Edith B. (Bellin) Pankow Funeral - 2012

Isaiah 49:7-16             Revelation 2:10           Matthew 18:1-5

⁸ Thus says the Lord:
“In a time of favor I have answered you;
    in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you and give you
    as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
    to apportion the desolate heritages,
⁹ saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
    to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
They shall feed along the ways;
    on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
¹⁰ they shall not hunger or thirst,
    neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
    and by springs of water will guide them.
¹¹ And I will make all my mountains a road,
    and my highways shall be raised up.
¹² Behold, these shall come from afar,
    and behold, these from the north and from the west,
    and these from the land of Syene.”

¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
    break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people
    and will have compassion on his afflicted.

¹⁴ But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
    my Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
    yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶ Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is the Old Testament lesson, especially these words, “Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, especially Kenneth, Paula, Ardith and Sherry, family and friends of Edith.  Again, we gather to mourn.  Again we hurt, again we ask those questions, “Why is Edith taken from us?  Why do we have to hurt?  Why did she have to struggle the way she did?  Why do these things happen to us?”

For Edith did struggle these last few years.  Alzheimer’s had taken a drastic toll on Edith.  Alzheimer’s hurt Edith’s memory.  She struggled recognizing people at times, she couldn’t remember dates or places as well.  Many days she didn’t remember where she was, thinking she was back in school or in childhood.  She spent much of her time sleeping.  The fun, feisty lady was not quite herself for many years. 

That is the way that Alzheimer’s works.  It destroys one’s memories.  It makes you forget.  It makes you confused.  It is one of the most painful ways that sin works in our world.  As you well know, families are left mourning as they watch their loved one’s memory slowly fade.  And you have mourned, as your Ma’s memory faded, you hurt.  As Edith struggled, you too wept with her. 

And now she’s gone.  Now her struggle is over.  Now her pain is ended.  But the mourning continues – now its our turn to weep and hurt and remember.  But even our own memories will fade over the years.  Even our own recollections will disappear.  For we ourselves will age, and weaken.  Our minds will themselves become foggy.  Our lives will go on until we too one day will die.  Our memories of our loved ones who have passed away like Edith may live with us for a time, but one day they will disappear with us.  As Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.”

That’s sin in us.  That’s its affect.  That we should forget, that we should die.  And yet, there is one who does not forget.  There is one, who shall not forget you, dear friends, just as he did not forget Edith.  For you dear friends, each one of you, and dear Edith as well, are engraved upon the palms of his hands. 

This one who remembers is Christ.  Even though we pass away in this world, he remembers us.  Even though we feel forgotten, even though our memories fade, he does not forget.  We are precious to him.  We are loved by him.  So loved that he willingly forsook his own life on our behalf, and on behalf of Edith.  His hands were engraved with our names, engraved with nails that pierced them through, and held his hands firmly to a cross as he gave up his life on your behalf, and on behalf of our dear sister Edy.  And after lying dead three days in the tomb, Christ arose, and showed the disciples his hands and his feet – as if to say, “You are not forgotten.  You are remembered, and always shall be!”

Dear friends, I remember one day visiting Edith, and in her Alzheimers, the only thing she could say was, “I just want to go home, I just want to go home.”  Christ heard her prayer.  Christ remembered her prayer.  Christ remembered her confirmation, when he told her, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”  And today, Christ has kept his promise to her, and has taken her home for the last time.  There she is at peace, there she is with Rudy, Craig, and all other family and friends who have died in the faith.  She rests secure in the arms of Jesus.  She has the crown of life, and will forever more. 

Dear friends, we are left here.  You mourn, we remember, you always will for Edy, your mom, your grandma.  You’ll remember the funny moments from her life, like how she ran over a St. Bernard – a dog who lived to see another day by the way – or how she had trouble hearing so everything needed to be written down for her.  You’ll remember your visits with her, and you’ll remember care.  You’ll remember her becoming more sick, and you’ll remember the last time you held her hand. 

