“To Whom Shall We Go?”

Funeral Sermon for Beatrice Gekeler

John 6:66-69
66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Dear Friends in Christ,

About a week ago, a school teacher friend of mine had the brakes on his car go out in my next door neighbor’s drive way. A day later, on one of the hottest days of the summer, I drove into my driveway only to see him underneath his car, sweating up a storm, working on his car with the help of his dad. I rolled down my window and hollered out, “Hey, there’s people that can do that for you, you know!” We talked smart for a bit and I went off to relax in the shade on my patio while he finished the job. Or so I thought. A few days later, when I asked Eiden how it all worked out, he admitted that in the process of fixing one of the brakes, one of the other brakes was damaged and in reality, he caused more damage than he fixed! When it comes to car repair, there are two kinds of people – the do-it-yourself kind of a person and the take it to the repairman kind of a person.

So also when it comes time for soul repair, it seems as though there are two kinds of folks – those who go running with their questions to the lover of their souls, Jesus Christ, and those who try to slug their own way through their own days of trouble. Our text for today is a portion of the Gospel lesson appointed for yesterday, the 12th Sunday of the Pentecost season. Jesus was teaching the people how vitally important it was to believe in Him and follow Him. Again and again, He declared Himself to be the living bread that came down from heaven. Again and again, He pleaded with people to know that if they eat of this bread, they would live forever. Again and again, He taught them that blessed would be the folks who would hear His Word and blessed would be the folks who would hold on for dear life to His promises and blessed would be the folks who would keep on running to God for refuge and for strength. 

But on the other hand, cursed would be the folks who would try to answer their own questions and handle their own troubles. Weak and burdened would be the folks who would try to carry their own loads and solve their own conflicts. Confused and injured would be the folks who would try to fix their own messed up lives and blaze their own trails.

In John 6, Jesus had proclaimed these realities of sin and grace so clearly that many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with Jesus. Perhaps it was with tears of sadness in His eyes that Jesus asked the Twelve Disciples, “Do you want to go away as well?” And then the outspoken Peter, the one who often got it wrong, actually got it right. He answers, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Beatrice Gekeler got it right every time she ate the living bread that came down from heaven, every time she sat still and knew that God was God. She got it right every time she made her way slowly and surely into the house of God and used her ears to hear. She got it right every time she admitted that she was a sinner and threw herself on the mercy of Almighty God. She got it right every time one of her pastors asked her if she would like Holy Communion and with tears in her eyes she said yes. Of course she wanted to receive the very body and blood of her Savior. Of course she knew that she couldn’t make it through the trials of life on her own strength and with her own ingenuity. Of course she couldn’t fix her own troubled heart and struggling soul. Where else would she go? 

We all know where to go if we have medical concerns – to the doctor. If our problems are financial, we go to an accountant. If we have serious legal difficulties, we are wise to consult a lawyer. But what about days like this, when we spend a few hours following caskets into and out of the church and over to the cemetery? Where shall we go after the dust has settled and the casket is buried? If we really want to get it right in the quietness of tonight, where shall we go? Specifically, where shall we go with our questions?

In Jesus’ day, people could walk up to Jesus and ask Him the questions that they had. They would , and He would answer them. Frequently He answered their questions with another question. Often He answered them with a story or a parable that seemed unrelated. On more than a few occasions, Jesus answered the questions people should have been asking instead of the ones they actually did?

This morning, there are a few questions that really matter and all kinds of questions that matter not very much at all. Rather than asking if Beatrice believed enough, we ask, was she baptized? Yes, she was. Rather than asking if she did enough good, we ask Was and is God faithful to His promises? Yes. Rather than asking if questions about her decisions and her character, we ask, Was she instructed in the faith and did she confess that faith publicly? Yes she did. Did her Good Shepherd follow her around in all the chapters of life with goodness and mercy? Yes He did. When she cried out in her days of trouble, did God answer in a way that was perfectly thought through and for her benefit? Yes. When her believing heart pumped for the last time, and as she breathed her final air, did the angels of God take her soul into the very presence of Jesus? Absolutely. On the last day, will this cold and lifeless body be resurrected and reunited with her soul and will she see Jesus face to face and is it true that in heaven there is no more pain and no more falls and no more fractures and no more tears of frustration and no more fears of failure. Yes, yes, and yes, this is all as certain and valid as the suffering, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The final questions are for all of you, dear friends and family of Beatrice. Where are you going these days for your refuge and for your strength in time of trouble? Where are you going with the wrong that you have done and the good you have failed to do? Where are you going with your fears and your doubts, your worries and your failures? Is the Holy Spirit of God drawing you closer and closer to your Lord Jesus Christ through the ups and down and the zigs and the zags of life, or have you grasped for the straw, the idea that you could make it through all of that with your own good effort and honest toil?

Research from George Barna suggests that between high school and turning 30, that 43% of once active millennials have dropped out of regular church attendance. That’s 8 million twentysomethings who for various reasons have become spiritual do-it-themselfers. 
Dear friends, wherever you are at in your own spiritual journey, it’s a beautiful sight for Beatrice’s pastors to see you all here today. Oh my goodness, how the tears of joy would flow from her eyes if she could see so many of her 6 children, her 18 grandchildren, her 49 great grandchildren, her 5 or 6 great grandchildren sitting still and knowing that God is God. You should know that from this day forward, every time you eat the bread and drink the wine, every time you receive the very body and blood of your Savior into your souls, you are getting it right. More than that, the very angels and archangels of heaven and the communion of saints who have gone on before you are celebrating with and for you. If you want to fix your own cars or tear apart your own lawn mowers or sheetrock your own basements, go ahead and knock yourselves out. But for heaven’s sake, when it comes to getting your hearts mended and your minds corrected and your souls repaired, do come running to the One Who has already gone on before you, all the way to the cross. Come running to me, Jesus would say, with all of your faults, your failures, and your fears. Come running with your burdens, your brokenness, and your bruises. Come running with all that needs to be fixed, and as often as you do so, know that the words of eternal life will sweep over your soul as a cup of water quenches the thirsty, as a piece of bread satisfies the hungry, and as a word of forgiveness heals the broken. God grant that the children and the grandchildren and the great grandchildren and the generations to come would always know how beautiful are the words of eternal life, that they would spend their days holding onto those words and cherishing those words and being changed by those words and sharing with other those words, and may Beatrice Gekeler rest in eternal peace.