Psalm27:1- The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Dear Friends in Christ, Years ago, I was visiting an elderly man who had fought in World War I, who was a man’s man kind of a man. He was tougher than nails, he trusted in his Savior, he was very hard of hearing. A day or so before he died, I visited him in the nursing home, and I asked him if he was afraid of dying. He couldn’t hear me, so I asked a second time and he couldn’t hear me. About the third or fourth time I was literally yelling this question at Hillcrest Nursing Home, are you afraid of dying? When he finally heard me, grumbled back, “hmff, what the ‘heck’ is there to be afraid of?” Ted knew by faith that the Lord was with him and would not forsake him, that he had no eternal reason to be afraid, that at the end of every day he could be still and know that God was God. That’s pretty much the attitude of King David in Psalm 27. Remember that David had good reason to be afraid in the various chapters of his life. He had faced at least one lion and a bear wanting to attack his sheep. He faced a giant by the name of Goliath. He had dodged more than one appear hurled his way by King Saul He was forced to part company from his good friend Jonathan. At various times, he had fled for his life, he was without food and weapons, he was hunted by King Saul like a man hunts for deer, he led armies into battle, his infant son died as a direct result of his own sinful decisions, his own sons rebelled against him, his best friend betrayed him, his own wife Michal absolutely despised him – just to mention 8 or ten of his enemies. And in spite of all of that darkness and danger, David cried out, The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? What David truly wanted was to dwell in the house of the Lord in all the days of his life, which is another way of saying he wanted to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple, which is another way of saying as long as he was in the presence of the Lord, as long as he knew the Lord was his good shepherd, as long as he knew that the Lord was following him around with goodness and mercy, he would not be afraid. Anita Wynnemer had good earthly reasons to be afraid, as do all of us. She had chapters of life that were better and some that were worse. She had years that were richer and some that were poorer. She had times good health and times of sickness. When Dan and Gail were hurting, she was hurting. When they were crying or struggling or sinking, she was crying and struggling and sinking. The Bible says in a number of ways that life here and now is on the one hand full of blessings and on the other hand full of trouble. There is all kinds of good news to be enjoyed, and at the same time there are enemies to be faced. Anita had at least three enemies to face, as do all of us in every one of our days. Enemy #1 was her own sinful nature, which would tempt her to think wrong, to speak wrong, and to do wrong. Enemy #2 was this sinful world which would coax her to stumble and fall short of God’s standards of perfection – namely the Ten Commandments, and enemy #3 was the devil himself with all of his nasty demons who would be lurking and prowling and throwing roadblocks and causing trouble in her family every step of the way. But in all of her days her Lord Jesus Christ was stronger than her enemies. He was her light and her salvation, as often as she listened to His Word, as often as she held onto that Word, and as often as she cherished that Word. Jesus Christ was her sigh of relief, He was her refuge and strength and very present help in trouble as often as she cried out for help, as often as she sought His face, as often as she looked beyond herself for answers. The Good News for her is that as often as she confessed her failures and her faults to her God, the forgiveness of sins swept over her soul and she was not afraid……….as often as she ate and drank at her Lord’s Supper, that often her heart was declared pure, that often her spirit was refreshed, that often her faith was strengthened, that often there was peace that surpasses human circumstances, that often she was not afraid. It’s comforting to know that Anita loved Jesus (Jesus doll) and that she worked hard at following Jesus, but even better news than that is that Jesus Christ has been following her around every step of the way as well. His Spirit has been teaching her spirit and encouraging her soul every time she read and studied her Bible, and let me tell you – she loved her Bible as much as she loved her children. The Lord was her Shepherd, and as often as she came into the house of God and used her ears to hear what God wanted her to hear and as often as she received the good gifts that God wanted her to receive, that often her head would be lifted up and she would sing and make melody to the Lord. It’s comforting to know that Anita was strong and growing in her faith, but even more comforting than that is that Jesus Christ is stronger than every one of our enemies, and even better than that, by suffering under Pontius Pilate, by being crucified until he was dead and buried, and by rising up again on the third day in glorious fashion, he has defeated every one of our enemies as predicted and as promised. By living the perfect life none of us can even get close to living, by suffering all that we should have suffered, by offering up a sacrifice to end all required sacrifices, by rising up again on the third day and by ascending into heaven on the 40th day and by sending His Holy Spirit in superabundant fashion on the 50th day, he works in us a heart that is not afraid, he works in our life in such a way that we do hide in his shelter, in such a way that we are concealed under the cover of his tent, in such a way that we do spend our days waiting for the Lord, we do spend our days looking upon the goodness of the Lord, we do spend our days doing all things he is asking us to do through the strength of our Lord. One assignment he gave Anita was to raise up her children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and so she did, by the grace of God and through faith in Jesus Christ. She loved both of her children, and grandchildren, she loved friends and family not in a perfect way, but in a way that was faithful and in response to Jesus Christ loving her first. It’s hard for me not to talk about Gail a little bit today, and I do so in the context of a Bible verse we often quote around here when one of God’s people dies. We say, “Blessed are they who die in the Lord from now on, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.” Even though we want all of the accolades and all of the glory to go to God this afternoon, I am going to say a couple of nice things about Gail. It seems as though Anita handed off the baton of faith in a strong way to Gail, it seems as though by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, Gail is spending her days not being afraid, focused on her Savior, and eager to brighten the lives of others. Many of you might know that Gail has been stuffing weekend bulletins around her since around1991 or so – that’s 25 years times 50, that’s over 1,250 times that she has been coming into our church office on Friday afternoons talking smart and loving life and brightening up all kinds of lives, including mine. Gail seems to just do good stuff just for the fun of it, and as she does, the Spirit of God has a way of making that joy contagious. There are days when if I didn’t know better, I would have thought that Anita and Gail were angels sent from heaven, that’s how blessed so many of us have been by Anita, who is now resting from her labors – and Gail, who will continue to be who God has called her to be and do what He has called her to do…… Dear Christian friends, no matter what is heavy on your heart, no matter what is making your nervous, no matter what is keeping you up at nights, no matter what is causing you to be afraid, the Lord is your light and your salvation, you have every good reason not to be afraid. The sins of your past have been washed away in the blood of your Savior, the worries of your future are in the hands of your Father, leaving you just with today to be who God has called you to do and to do that which He has called you to do. Know that Jesus Christ is anxious to hold you close in all of your days, know that for Anita to live here and now was Christ and that for her to die was gain. Know that she is resting in the presence of her Savior and that the day is coming when the angel will be shouting and the trumpet will be sounding and Jesus will be returning and this body which you may lay into the ground today will be rising! Know that in Jesus Christ there is forgiveness of sins, there is a resurrection of the body, and there is life everlasting. Amen.
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