Sermon - Funeral of Mary Dawson

Dear children, grandchildren, family, and friends of Mary, God’s peace be with you, especially in these days when we mourn the death of a woman very dear to us. Although we may mourn, we do not grieve without hope, since our Lord Jesus promises to raise from the dead those who have faith in Him. Mary is God’s dear child, adopted into His family through baptism, bought back from sin and death with the blood of Jesus Christ. We who also have faith in Jesus will see Mary again on the last day when Jesus returns.

I will remember Mary with great fondness, as I’m sure all of you will too. She was a loving mother and grandmother, a wonderful friend, a talented musician, and a lover of all things beautiful. Whether you participated with her in plays, sang with her in choir, or loved her as a mother or friend, you all undoubtedly have such heartwarming memories when you think of Mary.

As her pastor I will miss Mary’s smile and her comments on the sermon after church. In cards that I received from her she always included such encouraging notes, supportive and loving of me and my family. Most importantly, over the past few years with her various health troubles I’d stop and visit with her, and I will say that she always gave a strong confession of her faith in Jesus to me. Mary’s love for her Lord was quite pronounced in her life.

I’m not just talking about all that she did here at church with teaching the children, directing choir, and serving in various other capacities. In fact, her faithfulness was most notable to me when she could no longer volunteer in those capacities. The past few months, after she entered Hospice, Mary would still come to church most Sunday mornings. With her walker she couldn’t sit in her regular spot up here, instead she sat in the back, but she was here regardless. It wasn’t convenient for her to get here, she didn’t feel the greatest or the strongest, her body was physically weak, and yet she was here. Why?

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” That is Mary’s faith. Her faith is that even in the midst of death God will raise her from the grave.

There’s the crux of the matter! Mary wasn’t in church because she was serving the Lord, instead she was in the house of her God because He was serving her in this place. Mary was only particularly physically weak in her latter years, but throughout her entire life Mary knew that she was spiritually frail and weak. She confessed and knew it well that she was a sinner, that one day she would be laying in a casket here in this church, because the fruit of sin is death. She wasn’t just here to sing in the choir, she was here to receive grace and forgiveness from her Lord.

This is important for us to remember. Mary didn’t go to church because she thought she was perfect, or that she was better than anybody else. It’s actually the opposite. She was here because she knew she wasn’t perfect, she was just like everybody else, a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness. If she, or any of us thought that we were perfect now, then we wouldn’t wind up in a casket. Death is not what God wants for us. God is the God of the living, not of the dead. Death is the unnatural separation of the body from the soul. Mary’s body is resting here, and will soon be laid to rest in the ground. Her soul is already resting with God in heaven. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, that they rest from their labors.” But this death isn’t the end. God’s eternal plan for Mary is that she would live, body and soul, in paradise for all eternity. So on the last day, when Jesus returns, our bodies shall be raised from the grave and reunited with our souls. Those who trust in the Lord will enter into paradise!

Although Mary was a sinner, as she confessed with her own lips every Sunday, she came to this place to receive forgiveness. Jesus Christ was crucified in order to redeem her from her sin and death. Jesus rose from the grave to prove that her sins were indeed forgiven, and to show her that she too would rise from the dead on the last day. She received this forgiveness here when the pastor pronounced forgiveness upon her. When she listened to the word of God and the sermon, her faith was pointed to Christ to believe in Him and His sacrifice for her. When she received the life-giving body and blood of Jesus in Holy Communion, she received the medicine of immortality.

That’s why she came to this place so regularly, even when it was physically challenging to do so. The great treasure which God has entrusted to Mary is the blessed forgiveness of her sins and the promise of everlasting life. Mary received these eternal treasures and multiplied them greatly. Such that at her death the Lord must have greeted her, saying: “Well done, good and faithful Servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your Master.” 

Today, and over the coming days, I would encourage you to remember not only Mary’s many earthly skills and accomplishments, but to remember her great faith in Jesus for her salvation. Mary is a wonderful example to us, not just of how to be a good mother or friend, but of how to be a faithful Christian. Learning from her example, let us remember that we too are mortal and the bell tolls for us. We are sinners and shall die, and yet, in the midst of death we have hope because Jesus was crucified for us and risen so that we too may rise from our graves. May it be that we endure the trials of life like Mary with faith in Jesus. So that at the end, our Lord would say not only to Mary but to us also: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.”