John 10 22-30 Funeral A. Justmann 2006
Funeral of Arlene Justmann
October 17, 2006
John 10:27-28
“My Sheep Hear My Voice”
Chris, Charlotte, Stephanie, Rick, grandchildren and great grand children, family and friends of Arlene…Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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.”
This is the Bible reading that Arlene chose for this day, a day that she knew would eventually come for her as it will come for all of us someday. It is a wonderful text that gives us, gives Christians hope and comfort. Just as it gives us hope and comfort it gave Arlene hope all of her life.
This text gives comfort to all people that are stressed out, overworked, worn down by the demands of life in this fallen, sinful world. But it’s especially appealing for those who are fearful, worried, afraid and lonely. Yet our Lord God desires that we be comforted, and that is exactly what God had in mind with the words and images he gave us not only in this text but also in the 23rd Psalm and everywhere else in the Bible where he describes the Lord Jesus as our Good Shepherd and we believers as his sheep. These ideas of comfort and peace are what we most associate with the image of the Shepherd Jesus and his flock. This is the image that gives us comfort today.
How appropriate that on this day, as we grieve Arlene’s death, we also celebrate that our Good Shepherd has accomplished what He promised to her. He has taken Arlene home to be with Him in heaven, she has been rejoined to all her loved ones that have preceded her in death, especially Carl her husband, and now she waits for us to join her.
Our Lord said, “My Sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.” Most of us heard our shepherd’s voice when our parents and sponsors brought us to be baptized. This was true in Arlene’s life. In baptism she heard our Savior’s voice proclaim that she was God’s dear child. In baptism He marked her as His very own and promised to always be with her, to guard and protect her, and to lead her home to our Heavenly Father. This is what a shepherd does. This is what Jesus Christ has done for Arlene. In Baptism life really began for Arlene. Jesus said, “Unless (a person) one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.” In Baptism we Christians have the new birth that eternally binds us together into the family of God. Arlene was born at home and baptized at home. In birth she was bound to her human family. It is a connection that lasts forever. Sometimes we may not always get along with the people in our human families. But nothing can change the fact that we are still family. There is truth to the phrase…blood is thicker than water. That is the way that family works. Sometimes birth can bind us together with other people’s families in a wonderful way. Just as Arlene was born at home, she had the wonderful occasion to participate in the birth of her neighbor’s baby, as she herself delivered Veronie Ohlemiller at home and placed that dear baby in the arms of her mother Betty. From that time the Ohlemiller family was bound together with Arlene. They are like family. All of us here, as Christians, are one family through Baptism where God has given us new life. We share life’s troubles and we share life’s joys, but most of all we share the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ, whose blood shed on the cross, binds us together into God’s family.
There is no Shepherd like Jesus, because He laid down His life for the sheep. By dying He has gathered us together as His flock. We know why he died. We live in a world filled with sin. We are infected with the disease of sin. We choose to follow our own ways instead of the way of God. For this there is punishment. But God’s love for us, for Arlene, was so great that He wanted to spare us the punishment that we deserved. And doing what only God can do, sent His only Son Jesus Christ to be punished for us, to die for us, so that by believing in Him we could live forever in the presence of God.
For God so loved the world, so loved Arlene, so loved you, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Without our Good Shepherds death there could be no promise of eternal life. Jesus our Good Shepherd did not just die for the sheep He loves. He picked up His life in His glorious resurrection. As the living Shepherd He preserves and protects His flock. For all who have faith in Him He shares His resurrection glory. Arlene now shares in the glory of eternal life as her spirit has gone back to the Heavenly Father that gave her life. She now waits for the resurrection of the flesh where the Lord will call her body out of the grave and reunite it with her spirit. In the flesh she shall know God as she has been known by Him.
Our Shepherd knows us and we know Him. Jesus knew and loved Arlene all the days of her earthly life. She heard His voice, and she followed Him. For Arlene following her Savior was expressed as she was instructed and confirmed in the Christian faith. It was expressed in faithful church attendance, raising her children and grandchildren to be Christians and faithfully serving her Savior as an active member of our Ladies Aid. She was part of this Christian church, a community of people responsible for each other. Together she worked with us, knowing that the Lord was using all of us to accomplish His purpose on earth. The Lord has decided that her work is through. She is now at rest with Him. As Isaiah wrote, “He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. (Is. 40:11). Arlene is in our Saviors arms…she is close to His heart.
She now has been given the gift that was promised to her when she was baptized so many years ago. She now enjoys the eternal blessings of God. She understood that these blessings were not given to her based on anything that she had done just as the hymn that she choose for this day reflects…Just as I am without one plea But that Thy blood was shed for me…And that Thou biddest me come to Thee…O Lamb of God I come, I come.
Conclusion. Our faithfulness always comes in second to what our faithful Lord does. Our promises and pledges are fickle and inconsistent. But our Lord’s promises to us are reliable and unfailing. The Lord gives us a most wonderful promise. He said, “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 good shepherd is watching over you, walking with you just as he watched over Arlene. He has promised to always be faithful to you. His faithfulness does not depend what you do or how you do it. Though we will fail Him, He stands besides us, picking us up when we fall and offering us forgiveness. He is with you every day of your lives, through good times and bad times. He will always be with you. Just as He gave His life for Arlene, 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 your shepherd. He will lead you through life. Hear His voice and follow Him just as Arlene heard and followed him, and know that you too have eternal life in His name Amen.
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
“While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost…that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”