Robert
Miller
Isaiah
43:1-3a, 5-7; Psalm 139:7-12; Romans 8:31-35, 37-39;
John
11:11-27
During
the time of Jesus, the majority of the Hebrew people believed in the
resurrection, but they believed that the resurrection would occur at the end of
time, at the end of the world. When
Martha told Jesus that yes, she believed in the resurrection, she was referring
to the resurrection at the end of time.
But then Jesus said, “But I am the resurrection –and the life. Those who believe in me even though they die
will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
What Jesus tells
Martha and the rest of us is that at this moment, we are living in the eternal
life given to us through the resurrection of Jesus. Eternal life is not something we walk into at
our death. We are walking in it right
now.
Robert
walked boldly in the eternal life while here on this earth. It is said that you always knew where you
stood with Robert. He was frank and he
was honest. Robert walked in this life
with a wonderful sense of humor. The
short time that I knew him, which was when he came by after Gloria died we
spent more time in laughter than in grief, as he would reminisce about the days
and years of their life together.
Robert
walked on this earth in the eternal life given to him through the resurrection
of Jesus. In his death, Robert continues to walk in the eternal life given to
him through the resurrection of Jesus. But he now walks in the visible presence
of Jesus Christ in the fullness of God’s Kingdom.
No
one, especially Robert, would have wanted to bring the loss of both parents
within a month, to Karen. However, in
Isaiah, we are told that the Lord calls us by name and not to fear for the Lord
is with us. As we pass through the waters, the rivers and the fire, nothing
will overwhelm us because the Lord is with us.
Likewise
in our psalm, we are told we cannot go anywhere where the Lord is not
there. The psalmist says that even
though darkness may cover us, it does not cover the visible light of the Lord.
We
receive comfort in the presence of God, not a still presence, but a moving,
working presence. God is working and
moving in the soul of each one of us in our loss for Robert and Gloria. God’s presence is with us as we walk each day
in God’s gift of eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We
are given comfort, not only because we know that we walk in the presence of
Jesus, but that we know full well that death has not stopped Robert from
walking in the presence of Jesus. The
reading from Romans tells us that death cannot and will not separate us from
the presence of Jesus. Even though we
morn the loss of Robert, we comfort in the fact that our loss of Robert is
simultaneously coupled with his gain of being in the visible presence of Jesus
Christ.
Amen,
Pastor Scales