Funeral Sermon 3

Funeral Sermon

Irene Koepsell

Luke 2:29-32

“Mine Eyes Have Seen Thy Salvation”

Luke 2:29-32 “Lord, now You are letting 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.

            Laura and Floyd, friends and family, dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, our Lord -- “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.”

            Everyone must leave this world.  No one can stay here.  Some people must depart after a shorter period of time and others after a longer period of time.  For all people, it is a relatively short period of time compared to eternity.  When a person leaves this world, this life and this world in death they don’t stop existing.  They don’t go into what some people call a soul sleep, where they unconsciously wait the day of the resurrection.  When a person dies their soul goes to its final resting place, a final destination.  The important thing, maybe the most important thing, is where that destination is.  The Lord has told us that there are only two final destinations.  One is a place of rest, in the presence of the Lord.  The other is a place of unrest and separation from God.  The scriptures tell us that on the last day the body will be raised and rejoined with the soul where it has gone.  We meet here with joy because we celebrate God’s grace and love in the life of Irene Koepsell.  We celebrate all the blessings that her heavenly Father has given her through her Savior Jesus Christ.  We meet here with joy 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 our text were spoken by Simeon.  He was an aged 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 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. 

            Irene 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.  In the waters God