Ruth 1:15-18 - 15 And she said, “See,
your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return
after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do
not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I
will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where
you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do
so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And
when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
Revelation 2:10 - Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may
be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be
faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Luke 23:44-49; 24:1-6 - It was now about the sixth hour,[a] and there was darkness
over the whole land until the ninth hour,[b] 45 while
the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in
two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud
voice, said, “Father, into your hands Icommit my spirit!” And
having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when
the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly
this man was innocent!”48 And all the crowds that had
assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned
home beating their breasts. 49 And
all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from
Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went
to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And
they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but
when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While
they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in
dazzling apparel. 5 And as they
were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them,
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is
not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in
Galilee,
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in
Christ, especially Timothy, Dacia, family and friends of Lucia. Ruth told her mother in law Naomi, “Where you
go, I will go. Your God, shall be my
God. Your faith, shall be my faith. Where you die, I will die, and there will I
be buried.” Those were bold words for
her to speak. Her husband had just died,
a short time after her father-in-law had died.
Naomi would be soon heading back to Israel, her homeland, a foreign
place for Ruth. There were no guarantees
of food or a roof over their head. Ruth
would be considered a foreigner, and Ruth’s own family would be far away. And yet, she went where Naomi went, trusting
that God would provide for her no matter what things happened because of
it.
The same could be
said for Lucia as well. Many years ago,
in 1958, she married a newly ordained pastor, promising to go wherever God
called him to serve God’s people. She
promised to him, essentially, that she would “Go where you go.” And so they went. From Illinois, to Wisconsin, to cold northern
North Dakota, and finally here, to southern semi-tropical North Dakota.
And throughout all
the trip and travel, God did provide for her.
He was there when she lost loved ones and family members. God was there when things were challenging. God was there when there were joys to
celebrate. God was there, almost two
years ago, when her husband of 54 years passed away. And now, dear friends, God was with her when
her life came to its end just a few days ago.
Where you go, I
will go. Dear friends, Jesus makes that
very same promise to us. Wherever we go
in this world, Jesus will be there in His Word and Sacrament. Wherever we go, Jesus is there with
forgiveness for all our sin, he is there in all trials and tribulations. And dear friends, Jesus also turns it
around.
“Where I go, you
will go.” Jesus says. And Jesus went to suffer. Jesus went to bleed. Jesus went to die on the cross. And we follow him. We suffer and struggle in this world, just as
Lucia did at times. We hurt and weep,
just as Jesus did. And dear friends we
even follow Jesus into death. As we read
earlier, “Did you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death.”
Lucia has followed
Jesus. But the good news about following
Jesus into death is that Jesus didn’t stay dead. Jesus rose.
Jesus did not stay dead. And dear
friends, because Jesus rose, so too will Lucia.
Where Jesus goes, so too will she, and so too will you.
Yes, dear friends,
you too will follow Jesus one day into death.
You will because of your sin. You
will age, you will weaken, and you will die.
But fear not, do not fear what you are about to suffer. For you are following in the footsteps of
Jesus, who promises, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of
eternal life.” You will leave this
world, just as Christ did, but you shall follow him through death and into
eternal life. Your tomb will one day be
empty. Your grave will be opened, and
Christ will give you eternal life, and will resurrect you with all the dead on
that great and glorious day.
Where Jesus goes,
so too, dear friends, will you.
In the name of
Jesus. Amen.
