Patrick Campbell funeral
Isa
61:1-3, 10
1/30/18
Every funeral I have ever performed
has been a time of mourning and sadness.
It cannot be otherwise. Death was
not God’s intention when he made his creation.
Instead death is the result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience – their sin. Sin brought death for them. And it has brought death for everyone since, for
as the apostle Paul told the Romans, “The wages of sin is death.”
We know that everyone will die. We just assume that people will live a long
and full life before this happens. I
have been very blessed in my time in the ministry because that describes all of
the funerals I have done. They have all
been for people who had lived the life you would expect. I am thankful that I have not had to minister
in the setting of tragedy when a child dies, or a parent with young children.
On the one hand in Patrick
Campbell’s funeral that trend continues.
He lived eighty one years; was married for fifty five years and raised
four children. He served his country on
the U.S.S. New Jersey during the Korean War.
He worked in the vocation of an electrician until retiring. He enjoyed golfing with his long-time buddies
from the VFW and American Legion, and he was a member of the Ritual Team for
both groups.
But there is another side to this
funeral – something that makes Patrick’s death much more difficult than any I
have encountered previously. And that is
the fact that his death cuts short the new and joyous marriage that Patrick and
Pat shared. A widower and a widow, the two of them experienced the blessing a
new and unexpected time in life. It was
a joy for all of us to see how happy they were together. For three and a half
years they truly enjoyed each other’s company.
And yet now Patrick’s death has suddenly brought that to an end. So while there is always sadness and loss at
the death of a man in his eighties, Patrick’s death carries with it far more.
I have chosen our text from Isaiah chapter
61 because it talks about how God addresses mourning. The prophet writes: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon
me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the
LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to
grant to those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a beautiful headdress instead
of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise
instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the
planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”
Isaiah
speaks about the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives and those who
mourn. He says that the Spirit of the
Lord is upon him because God had anointed him to help these people. From what has already been said in the book,
we know that Isaiah is not talking
about himself. Instead he has been inspired to speak words that are true of the
Servant of the Lord. He is the One who
will bring good news to the poor; who will bind up the brokenhearted and
comfort all who mourn.
At the
beginning of his ministry, Jesus went on the Sabbath to the synagogue in his
hometown of Nazareth. He was making a
reputation for himself as a rabbi – as a teacher – and so he was given the
scroll of the book of Isaiah. Jesus read
this passage. Then he rolled up the
scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. Everyone was looking at
him. And then our Lord said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.”
Jesus
announced that he was the One anointed by God’s Spirit. This had happened at
Jesus’ baptism. He was the Christ; the
Messiah – the anointed One. He was the
One anointed, not with olive oil, but with the Holy Spirit. And in his ministry Jesus began to do these
things. He preached the good news of the
reign of God that had arrived in him. He
brought that reign by freeing people from demons and diseases.
The Lord
Jesus was clear that in him God’s salvation was present now. But that didn’t
mean everything was already perfect.
John the Baptist knew that. John
had prepared the way for Jesus. He had
baptized Jesus as the Messiah. But now
John sat in prison for saying what was true. So he sent two of his disciples to
Jesus to ask a question: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for
another?” Luke has just told us about
how Jesus had raised the widow’s son at Nain from the dead. He lets us know, “In that hour he healed many
people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he
bestowed sight.” And then we hear Jesus answer: “Go and tell John what you have
seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news
preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Jesus was the
coming One. And his ministry as the
Messiah – the anointed One – moved towards the ultimate event by which he
brought God’s reign to us. He was numbered with the transgressors as he died on
the cross in our place. He died to give
us the forgiveness of sins. Yet Jesus
had also come to proclaim liberty to the captives and to open the prison of
those who were bound by death. And so on
the third day he rose from the dead. He
rose from the dead as he began the resurrection of the Last Day. Then he
ascended into heaven.
By his
death and resurrection, Jesus Christ freed Patrick from sin. He washed that sin away in the water of Holy
Baptism. He brought God’s reign to Patrick
and made him a child of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. And because Christ did this, we know that
Patrick is now with the Lord. No longer does
he struggle against the devil, the world and his own sinful nature. No longer
does he suffer from cancer. Instead he
is at peace far better off than we are, for as the apostle Paul told the
Philippians, his desire was “to depart and be with Christ, for that is far
better.”
And the
Lord is not done with Patrick. Instead,
his baptism guarantees that Jesus will raise this body to be like his own
resurrected body on the Last Day. Indeed Paul went on to tell the Philippians
that “we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the
power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” No longer will it
be ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.
And what of
those who mourn his death? What of Pat and Julie who are left behind? Through the prophet Isaiah, Jesus says this
morning, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed
me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who
are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor … to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a beautiful headdress
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of
praise instead of a faint spirit.”
Jesus comes
as your Savior. He comes as the One who
died on the cross for you and rose
from the dead. And through his Means of
Grace he sends his Spirit to bind up broken hearts and to comfort you who
mourn. He works through his Church in
this place to support and encourage you.
He gives you people to weep with you in weeping, so that you can pass
through the weeping and move on to rest in the peace and comfort of Jesus our
Lord – Jesus our Savior. Because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, Patrick
is with him now. And the Lord will comfort you who mourn in order to give you a
garment of praise instead of a faint spirit.
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