Funeral Sermon for Donna Haines - January 19, 2010

The Church Season of Epiphany
Epiphany 2
Funeral Service for Donna E. Haines
Our Savior Lutheran Church,
Hall-Kokotovich Funeral Home Gladwin, MI
January 19, 2010

Readings:
Psalm 23
John 10:27-29

“My Sheep Hear My Voice”

John 10:27-29

[Jesus said] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has give them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

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Friends and family of Donna, Pete and Peggy, Mike, and the grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Donna Haines was born on August 2, 1920 was married to her beloved husband Ervin on October 27, 1937 and they were married for over 71 years. Blessed are they who die in the Lord, from this time forth and evermore.

The text for today’s message is
from the Gospel of St. John the 10th chapter

Donna was born in Gladwin the daughter of Roy and Blanche Foor. And Donna married Ervin and they lived on the family farm which is still in the family to this very day. Not even a year ago, actually closer to 10 months ago, Donna’s beloved husband Ervin was laid to rest. Both Donna and Ervin loved the farm, they worked on it together. A lot of times you hear that two people worked together on something and really enjoyed it. And then the next thing you hear is the part that each of those people performed. Well, for Donna and Ervin, working on the farm meant they worked on the farm. It meant that they both did the work, they both drove the tractor, they both did the chores. And I’ve been told more than once that not only was Donna a homemaker, she truly worked by the side of her husband on that farm. I was told that Donna enjoyed watching the Detroit Tigers play baseball, which tells me she was a very patient woman. And that she also enjoyed square dancing and reading. Along with working the farm, Donna also worked at the Post office and at the school for awhile too. But mostly Donna loved the farm, and when you spend any time around a dairy farm you know that that is a family activity that keeps everyone highly engaged in work, from morning to night, seven days a week, every day of the year. Keeping track of that kind of livestock is a wearisome job, that never seems to end, so much to do, and so little time left over for much of anything else.

In the Bible lesson I read just a few moment ago, St. John wrote of a time when Jesus Christ talked about sheep hearing His voice. In fact Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”(v. 27) In the context in which Jesus said these words, there were many people around Him who were looking for an excuse to get rid of Jesus. They wanted Jesus to say something so that they could start hurling rocks at Him, to drag Him down, to literally kill Him, and bury Him in a pile of rocks. But He answered simply and straight to the point, “My sheep hear my voice.”(v. 27)

Anyone who has been on a farm, or who has dealt with animals knows just how this works. If you go out behind the farmhouse, and bang on a bucket and say just a few words, the animals come. They know your voice, they know it’s time to come in. And in Jesus’ time there were probably a few more people, well let’s be totally honest, there were a lot more people who could relate to those words. And not only that, if you truly understood those words, you also could understand that if you didn’t hear the shepherd’s voice you probably were one of the dumb sheep. And being called a dumb sheep is a pretty big insult. Actually, if you know anything about sheep, being called a dumb sheep is a redundant statement.

So, the people plotting against Jesus didn’t like the thought of being called dumb sheep. Which really meant that they didn't like the thought of being told that they weren’t hearing or understanding Christ’s message. For what Jesus Christ was really saying was that not only did His people hear His voice, more importantly they also heard and understood His message. And Christ’s message was very simple, “follow me, I give you eternal life, you will never perish, and no one will snatch you out of my hand.”(v. 28)

In her last years, Donna lived a very simple life. And as many of you know she was challenged by the things of this world, the pain and afflictions of medical challenges that slowly ravage the mind. But these challenges do not ravage the soul of those baptized into the Name of Jesus Christ. Jesus will not allow it, no one will be snatched from His hands. Even in her last few months on this earth, Donna sat down to meals and prayed with Pete and Peggy. It may seem simple, but it proves that God’s Son Jesus Christ works through all that life would send our way. Jesus conquers our troubles and He comforts our souls.

Yet while Jesus Christ’s message is easy, or as He would say, “Come to me, My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”(Mt. 11:30) In fact Christ’s work was not easy, yes Jesus proclaimed His message of salvation. Yet that salvation that Jesus won for you and for me, was won in a not so easy manner. In fact, it was accomplished on the cross, Jesus died upon that cross for you and for me. Jesus died for all of Donna’s sins. Jesus died for all of your sins, and He died for my sins too. I know that because the Bible says in a very simple message, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”(John 3:17)

And quite frankly saving the entire world is not an easy task. In fact, saving the world was very hard work. Work which could not and can not be accomplished by our hands, no matter how hard we try. Because the message of salvation was won for us on the cross. Salvation was confirmed for us in Christ’s resurrection, and is given to us freely. The voice of the Good Shepherd, has spoken, He said, “It is finished.”( John 19:30) Jesus won salvation for you, and now freely gives you faith, and “faith comes hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”(Romans 10:17) Those who are baptized and believe hear Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, who bids the sheep of His flock, “come, follow me.”(Mark 1:17)

I am told that Donna and Ervin loved to square dance. Square dancing is something that it seems people used to do a lot. There is a person who speaks, who is a caller, then there are people who hear the call and follow the voice of the one who calls for them. Now if the next thing I were to say at this very moment was that Donna and Ervin were at a great square dance in the sky, I would not be preaching the Word of God. I would, in fact, be preaching a message that was indeed not the Word of God. That is not what heaven is like at all. For us as people are fallen, we have, "all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God."(Romans 3:23) Though we may hear God’s call, we turn to the left when He tells us to do what is right. When God tells us to follow the narrow path, we circle about in our actions and inactions. Quite frankly in our sinful lives we move about aimlessly, when He tells us to, “be still and know that I am God.”(Psalm 46:10) So, no heaven is not like a square-dance.

Heaven is eternal life given to you by Jesus Christ, a place where you will never perish. Donna and Ervin are there in that place. They are called home by the the gentle message of their Good Shepherd who welcomed them into their Father’s house. The hard work is over, Christ has done it all. I know that Donna loved Ervin. I know that Ervin loved Donna. I know they both loved their family, and I’m also told that they both loved their dog wrinkles too. But all that love, pales in comparison to the love Jesus Christ has for them and for you too. For, St. Paul said, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:38-39) Donna and Ervin are together, and they now eternally hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, they know that He has kept His promise to them. They hear His voice and know they will never perish but have eternal life. Amen.

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

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