Marion Vaupel Funeral Sermon (6/1/2022)

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

1 Peter 1:22-25; John 14:1-6

Marion Vaupel Funeral Sermon

June 1, 2022

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

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. If it were not so, I would have told you. But it is so. The saying is true and has always been true. Not only because of the fact that this saying comes from a Psalm—a passage of Holy Scripture, written by and inspired by the Holy Spirit, but because it shows God’s attitude toward men.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. How do you become a saint? You just have to be baptized. At the moment of the death of one of God’s saints, the soul is carried by the angels into the presence of God, there to rest peacefully until the body is rejoined with the soul on the Last Day. From that moment on, the devil, the sinful flesh, and this fallen world no longer stand any chance to pluck them from the Lord’s hand. This is the present reality for Marion. He has come to faith’s reward. The veil of tears has been lifted from his face. The shadow that is cast over this valley of death has gone away. Sin, suffering, and ailments have been stripped away from him. Now, Marion basks in the true light of the Light of the World—Jesus Christ. Marion was a sinner, to be sure, but God reconciled him to Himself and sent forth His only-begotten Son, born of a woman, born under the Law to redeem those who the Law condemns. This was the central focus of Marion’s faith. Jesus died. Jesus died for him. If that were not so, God would not have told Marion. And not only God, but if that truth were not so, then no pastor that Marion ever had would have ever bothered to tell him that Jesus loves him and Jesus loves all sinners. But they did. We did. I did.

This truth, this faith comforted Marion throughout his life in more ways than he or we could count. That’s because the faith he confessed throughout his life was not a current fad or something to be tossed aside when trials came his way. This faith was the foundation of his life. This faith was given to Marion in Holy Baptism and then strengthened through the preaching of the Word and finally received and strengthened also in the Lord’s Supper. It’s the same faith that Adam and Eve had in their coming Savior. It’s the same faith that Abraham clung to, by which, righteousness was accounted to him. This faith was preached by all the Old Testament prophets and then finally, this faith is realized in the person of Jesus, who fulfilled the promises of God and died for all men—this included Marion. This also includes you. Jesus died even for you, each and every one of you.

The promises of God in Christ Jesus are not fleeting. They do not fail or fall. Thus, St. Peter, All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. From the moment that Marion was conceived in his mother’s womb, his flesh began to fail him. That’s because he was conceived and born in sin. Sin corrupts things. Sin forces each and every one of us down a path that leads only to death. Sin is the reason that grass withers and flowers fall. It’s also the reason that marriages fail; the reason friendships fall apart; the reason children don’t honor parents; the reason for infections, cancer, and disease; and it is also the reason for loneliness, sorrow, and depression. And it’s the reason our loved ones die. The things of this world fail and fall, no matter how strong and glorious they appear to be. But…the word of the Lord remains forever. The word of the Lord endures forever and so do the promises that word proclaims: Jesus died; Jesus rose; Jesus is coming back to wake us up from this sleep of death. So with full confidence, we can say, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. This saying has always been true. Take comfort in that the Lord God sees the death of his saints as precious and beautiful because now they get to be with Him. They are no longer of this world. This is the future that awaits all Christians—all those who have faith in Jesus; only those who have faith in Jesus.

The Word of the Lord endures forever. That means that the things Jesus does endure forever. What Jesus said in His earthly ministry—these truths endure forever. The sacrifice He offered to the Father on the cross, which was His own body, endures forever. It declares men righteous for free. Jesus goes to prepare a place for us in heaven that will endure forever. Precious in the sight of the Lord are the death of His saints. For in God’s house, they will endure forever.

Another one of the ways that Marion was comforted him throughout his many years on this earth was because he had assurance of his salvation. In fact, this is something that sets his faith apart from the faith of any other religion in the world. Every other religion, in one way or another, says you must “do this,” or “do that,” you must be good enough, you must contribute something. But that’s not what Jesus told Marion and that’s not what He tells you and me. Jesus says that He, Jesus, the Word of God, is the only way to the Father. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The way we come to the Father is through death. First in the death of our sinful self in the waters of Holy Baptism, where we are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. Then when we die our physical death and breath leaves our bodies, we go the Way of Jesus. God calls us home to be with Him forever.

Throughout his life, Marion was given full assurance of His salvation. Jesus says in John, chapter 14 that in His Father’s house are many mansions and that He goes to prepare a place for us. If that were not so, Jesus would have told us. But He tells us what we need to know—that there is life after death, a greater more perfect life, the life we were always meant to live—that there is freedom from sufferings brought on by the life we currently live. Death does not have the final say. Death is only a portal and all of us will pass through it. It’s like a door—the door to the Father’s house. And in our Father’s house we not only have a room, Jesus has prepared, for each of us, a full mansion.

John, chapter 14 speaks of the heavenly dwelling places that are being prepared for us by Jesus. How fitting is it then that today, the Gospel reading speaks of a house that Jesus prepares for us in heaven. It was Marion’s grandparents who first offered their own house for a place of worship for Lutherans in Center Point over 75 years ago. Though the house isn’t standing anymore—it stood at the end of main street before they continued the street through the new part of town—but many of the members here at St. John Lutheran Church are familiar with “the Vaupel House.” Though that house isn’t standing anymore, there is a Vaupel House built by Christ Himself in heaven. There, Marion resides, in the presence of His Savior Jesus Christ, safe and secure until Jesus comes again.

And so it is for you. If you will receive Jesus in faith, He has already prepared a mansion for you so that all of us might be able to live together and visit with one another in heaven. Because even in paradise, we will live together in the presence of our Lord and our God. There, we will enjoy the Sabbath Rest, the company of all those who have gone before us with the sign of faith. This includes Grandma and Grandpa. This includes our high school friends. It includes our children. It includes people like King David and Saint Peter and Paul. We will converse with the angels and I’m sure, especially with Marion. But the stories he and all the saints will tell will pale in comparison to the stories we’ll hear in heaven. The stories we’ll hear will be mainly about Christ and His goodness—how Jesus was behind it all, working every situation in life for our good and in the end, how He brought us to our heavenly mansion.

We will know that our Redeemer lives. We will see Jesus face to face as Marion is beholding Him now. “I know that my Redeemer lives,” are the famous words of Job. But these are not only Job’s words, they’re also Marion’s words. He knew in this life that His Redeemer lives and now he has come to the full realization of that phrase. Perhaps that might make us a little jealous, that we are still here suffering through pain and sorrow while all who have gone before us with the sign of faith now rest from their labors. But we take eternal comfort in the fact that Jesus, our Redeemer lives. If that were not so, He would have told us. With full confidence, these are also our words, “We know that our Redeemer lives.” Jesus lives though He died. So also do we know that Marion lives though he died. And in faith, we will live though we die. When we ourselves walk through the heavenly gates of pearl, we will come to understand the true meaning of the words, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

In +Jesus’ name.