Funeral for Marlyn Hollar

Marlyn McCoy Propst Hollar

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

When you first join a church family, the first thing you do is start to get to know people. For me, personally, I’m pretty good with faces, but I’m terrible with names. Our church family took it easy on me and had everyone wear nametags for the first few weeks, to help me with that task. And just when I started getting good at it, there were these two ladies who came to shake hands at the end, and one of them said, “I’m her sister”. I’m pretty sure it was Joan who said that…while Marlyn just smiled and giggled a little.

That’s the mental image I have of Marlyn - with that smile on her face. Up until the start of the pandemic, she and Ken were in their pew…unless Ken was having a bad morning. But Marlyn was always there smiling. I heard Kurt say it just the other day - that she was just the sweetest woman. So sweet, in fact, that she would put his socks on his feet before school… even when he was in the 8th grade.

In my getting to know Marlyn early on, what always stood out to me was her strong family bond. She stood by her husband. She helped him when he was having a hard time walking. She supported her husband, and he supported her. You know, just like it says you’re supposed to in the marriage vows. They lived it. And it’s clear that the strong sense of family has deep roots, as I’ve seen across Marlyn’s family in the last few weeks. The love and support from multiple branches on this family tree has been beautiful to watch.

I chose the readings for today specifically because Paul speaks directly to the question I know some of you are asking yourselves. “So we do not lose heart” Paul says. “Though our inner self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” Our body is indeed wasting away…a little each day. We take care of it, feed it healthy foods, exercise… but the end result is the same for everyone. Humanity has a 100% mortality rate. “For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

And that’s where we as Christians put our hope - in the eternal. During this time in the church year, we are in the middle of a 7-week celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s not just a single day, not even a week, but a “week of weeks”. Jesus’ death on the cross is when we recognize that the price of our sins was paid for all of us. We will be reminded of the great sacrifice he made for us when we come to the table in a few minutes to receive this Sacrament. When we hear the words “this is my body, given for you” “this is my blood, shed for you”, Luther tells us that the most important part of that statement are the words “for you”. It is a gift, that price he paid. It removed all the obstacles between us and God.

But the story doesn’t end on the cross. On the third day, the Gospels tell us, the women came to the tomb to freshen up his body, and cover him with spices and fragrant flowers…but instead they found an empty tomb, with no sign of the body… until they encountered the resurrected Christ. Now, the price of our sins having been paid, Jesus shows us that he has power even over death itself. The grave was not the end for him, so it will not be the end for us, either. His resurrection was a preview of the plan that God has for all of us.

In the words of the Gospel lesson, Jesus tells his followers “All things have been handed over to me by the Father.” *All* things. He has authority over whether to let us feel the wrath we deserve, or to handle our sins himself, and earn God’s mercy for us by paying the price we could never pay. He has even been handed over power over death. All things have been handed over to him. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And then he gives a command: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I find this particular verse, and the ones that follow, to be incredibly comforting. When things become difficult, or a burden, our Lord Jesus tells us to come to Him, and he will give us rest. Learn from him, and we will find rest for our souls. When things feel burdensome, He is our rest.

Now I know that’s just that Sunday Bible talk, right? How can a person be “rest”? That just doesn’t make sense, does it? In the craziness of the world, Jesus does *not* make sense. The more progress our society makes, the more it drifts away from Jesus’ teachings. It’s been my experience, especially through the lockdowns in the past couple of years, that those of us who believe and trust in Jesus Christ have much more peace and much less fear than those who do not believe that there’s anything beyond the grave. When you walk with Jesus, his peace just naturally becomes a part of your day. And that’s what he wants for us as he gives us this command. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

As Marlyn is certainly in God’s tender care now, I want you to give you a little glimpse of what I think that looks like. And that’s what Isaiah described in the first reading. Weak hands are strengthened, feeble knees made firm. Blind eyes are opened, deaf ears unstopped. The lame will leap, the mute will sing for joy. All that wasting away that we worry about because we see it so much… it’s not going to be a problem when we’re with God. Marlyn’s medical problems of the last few years are no longer problems.

And, as we will announce shortly, we believe that we will all be raised on the Last Day. We will see her and all our loved ones again on that day. And, as Isaiah says “everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” It will be a wonderful day indeed.

Until we get there, we have hope, because of Jesus Christ and all that he accomplished in his death and resurrection. We know that death is not the end. That doesn’t mean we can’t be sad. Jesus wept, too. It’s ok to be sad. But don’t lose that hope. Know that one day we will see Marlyn again. And what a great day that will be.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.