Darlene Landstrom Funeral

Introduction

We’ve gathered here today to remember Darlene; to celebrate the life she had on this earth. To share stories. To talk about her quirks that made her uniquely, Darlene. There was only one, Darlene Landstrom.

John Piper speaks often to people about not wasting their lives. Don’t waste your life in your youth, don’t waste your life as a middle-aged adult, don’t waste your life in your retirement. In those remaining years of your life before you finally come face to face with the King, let those years be impactful years, not wasted years.

Darlene didn’t waste her life. When so many want to enter those final years of life and ease off the throttle Darlene pressed down even harder. Her life was engulfed with a passionate love of Jesus and a love for others. She deeply desired to see people come into the white-hot enjoyment of knowing Jesus. Because she knew there just wasn’t a greater joy out there than knowing Christ.

And it’s the person of Jesus, the hope of Jesus, the comfort found in Jesus and the joy in Jesus that we’ve gathered here today to rest in. Because that’s where Darlene’s rest was found.

We’re here today to encourage one another amid suffering and grief; to help one another.

We’ve done that this morning and over the past few weeks. There have been lots of tears. But there’s also been lots of love and encouragement for one another. And I’m confident that’ll continue in the days, weeks and months and years ahead.

However, today is a hard day. There is pain in this room today. We acknowledge that. We don’t shy away from it. But at the exact same time, there is hope in this room as well. Even through suffering, we can find joy and peace because Jesus is with us and what’s so remarkable about Jesus is that not only does he acknowledge our pain, but he can empathize with us because he too suffered. We have a God who’s able to sympathize with us as one who has felt the pain this world brings but at the same time that he enters into our grief he brings with his presence comfort, peace and hope for a future where one day the sting of death will be gone.

So, in these few short moments I have with you here, I want to draw us to where our hope truly rests. I want to point us to Jesus. Darlene’s life was radically changed by Jesus. And it was through the work of God in her life that empowered her to have such a profound and lasting effect on others.

This past week I was reading through the Psalms. And I came to Psalm 145 and couldn’t help but think of the goodness and greatness of God displayed in this Psalm that was seen in the life of Darlene.

The Psalm opens by saying,

Psalm 145:1-4, I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

Darlene’s life was radically changed by Jesus. Her life was captivated by the goodness, greatness and utter glory of her King. She delighted in her God. And when we’re captivated by something, when we delight in something we can’t help but share it.

It was C.S. Lewis who rightly said,

“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.”

Darlene’s life was characterized by a desire to know God and to care for and love others. And she loved them best by telling them how awesome God is. “One generation commends your works to another.”

She loved her family. She loved her husband, she loved her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren. And Darlene’s faithfulness, by God’s grace is that she sought to lead her family to love and treasure Jesus.

As I think on this Psalm, I can’t help but think of the next generation. And so, to Darlene’s children, Pamela and Greg, to her grandchildren and all her great-grandchildren be encouraged today in the Lord and his goodness in the midst of pain. Your mother’s and grandmother’s greatest delight was in Jesus and so let me lovingly exhort you, by God’s grace to look to Jesus for your greatest hope, delight, peace and joy in this life. That was her story with no hesitation whatsoever but rather pure confidence.

To all of the family and friends gathered here today. Darlene’s testimony of God’s grace continues on.

Her life was radically changed because of Jesus. And her hope was in Christ. And that was seen in her even to the very end.

The Psalmist in Psalm 145 continues on to say,

Psalm 145:8-9, The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

This is the character and nature of our God. He is full of grace. Meaning that his favor and acceptance toward you is undeserved. There’s nothing you could do to earn it.

He’s merciful. Meaning that God doesn’t give you what you deserve. We deserve punishment, we deserve his wrath and anger because of our sin and yet, he’s merciful and instead gives us his steadfast, unshakeable, radical love.

A life that is rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, in God’s steadfast love is a life that has hope. Darlene had hope, and not a superficial hope, but a hope that endured and a hope that was sound. A hope that she gladly and joyfully shared with others.

That’s because Jesus changed her. Was Darlene a perfect person? Of course not. All of us are flawed. All of us are broken. I am deeply flawed and deeply broken, and we live in a deeply flawed and broken world. The fact that we’re even sitting here this morning is evidence of that.

Death is a reminder to us that this world is broken. And yet, though death is a part of life, it was not a part of its original design. And I point to grief as evidence of that truth. We grieve the loss of a loved one because deep down, something within us, is crying out that this; this right now what we’re experiencing, isn’t right. That this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.

It’s why every human being is searching for hope. It’s why we cling to anything we believe will offer us relief from the pain and difficulty of this world.

And I’m here today, this morning, to simply point us to the one true hope found in Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul once told a grieving church in the city of Thessalonica, who was suffering the loss of loved ones that we don’t grieve as those who have no hope, he goes on to explain that it’s because our hope is in a risen and resurrected Savior.

Our hope is in a redeemer, Jesus who entered into his creation. A Savior who entered into the story of humanity and who himself experienced pain, suffering, betrayal, death. A redeemer who went to the cross because of our sin. Because of our brokenness. Because we are flawed. A Savior who paid a debt that we owed but could never repay. But then rose from the grave to claim victory over death and to verify that the payment he made on the cross was good.

You see, why do Christians not grieve as those who have no hope? Because our trust is in the one who has defeated death. The one who has changed us. The one who is gracious, merciful and abounding in steadfast love. A love that is greater than any of our brokenness. A love that will accept us no matter our faults, no matter what our past is, it’s freely given. That’s where Darlene’s trust was. And though her physical body is no longer with us, she’s just as alive and present with Christ right now.

That’s hope.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 145,

Psalm 145:13a, Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

If you want to live for something that is bigger than you, that is eternal and magnificent, that brings purpose and meaning to your life, then live for Jesus.

So, where is your hope? What are you trusting in? The salvation that God offers you through Jesus is not just a prayer that you pray. It’s a belief and a trust that Jesus is your only hope. It’s a turning from your sin. It’s resting in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s following him with your life. It’s not about a religious belief. It’s not about your goodness or your ability. It’s about a relationship and trust with our Creator. Life as it was meant to be. It’s what you were designed for. It’s what you were created for.

The Psalmist ends by saying,

Psalm 145:13b-14, The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

One of my favorite authors and preachers, Tim Keller says this,

“The gospel is simply this, that in and of yourself you are more flawed and broken and sinful than you could ever dare imagine, but at the very same time, you are more loved and accepted in Christ than you ever dared hope.”

The Lord lifts up and upholds those who are broken, those who are humble, those who recognize that hope is ultimately found in Jesus.

Darlene’s life, even up to her death, was one that pointed to this hope and peace that only Jesus gives.

It’s a hope that the family rests in now. It’s a hope that so many of her friends rest in now. A hope that death is not the end. Jesus has overcome and there is coming a day when all that is broken and flawed in this world and in ourselves will one day be fully restored to how it was meant to be. He’s going to make all things new. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

Like I said, Jesus changes everything.

And he changes you. Regardless of your past. There is nothing in your life, whether past, present or even future that the cross of Jesus does not overcome.

Today is about remembering Darlene, honoring her, celebrating her life. It’s a day to encourage and comfort one another in the hope of the gospel. But ultimately let’s rejoice in the work of Christ in and through her life. And let’s not waste ours. Let’s live with passion and zeal and joy for something and someone greater than ourselves. Let’s walk in hope that because Jesus lives, Darlene lives. That because Jesus lives, we can have eternal life through him.

We can have peace in him. A peace that surpasses all human understanding. This is the joy and grace that God gives us.