Funeral Dot Pearson

Funeral for Dorothy Pearson

Would you please pray with me: 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 and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Since I left Pennsylvania to join the military, I haven’t been able to see my uncles, aunts, and cousins as much as I would have liked. One thing about the Pearson clan - family is important, and this family does things together. Always did…as far back as I can remember.

I tried…really tried… to remember any memory I had of just my Aunt Dot by herself. I couldn’t think of a time that I ever saw her that her husband wasn’t there, too. They were, as we talked about yesterday, “inseparable”. And considering they started dating in high school and this year marks 68 years of marriage… that’s quite an example.

As I thought of my memories of my aunt, the first thing to come to my mind was her “oh Bill...” response - with the eye-roll - to something silly her husband had just done. That was a pretty common theme in our visits to their house, if memory serves me correctly.

Dot being at her husband’s side - with great consistency - was a reflection of her beliefs about family… and that started with her marriage. She took that “in sickness and in health” part very seriously. I’m told that in her final days, when she received her diagnosis, her first thoughts were not of herself, but of her husband.

As we sat around the picnic table yesterday sharing a few memories, everyone was quick to point out how important her family was to her. She loved every one of them. All 346 of you. Sorry, I’ve been away for a while and haven’t been keeping up.

I have this memory of us having a Pearson family picnic when Christopher was still in diapers, and his Grandma was trying to get him to sit in her lap. Let’s just say that young “Crusher” wasn’t really interested in sitting still, but Dot just had this smile on her face that stuck with me. She was proud of all of her grandchildren.

I’m sorry to say that one side of my aunt that I didn’t know much about was her faith in God. Don’t get me wrong: I know she was a faithful Christian, and certainly a Lutheran and a dedicated member of her church. But it wasn’t something I ever talked with her about. But as we’ve been getting ready for today, I have to tell you that her choice of Bible passages for this service speaks volumes about her faith.

First of all, not many people I meet pick something out of the book of Lamentations… which is typically not associated with happy or hopeful thoughts. This section stands out from that bad rapp. I’d like to back up one verse from what’s in the bulletin: “

21 But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

22  The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

23  they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

24  ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul,

‘therefore I will hope in him.’” (La 3:21–24).

“This I call to mind” - what is “this”? That the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

Now, remember the Psalm? “His steadfast love endures forever.”

I’ve only been doing this “pastor” thing for a few years now, but one thing I’ve discovered is that I had a lot of questions about some words and phrases that I didn’t really have a full appreciation of their meaning. This is one of those phrases: “steadfast love”. I want to take a moment and reflect on what this meant to the one who wrote it.

Steadfast love is the kind of love that doesn’t give up. It isn’t easily turned away. Steadfast love is there in good times and in bad. Steadfast love is unbreakable and unshakable. It sticks around when anything less deep would fall away.

Dot picked 2 rather short passages that in 7 total verses mentions “steadfast love” 5 times. Clearly it meant something to her. And as you reflect on her love for her family, I think you’ll agree with me that God’s steadfast love for her was reflected in how she loved her family.

The lesson from John 3 follows the same theme, but tells us in more detail how God showed His steadfast love to His flock: He gave up His Only Son. I don’t think I appreciated what that meant until I was a parent myself. To paraphrase the occasional wisdom of Dr. Frasier Crane: “until you have a baby, you don’t realize you could love someone that much.” Parents, can you feel that? Hits home, doesn’t it? Now imagine giving up your child.

Even the most faithful of Christians, the most pious, the most church-going, the most “righteous” among us… no matter how good we are, we still sin. We’re never faithful enough or pious enough or good enough or righteous enough to earn God’s favor or His love. You see, God is perfectly righteous, and that means He cannot ignore or overlook sin. Any sin. And because His people - you know those ones that He love so much - continue to fall to temptation and can’t resist sin - because of our sin, we couldn’t be with God. Perfect righteousness cannot coexist with sin. We were doomed.

But our perfectly righteous God also loved us (and continues to love us) in a way that is…steadfast. And so He did what we could not: He paid the price for our sins. This is the lesson from John 3:16-17

John 3:16–17 (ESV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

We all know verse 16, but verse 17 is just as important. God’s justice demands punishment for sin. So God found a way to take that punishment upon himself, and He did that through His Only Son. Remember what I said about giving up your child, the one you love so much? This is what God has done for us. But this is not even the best part of God’s love for us. Yes, our sin is wiped away and we are reconciled to our Heavenly Father. It gets even better.

Just look again at the last lesson, John 6:40 “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Christ’s death on the cross paid the price for our sins. But Christ’s resurrection put his victory over death on full display. This is not just that God wanted His Only Son back. This is His way of showing us that death is not the end. Death does not have the last word. Death has already been conquered, and this was accomplished because of God’s great love for us. His steadfast love for us.

And that is why, as it says in Lamenations, “The Lord is my portion”. A better way to think of this verse is: “the Lord is my inheritance and He is all I need.” And THAT is why the author says “therefore I will hope in him.” Our God has defeated sin and death, and because of His Son’s death and resurrection, we can have that eternal life. That’s what tells us that we will get to be with Him and all of our loved ones again.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be sad. It’s ok to be sad for now. She’s not with us right now, and we’re going to miss her, and that’s ok. It’s ok to grieve. It’s ok to cry. It’s healthy. And there’s no one right way to grieve. The only wrong way is when you try to avoid it. Just let it happen, and be the family that Dot taught you to be. Support each other.

And remind each other what you heard in Jesus’ own words today: death is not the end, and Jesus has made sure that we will live with Him eternally. That’s what tells us that we will get to see Dot again. And that is why I have hope. And I very much look forward to that day.

Please pray with me once more: may the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.