+Elroy Allen Borchardt+ Funeral Sermon

Isaiah 61:  The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
² to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
³ to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
    my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Matthew 5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons^[a] of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Dear friends in Christ, especially Grace, Gail and Gloria.  It was last Thursday that Elroy laid down on his couch, fell asleep and went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  And while it hurts, and is painful to know that he is gone, there is truly no better time in the time of the church to remember the promises Christ makes to you and to me, and especially on this day to Elroy. 

Because as Elroy left on Thursday, the Church celebrated All Saints Day on Friday.  All saints day, the day when we remember all our loved ones who have left behind this world and sorrow and sin, and now live eternally with Christ our Lord in his kingdom.  And this year we remembered one more saint, Elroy Allen Borchardt, who went to be with his Lord on the Eve of All Saints.  He has left the sin and sorrow of this world, to inherit eternal life. 

How can we speak so boldly?  How can we be sure and certain that Elroy is with all the angels, and arch angels and all the saints of heaven?  Scripture says one must be perfect in every respect to inherit heaven!  And as much as we love Elroy, we know that he suffered from the same ailment as we do, sin and imperfection.  If you knew Elroy, you knew he wasn’t perfect – or at the least he wasn’t as perfect as scripture requires.  He had sinned by his fault, his own fault, his own most grievous fault. 

And yet, as we hear in Elroy’s confirmation verse, we know his sin was forgiven by the God who loved him so much as to send His own Son Jesus to die in place of Elroy.  God, in Christ Jesus forgave Elroy all his sins.  Jesus came into this world, and lived a perfect life even being obedient to death on a cross, so that we might have a promise of life.  Jesus shed his blood, so that Elroy might today be at peace in heaven.  Christ died, so that all who died in belief in His name would raise from the dead, just as Christ did. 

Elroy was given that promise at this very font, where he was washed in Water and the Word, so that all his sin was taken away.  Elroy regularly received Christ’s very body and blood to eat and drink for forgiveness, life and salvation here at this rail.  Elroy received forgiveness, forgiveness earned not by his own works, but only by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, the one who forgave him all his trespasses by his own death on the cross. 

And the same promise is true for you as well.  Your sins are forgiven, just as Elroy’s were.  You too are already a Saint of heaven, if you believe in Christ.  You may still be here in this world, struggling and sorrowing, but because of Christ, one day you will be there beside Elroy before the very throne of Christ Jesus, comforted by Christ. 

There still will be some pain and sorrow in this world.  We still will mourn and miss Elroy in the days and weeks and years ahead.  That will not just disappear.  But as we mourn, we mourn with hope, hope in the knowledge that our Savior has bought us from this world with his own precious blood, innocent suffering and death.  And so we are truly blessed in Christ.  We are blessed in the hope of our savior.  Elmer is blessed, in the peace of heaven forever more, forgiven by Jesus.   

And you too are blessed, for Christ says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  Dear friends, take comfort, for Elroy is in heaven.  He is a blessed Saint of God.  He’s in the arms of Jesus, forgiven in his blood.  And one day, hopefully many All Saints Days from here, you will be also.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.