A SERVICE OF DEATH AND RESURRECTION for Peter James Cox

GATHERING

Dying, Christ destroyed our death.

Rising, Christ restored our life.

Christ will come again in glory.

As in baptism Peter put on Christ,

    so in Christ may Peter be clothed with glory.

Here and now, dear friends, we are God's children.

What we shall be has not yet been revealed; 

   but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him,

    for we shall see him as he is.

Those who have this hope purify themselves

    as Christ is pure.

THE WORD OF GRACE

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life.

Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live,

    and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

I died, and behold I am alive for evermore,

    and I hold the keys of hell and death.

Because I live, you shall live also.

GREETING

Friends, we have gathered here to praise God

    and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the life of Peter .

We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss.

May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort,

    in sorrow hope, in death resurrection.

If there has been no procession, the pall may be placed at this time.

Whether or not the pall is placed at this time, the sentences printed above under Gathering may be used here if they were not used earlier.

PRAYER *

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray.

O God, who gave us birth,

you are ever more ready to hear

    than we are to pray.

You know our needs before we ask,

    and our ignorance in asking.

Give to us now your grace,

   that as we shrink before the mystery of death,

   we may see the light of eternity.

Speak to us once more

   your solemn message of life and of death.

Help us to live as those who are prepared to die.

And when our days here are accomplished,

   enable us to die as those who go forth to live,

   so that living or dying, our life may be in you,

   and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us

   from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE

OLD TESTAMENT LESSON

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 (NLT)

1 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4 A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. 5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. 6 A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

NEW TESTAMENT LESSON

1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-2, 12, 16-18, 20, 35-38, 42-44, 54-55, 57 (NLT)

1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place...

12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?...

16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!...

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died...

35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed...

42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies...

54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”...

57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

GOSPEL LESSON*

John 14:1-4, 18-19, 25-27 (NLT)

1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going...

18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live...

25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid...”

SERMON

Victory Over Death

There is a common theme

that runs through both Paul’s and Jesus’ words.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, to sum it up in a sentence, he tells them to remain firm in their belief that they will have VICTORY over death.

In other words, fear not…what you were taught is TRUE. You will have victory over death in Jesus Christ…

And not in some sort of metaphorical way...

No…you will be RESURRECTED to bodily eternal life…

in God’s Kingdom on Earth as it currently is in heaven.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus is telling his disciples to FEAR NOT, for He has power over death and will not abandon his own to death.

In other words…fear not, you will have victory over death in ME…Jesus Christ.

Yet, how do we get to this place of assurance...

Or how could even the disciples come to that place of assurance…given everything.

In fact, let’s take look at John’s Gospel:

In the Gospel reading, we find Jesus assuring his disciples that they should not be worried…

that their hearts should not be troubled.

But, let’s be honest, how could their hearts not be troubled.

I mean, like, Seriously!?!?

How could their hearts not be troubled when Jesus just told them that he was going to be handed over to the Romans and put to a humiliating death on the cross?

How could their hearts not be troubled when they’d been following him for three years,

after leaving their families and friends behind,

their hopes and dreams, their livelihoods,

their very futures behind with the hope that Jesus was the Messiah who would kick the Romans out of Israel?

How could their hearts not be troubled…

when everything they had done up to that fateful night seemed to be utterly and tragically in vain?

Yet, Jesus’ words echoed out into the silence…Let not your hearts be troubled…

With such confidence, Jesus utters words that seem to fly into the face of everything we know.

Yet, Jesus utters his words boldly…why?

Because Jesus knew that God was with him in his hour of darkness…and that God is with us in ours too.

The theme of our two readings today is also a theme throughout the entire Bible.

The one promise that God consistently gives us throughout the scriptures is this…

FEAR NOT for I am with you.

I will not abandon you, forsake you or fail you.

Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Our God calls us to faith in Him…in Jesus Christ…

and it is that faith that provides the assurance we are being offered here in Scripture.

