Funeral Sermon of Beulah May Huntley - 3-27-09

The Church Season of Lent
Lent – Laetare
Funeral Service for Beulah May Huntley
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI

March 27, 2009

Readings:
Psalm 23
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
John 14:1-10

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (NIV)

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. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

“We Grieve”

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Friends and family of Beulah, especially Rodney & Susie, Jerilyn & Fred, grandchildren, great grandchildren. Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Beulah May Huntley was born on March 15, 1918, she baptized and confirmed in the Christian faith, and was married to her beloved husband Clarence on September 21, 1940 and they were married for over 61 years and Clarence and Beulah were charter members of Our Savior Lutheran Church. Blessed are they who die in the Lord, from this time forth and evermore.

The text for today’s message is the text from the first Epistle of St. Paul to the church in Thessalonica, the 4th chapter

Beulah was born here in Midland and married her husband Clarence here too. Beulah earned a business degree and her and Clarence had four children. I am told that while growing up the family enjoyed camping and spending time with family members. By all accounts, Clarence and Beulah lived what we would call a simple life, yet fulfilling in every way.

In her last days, Beulah certainly lived a simple life. Those who knew her, who cared for her, and who visited her, knew that from all outward appearances that she was no longer the person that she once was. In this world, we are stricken with many challenges, there are ups and downs, and there are many winding roads for us all. Beulah’s life was no different, she had a life full of the joys of children, family, and friends, and she also faced the challenges that life set before her in these last few years. But even though Beulah may not have seemed to be the person she once was, she was indeed still a child of God. For Beulah’s was a baptized child of God and her baptism sealed and guaranteed that no matter how she faced life, or what life would deal her, she would face all those changes and challenges with the knowledge that she was made part of the unchanging Christ Jesus.

And for those who look upon your loved ones and who see someone who is different, scripture tells us that it is not the afflicted who are different, but rather it is us who gaze upon them who want to see things differently. We want to see our parents as they once were, we want to reach back to warm sunny days, filled with laughter and love, days that seemed like they would never end. But at this very moment the memories of those days, those days which our minds have made perfect only seem to cause us to miss our loved ones all the more.

It is not wrong to remember those days, but at the same time we forget the days which bring us to this very day. We forget the words of God to Adam in the Garden of Eden, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return.” (Gen 3:19) It was the same for Adam and Eve as it has been for all who have been born of this world, we, “all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”(Rom. 3:23) and so we all shall die and return to the dust whence we came. St. Paul pulls no punches, he can’t because he speaks and pens the inspired Word of God and so he acknowledges that we are all sinners, you, me, and Beulah too.

But, we are not angered by St. Paul’s news, we do not despair, nor do we grieve in the way of those around us who do not have faith in Christ. For St. Paul also tells us, “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.”(v. 13) Listen closely to these words, St. Paul says, “we do not grieve like those who have no hope.” Which means we as Christians grieve in a totally different manner from those who do not have faith in Jesus Christ.

So, there is a difference between grief and despair. Those who have faith in nothing, approach the end of life with brakes applied, wondering why there is so much sickness, and they despair over their changing bodies, and sigh that their bodies have wasted away. But, those who do have faith seem to approach death with a sense of temporary loss, they see death in a different light. It is the light of faith which is given to them by God’s grace, so instead of a walk into the valley of the shadow of death, faith shows us that that walk continues beyond the darkness making death only a short walk from darkness to the light of Christ. And when we reach the other side of that valley, we know that we will be led there beside still waters.

Beulah had that kind of faith. I know I saw her faith as she folded her hands in prayer, as she closed her eyes and acknowledged that it is Christ who has given her the hope of all that is to come. And while we may have looked at her and thought that she died with very little, in fact, she died with all that she needed, she died with her savior Jesus Christ. St. Paul reminds us of this same thought when he said, ”6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Rom. 5:6-11 (NIV)

I know that the people who are here today miss Beulah very much, and we grieve that she is no longer here with us. But, thanks be to God that He gave us His son Jesus Christ, so that we can grieve not in despair, but in hope. And that hope is the knowledge that, “All who believe and are baptized will be saved.”(Mk 16:16) That hope is that we shall be reunited with all who have died in the faith before us, and that one day we shall join them all in the heavenly company of angels and archangels praising God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It is indeed true that at this very moment the memories of days together with our loved ones cause us to grieve. But as perfect as those memories play in our minds, perfection is yet to come. For one day we will no longer have cause to grieve, because when our time in this world ceases we will be welcomed to an eternal time of perfection which was bought and won for Beulah, for you, for me, and for all us, for it was bought and won by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed are they who die in the Lord Jesus Christ from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.
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