2008-07-21
In Memoriam +Vivian Anastasia Gregory +
Luke 18:16
Born and Baptized: January 31, 2008 A+D
Asleep in Jesus: July 17, 2008 A+D
In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The will of God is mostly hidden.
We do not know what His plans are for today's weather
or the presidential election in the Fall,
or for our lives.
Hindsight does not reveal much either.
We might be able to say that the Lord willed it to rain yesterday.
But we cannot say why,
other than to say that He is good and His will is always best,
even when it makes no sense to us, and death and evil afflict us at
every turn.
The rain falls, without mercy or favoritism,
on the good and the evil farmer alike.
The clearest narrative of Our Lord using evil for good is the story of
Joseph.
But how it was good wasn't revealed until nearly 25 years.
It hardly seemed good to Joseph in the pit, in slavery, in prison.
Surely he endured nights as decades.
And even if the time flew by,
25 years is a third to a fourth of our lives.
That is a long time to live in exile,
without knowing the good,
in sorrow.
History is filled with tragedies,
with violence, betrayals, slavery, death, poverty, abuse,
and natural disasters.
Joseph is one of only a handful that are ever explained.
All the rest we take on faith.
Here is what has been revealed.
God is good.
His mercy endures forever.
Jesus did not die in vain
and He did not stay dead.
He is risen.
He lives.
His will is best
and He will work all things together for good.
We don't know how,
or when,
or why bad things happen the way they do.
But we believe
that the torture and violence and murder of the holocaust,
the famines in Ethiopia,
the assignation of John F. Kennedy,
the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City,
the American Revolution,
and every single thing that has ever happened to you
-good and bad,
small and great,
trivial, insignificant, or life-changing -
everything
- everything!-
is worked
by the Lord
together
for good.
Not a single sparrow falls from the sky apart from Our Father's awareness.
He has counted every hair on your head.
He and the holy angels counted every breath,
and every single heartbeat,
Vivian took.
Nothing is trivial or insignificant in the lives of the saints
to the eyes of the Lord
He is not just watching.
He is in control.
He is working everything,
including evil things,
even Vivian's death,
for good.
This is why in the midst of his terrible sorrow Job confessed:
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
That is the confession we make against this fallen creation and the
devil's lies.
We do not believe in death.
Satan takes no one away.
He has no power, no victories, no prey.
He has been defeated, crushed by the cross.
Hell cannot hold us in, cannot have us.
The Lord gives.
The Lord takes away.
Thus do we stand in the cemetery,
before an open grave, with the lifeless body of our beloved at hand, and
say,
"O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?"
The atheist or agnostic says:
"You fools!
The grave is about to claim its prey.
You will bury your dead and see them no more.
Your broken heart and tears are evidence of its power and its sting.
Your denial is insanity.
If your God is so great and powerful,
so merciful and full of love,
why does He let you die?"
He does not let us die.
He takes us.
We are not insane.
We have faith.
Jesus lives.
No one who lives and believes in Him,
no matter how small,
will ever die.
Vivian is not dead.
She is asleep.
She will be laid to rest,
not in Hades' shallow grave,
but in God's good acre,
an earthen bed prepared by the Lord,
which He has sanctified by His own death and grave,
from which she will rise again
like flowers reaching for the sun in Spring,
like Jesus from the borrowed tomb,
with a shout and angels singing
and all creation full of joy at the revelation:
Vivian Anastasia, life and resurrection,
belongs to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Death and Hell cannot have her.
The Lord's claim in the waters of Holy Baptism is good and valid and
made sure.
She is sealed in faith.
She has come to the reward of Jesus Christ.
This is what is revealed in God's Holy Word:
Baptism saves.
The Lord receives and forgives sinners.
Jesus lives.
You will not just see Vivian again,
healthy, whole, happy, alive, complete, body and soul.
You will hold her.
You will touch her and kiss her.
You will play with her and love her.
You will be with her forever.
Jesus lives.
So does Vivian.
Vivian lives!
Your time will also come.
You will leave behind these sad days and life.
Your sorrow and mourning
and your hard questions will all end.
You will be transferred home,
to the place where you belong,
where Vivian now abides and waits and prays.
Because Jesus lives.
Thus says the Lord: Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and
forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of God.
In +Jesus' Name. Amen.
Pastor David Petersen