Sermon - Funeral Ruth Dietrich

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Dear Paul, children and grandchildren, relatives and friends, our dear Lord Jesus comforts us in the midst of our sorrows and says: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” Jesus does not lie; the reward for the faithful christian is great! Ruth has just now begun to enjoy the great rewards of everlasting life, since her soul is with the Lord in heaven. The days of her suffering and enduring the hardships of life are past, now she rests in the Lord. She is enjoying the reward of everlasting life won for her by Jesus. Therefore Ruth is already, right now, rejoicing and is glad, for her reward is great in heaven.

For Ruth this instruction to rejoice and be glad is an easy one, since her soul rests with God now. For us on the other hand it’s a bit more difficult, to put it lightly. One reason for this is because Ruth had a large presence, right? She was always active and involved with the people around her. I noticed this in the short seven years that I’ve been here; Ruth was always around and involved. Ruth and Paul were two of the first people we met when we moved here, since they were two of the first people who showed up to help us move our stuff inside of our house. Ruth couldn’t really help move boxes and furniture, but she was there to welcome us. It was the same thing here at church, any of the members here know it’s true, Ruth has always been around getting things done for decades. As far as I’m aware this was also true with her family, as it seemed like in recent years she was always going to her great-grandchildren’s events.

Considering how she was just always there, now that Ruth has died it feels like there’s a great big pit in your life. Death tends to have that effect in your life, since you can’t talk to your wife, mom, grandma, or friend anymore. Death feels so ominous and so final. Death is a terrible thing. Death is the fruit of our sinfulness. We all die because we are all sinners. Ruth has died because she was a sinner. Death is not natural; death is only here because you and I are sinners. Death is terrible.

Nevertheless, as terrible as death may be, for Ruth and for every faithful Christian, death is not so powerful and ominous. “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” Our Lord Jesus Christ took our sins upon Himself, He took Ruth’s sins upon Himself, and was crucified and died in order to forgive our sins. In rising from the dead Jesus conquered death so that those who believe in Him shall also conquer death. We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!

This means that Ruth is one who conquers death! Ruth believed in Jesus Christ for her salvation and she clung to her savior throughout her life. Ruth was present here in church every Sunday, not because she thought she was such a great woman, but because she knew her great sinfulness and great need for her Savior. So in faith she clung to Jesus in order that she might receive salvation from Him. Since Ruth believed in Jesus and was filled with faith, she conquers death through Christ, and death does not hurt her. For Ruth, and for every faithful Christian, Jesus has made death a portal to bliss untold. In this way Ruth’s faithfulness and presence at church to receive God’s gifts of life is a wonderful example to us all. 

About a month ago I was visiting with Ruth in the hospital and she said she was prepared to die. To be fair she had told me many times she was ready to die, she had her proverbial ticket ready, as she liked to say, and was just waiting for God to punch it. But that day, sitting there in her hospital gown, she was quite serious in that she was prepared. She told me then that her hope and prayer was that Paul, and her kids and grandkids would also faithfully go to church after she died, so that they too would be prepared for their own deaths and come and meet her in paradise.

And what a wonderful thing it is to know that if we are faithful unto death Jesus will give us the crown of life. We shall conquer sin and death, and live eternally with God in paradise. We shall see Ruth, and all the saints, in paradise! What’s even better, we shall see God in paradise, we shall meet our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ face to face, and dwell with Him in eternal joys forever!

In the meantime, before we die, it’s another wonderful thing to know that those who rest from their labors in Jesus aren’t as far away as we might think. This is one reason Ruth wants her family to be in church: she wants her family to be near to her. People will often visit the cemetery to try and be near their loved one, and that’s all well and good. But if you want to be nearer your loved one, if you want to be near Ruth, this is something you have during the Divine Service on Sunday morning. It’s not just because you sit in the same spot Ruth always sat, but because here in worship Jesus tells us that He is with us: “where two or three are gathered in My name there am I.” Since Ruth’s soul is now with Jesus, this means that where Jesus is, there also is Ruth. Here in church we gather with other Christians, with angels and archangels, and with the whole company of heaven. When we kneel at this rail to receive Jesus’ body and blood, we commune with all the saints, both living on earth and departed in faith.

Ruth has not passed far away, instead her body will rest in the grave, her soul is with Jesus, and He is not so far away. Ruth has been washed with the blood of the Lamb, she is clothed in the baptismal garment of Christ’s righteousness, therefore she belongs to Jesus and is with Jesus. She has conquered death with Christ. This same hope and victory over the grave is for you too. Like Ruth, on your own you cannot be saved, but with Jesus there is hope and there is life. So may Ruth’s confirmation verse give us encouragement like it gave her: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Because of Jesus’ promise of life, it’s clear why Ruth’s favorite verse was: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!