But most importantly, remember that it’s not only you who remember, but Christ who remembers her.  It’s Jesus who has taken her home.  It’s Jesus who promises you will see her again there in eternity.  It’s Christ who remembers her, for she is engraved upon his hands.  And He remembers you as well dear friends.  He remembers you as you mourn, He remembers you while you hurt.  He’ll remember you while you think of Edy, and will remember you all the days of your life here on this earth. 

For you too are engraved upon the palms of his hands.  Amen.  

Last Sunday of the Church Year - G - 2012 - Unknown Day and Hour, Stay Awake

Isaiah 51:4-6               Jude 20-25                  Mark 13:24-37

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson, especially the following words, “Be on guard, keep awake.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, Do you remember when you were a teenager, and Mom and Dad decided to go out of town for the weekend, and leave you at home.  Always right before they left, they would say, “Now, no crazy parties while we’re gone, and don’t get into any trouble.”  The average teenager would smile and say, “Don’t worry mom and dad,” and stand on the front porch waving until the car went around the bend. 

Almost immediately, the party planning would begin.  The phone calls would be made, the music cranked up, and in a matter of a few short hours, the house was teeming with young people.  Cars were parked in the yard, and the fun would go on long into the night…

EXCEPT, Mom and Dad had car troubles, and had to turn around and come home.  Do you remember that moment of dread when they walked in the door, can you remember the screaming, the shouting?  Can you remember how quickly all your friends disappeared?  Do you remember when that happened?  Well it never happened to me, but if it did, I can imagine the dread felt as that fateful day and hour arrived. 

Dear friends, this is the same thing our text is saying to us.  Be awake.  Pay attention, don’t be caught unawares.  Because dear friends – Christ is coming again.  He will return, with trumpet call, with angels and clouds.  And when Christ returns, on that fateful day and hour and day, he will come with power, and with judgment, and those who are awake will enter heaven, and those who are asleep, acting like nothing is happening will go to the eternal fires of hell.

So dear friends, are you awake?  Or are you asleep?  Will mom and dad find you behaving when they suddenly return home, or will they find a party full of lewd acts and booze?  What sort of behavior have you been committing?  Are you awake, or are you asleep?  As Christ ascended into heaven, he said, “Therefore make disciples of all nations by means of baptizing them and teaching them everything that I have commanded you.”  And then Christ ascended upon a cloud until no one could see him.  And what has Christ commanded?  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Or to put it simply, as Christ does in Matthew chapter 5, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

But we haven’t been perfect have we?  We haven’t loved God or our neighbors.  We have failed miserably.  As soon as Christ gets out of view, as soon as we are out of church, the party begins, the sin increases and our guilt along with it.  We commit adultery, we steal, we murder, we kill, we cheat on taxes, we hate, we are jealous, we are full of selfish ambition, we fight, we bicker, we gossip, we are envious and more!  And the worst part is we don’t even act concerned with it.

Dear friends, Christ is returning.  He knows what is going on in our lives.  Stay awake!  Repent!  Turn aside from your sins!  Know that Christ is coming again, and that he comes to judge those who are left in sin.

But also know that your sin is forgiven.  Christ has also died for you.  So your sin has already been judged – not in you, but in Jesus.  Your sin became his.  Your guilt became his.  Your punishment became his.  You are no longer guilty, for Christ has taken away the sins of the world.  Christ has set you free and now you are free.  By his bloody and death and resurrection, on an old rugged cross, your sin is removed. 

So now, when Christ returns, you need not fear punishment or hell.  You need not worry about what will happen to you when you die.  Christ comes for you Christians who are awake, not to judge, but rather to bring home.  Christ comes on the last day to call to life all the faithful who have gone before us.  To bring them and you and me into heaven.  To take us from this vale of tears, to a world of peace and comfort.  To take us to live forever with him, so that we may see him face to face. 

