Pam Benson Funeral Sermon

Jesus says in today’s Gospel lesson When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” You think of the ways Pam gave to others during her life—Pecan Festival committee member, American Legion Auxiliary member, food bank volunteer, VBS superintendent, weekday school teacher, Altar Guild member—and you may be led to think “See, Pam was such a good person. Of course she’s in heaven.”

It’s a common sentiment given by people when they hear of someone’s death. But the reality, dear family/friends, is that none of those things saved Pam. Her being a good person did not reward her with going to heaven. And Pam confessed this very thing quite often. In fact, she confessed this every Sunday during Divine Service and at home when I would visit her. One of the first things Pam would say for each service is “I, a poor, miserable sinner...” Pam knew the reality: her sins deserved nothing but God’s temporal/eternal punishment. She knew that the day would come that she would die, and Pam knew that the real reason was her sin. Yes, she had cancer, and that did take away her health, but Pam knew that her sins would bring about her death. Pam also confessed that she couldn’t save herself—no amount of works, no decision, nothing on her part. She confessed that her salvation had to be given her by her Lord.

And thanks be to God that salvation was given to Pam by her Lord. As we see in John 3: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. You see, Pam was able to give as much as she did for her family, church, and community because God gave to her first. He gave to Pam/you/me the gift of His Son Jesus, who would save His people from their sins. Pam wasn’t able to save herself, but Jesus was able to save her from her sins, just as he was able to save you/me. This Jesus did willingly for her/us, giving up His own life on the cross so that Pam/we would be given new life. Eternal life. Jesus willingly gave up His life so that each and every one of Pam’s sins would be paid for, along with each and every one of ours. Jesus willingly gave up His life to save Pam/you/me. For the Son of Man not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. That’s what Jesus did for Pam/you/me. He paid the ransom price needed to rescue us/Pam from sin/death/Satan and bring us into right relationship with our heavenly Father.

But that’s not all Jesus did! He not only laid down His life for Pam/us; He took up His life again! Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over sin/death/Satan. Jesus rose from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep—meaning that, since Jesus is risen from the dead, all those who fall asleep in Jesus shall rise from the dead. This is the case for Pam. This is the case for all those who have fallen asleep in Jesus, and will be true for all those who fall asleep in Jesus confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in their hearts that He is risen from the dead. Jesus rose from the dead so that His work of salvation would be credited to Pam and to all those who receive Jesus’ word in faith. And we can be sure that Pam has received not only salvation from Jesus, but also the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, because Pam received the gift of Holy Baptism. In those blessed waters filled with God’s Word, Pam was made a child of God, she was given the forgiveness of sins won for her by her Savior Jesus, she was rescued from death and the devil—and yes, this death she has experienced is only temporary—and Pam was given eternal salvation. She was also given in her baptism the gift of the Holy Spirit, who created faith in her to trust in her Savior Jesus and that He died/rose for her, to save her, forgive her, and give her eternal life. This is spoken of in Ephesians 2: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Pam being saved is entirely God’s gift to her; the same is true for you/me as well.

And her Lord’s gifts to her didn’t stop there. Jesus continually gave to Pam through His Word—in devotions, in Scripture readings, in sermons, in hymns—and Jesus gave to Pam His own body/blood in the Lord’s Supper, which she would eat and drink so that her sins would be forgiven and her faith would be strengthened. Not to mention that the Lord gave to Pam all the other blessings she had in her life: a loving husband in John, a loving mother in Hildreth, a loving sister in Toni, a loving daughter in Shelle, along with the rest of her family; a loving group of brothers and sisters in Christ here at St. John’s; and all those with whom Pam worked throughout the community. Because Pam received salvation from her Lord, Pam was able to show that saving faith worked in her by the Holy Spirit to the various groups/organizations mentioned earlier. I quoted from Ephesians 2 a bit ago. Here’s the next verse: For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Pam’s ability, willingness, and joy in giving to others stems from the fact that God gave to her the gift of His grace, His salvation, and the faith He worked in her.

As we know, the time came over the last few years that Pam had an increasingly difficult time in giving of her time and talents for the sake of others as cancer was slowly taking away her health. Over the last several months she was unable to leave her home for much beyond treatments. Yet her faith that her Lord gave Pam continued to work, as she was always joyful and thankful to have God’s Word and the Lord’s Supper brought to her. She expressed her faith in Jesus, that He would one day take her to Himself and would one day raise her with a perfect body/soul that would live forever. Everything about her salvation comes from Jesus. This is why, dear family/friends, we can follow the words of our Epistle reading: we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. Notice, Paul doesn’t say “Don’t grieve!” In fact, it is good to grieve, for what we see before us is not natural. No one was created to die, yet this is what the curse of sin does to all people. But, unlike those who don’t believe in Jesus, you can grieve with the sure/certain hope that, because Jesus lives again, Pam will live again. This urn with her remains is not the last for Pam. Jesus will return and raise Pam from the dead with a glorified body/soul—no more cancer, no more sin, no more death. She will rise again and will live forever in the new heavens and new earth, as is promised in Isaiah 65. Pam is saved because her Lord gave her the gift of salvation by the suffering/death/resurrection of Jesus. Her giving was in response to the gift of salvation. And she will be given the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. The life of the world to come.