He Wrestled with God

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

Margaret, Scott, Steve and Steward, granddaughters, family and friends may the peace and comfort of the Holy Spirit abide with you now.

As I thought about the text for today, I was reminded that it doesn’t say “I don’t want you to grieve.”  But rather “I don’t want you to grieve like the rest of men…”

1)      We grieve

a)      Our grief is a result of our love and our memories of Dave

i)        Margaret you remember going to Dave’s house to visit his cousin and finding yourself attracted to this man.

ii)       You remember the time waiting while he served in the Army Air Corps

iii)     Getting married and raising three great boys

iv)     You grieve because you shared 55 years together

b)      Boys your grief is tied to many memories of Dad some in the wrestling room at school, and the bus trips to meets out of town, and those home meets, literally in your living room

c)      Granddaughters grief is linked to his loving kindness and his love of food and going out to eat.

d)      Wrestlers will recall nobody wanted to ride with him because he drove so slow and the after season dinners at his home

e)      For the former students you may remember his teaching of typing and business or maybe a few remember the short hand he taught, or maybe you remember Mr. Natvig standing on his head a pep assemblies,

f)        Fellow church members grieve because we have lost a partner in the work of the kingdom, one who made evangelism calls and ran the Sunday School

g)      I am going to miss him telling me how he wished I had been on his wrestling team and what good muscles I had (if he only knew how bad a wrestler I was)

h)      All of us who knew Dave will remember and grieve the loss of his wonderful sense of humor and desire to make you smile.

i)        We all have different memories of Dave, and it is those memories that tie us together today and unite us in our grief, but we grieve not like the rest of men…

2)      We Grieve with Hope.

a)      Our hope is not in because of the accomplishments of this life.

i)        All of Dave’s honors, plaques, championships, trophies are not what give us hope.

ii)       It is not his membership in this or any congregation that give us hope

b)      Our hope is in Jesus Christ; Dave’s hope was in Christ

i)        Dave recognized himself as a fallen and condemned creature because of sin.

ii)       He acknowledged his need for the one and only source of salvation

iii)     On June 25th 1916, God stretched out his holy arm and washed his sins away and gave him new life and Hope through Holy Baptism. 

iv)     This hope was affirmed when Dave confessed his faith in the Rite of Confirmation on April 13, 1930

v)      For over 70 years Dave has lived in the knowledge that His hope is firmly planted in the Grace and Forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

3)      Our Hope is in Jesus

a)      God in his wisdom and mercy sent His Son to take our sin and become sin for us.

b)      Jesus Paid the price of our sins with his suffering and death on the cross

c)      He did not stay dead, but defeated death on Easter Sunday and give his victory to all believers.  “whoever believes in him shall not die, but has eternal live.” 

d)      This was the faith of Dave

e)      We can say that He has fought the good fight, he kept the faith, he has finished his course in faith and now has receive the crown of victory

f)        He has now receive his final victory, the last and most precious trophy – God has placed upon him the robe of righteousness and given him the crown of life

g)      This very day he stands face to face with His Lord and Redeemer, he sees him with his own eyes

h)      I can only imagine that one of the first people he is going to look up in heaven is Jacob.  He is the Old Testament hero who wrestled with God all night and finished in a draw.  I won’t be surprise if Dave’s giving him advice on how to win next time.

i)        Dave also wrestled with God, but not in the same way Jacob did, Dave his whole life wrestled alongside (with) God.

For us who remain, we grieve, but with the assurance that Our husband, father, grandfather friend is now with the Lord, he has been given one final victory, that the greatest of them all, the victory over death.  And we who believe in the live-giving death and resurrection of Jesus can find comfort in the knowledge that we too, will one day be reunited with all those who have gone one before and receive our own crown of victory from the greatest champion of all time, the one who defeated sin death and the devil, Jesus Christ.  Amen.