Funeral Wilmer Radkel John 10 22-30 2008
Funeral of Wilmer Radke
August 6, 2008
John 10:27-28
“My Sheep Hear My Voice”
Betty and Jerry….., grandchildren and great grand children, family and friends of Wilmer…Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Listen to Jesus Christ’s promise and pledge of faithfulness to Wilmer and to you…ESV John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
Our Lord Jesus has given us many comforting and wonderful words. These words are some of His most comforting. In them He makes a promise to us…to Christians. His words of promise give Christians hope and comfort. His words gave hope to Wilmer. They give hope to us now.
These words give comfort to all people that are stressed out, overworked, worn down by the demands of life in this fallen, sinful world. But they are especially appealing for those who are fearful, worried, afraid and lonely, those people that have felt the heavy burdens of this life. Yet our Lord God desires that we be comforted. Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” For He desires that we have relief from our burdens. Wilmer now knows this rest. He now experiences the full comfort of his soul through our Lord Jesus and what He has done on the cross.
How appropriate that on this day, as we grieve Wilmer’s death, we also celebrate that our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has accomplished what He promised to Wilmer. He has taken Wilmer home to be with Him in heaven, in heaven he has been rejoined to all his loved ones that have preceded him in death, his parents Wilhelm and Lydia, his brothers Walter, Elmer and Reuben and his sisters Esther and Ruth as well as his daughter, your sister Lila Mae. What a wonderful reunion they have had as they share the joy of eternal life in the presence of their good shepherd Jesus. They are in heaven together because they have heard His voice.
Our Lord said, “My Sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.” Most of us heard our shepherd’s voice, the voice of Jesus, when our parents and sponsors brought us to be baptized. This was true in Wilmer’s life. In baptism he heard our Savior’s voice proclaim that he was God’s dear child. In baptism God marked him as His very own and He placed His promise upon him, a promised to always be with him, to guard and protect him, to sustain him through all the troubles that he would face in life, and finally to lead him to his heavenly home, to be in the presence of his God. This is what a shepherd does. He leads guides and protects. He shares the burdens of this life. He overcomes all burdens with the comfort that only God can give.
When Wilmer was born on April 24, 1916 in Theresa, he was born into a world of trouble. He faced a terrible reality. As all people are, he was born into a world of sin, sin that affects us from within ourselves and outside of ourselves. From the inside, like us all, Wilmer was born with a spirit of rebellion against God. He was born with a sinful nature that opposed the ways and will of God. Because of this, just as all of us are, he deserved God’s punishment. He deserved to be condemned to eternal death; truly he was born into a world of trouble. Not only that Wilmer experienced a world of trouble that wasn’t brought about by his own sin, but simply being born into a world where sin and death seem to reign. We all live in a world that suffers from the effects of man’s fall into sin. Wilmer lived through the great depression. But that was nothing compared to the burdens that he would see, that he would share with his wife Lucille. Physical suffering and disability are part of sins effects on humans. Of course many of you know how Lucille was devastated by her stroke, Then Wilmer was burdened by taking care of just about her every need. Many of you remember him getting up a 5:00 A.M. on Sundays so that he could dress, and feed his wife and prepare themselves for church. Together they suffered many years. Some of us suffer more than others. I do not know why. Even after Lucille went to be with the Lord, Wilmer was left disabled and unable to take care of his own needs. So he and Lucille finished their earthly day at Mayville nursing and rehab. Those days were not all easy. Many of them were filled with loneliness and pain and full of burden.
What is amazing though was that his life, and hers were not characterized by their suffering but rather by how much they were blessed. That’s right they were, Wilmer was blessed. That is the way he saw it. Oh, he had his grumpy day. More often he carried a smile and a laugh, and a memory of the times that were…times that were blessed. Working as a hired man, meeting and marrying Lucille, renting and then buying the farm. Working in Mayville, caring for his wife…His life at church, the founding of the Lutheran Laymen’s League at Immanuel… These were all blessings. It was with these things in mind that he looked at life. He lived life and knew that he was a blessed man. That he was, a blessed man. Many people call the person blessed that does not see a day of trouble. They are wrong. The person that is blessed often sees plenty of trouble, but is also given the gift of knowing what to do with it. The man that is blessed gives his trouble to the Lord. He has faith that caries him on. He remembers the word of Jesus, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”
Wilmer found his rest in Jesus. God created us and has loved us. He gave life to Wilmer and loved him. So He sent His Son Jesus Christ to take away our sin, to take away his sin. This is why Jesus died on the cross. When Jesus Christ died he carried the burdens of us all. He suffered for our sin. HE took our death penalty upon Himself. He suffered our infirmities and took the consequences of our sin upon Himself. As a result he gave us the promise of new and eternal life lived in the presence of God. God’s love for us, for Wilmer, was so great that He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for us to carry our burdens, so that by believing in Him our sins would be forgiven.
Jesus our Good Shepherd did not just die for us, He rose from the dead for us. As He did it was His declaration that all who were joined with him in baptism are joined into his death, and will share in His resurrection. This is what Easter is all about. This is what Sunday worship is about. It is our shout of triumph over sin, the devil and death and the grave, For all who have faith in Him He shares His resurrection glory. Wilmer now shares in the glory of eternal life as her spirit has gone back to the Heavenly Father that gave him life. He now waits for the resurrection of the flesh where the Lord will call his body out of the grave and reunite it with his spirit. In the flesh he shall know God as he has been known by Him.
Our Shepherd knows us and we know Him. Jesus knew and loved Wilmer all the days of his earthly life. He heard His voice, and he followed Him. For Wilmer following his Savior was expressed as he was instructed and confirmed in the Christian faith. His confirmation verse was, “10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. His faith was expressed in his love for you his family, sharing life’s trials and joys with Lucille. It was expressed in his love for his children and grandchildren. He expressed his faith in his faithful church attendance, faithfully serving her Savior as a part of this Christian church, a community of people responsible for each other. His faith was expressed as he helped found the Lutheran Laymen’s League here at Immanuel. Together he worked with you, knowing that the Lord was using all of us to accomplish His purpose and mission on earth.
Wilmer is now at rest. He has been given the gift of eternal life that was promised to him when he was baptized so many years ago. He now enjoys the eternal blessings of God as our Lord’s promise to him has been fulfilled. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
This promise of God is for you also. Our good shepherd is watching over you, walking with you just as he watched over Wilmer. He has promised to always be faithful to you. He is with you every day of your lives, through good times and bad times. He is with you in your weariness and He shares your burdens. He will always be with you. Just as He gave His life for Wilmer, He gave His life for you and now lives for you. For this reason remember how special you are and how much God loves and cares for you. Jesus Christ is your Good shepherd. He will lead you through life, lead you through death. Hear His voice and follow Him just as Wilmer heard and followed him, that by believing in Him, that you too may have eternal life in His name Amen.