Wendling Funeral
Michael Wendling Funeral, John 11, October 5, 2005
“The Cost of Freedom”
Randy and Carrie, Jenny, Mark, Angela, Aleana, and the family and friends of Michael Wendling. Now is a time for tears, and it is also a time for laughter. Michael would have wanted it that way. It is a time for us to remember the way we wanted thing to be, and to remember the way things are. We celebrate the life of Michael Wendling that we shared with him here on earth. We celebrate the life he has now with God through faith in his Savior Jesus Christ. The Psalmist wrote, “Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea. We find comfort in the promise that God has made, “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces, he will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth.” We remember the words of our Savior Jesus, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” In the midst of death, there is life through faith in Jesus. We need this comfort and hope, to know that there is more to life than this, when a boy, a son, a brother a friend, and yes a soldier lies dead at the age of twenty. We can find comfort knowing that the Lord goes through life and death with us, and through faith in Jesus Christ gives us eternal life. Michael is not dead. He is very much alive and with the Lord.
Michael’s body lies before us, killed in the service of his country, dying for the things he loved, and we see the cost of freedom. He paid the ultimate price for all of us.
As we remember Michael we must think about his sense of humor, his love of life and his faith in Jesus Christ.
No celebration of Michael’s life would be complete without a bit of humor. So, if you will permit me I would like to tell a story. A young soldier and his commanding officer got on a train together. The only available seats were across from an attractive young woman who was traveling with her grandmother. As they engaged in pleasant conversation, the soldier and the young woman kept eyeing one another; the attraction was obviously mutual. Suddenly the train went into a tunnel and the car became pitch black.
Immediately two sounds were heard: the “smack” of a kiss, and the “whack” of a slap across the face. The grandmother thought “I can’t believe he kissed my granddaughter, but I’m glad she gave him the slap he deserved.” The commanding officer thought, “I don’t blame the boy for kissing the girl, but it’s a shame that she missed his face. (and hit me instead.”) The young girl thought, “I’m glad he kissed me, but I wish my grandmother hadn’t slapped him for doing it.” And as the train broke into the sunlight, the soldier could not wipe the smile off his face. He had just seized the opportunity to kiss a pretty girl and slap his commanding officer and had gotten away with both! Now, that young soldier knew how seize the opportunity! It sounds like something Michael would have done.
Michael’s sense of humor was connected to his love of life. His love of life was evident in everything he did. We saw this love as he spent time with his father. He was called daddy’s little shadow. We saw it in the love that he shared with his mother, brother and sisters. We saw it in the special love he had for Alena. His love for life is reflected in His friends and everyone that knew him. I see it in your faces and through your tears. Michael grabbed on to life and lived it the way we all should… with passion. He enjoyed it all, whether it was playing football, basketball or golf (and boy could he hit the ball far, when I played with him I witnessed some incredibly long drives, and when I commented about it to him he looked at me with a sly smile as if to say…would it be any other way. Michael especially loved where he lived, on the farm and in the fields, enjoying the solitude of nature and God’s creation. Later, we will hear more about Michael’s passion for life in his fathers love letter to his son.
Michael also loved his country and the freedom that he had here. After the attacks of 9/11 this love for country was expressed in action as he joined the National Guard and became a member of Fond du lac’s C Company, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry. With his fellow soldiers, he did what soldiers do, he went off to war. And in war soldiers die. As with many other men and women before them, Michael Wendling and Andrew Wallace died, and Jeremy Roskoff was injured in the service of their country, and to help the Iraqi people. This is the cost of freedom. We do not take it lightly. The American flag that waves freely in the wind, that symbolizes the freedom that we have, this flag lies still in the presence of those who die to make that freedom real. Today we respect and thank the men and women of our armed forces, knowing that they to are willing to make this sacrifice. We grieve with the Wendling family because Michael is not only their son. He is the son of our country. We understand that Michael is not the only one to make this sacrifice; his family bears this sacrifice as well.
To understand Michael and his sense of service we must look at his faith in his Savior Jesus Christ, a faith that he shared with his family, a faith that bound them closely together. Michael understood service and sacrifice. He went off to war without fear because he knew that death, while it causes us pain and grief, is not to be feared.
He understood that God created the world and that it was beautiful and good. We see the remnants of that beauty every day, in the promise of the rainbow, in the setting of the sun, in the birds that sing, in the eight point buck that walks in the woods. We see it in the love that families and people are able to share with each other, We see it in the Wendling family. We see it in you, his friends.
Right from the beginning of creation man rebelled against God. Man choose to follow his own will rather than the will of God. This rebellion, we Christians call sin. As sin entered the world so did death. Immediately man began killing each other, as we still do today. Death was never intended by God for us. God created us to live and to have a personal relationship with him.
Just as a good judge must punish those that do wrong, God must punish those that rebel or sin against Him. This punishment is physical and spiritual death. Every one of us will die someday. That is because all of us have followed our own wills rather than the will of God. “ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
The fact that we suffer and die grieves God. While he must be perfectly just, He also perfectly loves. Therefore He made a promise to us that He would end death forever by sending His Son Jesus Christ into the world.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. For God so loved Michael that He gave His only Son so that He would not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God came into the world and was born of a woman. As a true man He lived as we do, he suffered and He died a criminal’s death on a cross. But as true God, He was able to take the punishment that we deserved upon Himself. All of God’s anger at our disobedience was placed on His shoulders. And God said, that those that trust in Him and Him alone will be saved so that even though they die they will live with God now as they await the physical resurrection of their bodies.
Our soldiers and others that serve in dangerous vocations, police officers or fireman, and all of us here today, are fools if we don’t consider what will happen to us after we die. Michael was no fool. He understood His own sin. He understood God’s love for Him. God’s unconditional promise of forgiveness was given to Him through Baptism and faith in Jesus Christ. Michael had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. God claimed Michael as His own and promised to go through life and death with Him. And He did, God was there when Michael died, giving him new and eternal life.
Often Jesus is portrayed as a soft cuddly kind of guy that hangs out peacefully with a bunch of sheep. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus Christ came to earth as a warrior. He came to serve us and to give us real freedom. He came to make the ultimate sacrifice for us all. He came as a warrior to bring life and to defeat death. True strength was shown in what looked like weakness. He allowed himself to suffer and to die in the cross. Even though He could have called on a battalion of angels to rescue him, He willingly died alone. This was the cost of freedom, that God should die in our place. Could He have loved us any more? Jesus said, “There is no greater love than a man lay down His life for another.” Jesus didn’t just die for us; He victoriously rose from the dead. His victory over death is ours.
In our gospel lesson, Jesus came as a warrior with the power to call His friend Lazarus out of the grave. But first he talked with Martha, his sister. John 11 “Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." This is what Michael believed! What do you believe?
We shed tears of grief because of Michael’s courageous death for us all. We want him to be here with us now. But we sing for joy even with tears in our eyes because we know that ultimately the victory of life is ours through Jesus Christ. Just as Lazarus was called out of the grave by Jesus, Jesus will call Michael out of his grave. Job: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God… How my heart yearns within me! Though we are separated from Michael for a while our hearts yearn within us when we will see him again, when his mother and father will hold him in their arms again and together with his brother and sisters, they will sing for joy. This time will come. It is God’s promise. For now, our comfort and hope is found in Jesus Christ. He will see you through the tough days ahead. He was with Michael. Now Michael is safely with Him. And He is with you. Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So if the Son (that is Jesus Christ) sets you free, you will be free indeed. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Michael is free. Amen