He comes to be our king.  To rule us in righteousness – a righteousness he shares with us in baptism.  He comes to take us to his kingdom.  To be ruled by the same God who created us.  To come into a world more perfect than we can possibly imagine. 

Dear friends, be awake in the faith.  Do not sleep, Because Christ is coming.  And when he arrives it will be to take us to a wonderful eternity with him.  And until that day, we pray the same prayer Christians have been praying for generations.  Come Lord Jesus Come Quickly.  Amen.  

Rev. Dr. Howard John Jording Funeral - 11/21/2012

Job 14:1-17                 1 Peter 5:1-4                Matthew 10:32

“Man who is born of a woman
    is few of days and full of trouble.
² He comes out like a flower and withers;
    he flees like a shadow and continues not.
³ And do you open your eyes on such a one
    and bring me into judgment with you?
⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
    There is not one.
⁵ Since his days are determined,
    and the number of his months is with you,
    and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
⁶ look away from him and leave him alone,^[a]
    that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

⁷ “For there is hope for a tree,
    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
    and that its shoots will not cease.
⁸ Though its root grow old in the earth,
    and its stump die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put out branches like a young plant.
¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low;
    man breathes his last, and where is he?
¹¹ As waters fail from a lake
    and a river wastes away and dries up,
¹² so a man lies down and rises not again;
    till the heavens are no more he will not awake
    or be roused out of his sleep.
¹³ Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,
    that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,
    that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴ If a man dies, shall he live again?
    All the days of my service I would wait,
    till my renewal should come.
¹⁵ You would call, and I would answer you;
    you would long for the work of your hands.
¹⁶ For then you would number my steps;
    you would not keep watch over my sin;
¹⁷ my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
    and you would cover over my iniquity.

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: ² shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; ³ not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is Pastor Jording’s confirmation verse just read, “everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, especially Lucia, Dacia, and Timothy, friends and family of Pastor Jording.  Pastor Jording spent his life giving.  He gave love to his wife and kids.  He gave honorary doctorates to many of the pastors here from the fictitious “University of Southern North Dakota.”  For 40 plus years, he gave the Word of God to about a dozen congregations.  He baptized, confirmed, and married many of you who are here.  He preached over 2,400 sermons.  He visited the sick.  He cared for the poor.  His life was a life of confessing who Christ is, of giving the gifts of Jesus to people, and of serving him in all his stations of life.

This man spent his life faithfully confessing and proclaiming and giving the gifts of God, and yet, this man, as his life was coming to its end, as he body was getting weaker, and his pain getting greater, confessed to me – “You can’t out give God.”     You see, Pastor Jording understood, that even as great a giver as he was, he didn’t give enough.  As much as he cared for you, he still fell short.  As good of a pastor as he was, he still had his weaknesses and shortcomings.  Despite all the wonderful things that Pastor Howard Jording did in his life, he knew it was nothing compared to the gift that Jesus gave – forgiveness, life and salvation.  A gift freely given to you, to me, and yes even to Pastor Jording in his life. 

And it is a gift that we desperately need.  Left to our own devices, this world is more than we can bear.  As our Old Testament lesson says, “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.”  We struggle through days of hurt, pain and mourning.  Our sin is ever before us.  Yes, even a faithful pastor like Pastor Jording was guilty of sin.  He sinned in his thoughts, words, and deeds, just as you dear friends in Christ have.  He fell short of the glory of God, just as you do every day.  He was a poor miserable sinner, just like you and me, although he also confessed to me that he never liked that saying, because he said, and I quote, “I am not a poor sinner, I’m actually very good at being a sinner.” 

Pastor Jording knew this from his own life, just as you too know your own sin.  He knew where he fell short.  He knew where he failed.  He had seen the pain and sorrows of this world, he had lost his loved ones to death.  Sin permeated his life, and he was the first to admit it. 

