+Wally Milbrandt+ Funeral Service

Isaiah 26 - In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
    he sets up salvation
    as walls and bulwarks.
² Open the gates,
    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
³ You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.
⁴ Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
    and the earth will give birth to the dead.

1 Corinthians 15 - Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

John 14:23 - Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is form the Epistle lesson just read, especially these words, “We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, especially DiAnn, Scott, Tom, Lori and Stacy, friends and family of Wally.  It is a sad day today, as we are gathered to mourn the sudden passing of a dear husband, father and grandfather, and for many of us here, a friend.  I’ve heard from so many people about so many memories of Wally, and I myself have many.  There is so much about Wally about which we could speak.  We could talk about his 52 years of marriage to you DiAnn, and about his love and pride for his children and grandchildren.  We could talk about his induction into the Softball Hall of Fame as one of the two “M&M” brothers.  We could talk about the many pheasants that he killed, which he at many times distributed to the pastor and others to eat.  We could talk about the many meals we have eaten with him, or about the way that Wally had a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face, as he sought to tease you about something or another.    

We will have so much about Wally to remember and miss.  But in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, it all changed.  A sudden heart attack, an ambulance call, a few sleepless days and night in the aptly  named hospital waiting room, and dreaded words we did not want to hear.  And so here we are today, hurting, mourning and missing Wally.  In a flash it changed so fast.  So quickly we have been confronted by the ugly sting of death.  So quickly sin has taken its toll.

Yes, we are sinners, just as Wally was, its true.  Yes we are guilty.  Yes, we, just as Wally, must confront death and pain and sorrow and we do.  It is the lot of sinners, as Paul writes in our text, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  God’s Word has given us a law that we have failed to keep, and by our failure we have earned death, as we heard in church just yesterday, “The wages of sin is death.”  And it’s a reality that confronts us so often, and is completely and totally out of our control.  And so we weep.  We cry.  We hurt.  We mourn, and we will continue to do so, for all the days of our life. 

And it is because of the reality of our sin in a world of death, that God sent Jesus.  The very Son of God took on our human flesh to confront death face to face.  To fight the battle that we cannot win by our own abilities.  To win for us forgiveness of sin, and the promise of life and salvation.  Jesus entered our world, and cared for people.  He helped the suffering and the hurting.  He visited those who were imprisoned, he healed those who were blind, he fed those who were hungry, and he comforted those who mourned. 

But those things would not save us on their own.  There needed to be more, there needed to be a sacrifice, there needed to be blood shed – for without the shedding of blood, there could be no forgiveness of sin.  So Jesus set his eyes on Jerusalem.  He went to that “Old Rugged Cross” to bleed, to suffer, and finally to die.  And die Jesus did, in our place, and in Wally’s place.  For our sin, and for Wally’s sin.  Jesus did what was necessary for poor sinners, like you, me and Wally to be forgiven.  

He was laid to rest in a tomb by mourning friends.  His family cried and wept.  They were in the very depths of hurt and pain, just as you, dear friends in Christ, are now.  But Death could not defeat Christ.  Death had no dominion over him.  The very God of Life could not be defeated by sin, but would by his own death defeat sin forever. 

And so, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, God the Father raised His beloved Son Jesus from the dead.  Christ has risen from the dead!  He is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!  Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?  It is destroyed forever by the work of Christ Jesus crucified and risen for the sins of the world, crucified and risen for your sin. 

And so it is with confidence today, that we in the face of death may be certain that in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, we and all believers in Christ, will be raised imperishable.  That Wally’s body, which we today commit to its resting place will on that Great Day of the Lord be raised by Jesus.  We know that Wally is himself with Christ, the very “Resurrection and the Life” and that he shall be even forever more. 

And we know that promise is for you and me as well.  We who mourn shall be comforted by the nail-scarred hands of Jesus, which will wipe every tear from our eyes.  We who suffer shall be given rest by him who suffered in our place.  And we who face death, will be made alive forever by the one who overcame death and the grave.  We have already died to sin with Jesus in baptism, and if we have died with him, we shall also without a doubt be raised with him.  Christ has promised it, and today we believe that promise, for it is for you, for me, and for Wally. 

And so it was dear friends, that this past Sunday evning in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, our world was turned upside down, and Wally was taken from us.  But we have certainty, that he is now with Christ, even forever more.  We know that he is alive because of Jesus, the Resurrection and the life. And we know that on the last day, in a flash and twinkling of an eye, he shall be raised, as Jesus has been raised. And so, in faith we say the words of our text today, saying, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”  Thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.