Sermon - Elden Meyer Funeral - John 11:17-27

Agnus Dei from Ghent Altarpiece, Jan van Eyck, 1432

Dear children, grandchildren, close friends and relatives of Elden, God’s mercy and peace be unto you all in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” The steadfast love of Jesus and His mercy drove Him to the cross in order to fulfill His promise for Elden and for you: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Elden lives, even now, He is alive with God in Christ Jesus. His soul is in heaven while his body rests here below, awaiting the resurrection of the dead on the last day.

“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” According to God’s great mercy, Elden was reborn in the waters of baptism and has been living according to this hope ever since.

This hope of the resurrection from the dead, this promise of an imperishable inheritance, is what gave Elden his profound zest for life! Even in these later years, when he wasn’t feeling the best and had some health issues, he still had such vigor in him! Just a few weeks ago he was eating in Pizza Ranch. He loved to throw a good party, as he put together a big Christmas bash every year. He was here in church every week, sitting in the pews right over there. He was filled with life and hope because God planted it in him!

That life and hope still fill him; in truth he’s filled with greater zest for life now that he’s in the nearer presence of God our Savior! The reason for his vigor was because of the hope which filled him. Elden’s hope and faith were in the Lord.

The reason his hope was in the Lord, instead of himself, was that Elden knew that he was by birth a sinner; he confessed this sad reality and his imperfections in church every week. He knew that He was frail, not only in body but in soul. The fall which truly wrought Elden’s death wasn’t the fall at his home, it was the fall back in the garden of Eden, when his first parents fell into sin and plunged him into sin. Elden wasn’t in church every week because he believed himself to be a better person than others, but because he knew his terrible plight of sin and desired to receive mercy and salvation from God alone.

Mercy and salvation are precisely what Elden received. Jesus went from Bethany visiting Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, to Jerusalem where He was arrested, beaten, crucified, and buried. By His death, Jesus forgave Elden’s sins and showed mercy to him. Jesus rose from the grave because He’s the resurrection and the life, and so too has Jesus given new life to Elden! Elden lives!

Already in this life Elden has been living the new life that Jesus won for him. He was born again in the waters of baptism! Even now, like I already said, Elden is alive with God in Christ Jesus! He’s not dead, like when your goldfish dies and it doesn’t come back. Elden’s more like Lazarus; he’s sleeping, he’s resting, we’ll lay him in the grave today just like when his mother laid him in the cradle as a baby, and then like Lazarus he’ll awaken!

On the last day Christ shall call out to him by name: Elden, come out! Out Elden will walk, body and soul, alive, never to die again! He will walk right into that inheritance which is kept in heaven for him. The resurrection of Jesus Christ mercifully belongs to Elden.

There Elden will get to experience a Christmas party prepared by God Himself. Elden is the recipient of presents far better than any money can buy. Elden’s Christmas parties were always fun and he was so generous in all of the gifts he gave everyone. Those parties were but a reflection of the party and gifts which Elden is now enjoying and shall be for all eternity. Elden’s generosity was a glimpse into God’s generosity towards Elden.

God’s mercy, His generosity, the resurrection, all of that is for you too. Today and in the coming days when we remember Elden, when we tell jokes and stories, reminiscing about the time we shared with him, let us also remember and imitate his faith. Like Elden, let us recognize our own sins and failings, so that we may be filled with hope and zest like Elden by trusting in the Lord for our salvation.

Christ came not only for Elden, but He came for you also. Christ was crucified and buried so that your sins may be forgiven. Jesus rose so that you too may rise from the grave and receive that imperishable reward in heaven. Christ has given you the new birth through baptism so that you may see Christ and Elden in heaven. Jesus shows you His mercy and fills you with hope, just like Elden, so that you too may share in that joy and zest for life. Let us learn from Elden to “believe in [Jesus] and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls.”