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Unfortunately, I did not get to know Peter the way you all did.

What I have been able to gather about him tells me he was a patriot who served his country with honor,

being honorably discharged as an SP-4 in the United States Army.

He was clearly a hard worker who went from being an HVAC technician to an Instructor...

and after a long career, he retired as Curriculum Coordinator for Texas State Technical College.

I also have gathered that Peter, like me, loved the simple life…and loved being outdoors.

He was an avid fisherman and loved to hike and kayak as well...

Man there is nothing like being in the great outdoors, if you ask me…and we know Peter would agree.

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‌But Peter was more than the things I just listed.

He was a man who knew who he was

He was a man, judging by those of you who are here to celebrate his life, who LOVED his family

and also I can tell how much he meant to you.

Humanly speaking,

our legacy of love is always complicated…

none of us are perfect…

but it is LOVE nonetheless and,

if we open ourselves up to Christ,

we will be perfected in LOVE.

So, here we find ourselves remembering the life of Peter,

a man whose life is a story that is interconnected with so many other stories..

Here we find ourselves remembering a life that was interconnected with, and touched, so many lives.

In the midst of the uncertainty of death, we have this hope…

GOD is greater than death…Amen?

In death there is an end; however,

In God, there is no end…for God is eternal.

Amid the uncertainty of life and death, we have THIS GREAT HOPE…

That God conquered death through our Lord Jesus Christ…

And that victory, in Jesus Christ, has been given to us…

Our Lord does not give, as the world does, only to take what was given away…

Rather, Jesus has given us eternal life and never-ending LOVE.

God loves Peter so very much and, it is my strong conviction,

that Peter is experiencing the fullness of that LOVE and that LIFE right now in the care and presence of God.

What’s more, GOD LOVES YOU TOO…and will not leave you alone, or abandoned…

But will fill your hearts with the assurance of the ETERNAL LIFE awaiting you if you but keep your eyes on God,

And your heart set on LOVE.

LOVE is God’s essence.

LOVE is where we find Peter’s legacy,

and LOVE is the foundation you can build your legacy upon too…

So do not let your hearts be troubled…do not let them be afraid.

For GOD is with you,

and LOVE will guide you. Amen.

REMEMBERING PETER

Pastor, family, friends, and members of the congregation may briefly voice their thankfulness to God for the grace they have received in the life of the deceased and their Christian faith and joy.

COMMENDATION

PRAYERS *

God of us all, your love never ends.

When all else fails, you still are God.

We pray to you for one another in our need,

   and for all, anywhere, who mourn with us this day.

To those who doubt, give light;

   to those who are weak, strength;

   to all who have sinned, mercy;

   to all who sorrow, your peace.

Keep true in us

   the love with which we hold one another.

In all our ways we trust you.

And to you,

   with your Church on earth and in heaven,

   we offer honor and glory, now and for ever.

O God, all that you have given us is yours.

As first you gave Peter to us,

   now we give Peter back to you.

Receive Peter into the arms of your mercy.

Raise Peter up with all your people.

Receive us also, and raise us into a new life.

Help us so to love and serve you in this world

   that we may enter into your joy in the world to come.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING *

 God of love, we thank you

   for all with which you have blessed us

    even to this day:

for the gift of joy in days of health and strength

   and for the gifts of your abiding presence and promise

    in days of pain and grief.

We praise you for home and friends,

   and for our baptism and place in your Church

   with all who have faithfully lived and died.

Above all else we thank you for Jesus,

   who knew our griefs,

   who died our death and rose for our sake,

   and who lives and prays for us.

And as he taught us, so now we pray.

THE LORD'S PRAYER *

Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power,

and the glory, for ever.

Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13 KJV)

DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING *

The peace of God which passes all understanding

   keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,

    and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

And the blessing of God Almighty,

   the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

 be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

A Service of Committal follows at the final resting place.