In His Redeemer's Arms
Sermon
The Word Is Life
An Anthology Of Funeral Meditations
____________ and ____________, friends and loved ones of ____________, dear friends in Christ, grace to you and peace from God, our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
''And Jesus took them in his arms.'' What a beautiful picture that is of the love our Lord has for his children. There is a hotel or more probably a rooming house I know of called The Redeemer's Arms. Huge white letters are mounted on the side of the building announcing its name. Those many times I have driven past there, I've always thought how terrific it might be to answer the question, ''Where do you live?'' by saying, ''Oh, I live in The Redeemer's Arms.''
But that is exactly where ____________ lived those all too brief 12 years - in his Redeemer's arms. Born on ____________, his doctors determined that his chances for survival were pretty small. But there was this glimmer of life there ... this spark that just wouldn't be quenched. Just four days later, on ____________, at ____________, ____________ was baptized, taken up and enfolded into those warm and loving arms of his Savior, Jesus Christ. And he would live the rest of his life there, in his Redeemer's arms.
____________ would still know the pain of tubes and tests and too many operations, but he also found comfort in knowing that during those difficult times, Jesus would watch over him.
He knew the frustration of not being able to do all the things that some of the other kids could do, but at the same time, he became an avid ____________ fan, got into dinosaurs, enjoyed fishing with Grandpa ____________, was a friendly adversary with his dog, ____________, and looked forward, someday, to being a truck driver. He once asked Grandma ____________ if she thought Jesus would have a semi in heaven for him to drive.
____________ found fun living in those loving arms, but mostly, the greatest blessing he received from Jesus was his faith. He had that strong child--like faith that our Lord would want all of us to have. In Matthew 18, Jesus says, ''Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.'' Sunday school and worship were important to him, especially Easter Sunday worship. And he really enjoyed reading his Bible. ____________ truly lived in his Redeemer's arms.
On ____________, those arms peacefully and quietly took him from this life to the next. As God's baptized child, ____________ died in the very same arms in which he had lived. In the face of that tragedy - the death of a child has frequently been called the ultimate tragedy - perhaps that is the greatest comfort we can have ... that ____________ died in the arms of his Savior.
A poet writes:
''I'll lend you for a little time a child of mine,'' God said,
''For you to love the while he lives, and to mourn for
when he's dead ...
It may be six or seven years, or twenty--two or three,
But will you, 'till I call him back, take care of him
for me?''
''We'll shelter him with tenderness, we'll love him while
we may,
For all the happiness we've known, forever grateful
stay.
But shall the angels call for him much sooner than we've
planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes, and try to
understand.''
It is much sooner than you've planned, and that time to grieve has come. ____________ will be missed. There is a void in your lives, ____________ and ____________, and in your hearts and home, there is an unoccupied place in Sunday school, the youth choir, and among his classmates that may never be filled.____________ has died, and we are very sad. But at the same time, there is comfort in knowing that he died in the arms of his Lord. As Paul wrote, ''For I am sure that neither life nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.''
Finally, as Christians, there is one more assurance to which we need to cling, and that is this, that while there is strength and comfort in the tender arms of Christ, we were given hope when those very arms were stretched upon a cross. We who are left behind can live in that hope, because those outstretched arms are God's assurance that our sins have been forgiven - your sins, and my sins, and yes, ____________ sins, too. The sacrifice that God required has been made on our behalf by his very Son. Jesus Christ was like us - he was us - and he died for us, in order that all of our sins might be forgiven. And they are.
But our hope can't quit there. Good Friday without Easter is just another tragedy. No, ____________ faith was not only in the God of the cross, but also in the God of the resurrection, and it is his faith and ours, in that one and the same God, that even allow us to be here tonight. We have come to worship him.
Faith in the risen Christ is the very beginning of a new life. Christ is in the now ... he is able to touch us and give us blessings and peace now. And yet, his presence tonight is only the beginning of the victory and the resurrection God has in store for all his children.
That's the Easter promise. Oh, none of us can fully understand it, I suppose. And we really don't know all that lies ahead; but this we do know, that God has prepared a place for us, just as he did for his Son, Jesus, and for his son,
____________, as Paul writes in Romans 6:5, ''For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.'' That is the promise into which we baptize ... that is the hope in which we live, and in which we die.
''And he took them in his arms and blessed them.'' ____________ lived and died and lives eternally in the arms of Jesus. And there is hope and comfort for all of us in those warm and loving and outstretched arms, as well. God bless you and your good memories of ____________.
