This sermon was prepared for a funeral at Great Lakes Military Cemetery in Holly, MI. However, due to the tight time schedule allotted for each burial there, I was given about five minutes to conduct any Christian rite whatsoever. The sermon was condensed to a three minute devotion, followed by the committal. This is the full sermon which had been prepared.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:42-49
GOD REMEMBERS ERIC SCHUSTER.
In the name + of Jesus.
Eric Schuster was born on March 2, 1951, and shortly after he was born, his parents took him to be baptized. They did it for one simple reason: They knew that this day was coming. They did not know when it would come, but they knew that Eric would die one day. They knew that Eric would have to stand before God in judgment one day. And they wanted Eric to receive God’s mercy instead of God’s condemnation.
So, he was baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In baptism, he was washed clean of all sin. Jesus wrapped him in a garment of salvation. He declared him to be holy and blameless, an heir of heaven, and a child of the resurrection. All his life long, Eric lived in this baptismal grace. He was strengthened in it whenever our Lord fed him with his body and blood for his continued forgiveness. God was faithful to him, sustained him, and—as he promised in his baptismal covenant with him—has delivered him to his heavenly home.
I am sure that you all have your own special memories of Eric, whether as a husband, a father, or a co-worker. Most memories are fond ones; others maybe not. One of the things I remember about Eric is that he was no phony. He did not try to make himself to be a saint to me. He acknowledged that he had made his share of mistakes and committed his share of sins. And he did not pretend that his sins were no big deal. But more importantly, he remembered God's promises to him. I was privileged to remind him of those promises again and again. For, Jesus does not come to save fake sinners. Jesus comes to save real sinners. Eric knew that, and found comfort in remembering God's promises to him.
I am sure you will always cherish your memories of Eric. But our comfort is not what we remember about our loved ones. God does not judge our loved ones based on what we think of them. God's judgment is based on what Jesus has done for us and on the promise he makes: “Whoever believes and his baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16) Our comfort is that God remembers us. When the Bible says that God remembers, it means that he acts in order to deliver from disaster and death. God remembered Noah in the ark, and then he made the flood waters recede. God remembered the Israelites enslaved in Egypt, and then he sent Moses to deliver them. God remembered Eric Schuster already from eternity. From eternity, God's plan was to send a Savior to deliver him from death and damnation. And in Eric's lifetime, God applied that salvation to him by means of his baptism. And God remembers his covenant to Eric in that baptism.
Our Lord had to do this because our first parents, Adam and Eve, believed Satan’s lies and plunged into sin. With sin comes God’s curse. With sin come all kinds of ailments, frustrations, pain, and problems—including inoperable cancer. With sin comes death. The first man, Adam, brought sin upon all mankind, and so all mankind must die. Eric died because he was a sinner, which he confessed freely. He did not argue with God that he was better than he was. He knew that God demands perfection. Being nice does not save us. Anyone can be nice to anyone else for a moment. Eric did not pretend to be perfect. He remembered his sins. He was not holy. He needed to be delivered from sin, death, and damnation.
But God remembered Eric. He sent Jesus for him. Jesus is called the second Adam because he is the second holy man to walk the earth. The first Adam had sinned against God; the second Adam obeyed. The first Adam earned God’s wrath; the second Adam earned God’s blessing. The first Adam brought death; the second Adam brings life. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47-49)
When Eric was baptized into Christ Jesus, he received all the benefits of Jesus' redeeming work on his behalf. Eric was given credit for Jesus’ holy obedience. God will not condemn anything that is holy; so Eric has been saved. He was given the benefit of Jesus’ sufferings and death. Since Jesus has taken his sin from him, he also took the punishment for him. Since the punishment for sins has been taken away, there is no condemnation for him. He gets eternal blessings.
Like all of us, Eric had borne the body of the first Adam. Adam was of the dust of the earth. Dust he was, and to dust he returned. Likewise, we have mortal bodies which are subject to sickness, weakness, aging, and death. No medicine, no chemo, no surgery can keep us out of the grave forever. Because we are mortal and corrupted with sin, these bodies are not eligible to enter heaven. For, that is where our Lord dwells, and only that which is holy can dwell with him. There is nothing sinful allowed in the gates.
But that which is sown in weakness will be raised in glory. Our Savior has shown you how it will be. Jesus lived his life in humility and died in weakness. Jesus was dishonored, beaten, rejected, condemned, and crucified. This was the price that had to be paid for our sin. His battered and lifeless body was laid to rest in a most humble condition. But on the third day, that body sprang to life. Jesus rose from the grave in glory: Master over death, Deliverer of sins, and Giver of eternal life. Jesus rose from the grave with his human body, but in glorious life—never again subject to pain or misery or death. Since Eric belongs to Jesus, all that belongs to Jesus also belongs to Eric. So, while Eric's remains will be laid to rest in a humble state, his body will be raised up from the grave in glory.
God remembers Eric Schuster. He was baptized into Christ, so he will bear the likeness of the man from heaven. Jesus has authority over death and the grave, and so he will summon him from the grave and raise him from the dead. This body which is sown perishable, in humility, and in weakness will be raised up imperishable (he will never die), glorious (he will never suffer), and incorruptible (he will never know cancer or sickness, lose his balance or grow frail. Just as Eric received Jesus' righteousness, so he will also receive Jesus' likeness—a glorious risen body that will forever have a place at the eternal feast in heaven. The Lord remembers Eric Schuster, and he will never forget his promises.
I’m sure that you will take time to reminisce about your husband, father, and friend. I’m sure there will be stories of laughter, of doing battle with large dogs, and so forth. But your greatest joy is that God has remembered Eric. Jesus Christ has marked him as his own through baptism and has presented Eric to himself as a holy and blameless child of God. That is how he stands before the Lord now. Then, at the resurrection, his body will catch up to his baptism. He will be raised glorious, immortal, and incorruptible. He has been redeemed from the likeness of the first Adam, and he will bear the likeness of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. You can be sure of it; for God remembers his covenant. God remembers his people. And God remembers Eric Schuster.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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