+ Jana Rae Clutter +

Living by Faith in Christ Jesus—That Is the Truly Good Life which leads to the New Life.

Dear family and friends of Jana:

There is a rumor going around, in fact it was even in the newspaper. It has been reported that your Jana has died. Don’t believe a word of it. They are not telling the truth. The truth is, she has not died! You see, Jana just moved out of a decrepit old leaky tent into a beautiful new mansion. We do not need to weep for Jana, because she has moved into the house of God not made with human hands. In fact, Jana has even transferred her church membership from Christ Lutheran Church of Chippewa Falls, to the Church Triumphant.

This is the truth. This is the reality.

Christ died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for you.

But people who march to the drum-beat of the world see things differently. I’m sure we’ve all heard it said, “She has a good life.” But, there’s a a problem with that sentiment. The world’s understanding of a good life is at best inadequate, compared to God’s understanding of what constitutes a good life. Now there could be similarities. A person who has a good, God-pleasing life might be blessed with a loving and caring spouse, loving and respectful children, a job or vocation that brought meaning and fulfillment to her life—like teaching and overseeing the operations of a Lutheran Church School, like what we have here, even enjoyable hobbies and interests such as crocheting, singing, playing the piano, and beautiful grandchildren, and more than adequate material blessings. By those definitions, one could say that Jana had a good life.

From God’s perspective, however, there are even more important ingredients that make a life good and pleasing to him. As Christians we look to the goodness, kindness, and compassion of our Lord for the key to a truly good life. To begin with, Christians give God the credit, honor, and glory for all of the good gifts and blessings we enjoy. By faith in Christ, we can say with the psalmist, “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. . . . [And] he saved me” Psalm 116:5-6.

Christians know that there is no higher calling in life than to walk in step with the Lord God and his purposes, following him and serving him all the days of our life. Christians know that true meaning and fulfillment in life is found not in money or the things that we accumulate, but rather in the love, kindness, and forgiveness that our Lord moves us to share with others in our daily life and daily relationships. Believers in Christ know that the motivation for our life of Christian love and service to others comes from the love of Christ living in us. As the Bible tells us, “We love because [God] first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19).

But, Christians also know from faith and life experience that when we are confronted with struggles, sickness, and sorrow—which are an inevitable part of life in this world—we have a sure source of comfort, strength, and hope in Jesus Christ, his Word, and his promises. When we live by faith in Christ our Savior, we know that He will lead us through all the valleys and shadows of life, until that blessed day comes when his angels will welcome us to our eternal home in heaven. Then we will finally grasp the full meaning of the words of our text, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” Psalm 116:15.

That is what constitutes a truly good life—living with Christ and for Christ, living each day in the love and forgiveness that Jesus earned for us on the cross, sharing his grace and mercy with those around us every chance we get, and living always with the assurance that nothing in this life, not even death, “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39). When I think about our dear sister Jana, this is what immediately comes to mind.

Christ’s work to bring us to that place is clearly pictured.

Living by Faith in Christ Jesus—That Is the Truly Good Life which leads to the New Life.

Steadfastness epitomizes Jana. She married this tall drink of water when she was barely 18-years old. Her Daddy had to go down to the courthouse to sign a piece of paper saying that she could marry this newly minted Vietnam Combat Veteran. But living with a man with PTSD wasn’t easy. Regardless, she was constant and faithful. Always prayerful. Always watchful, like a soldier standing a post. She never wavered. This character was built into the lives of their children, and provided needed equilibrium for her husband Ron. What a blessings for everyone concerned. What an incredible example of Christian womanhood.

There’s a phrase I’ve heard in recent years, probably as a result of the hospice movement: “She had a good death.” People might mean various things by that phrase, but not all is in conformity with God’s will and purposes. As Christians, we might mean by that phrase: “Despite a long and difficult illness, toward the end of her life, her pain was largely under control.”

Despite Jana’s battle with cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease, one could say by this definition that she had a good death. But from God’s eternal perspective, as well as in the eyes of those who live by faith in Christ, there are even more important things that would make it a good death. As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, either by ourselves or with a loved one, what counts is knowing, with great assurance, that Christ our Lord is walking with us every step of the way, even if He must carry us. If you are familiar with the Footprints in the Sand story you get what I’m saying.

You see, what matters is knowing that we have a Savior who on the cross paid in full for all our flaws, faults, and failures — our sins — and continues to love us and forgive us unconditionally. What counts, when the going gets tough, is knowing we can count on God’s sure promise that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” in heaven (Rom 8:18).

What matters most of all is to be able to live—and then to move out of this old disease ridden leaky tent into the beautiful dwelling place prepared specifically for us by Jesus Christ—with the sure confidence that when He calls to our eternal home where our Lord God is heard saying, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev 21:5), as He wipes “away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4).

Living by Faith in Christ Jesus—That Is the Truly Good Life which leads to the New Life.

That is the sure and certain faith by which Jana lived—and in which she moved on. “Therefore,” as St. Paul encourages us, “comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess 4:18 RSV).