Sermon - Francis Schafer Funeral

Agnus Dei, AdCrucem.com

Dear Nancy, children and grandchildren, family and friends of Francis, God’s peace be with you all. Francis is a baptized child of God and belongs to the Lord, even now. “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” Indeed, God loves Francis enough to have died for him in order to gain for him eternal life. So as you mourn the death of a beloved husband, father, grandpa, brother, and friend, remember that God’s love for Francis and you extends beyond this life and into the next. 

I never knew Francis when he was young, but from what I’ve heard and been told, he was a hard working man who loved to have a grand old time. Likely this hard work contributed to his breathing difficulties in more recent years; he just wore out his body. When it’s hard to breathe everything is laborious, even the simplest tasks require work. After 81 years of much labor, God has granted Francis rest. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

This rest is what Francis has now. He’s resting in peace. What a joyful thought that is! After years of labor come rest! Every ailment of body, mind, and soul are taken away and God gives rest. No more trials, no more sadness, no more oxygen to lug around, because in Christ Francis has found rest for his soul. “For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.” 

Francis is resting now, and he’s resting because He is righteous, and he’s righteous because Christ has given him His righteousness. On his own, Francis, like all of us, wasn’t righteous. He suffered under the weight not just of his breathing difficulties, but of his sin. Sin leads to death. This is the result of the curse that God placed upon mankind in the garden of Eden.

It was on account of this curse, because of sin and death, Jesus willingly went to the cross in order to atone for the sins of all people. Because God knew that Francis would need to be forgiven and be saved from death, Jesus was crucified in order to rescue Francis! In order that Francis wouldn’t remain in the grave but would receive eternal life, Jesus rose from the dead so that Francis would rise from the dead!

For Christians, for the baptized children of God, like Francis, God has transformed our death into a portal which leads to bliss untold! What appears to be death is not death. Francis already died years ago when he was baptized. In those waters of baptism Francis was baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection and he was adopted into God’s family! The fruits of the cross were there delivered to Francis: his sins were forgiven and He was given Jesus’ righteousness. In baptism Francis became a beloved son of his heavenly Father and a good man.

This means that what has happened to Francis this week is not really a death, because Christ has already died on behalf of Francis. Francis lives! What’s happened to Francis is that he’s fallen asleep; he’s resting. Indeed, His soul is already resting with the Lord in heaven. His body is sleeping here on earth, peacefully, until the last day when Christ returns. On that day of Christ’s arrival Francis shall be awakened from his grave, and his body and soul shall be reunited in paradise to live forever. In heaven, we christians shall see those who have departed in the faith, and so death is not goodbye, it is not the end, since we shall see one another again in paradise.

And so Francis here rests in peace. Very shortly we will lay Francis to rest in a bed of earth from which he will arise. For us Christians we need not fear the grave any more than we fear our bed. Just as every night we go to sleep and rise in the morning, so shall Francis here go to sleep, in the eve of this world, and in the morning, when the Son of God brightens the darkness of this world with the radiance of His glory, so shall Francis once again arise.

When you drive by the cemetery, it’s not a frightening or scary place. The graveyard isn’t spooky like a halloween movie. Rather it’s much like a bedroom. It’s a safe and secure place, a resting place, a place we go to lie down in slumber knowing that we’re protected from the dangers outside. Indeed, Francis rests safe and secure in the holy ark of the Christian church because God Himself is guarding Francis and shall awaken him on the last day.

This reality of resting in peace and the great hope of the resurrection is for all Christians. For all who trust in God and believe in Jesus Christ, who cling in faith to the Son of God who has died and risen on your behalf, be comforted to know that when your time of death comes you shall simply fall asleep with Jesus and awaken on the last day. Though tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword assault you in this life, God will hold you to His side and bring you out of your sorrows and into the joys of paradise.

If you long to be with Francis again, then first long to be with Christ who shall reunite you once again. Jesus is your comfort and your refuge, He is your rest and your peace, just as He is for Francis. Hearken unto the voice of your Savior, who has said to Francis and says to you: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”