Funeral Sermon for Clarence Rodammer - 11/28/08

The Church Season of Trinity
Funeral Service for Clarence Erwin Rodammer
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI November 28, 2008

“Word’s Mean Something”

Readings:
Isaiah 40:29-31
Romans 5:1-11
John 14:1-6

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Friends and family of Clarence, especially Sharon and Robert, Karen and William, Judy and Denny, and all the grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. Let us remember with thanksgiving what God has done through His servant Clarance Erwin Rodammer who was given life by his creator and was born on June 3rd, 1920, the child of Michael and Sophia Denzer Rodammer. He received the gift of Holy Baptism and therefore became a child of God, and later publicly confessed his faith and was confirmed at St. John Lutheran Church of Midland. He received the precious gift of the Lord’s life giving body and blood. On August 14, 1941, he received the gift of a companion Ruth his beloved wife and they were married for over 54 years. Clarence and Ruth were blessed with the gift children, Sharon who married Robert, (Sharon could not be here today but called this morning to say how much she loved her father, and misses him very much) and Karen who married William, and Judy who married Denny there are 5 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren. On November 24, 2008, God blessed Clarence with a holy death and took him home to rest in the arms of Jesus to await the resurrection of the Lord. Blessed are they who die in the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore.

The following verses from the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah are not one’s you hear every day, although I will say they fit Clarence to a tee, “29He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, 31But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Is. 40:29-31)

“Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength.” Clarence was 88 when he passed away this week, and so that means he waited for thirteen years to be reunited with his beloved wife Ruth. But there is a greater reunion than this, for which Clarence is now eternally thankful. Over 88 years ago Clarence was united with Christ in a baptismal font wherein water was combined with God’s Word. And that baptism stands a reminder of a blessed union with Jesus Christ which guaranteed the promise of His eternal reunion. For it was God who sent His son Jesus Christ into this world. It was Christ who was baptized by John the baptizer, and it was Jesus Christ who lived and walked among us. And because Christ came into this world, was crucified, died, was buried, and on the third day rose again, Clarence is no longer waiting. He is now at this very moment having a blessed reunion with his Lord and with all those who died the faith before him.

I always found it interesting to talk with Clarence. He was very knowledgeable and knew his current events. We spoke of the long forgotten days of yesteryear, the small Midland he knew which had a city limit sign stating the population was 8025. We spoke of his military service in World War II, where he was a wounded and twice decorated with the purple heart. Truly Clarence was a war hero of the greatest magnitude.

On one of these visits, I asked Clarence if he had learned his Lutheran Catechism in German or English. While he did speak quite a bit of German, Clarence said he learned the Catechism in English, along with all the other students in his confirmation class. And while we were talking about those days he asked me a question. “Pastor” he said, “One day the confirmation class was waiting for the German Church service to begin and one of my friends said something to me, and so I said, ‘Gee Whiz’ and at that very moment the Pastor had stepped into the room, heard what I said and asked me to repeat what I had just said. And when I did repeat it, he struck me on the face.” Clarence then said to me, “You know to this day I don’t know why he did that.” And so I told him I don’t know why a Pastor would ever do such a thing, it was wrong to strike him and it was wrong of that pastor to embarrass him in front of his class. Maybe the Pastor thought he was cursing, but regardless of the reason, the Pastor should not have done that to Clarence and to add insult to injury the lack of explanation for what had done was another grave failure for that Pastor. And so I said I was sorry that someone would do such a thing it was wrong. But Clarence responded by saying, “Oh well, we should just forgive and forget.” And that statement indeed revealed Clarence’s faith.

For in those words, Clarence revealed that he trusted not in man nor in the things of this world because he knew that God was greater than this world, “16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(Jn 3:16) Clarence knew he had eternal life, because John wrote in the Bible, “13 I write these things to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”(1 John 5:13) Clarence knew that he would be with Jesus forever, for scripture told him that Jesus said, “1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”(John 14:1-6)

I miss Clarence and I know you do too. The reality of death stings. In times like this, it does seem that death is like a vulture circling above our heads waiting for us to stumble and fall. Yet for most of our lives the cold reality of our impending death hovers in the lofty places of our minds, mostly forgotten, except for days like this when we are reminded of our mortality. But be of good cheer, for St. Paul reminds us, “Death is swallowed up in victory, ‘O Death where is your sting? O Death where is your victory?’ the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ”( 1 Cor 15:55ff)

Jesus gave Clarence the victory of eternal life, and He takes away all the stings of this world. Jesus Christ offers to all, the promise of His victory over sin, death, and the devil. He welcomes you to share in His victory in His words from the Holy Scripture. He welcomes you to share in His victory in the water combined with the Word in Holy baptism, and when you receive His true body and true blood in Holy Communion. In His death and resurrection, Jesus conquered all things, so that your sins may be forgiven.

The final words from that verse from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah state, “They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” Clarence could not run for these last few years, but each and every time we visited, he didn’t talk about such things. We would chit chat, talk about the Detroit Tigers or Lions, or about how much he loved his children and grandchildren and at times we would laugh a bit. But really what Clarence desired during my visits was to receive Holy Communion. Because Clarence knew in the body and blood of Christ his faith was renewed, refreshed, and strengthened. We are sad for the loss of Clarence, but on this day, he is having a joyful reunion with his Lord Jesus Christ and with all those who have died before him in the faith.

One day your walk on this earth, this veil of tears, will also come to an end. But you too can rejoice just like Clarence and all those who have been baptized into the “Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”(Mt. 28:19) For all of Christ’s words, His death, and resurrection mean something. And because they do, there will be no more sorrow, no more crying, and there will be no more pain. So in reality Christ’s words mean a whole lot more than just something, for His words offer and freely give to all who would believe, the promise of eternal life. And that is much much, more than something, it is an eternal and blessed everything. Blessed are they who die in the Lord Jesus Christ from this time forth and for evermore. Amen.

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