And it’s that sin that brings us together here today.  The wages of that sin is death.  That sin infects each one of us.  It destroys our relationships.  It causes weakness and pain in our lives.  It kills our loved ones, even as it awaits its turn to take us to death as well.  It’s sin, a calamity too big for us to deal with on our own, to steep a price to pay, too ugly to conceal that we deal with.  And we know it sting today especially, as we gather to mourn and hurt.  We’ve watched as Pastor’s own health deteriorated.  We’ve watched as he became weaker.  We’ve watched as he’s finally left this world of suffering.  We’ve lost a friend, a colleague, a father and husband.  And it hurts to stay and mourn. 

But that’s why God’s gift is so wonderful.  That’s what makes his work so amazing.  His gift is rescue from this world of sin and death.  His gift is the promise of everlasting life.  His gift, the gift we can never out give, is the gift of Christ.  Christ was sent to our world to suffer in our place, to die for us, and to become sin for us, so that we might inherit all of God’s good gifts.  Jesus became obedient to death, even death on a cross.  He did this for you.  He did this for me.  He did this for Pastor Jording.

This gift of forgiveness came to Pastor Jording the same way it did to you, through baptismal waters.  His sinful nature drowned, and a man clothed in Christ’s righteousness was born.  He was saved, not by righteous things he had done, but by a washing of rebirth and renewal.  Having been justified by Grace, Howard Jording became an heir of everlasting life. 

You see dear friends, I can tell you today, exactly where Pastor Jording is, not because of how many of you he baptized, not because of how many sermons he preached, but rather because of the gift God gave him in the bloody, gruesome death of Jesus.  Because Christ died, Howard Jording lives.  Because the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world, Howard Jording inherited heaven.  It was a gift that could never be out-given, or out done.

And so because he was saved, Pastor Jording fulfilled his confirmation verse.  Trusting in Christ’s mercy, he acknowledged Christ before men.  For 20 years here in this pulpit, he proclaimed the promise he had received – Jesus crucified to take away the sins of the world.  He shepherded the flock that Christ had given to his care, not under compulsion, but willingly, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in his charge, but being examples to the flock. Why?  Because of what the gift he had already been given.  And now for Pastor Howard John Jording, the chief shepherd has appeared, and he has received the crown of glory. 

Dear friends, Pastor Jording was right.  You can’t out give God.  For God gives you all.  He gives you life.  He justifies you by the blood of his Son.  He sanctifies you and keeps you in the true faith with his gifts.  He gives you Jesus, the best gift of all.  For 40 plus years, and even up until this last week, Pastor Jording joyfully acknowledged this before you.  And I tell you the truth, today, he is acknowledged before God in heaven.  Today, Pastor Jording is at peace, in the nail scarred arms of Jesus – forever.  Amen. 

Proper 28 - G - 2012 - A Persecuted People

The Twenty-fifth Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 28

November 18, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Daniel 12:1-3              Hebrews 10:11-25                   Mark 13:1-13

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  All men will hate you because of me.  These words of Jesus are rather shocking aren’t they?  That people will hate you for being a Christian.  That people will despise you for the hope which is inside of you.  It will turn families upside down, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.”  This is the harsh reality of Christianity.  Being hated, being persecuted, being betrayed into death. 

But this should be no surprise to us.  This is the way that Christianity has existed since the beginning.  Abel was killed by Cain because of his faith.  Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers because they despised his trust in God.  Jeremiah was thrown in a well, and other prophets were killed even in the temple ground.  Persecution is a part of Christianity. 

And Jesus says as much in our text.  He and the disciples begin in the temple complex, with the disciples marveling at the on going construction there.  The buildings were getting larger.  The stones were stacking up higher.  They were being polished, and coated with gold.  The temple complex was a beautiful facility, of a type seen nowhere else on Earth at that time.  As the disciples were marveling at the beautiful buildings, Jesus crushes their excitement.  “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 

This is a shock.  How can this be Jesus?  How can this happen?  And Jesus goes on, “This won’t even be the worst of it, Brother will turn against brother, there will be great persecutions.  You yourselves will be handed over to kings and councils.  You will be jailed.  You yourselves will be persecuted.  You will suffer because you are Christians.  You will be killed because you are Christians.  This will happen, there is no doubt. 

