Romans 8:31-39 & John 3:16

Funeral sermon for David Vinyard

June 20, 2009

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our crucified and risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I would like to continue by rereading the first verse of the reading that I shared with you a few moments ago from Romans, chapter 8. It reads, "What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" ... Here ends the reading ...

Life is of course often filled with questions. In a world where mother's hearts get broken and father's hopes get dashed, we are often filled with questions. Questions regarding life and certainly questions regarding death. Now, I'm not here to answer all those questions we may have, many of our questions simply cannot be answered this side of eternity. But we can answer the question that St. Paul raises in our reading. "What shall we now say? What shall we say in response to all this?"…

And I suppose the first thing we can say is that this was not God's will. Life as we know it in this fallen world, death is not what God intended for us. It was not God's will that we be here this morning mourning David's death. Now, these may seem like rather strange statements considering that life's trials and tribulations and death are so common among us, something we must all face. But in the Old Testament book of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord states that He desires no man's death, "I take no pleasure in the death of a man," He says. And so, "Why? Why is it that mother's hearts can get so broken? Why is it then that death exists?"

Well, as St. Paul states just a few chapters prior to our reading from Romans, "because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." And "the wages of sin - the just punishment for sin - is death." Life as we know it and death in this fallen world are not what God intended for David, not what God intended for me or for you when He made our first parents. But because of sin it is a reality - a reality that we come face to face with this morning.

And so again, what shall we say in response to all of this? … Well, in our reading Paul answers that question with another question. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" If God is for us? But how do we know if God is for us? How do you know if God is "for you" - for David? Isn't that one of the big questions in life? "How do I know if God really cares about me? Cared about David?" …

To answer those questions let's go to our second reading for this morning - our Gospel reading from John chapter 3 and in particular that very familiar verse sixteen. I would like to go here because here is our hope; here is God's answer to the questions of life and of death that we face today. "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." God so loved the world that He did not want to see one single sinner die - perish eternally. And so He sent His Son Jesus who was born of the Virgin Mary; who lived the perfect life that none of us can live; He sent Jesus who died on Calvary's cross as the sacrifice for sinners.

But I think that is something that often, too easily gets overlooked. That is that Jesus came for sinners. Maybe we think that Jesus came just for those who prove themselves worthy - those whom the world might consider to be religious or pious. But as Jesus himself once said, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I came not to call the righteous to repentance but sinners." Jesus came for sinners - sinners just like me, sinners just like you, sinners just like David.

That's right, Jesus came for sinner just like David. And if you have any doubt about that I would like to throw a date out to you - August 28, 1960. You see on August 28, 1960, through the waters of Holy Baptism, God called David by name and said, "David Scott Vinyard, you are mine." "You are mine. I know what lies in your future - I know the choices you will make - I know that you need a Savior from death. And so David I am putting my name on you - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I am marking you as one of my own - one redeemed by Christ the crucified - forgiven of all sin. David, you are mine." Yes God so loved the world - God so loved David - that He gave His only-begotten Son.

And God's love to David in Jesus will never fail. God is faithful, even when we are not. God is faithful even when, like the prodigal son, we stray. That's really the message of our first reading from Romans eight where Paul says, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." God's love in Jesus will never fail - He is faithful. …

Now, don't get me wrong I'm not saying that it doesn't matter how we live our lives; I'm not saying it doesn't matter the choices we make; I'm not saying it doesn't matter whether we stay close to the Lord and His Word. .. But what I am saying is that God so loved the world - He so loved you, He so loved me, He so loved David that He gave His only-begotten Son. Jesus went to that cross not because we have it so together, but because we make such a mess. We need a Savior. And so God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. …

And again, that love in Jesus will never fail, not even on account of the fact that David has walked through that valley of the shadow of death. For at the resurrection, the day when Jesus returns, all the dead will be raised, and yes even David's body - dust to dust - ashes to ashes - will be raised to life.

That's God's promise. And God is faithful. .. And so thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ, the answer to our questions of life and of death; thanks be to God for Jesus, the world's Savior, David's Savior, and yes your Savior. Amen.