Eunice Bormann
Notes
Transcript
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
Eunice Bormann Funeral Message
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as those of you from around here know, I came to Corsica a little over three years ago. And from that time, I was never able to really develop a relationship with Eunice. There have been occasions over that time where people have seen responses and glimpses of who she once was, but her disease took so much away from her livelihood and her ability to interact as she once had. To hear Paul reference the body—this flesh and blood, ligaments, muscles, bones, skin, everything else—as just a tent with “groaning and burdening,” I think it’s easy to think of these last several years of Eunice’s life as very much that—a struggle.
But it’s my hope that today we can reflect on more than just that time in her life, the most recent period, but we can reflect on who she was for many years before. There was more to her, much more, which you all experienced in one way or another, for a great part of your life or maybe a shorter time, whether you knew her directly as family or through her children or as friends in the community. I don’t have stories to share today, but it was these connections to other people that seem to sum up her life well—daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. That is who Eunice was, those were her main callings in life. It was through those connections, those relationships, that she showed love and care.
As we think about today, it is a day of relief, of gladness that there will be no more suffering for Eunice, that chapter is closed. If joy is something that has been a struggle for you, hopefully it can return now—maybe not today or tomorrow but soon. I hold onto that hope for joy even during longsuffering, even during persevering fatigue and weakening, because the end of our lives, the brokenness of human, mortal bodies is not the end.
Our Scripture talks about how there is a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, just like we heard a little earlier in John 14. Jesus is building and preparing a place for all who are saved. We groan here and now, because we are longing for our heavenly clothes and heavenly dwelling. We long for more life. Do you hear the comparison, here and now versus the future and eternity? Verse 8 says, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Maybe we think about our lives and we enjoy them—that’s not bad, but Paul’s saying, to be with the Lord, the future, is so much better. Boys and girls, men and women, friends and family, it is hard to wrap our minds around that when we see a body in a casket, and yet we believe Eunice is in a different home now. The home that all who profess the Christian faith desire—being with our Lord and Savior.
Let it be clear though that the groaning and burdening and longing that Paul talks about is not just for those with physical ailments and with great pains, for those who have lost the abilities and gifts that they once had, it’s not just for elderly people constrained to a bed or a wheelchair and needing help. No, all of us, whether we recognize it or not, are weary in this life. Each one of our bodies will eventually decay and grow old. Each of us will have trouble no matter how much we try to protect and secure ourselves. Each one of us will hurt others and experience being hurt. All of that is because of sin and because we are sinners.
Sin and immorality and evil fill this world—we all know that. Look at the newspaper, watch news stations on TV, scan the internet—it’s obvious, things are a mess. Pain and grief are here, too—visit a hospital or a nursing home or a cemetery. This is not how things were supposed to be, and rather unfortunately, we are a mess too, we know pain and grief too. We are prone to sin and wandering. On our own, we are lost.
How can I speak so positively then, so hopefully for Eunice and others? Because the God of creation, who is before all and over all, is a God who promises himself to his people. Because he sent his Son to live obediently as one of us, because his Son died on a cross though innocent and not guilty of any sin, and because he rose and has now ascended into heaven. His Son’s name is Jesus. This is the one that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, for God sent him to save the world through him. If you will believe in Jesus, then there is hope for this life and the life to come. The mess of this world is not the end. The devil who seeks to destroy life will lose. Hell will not overcome those who seek the Lord. That is why there is hope.
I don’t have a good answer that will make anyone feel good as to why any person should live with and even suffer with a disease attacking the mind and body for years. I don’t, but no matter our suffering on this earth, there is someone far greater to trust who has a plan that is far greater than anything we could have here. That’s why we live by faith and not by sight. It’s something we’re confident is going to come, but for now it’s a promise waiting to be fulfilled. Eternal life, what we hope confidently that Eunice has gone on to, is so much better than this life. And anyone who has this hope is ready to be home with the Lord!
Brothers and sisters, Eunice was a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a friend. Those relationships and others are part of what has drawn you here. But may it be that each of us as we sit in a pew or around a table and as we go our separate ways later on, may we be able to say, “Yes, I do prefer to be with the Lord. I do prefer that Jesus’ mercy and grace will be shed on me through faith. I renounce the devil. I hate sin. I know it ruins my life. So, God, rescue me, fix me, and help me to be loyal to you. Give me life.” If you haven’t trusted in him yet, I pray that today might be the day. If you wondered why we can gather with such hope, and say there’s more to come, it’s because we know who Eunice believed in. May God gather everyone of us to himself and one day together in his heavenly dwelling. Amen.