Jesus words were fulfilled.  St. James Alpheus was stoned in Jerusalem.  St. Peter was crucified in Rome.  The other St. James the brother of John was stabbed with a sword by King Herod.  Many other Christians were killed, including St. Stephen and others.  And then to top it all off, as the blood of Christians had just began flowing, the temple was destroyed.  In 70A.D., 30 some years after Jesus’ death, an army of Rome, led by the future emperor Titus, breached the walls of rebelling Jerusalem, burned the temple to the grown, and threw the stones down into ruin at its base.  Those stones still sit there to this day.  You can go and see them, and walk among them. 

The blood of Christians continued to flow, even past that fateful day.  Christians were martyred by the thousands and ten thousands in the first years of the church.  Christians were handed over to be eaten alive by lions, burned alive and more, sometimes at the hands of their own family.  Persecution continued, even as Christianity became the official religion of Rome.  Muslim armies conquered the Christians lands of the middle east.  The Christian lands of Syria, Egypt, Libya and Turkey were conquered by Turks, and Christians killed or persecuted.  The persecution continues even to this day, in China, in Russia, and yes, dear friends, even here in the United States.

We are not immune from persecution.  We too have strife.  We are blessed that today, in our nation, we have very little worry about shedding our blood for our faith.  But we still can be mistreated.  We still can be walked on.  We still have family and friends who laugh at our faith, or call us names.  We are called homophobic.  We are called uncaring.  We are called hateful.  We are called stupid and made fun of on national T.V.  And worst of all and most painful, are those family members, who have fallen from the faith, and have no desire to have anything to do with us.  Those broken relationships that occur because of our faith. 

Dear friends, the life of a Christian is a life of suffering, a life of persecution, a life of struggle.  Why?  Because this world is a world of sin, and it will be until at last Christ returns to destroy this world, and recreate it perfect again, sin free again, and wonderful again.  But until that day, Jesus’ words ring true, “All men will hate you because of me.”  This is reality, because the truth is, they hated Jesus who has come before us. 

If you worry about persecution, about what the price for your faith may be, you need not.  Why not?  Because Christ has already faced that persecution.  Christ has suffered already.  He was arrested, he was whipped and beaten, he had thorns beaten into his head, he was stripped naked, mocked and nailed to a cross.  He was persecuted, and martyred, he gave up his life because of our faith.  And yet, Christ overcame.  Christ was raised from the dead.  He lives and reigns today.  And what’s more, Christ promises that if he is raised from the dead, that you too will be raised from the dead.  If he overcomes persecution, you too will overcome persecution. 

Christ’s persecution was complete – even to the point of death, but this world could not destroy Jesus as it destroyed the temple.  Sin could not conquer Christianity even as it conquered the world.  Christ has won the victory, he has overcome the world, your sins, and even your death.  You are victorious as Christ is victorious. 

And Christ promises to keep you in the victory he has won.  He will continue to pour out his blessings and gifts upon you, even as you are persecuted.  He gives you his word here, so that you may faithfully leave and face this world with the hope of victory.  He gives you the promise of your baptism, where you are marked as one belonging to the Lord.  He gives you here, his very body and blood, the same that suffered and died for sin, and the same that lives and reigns today in heaven.  And in that eating, and in that drinking, you already partake in the heavenly feast. 

The world is falling apart around us.  But as Christians, we fear not this world, or anything in it.  As Christians, we know where our hope lies, and what awaits us in eternity.  Yes, all men hate us because of Jesus, but we know that we who stand firm in Christ to the end will be saved.  Amen.