Funeral Sermon for Fred John Berlin - August 14, 2009

The Church Season of Trinity
Trinity 10
Funeral Service for Fred John Berlin
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI October 10, 2009

Readings:
Psalm 23
Luke 2:25-32

“A Place for You”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

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Friends and family of Fred, especially Marie, Larry and Angie, and all the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild, 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 Fred John Berlin who was given life by his creator and was born on May 5th, 1922, the child of Fred and Emma Schaefer Berlin. He received the gift of Holy Baptism and became a child of God, and later publicly confessed his faith and was confirmed at St. John Lutheran Church of Midland. He often received the precious gift of the Lord’s life giving body and blood. On October 11, 1947, he received the gift of a companion Marie, his beloved wife, and they were married for over 61 years. Fred and Marie were blessed with the gift children, Fred and Steven who are in heaven with their father, Larry who married Angie, and there are 8 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild. On August 10th, God blessed Fred 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 text for today’s message is from the Gospel lesson of St. John the fourteenth chapter where it is recorded that Jesus was comforting His disciples, the people whom He had chosen and who had been with Him daily for 3 ½ years. The disciples were concerned and very troubled because Jesus had told them that He was leaving them. They did not want Jesus to leave, they wanted Him to stay, but it was not to be. Jesus told His disciples, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 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.”(v. 1)

We, like the disciples, become troubled and challenged by the effects of the world in which we live. We are affected not only by our own struggles, but the struggles of those around us too. When we are engaged in such a struggle our trust in the Lord is challenged to the point of despair. And so it was for the disciples. They had come to love the Lord and He loved them very much too. The disciples did not want their time together with the Jesus to come to an end. But, it would seem, that is exactly what was about to happen. They mourned the thought of the loss of their Lord, their teacher, their companion, and their friend. They did not want Jesus to leave, they wanted Him to stay right there in that place with them.

On this day, we can certainly all understand and relate to the disciples concern and anguish. For today we mourn the thought of the passing of our dearly beloved friend Fred Berlin. And I know we would all rather have him right here with us or even better still out and about working on the farm. In times like this when we struggle for words of encouragement, we often say, ‘Well, you know, he is in a better place.’ And that is most certainly true. Yet that thought does not always fill the voids left by a loved ones absence. And Fred’s absence from the farm is certainly well noticed. For Fred spent his whole life on that farm. He grew up on the land, and he worked the soil. He helped prepare it for planting with his own hands. Fred helped to raise the livestock and to bring the crops to harvest, and all the while for many years he worked at Dow Chemical too. Fred knew what it meant to work hard. He loved that place, he was very proud of the farm. Although he did leave the farm to honorably serve his country in the military. And while it may be hard to believe, somehow the Army found Fred a colder place than Michigan, as he served out his tour of duty in Alaska. But when his time of service to his country was done, Fred came home to the place he loved. And not only that, he came home to marry the person that he would love for over 61 years. And that farm would be the place where he would bring his bride Marie to make their home. Through the years there would be camping trips to Florida and Northern Michigan, snowmobiling, and motorcycles, and many other adventures. Yet home for Fred was the place where his family lived and where he could be with the people he loved. It was not in Fred’s mindset to leave that place and to go move somewhere else. All of that makes it so much harder to comprehend that place without Fred.

And so we can directly relate to the Gospel lesson and the sadness which Christ’s disciples felt. It was hard for them to comprehend a world or a place where Christ would be anywhere else but with them. But Jesus knew of a better place. A place which had to be prepared, not only for His disciples, but for all who would believe in Him too. Jesus knew that that place was, “In His Father’s house.”(v.2) Yet there was much to be done so that all may join Jesus in His Father’s house. In His infinite wisdom and love God knew this preparation was needed, so, “He gave, His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16) Jesus came to us in this world to prepare the way for our eternal salvation. That preparation was indeed hard and so Jesus told His disciples that He would die, so that they may live. It had to be that way, for Jesus knew that all the sin, death and evil in this world had to be put to death, so that all may be given the promise of eternal life.

The disciples didn’t understand all that. Quite frankly, neither do we comprehend the thought of Jesus dying so that we may live. But Jesus did understand dying to live, and He knew of the necessary trials He would face to prepare the world so that we may enter into the Father’s house. Jesus knew that He would face a trial, a conviction, a brutal scourging, humiliation, insults, and ultimately a horrid death upon a cross. Jesus Christ knew what the hard work of salvation was and He knew that He had to do it all with His own nail stained hands. Yet in His death and resurrection, Jesus did conquer all our sin, our death, and all that is evil in this world. Jesus did all that for us.

Yet in this world, it would seem that all Christ did for us has receded into a distant and fading story of a man who lived in a different time and place. A place which for many has little or no connection to our here and now. But Christ is connected to our here and now. And it is times like this we feel and understand that connection. We feel the need for God’s grace to get us through our days of sorrow and grief for loved ones who are no longer with us. And we must also face that one day we too will pass from this earth to a better place.

Fred is now in that better place. He is there in God’s house even though the last two years or even the last two weeks for Fred seemed to pass by agonizingly slow. In these times, and in all times, know that Jesus has gone before you to prepare for you a room in His Father’s house. Jesus bears your burdens and your grief. He lifts you up and carries you and all your sorrows. There is healing, in His Holy Body and most precious blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

Fred loved and trusted in God His Father in heaven and so He is now there rejoicing with his sons Fred and Steven, and all who have gone before us in the faith. Jesus prepared that place in His Father’s house where He gives rest to us all who are, “weary and burdened,” and there “you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt. 11:28-29)

Fred was a man who was very blessed. He lived his entire life in one place. He lived out his life with Marie, the woman whom he loved. He was proud of his children and their children and even their children. And though he did leave this world and this place, now he is indeed in a far far better place. For Fred will now spend his entire eternity in one heavenly place, in a room in God’s house prepared just for him by Jesus Christ.

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

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