Funeral Esther Wendling 2007
Funeral Sermon, Esther Wendling, December 22, 2007, Luke 2:29-32
"Mine Eyes Have Seen Thy Salvation"
Family, and friends of Esther, bothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, our Lord -- "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen."
It is almost Christmas. As we are preparing to celebrate our Lord’s birth, I believe heaven too is preparing to celebrate. This is because Jesus Christ’s birth is a cosmic event that brings heaven and earth together. God, by His grace, has decided that Esther should celebrate with Him in heaven. Christmas in heaven…that sounds good doesn’t it? She is with our Lord, she is with her husband_______. She is celebrating with Michael. We will miss her, yet we know that it was time.
In close connection with our Lord’s birth, not long after His birth, we have a story told for our edification. It is part of the Christmas story. It is the story of Simeon. His words are recorded for us and often used by us in this church. Luke 2:29-32 "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.
Lord, now let your servant depart in peace. Everyone must leave this world. No one can stay here. Some of us are called by God to our heavenly home after living on this earth for a very short period of time. A time that we consider much too short, as was the case when Michael was taken from us. For some reason God allows some of us a much longer time on this earth. This is what God determined for Esther. Truly, it is hard, from a Christian stand point; to understand what God is doing. It is even harder for us to understand who is more blessed. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with this as he too so wanted to go to be with the Lord, but yet understood that for all the time the Lord allowed, under the sun, He would use him for His glory and His purpose. For all people, life here on earth is a relatively short period of time compared to eternity. But for however many days our Lord has given us, we serve His purpose and bear witness to His glory.
As Christians, because of what Jesus did for us in His death and resurrection we know that at the end of our lives there awaits for us a place of rest. We come together to celebrate God's grace and love in the life of Esther Wendling. Even though we mourn the death of Esther, we also celebrate all the blessings that her heavenly Father, our heavenly Father, has given her through her Savior Jesus Christ. We come here and are at peace because she saw here salvation and she has now departed in peace and is now in the glorious presence of the Lord in Heaven.
The words of Simeon were spoken by an old man that believed that the Savior was coming. He had been promised that he would not depart this life until he had actually seen the Savior with his own eyes. When Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple to present Him according to the Law of Moses, Simeon came over and took Jesus in his arms and spoke the words of our text.
Simeon was ready to depart this life in peace because he knew where he was going. His eyes had seen God's salvation which God had prepared for him. Jesus was his salvation. Jesus would make it possible for him to be saved. Jesus, God's only Son, would grow up, suffer and die for the sins of all people. Most importantly for Simeon, Jesus would die for his sins. Simeon recognized that he was a sinner. He realized his desperate need for a Savior. He believed in Jesus and he was saved.
Esther also lived to a very old age. She was blessed with a long life. She did not see Jesus with her physical eyes, like Simeon, but she saw Him with the eyes of faith. She saw Jesus when she was baptized into His name and the name of the Holy life giving God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On that special day, her father brought her and her sponsors to the St. Jacobi parsonage riding on a bob sleigh behind a team of horses. There, by God’s word of promise and through the waters of baptism God made her his own dear child. She was confirmed in Her Christian faith on September 21, 1936. He confirmation verse was Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” All her life she continued to seek the Lord. She continued to see Jesus as she confessed her faith in Him, believing that He was her Savior that God had sent into the world for her. This was her life-long confession of faith. This was her faith as she departed this life to see the salvation that the Lord had prepared for her. Not long ago Esther celebrated the Lord's salvation in her life. I asked Esther if she would like to celebrate the Lord's Supper. She most certainly did. We worshipped the Lord. We confessed our sins, and we received the Lord's forgiveness, in His Word and in His body and blood given for her. She saw her salvation on that day and she sees it even more clearly today as she is with the Lord.
Esther's faith was expressed in her regular attendance to the River Church through out her life, where she heard God's Word and received Christ's body and blood for the forgiveness of her sins. Here, she saw her salvation, prepared for her. Here she saw her Savior Jesus who died for her. Her faith was expressed in the love that she had for her family and especially her husband _________, and in her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her faith was expressed in her life, enjoying the blessings that God had given her.
Esther, in her words, “Was born at my parent farm house on a very cold day on February 13, 1912. A neighbor lady served as midwife. I grew up with just the German language till I started school when I was 7 and a ½. I had to walk 2 and a ½ miles to a one room school. She was a simple farm girl from a simpler day and time. The home and the farm and her family was her life. She saw the end of World War I, lived through World War II and experienced the radical changes of the 20th and 21st Centuries. She said, “I have seen a lot of changes in my lifetime from horse and buggy days to flying in big jet airplanes 5 to 6 miles up in the air. I spent my first 20 years without electricity, a furnace in the house, indoor plumbing or T.V. So if any of my children or grandchildren feels deprived ask yourself how grandma made it. I always felt happy in my heart. I’d be singing everyday. My mother used to say, “If Esther doesn’t sing, she is sick.”
Esther isn’t sick. Esther isn’t dead. Esther continues to sing. We thank God that he blessed Esther with a long life. We thank him that He has taken her to be with Himself to the place that He has prepared for her. Esther like Simeon can say, "Lord, let Thy servant depart in peace, according to Your Word, for my eyes have seen Thy Salvation which Thou hast prepared for me." This Salvation has been prepared for you too. As God loved Esther He loves you and has prepared a place for you. God loves you so much that He sent His only Son into the world to save you and give you eternal life. Follow in Esther's steps and believe in Jesus, trusting alone in Him because he died for you to save you from your sins. He came into the world so that even in death you and Esther could depart in peace, knowing that death is not the end but only the beginning. It begins with Christmas in Heaven. That sounds good doesn’t it? Amen.