Edward Nielsen Funeral Sermon, 9/30/22

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

Psalm 90

Edward Nielsen Funeral (Edward Nielsen died at the age of 102 years old)

September 30, 2022

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 90. A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

3 You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
4 For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands. 

Psalm 90 is unique in that it does not name a specific event or crisis. Because of this, this Psalm, Psalm 90, may be suited for any time of lament and sadness, such as at a funeral when the frailty of life stands in stark contrast to God’s eternal strength. God is perfect, eternal, and holy and we are not. That’s part of the reason why men die. The main reason, of course, is that we are sinners. But if you don’t think or believe that you are a sinner or that your very nature is corrupted by sin handed down from you from your first parents Adam and Eve, then fine. If you are not a sinner, then you will never die.

St. Paul, however, has a different view. St. Paul tells us in the Inspired Word of God that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. He also says that the wages we receive for our sin is death.

Our sin separates us from God. Holy things cannot dwell among unholy things. The corruptible cannot stand to be in the presence of the incorruptible. And ever since Adam and Eve took the fruit and ate it, ever since they were cast out of God’s presence and the Garden of Eden, we have been walking through what David calls, “This valley of the shadow of death.”  Who among us is not currently walking through this valley described in Psalm 23? We see the works of our hands. We see how we have hurt one another, argued with one another, held grudges, and sinned against one another, how others have sinned against us.

We are living out this life in the valley of the shadow of death. And so it is, since all Holy Scripture is related and we use Scripture to interpret Scripture, Psalm 90 may be understood as a continuation of Psalm 23. Who does David confess is walking with him through this shadowy valley of death? God Himself. In whom then does Moses take refuge? God Himself. For so Moses prays, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.” He has been our dwelling place in all generations, not just throughout the four generations of Nielsen’s that are still alive, but throughout all generations. Think about that for a second. Four generations. There are still four generations of Nielsens. And throughout these four generations—five when you count Ed—who was it that Ed took refuge in? It was his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ed lived, of course as you know, to be 102 years old. That’s no small thing by our human standards. The average life expectancy for males in the United States is 78 years old. You do the math. Ed was blessed by the Lord with a long life. And yet, in the eyes of God, this is but a blink of an eye. For so Moses prays, “You, O Lord, return a man to dust and say, ‘Return, O children of man!’ for a thousand years in your sight is but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.” This is how God calls His saints to Himself. He calls them to Himself through death. At the end of our lifelong journey through this shadowy valley, we die. But to die is to be with the Lord. Sunday afternoon Ed heard the call, “Return to the dust, O child of man.” And he did. He closed his eyes one last time and after this service, he will return to the dust of the earth. Here, Moses is echoing the curse brought on by sin, “Remember, O man that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.”

This sin causes the dismal state that we are in as the human race. “For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to and end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of You?” Our iniquities and secret sins are brought into the light in God’s presence. Because of this, God limits our life on earth, says Moses, to seventy years. Or by the reason of strength eighty years. Well Ed must have been really strong because he bested that by twenty-two years. But of course, what Moses is saying here is that God limits our sins and our toil here on earth to an average of seventy or eighty years because He would have us for Himself. God desires to be with us. He desires that we would be with Him. This is why He says, “Return to the dust, O children of man!” Because our sins are brought to light, we must return to the dust of the earth. But God uses that to call His children to—those who have faith in Him to glory.

And even though in this life, we toil and are in a dismal state until we are called to our heavenly home, God speaks to Moses and assures us that He, the Triune God who created the heavens and the earth, who brought forth the mountains and laid the valleys low, He is our refuge. And the way we take refuge in Him is by coming to Him is not by “accepting Him into our hearts” for that is impossible. The natural man knows not the things of the Lord. They are folly to him. The way we come to Him and take refuge in Him is by hearing His Word and by receiving the Sacrament. That is how God is our refuge. That is how He has been our refuge in all generations. In reminding us this, even in the face of death, Moses does not leave us without hope. For so he prays, and this prayer he gives to us that we might learn it, “So teach us, O Lord, to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”

We pray that God would make us glad for as many days as He has afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Look how this is now fulfilled in Ed’s case. He lived through much evil in his life. His formative years took place during the Great Depression. He was alive during Pearl Harbor, and fought in World War 2 against Nazis and fascists. He lived throughout the Cold War against the threats of Communism in the East. The terrorist attacks of September 11th occurred in his lifetime. He even lived through a global pandemic. In his life, Ed lived through 102 years of evil. That’s more than 37,200 days of evil. But now, this prayer, this Psalm, is fulfilled because of what Jesus did for him. Jesus experienced the greatest evil that could be performed by human hands. He was killed on a cross for crimes He did not commit, all while allowing this to happen to Him willingly. Because Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many, He gave His life as a ransom for Ed. And Jesus, the Son of Man, returned to the dust of the earth but He rose again. For Jesus lives.

And now, Ed’s soul, at this time, is in heaven in the presence of His Savior waiting for the resurrection of the body that will come on the Last Day. Because that’s what Scripture teaches us. There is no intermediate state for the soul. There is no rapture. The moment a Christian dies, his soul departs his body and comes into the presence of God to wait for the Last Day when Jesus will raise our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body—perfect, holy, and incorruptible. That is what Ed is waiting for now. His body will be laid to rest in a few moments and return to the dust of the earth, but when Jesus comes again, Ed’s body and soul will be reunited to live with our Lord in paradise.

And so it is, in Psalm 90, we see how the Lord God was Ed’s dwelling place throughout all the generations he lived on earth. But I think it’s also important for us to notice the title of this Psalm once more because while the Psalms were spoken and written by many different men of the Old Testament, the Psalms are also our prayers. The title of Psalm 90 is “A Prayer of Moses. The man of God.” Moses spoke with the Lord face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Because this Psalm is our prayer as well, we know that come the Last Day, those with faith will behold the Lord face to face just as Moses is and just as Edward is now. For the Lord our God is our dwelling place. He is our Friend. He is our Savior and our God. He loves us even through death and the grave. He loves us as His children forever, even after generations and time cease to exist.

In +Jesus’ name.