Grace, Mercy and
Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is from our Epistle Lesson, especially these words, “For
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ, especially Eric, Jennifer, and Chelsey, Harold and Laurel, all family
and friends of Paul. “In my flesh, I
shall see God”. These words of our Old
Testament lesson proclaim the faith that Job had despite all his hardships,
despite all his struggles. His children
had been killed in a storm. His
possessions had been destroyed. And as
he speaks the words of our text today, he himself was suffering as a disease
ravaged his body, eating away his flesh.
And yet, he still confessed, “I know my redeemer lives. In my flesh, I shall see God!”
These words should
strike a chord for us today, as we are gathered here in this place, mourning
the loss of a son, mourning the loss of one whose body was ravaged by
disease. As we mourn one who will no
longer be here with us in our lives. But
we know that “our redeemer lives, and with our own eyes, we shall see
God.”
These are bold
words, are they not? These are bold
words to proclaim into a world of death and destruction. A world where so much continues to go wrong
every day. A world where our loved ones lives
are cut short at such a young age.
For that is what
happened to Paul. His life was brought
to its end early. He suffered from
cancer for the last few months, and in the end his body was not strong enough
to overcome. The man who helped his
parents, who cared for his children, and who always stayed busy quickly became
weak and suffered, unable to even catch a peaceful night of sleep. The weakness of our sinful bodies caught up
with him.
But our Epistle
lesson says, “But the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” He’s there for us at the times that we need
him the most. He is there offering up
prayers for us when we don’t even know what to pray for as we ought. He was with Paul these last few weeks, even
up until this last Saturday morning when Paul left, pointing him not to his own
weakness, but pointing him to his Redeemer, Jesus Christ. And dear friends in Christ, he was with Paul
as Paul entered paradise and saw his Redeemer with his own eyes, just as Job
confessed.
For he who did not
spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him
give us all good things. For if God is
for us, who can be against us. God gave
his Son up into this world to live among us who are weak, and become weak for
us. He gave his Son to take our flesh
upon himself and become weak, weak in our place, weak on a cross. And in that, the crucifixion of Jesus, and
his glorious resurrection, we know that we have hope. For Jesus died for Paul, so that he might
overcome, even when it appeared otherwise.
So that Paul might have eternal life.
So that Paul – who believed in Jesus might live, even though he
die.
And so here were
are today, feeling that same weakness in our sorrow, that same weakness in our
hurt and loneliness. Today we mourn our
own sin which causes us such agony.
Today we really
are weak, much as Paul was his last few weeks.
But for you too, just as for your Father, your Brother and your Son
Paul, God is with you in your weakness.
Just as Christ came for Paul, he came for you. He came to rescue you from your sin, to take
away from you all your doubts, all your hurt and all your pain. Hear the words of Job and believe that they
are for you as well, Your Redeemer Lives, and in the last you stand before him
in your own flesh, you shall see him and not another.
This promise is
for you. Its why you come to this place,
to hear that promise. Its why we come
here today, to remember what love your God has for you. Its why the church exists, so that we might
know God’s love – made known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Here, God promises to be with us, to never
leave us nor forsake us – to give us the gifts of heaven.
Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...
or maybe even cancer? “No in all
these things we are more than conquerors in Him, Jesus, who loved us… For I am sure that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,39 nor
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Dear family and
friends of Paul, brothers and sisters in Christ. Here we may face struggles. Here we may become sick, our possessions may
be gone, and our bodies may be ravaged by disease. But know this. Your redeemer lives. Your Redeemer has overcome the world. Nothing can take him away from you. And today Paul is with him, even
forevermore. Amen.
