fearful hearts…”  That word “fearful” is really an interesting word because it doesn’t mean “to be afraid” or “to be frightened.”  God is not addressing those of us who are physically in fear of something or someone.  This word carries the connotation of being quick, hurried, rushed.  God is speaking to those with frantic hearts, those with agitated and anxious thoughts, those whose lives our hectic at times, who might make rash decisions, those whose heartbeats are beating wildly from pressure and stress.  And if you don’t fit that description right now, I’m sure you have in the past and, chances are, you will fit that description in the near future.  Because who doesn’t feel hurried and rushed at times?  And sometimes that happens more than once a day, doesn’t it?  But when we’re hurried, we’re worried.  We get all worked up about the things in our lives and we start to speed up as well.  Our mind is racing with possible solutions and potential disasters, about what can be done to fix the problem and what is beyond fixing.  And we tend to be quick to the negative at those times, aren’t we?  We are very pessimistic.  We certainly aren’t thinking about positive outcomes when we are rushed with worry!

            Which is nothing new.  Think about some of the examples in the Bible itself when Christians were quick to the negative because they were rushed with worry.  Jesus’ disciples were in a boat one afternoon on the Sea of Galilee as a violent storm threatened to capsize the small vessel they were in.  Jesus happened to be sleeping in the boat and so they woke him up and said, “Master, do something !  We’re going to drown!”  The disciples couldn’t possibly imagine that anything good would come out of the situation because they were rushed with worry and quick to the negative.  Jesus, though, calmly slowed them down, rebuked them for their lack of trust and then he rebuked the wind and the waves, instantly making the waters quiet and calm.

            Early on in Jesus’ ministry he and his disciples were at a wedding.  After a while the wine ran out and there was apparently a scramble to find more wine for the guests.  You can almost imagine the scene of a worried host and frantic relatives going to neighbors’ houses or the stores in town but not knowing what to do.  Jesus’ mother even approached her Son and told him to do something about it.  Everyone was quick to the negative and rushed with worry.  But Jesus calmly slowed his mother down, “My time has not yet come.”  And when “his time” did come around, Jesus simply turned about 150 gallons of water into the best wine anyone had ever had.

            Years before that incident happened in the land of Cana, Jesus’ parents lost their 12 year old son in the capital city of Jerusalem.  For three days Mary and Joseph scoured the city looking for the Son of God whom they had misplaced.  How could anything good happen from this situation?  How could this possibly turn out in their favor?  But then they happened upon the temple, there they found Jesus, questioning and answering the teachers of the law.  “Son, why have you treated us like this?” Mary asked.  “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you!”  Calmly and slowly Jesus answered, “Why were you searching for me?  Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”  Even the strongest of Christians: Jesus’ disciples and his own mother and father were quick to the negative and were rushed with worry at times even when they had witnessed the power of God before.  Are we any different?

            We have experienced God’s power in our lives for year.  But when unexpected problems come up in our lives we are instantly quick to the negative.  Difficulties seem to build up and build up as the days go by and we are rushed with worry.  And instead of slowing down and calming down and trusting firmly in the power and promises of our God, we let the situation get the best of us and we can’t think straight and we can’t get our mind to stop turning and we can’t get our stomach to settle.  But are God’s promises that unreliable?  Is his power that weak?  Has your Lord ever let you down before so that you would treat him with such disrespect?  What more does the Lord have to do for you to prove his love?  What more does the Lord have to do for you to gain your trust?

Jesus Slows Us Down

            Say to those with fearful [frustrated, flustered, and frazzled] hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come… and he will come to save you.”  Be strong.  Do not fear.  Your God will come.  And he will save you.  There’s a promise of God.  And that promise is not unreliable.  His power is not weak.  And he has proven that throughout the centuries!  Time and time again throughout the stories of the Bible, we read that whenever any of his children were struggling or upset, worried or rushed, he slowed them down and calmed them down with his power and his promises.  We could talk all day about people like Abraham who was afraid that he would be killed and his wife taken from him; Moses who had to run away from Pharaoh; David who was hunted down for years by the king; Jeremiah whose life was in danger from people in his home town.  These were Christians who underwent a tremendous amount of pain and difficulty, but they were also Christians who were continually soothed by the promise of a coming Savior.  Just like we are.

            Our Savior slows us down and soothes us with his love.  Whenever you get frustrated in this life and don’t know what else to do, your Savior calmly reminds you about what he did: how he put his life in harm’s way for you, how he shouldered every one of your difficulties, how he carried every one of your pains - so that you do not have to carry them at all.  Whenever you get flustered in this life by all of the responsibilities and obligations that have fallen into your lap and you can’t even seem to get your head on straight, your Savior calmly reminds you about what was placed on his head: a makeshift crown full of thorns as he hung there on that cross, bleeding for every sin, and suffering for every mistake of every person of every nation.  Whenever you get frazzled in this life and your emotions are frayed, your Savior calmly leads you to the place where he tied up every loose end: that newly hewn tomb that remained occupied for only three days, that death chamber that could not hold death, that grave in which our Savior came back to life.  Because there, on that Sunday morning we now call Easter, all of the problems and all of the worries and all of the stresses of this life were done away with.  Your problems are no longer unfixable in the light of the tomb, your worries are no longer unmanageable in the light of the tomb, your stresses are no longer unbearable in the light of the tomb.  Everything is all right in the light of Jesus’ empty tomb!  Because that same God who made that tomb empty makes sure that your life will run according to his plans still today.

Trust He Can Do It

            Just slow down and trust that he can do it.  Just like the deaf and mute man who trusted Jesus’ touch in Mark 7.  Just like the crippled man who trusted Jesus’ power through Peter and John in Acts 3.  Just like all of those Christians for thousands of years who trusted Jesus’ promises in Isaiah 35.  Trust that your God, who was able to take all your sins and all your pains and all your troubles and put them on the shoulders of his Son, is able to do everything necessary to mend anything in your life now.  Now that doesn’t mean he will fix every problem in your life - because sometimes that’s not what is best for you (or me!).  But if it will ultimately be for your good, know he can.  And he can because he holds the upper hand over Satan, he holds the victory over death, he holds your sinful nature at bay, and he holds your life in the palm of his hand.  Trust that he will never let you go.  That is exactly what he promises, after all.

            And so there’s no need to rush, is there?  There is no need to quicken your steps or speed up your efforts.  There is no need to be worried or anxious or frustrated with the thousands of things that can infect your mind every day.  Slow down.  Relax.  Take in the bigger picture so you don’t get caught up in the dirty details of a day in the life of a sinner on this earth.  Your God can do what needs to be done.  You God has already done what needs to be done!  And he will continue to do so until he comes again to take you home.  “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come… and he will come to save you.”  

            Amen.

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’  Amen.  Come Lord Jesus.”  Amen.  - Rev. 22:20