Amen.
''And Jesus took them in his arms.'' What a beautiful picture that is of the love our Lord has for his children. There is a hotel or more probably a rooming house I know of called The Redeemer's Arms. Huge white letters are mounted on the side of the building announcing its name. Those many times I have driven past there, I've always thought how terrific it might be to answer the question, ''Where do you live?'' by saying, ''Oh, I live in The Redeemer's Arms.''
But that is exactly where ____________ lived those all too brief 12 years - in his Redeemer's arms. Born on ____________, his doctors determined that his chances for survival were pretty small. But there was this glimmer of life there ... this spark that just wouldn't be quenched. Just four days later, on ____________, at ____________, ____________ was baptized, taken up and enfolded into those warm and loving arms of his Savior, Jesus Christ. And he would live the rest of his life there, in his Redeemer's arms.
____________ would still know the pain of tubes and tests and too many operations, but he also found comfort in knowing that during those difficult times, Jesus would watch over him.
He knew the frustration of not being able to do all the things that some of the other kids could do, but at the same time, he became an avid ____________ fan, got into dinosaurs, enjoyed fishing with Grandpa ____________, was a friendly adversary with his dog, ____________, and looked forward, someday, to being a truck driver. He once asked Grandma ____________ if she thought Jesus would have a semi in heaven for him to drive.
____________ found fun living in those loving arms, but mostly, the greatest blessing he received from Jesus was his faith. He had that strong child--like faith that our Lord would want all of us to have. In Matthew 18, Jesus says, ''Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.'' Sunday school and worship were important to him, especially Easter Sunday worship. And he really enjoyed reading his Bible. ____________ truly lived in his Redeemer's arms.
On ____________, those arms peacefully and quietly took him from this life to the next. As God's baptized child, ____________ died in the very same arms in which he had lived. In the face of that tragedy - the death of a child has frequently been called the ultimate tragedy - perhaps that is the greatest comfort we can have ... that ____________ died in the arms of his Savior.
A poet writes:
''I'll lend you for a little time a child of mine,'' God said,
''For you to love the while he lives, and to mourn for
when he's dead ...
It may be six or seven years, or twenty--two or three,
But will you, 'till I call him back, take care of him
for me?''
''We'll shelter him with tenderness, we'll love him while
we may,
For all the happiness we've known, forever grateful
stay.
But shall the angels call for him much sooner than we've
planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes, and try to
understand.''
It is much sooner than you've planned, and that time to grieve has come. ____________ will be missed. There is a void in your lives, ____________ and ____________, and in your hearts and home, there is an unoccupied place in Sunday school, the youth choir, and among his classmates that may never be filled.____________ has died, and we are very sad. But at the same time, there is comfort in knowing that he died in the arms of his Lord. As Paul wrote, ''For I am sure that neither life nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.''
Finally, as Christians, there is one more assurance to which we need to cling, and that is this, that while there is strength and comfort in the tender arms of Christ, we were given hope when those very arms were stretched upon a cross. We who are left behind can live in that hope, because those outstretched arms are God's assurance that our sins have been forgiven - your sins, and my sins, and yes, ____________ sins, too. The sacrifice that God required has been made on our behalf by his very Son. Jesus Christ was like us - he was us - and he died for us, in order that all of our sins might be forgiven. And they are.
But our hope can't quit there. Good Friday without Easter is just another tragedy. No, ____________ faith was not only in the God of the cross, but also in the God of the resurrection, and it is his faith and ours, in that one and the same God, that even allow us to be here tonight. We have come to worship him.
Faith in the risen Christ is the very beginning of a new life. Christ is in the now ... he is able to touch us and give us blessings and peace now. And yet, his presence tonight is only the beginning of the victory and the resurrection God has in store for all his children.
That's the Easter promise. Oh, none of us can fully understand it, I suppose. And we really don't know all that lies ahead; but this we do know, that God has prepared a place for us, just as he did for his Son, Jesus, and for his son,
____________, as Paul writes in Romans 6:5, ''For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.'' That is the promise into which we baptize ... that is the hope in which we live, and in which we die.
''And he took them in his arms and blessed them.'' ____________ lived and died and lives eternally in the arms of Jesus. And there is hope and comfort for all of us in those warm and loving and outstretched arms, as well. God bless you and your good memories of ____________.
Amen.
