Philippians
1
For I know that through your
prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out
for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager
expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with
full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my
body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to
me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
John
10:27-29
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and
no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
Dear
friends in Christ, To live is Christ, to die is gain. These words are so important to us here
today. Evelyn, or “Blondie” as many
called her, lived in this world for many long years. In fact, when I first met her, she was no
longer a “Blondie,” but instead was white haired and forgetful. She was a sweet lady, who you could tell had
a fun and ornery side to her. She never
could remember how old she actually was when I asked, but she knew it was 90
something.
She had lived all those 90 something
years here in this difficult and sinful world.
She got married, she raised children, she saw her grandchildren and
great grandchildren. And in those 90
something years, she lost loved ones, including her husband and brothers, and
two sons, Jimmy and Bud. She faced
struggles and hardships and difficult times.
She saw the depression, wars, famines, hurt pain and loss.
She had a long and difficult 90
something years. But through it all,
Christ was with her. To live is
Christ. That means that Jesus was with
her as she faced each and every day.
Christ was with her from her baptism 96 years ago, even until this year. He was with her as she became weaker, and
more forgetful. Jesus was with her as
she remembered more about the old days of horse pulled wagons than what recent
events had transpired. Christ was with
her, for to live is Christ, and that was the truth for Blondie.
And to die is gain. Today, we here mourn, as Blondie has been
taken from this world. That old evil foe
has caught up to us, and death has struck us again. So we hurt, we cry, we mourn. But for Blondie herself, it is all gain. For in the life giving death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ, she has gained all the glories of heaven. She is now a fellow heir of all the gifts of
Christ. She stands before the throne of
God, at peace, in comfort. She has
gained eternity apart from sin.
Jesus tells us of that great gain in
death, as he says of Blondie, and of you and me, “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.” Blondie knew the voice of
Christ in her life, and now she has eternal life, and will never perish. She is with Jesus forever.
To live is Christ, to be with him, to receive
his gifts. And so if to live is Christ,
we know that it must also be that through him is great gain. Today, Blondie has received that gift, and
will never perish. Amen.
