In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We have two text for this morning, well, including the Old Testament reading from Psalm 103 we have three texts for this morning. From Job 14:1-4, we read; 1“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. 2He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. 3And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? 4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. 5Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, 6look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day” and from Psalm 116:15, we read, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” These are our texts.
Dear Christian friends and particularly you the family and friends of Mrs. Florence (Flo) (Mimi) Hinojosa. We have gathered here today to lay to rest someone we loved very dearly. For some, death is a time of mixed emotions. On the one hand we are sad, because we will miss our loved one, and that is okay. On the other hand we give thanks because we know that Mimi is at peace and she is no longer suffering because she is with her Father in His house.
Personally and the reason I chose the Job text is because I got to know Mimi after her parting from her first husband and after her second husband had already passed away, in other words after she saw her days that were “full of trouble.” Just as Job lamented the struggles inflicted on him yet never blamed God, so I never heard Mimi blame God for the difficulties she faced in life. As a matter of fact, I believe she clung to her faith and one reason I say that is because she had me bless her prayer garden. Personally, I always appreciated her honest frankness and sincere teasing. And although she was, as they say, a tough old bird, and perhaps that is why she was partial to Old Crow, I was always amazed at her generosity and especially her thoughtfulness when it came to giving. My wife will tell you when it comes to such things as Christmas shopping I will grab the first thing off the shelf and say we are done, but with Mimi there was always a very personal thought involved in the gifts she gave. I believe the Mimi I know would give you the shirt off her back.
Moving on, the reason I chose the second text from Psalm 116 is the fact that Mimi was a baptized child of God. At her baptism on November 22, 1925, the Lord, using the hand and the mouth of the priest, put water on her head and spoke God’s name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit on her, so that the Lord put His name on her, forgave her sins, wrote her name in the book of life and made her His child. Indeed, at that moment she became a saint. Yes, she continued to be a sinner, but God made her a saint.
For quite some time now Mimi has been in not so good health. Fortunately or unfortunately she has spent these last few years in a nursing home. On the bright side she has at least been able to see her daughter who is confined to the same home. Unfortunately nursing homes are not always the best place to spend ones waning years and believe me, I have visited enough people in nursing homes to understand this truth.
But I want to get to the main reason we are here this morning. Funerals truly are not for the deceased, after all they are not here. Funerals are for the living. Funerals are for the living to be given comfort in their time of loss. Which brings me back to that second text from Psalm 116. The Psalmist’s words in this psalm reflects God’s love for us. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15). This verse remind us of God’s great love for us, sinful though we may be. Of course as I say that I will remind you that we will meet the Lord, we will all meet the Lord, either at His return on the day of judgement or on the day of our passing on from this world. Either way, we will meet the Lord and we are to be ready. And how are we to be ready? Because God loves us, He makes us ready. We are made ready by having faith in Jesus as our Savior. And we have faith, we are given faith, by the waters of Holy Baptism and by hearing God’s Word, but not only hearing His Word, but also by keeping it, that is believing it and being faithful to it. Yet, again behind those words, even more important than what we are doing, is what God is doing. What God is doing is, He is giving us His Word and He is doing what His Word says. Mimi heard the Word of God and the Word of God which she heard was that Jesus died for her and forgave her. It was her knowledge of Jesus forgiveness that moved her to confess her sins and be given His forgiveness. Indeed, our greatest need is forgiveness of sins and the forgiveness we need has already been won for us and paid for us, all we can do is refuse and reject it which we do by holding on to our sins and not confessing them. As we confess our sins Jesus forgives us our sins and moves us to live lives of faith.
Personally, I have been to too many funerals where the word spoken is a eulogy. That word, eulogy simply means good word. Too often a good word is spoken of the deceased. And perhaps you know how it is, you knew the person who was deceased and when you heard all the good words spoken about the person you wondered if you were at the right funeral. I believe the reason a eulogy and good words are spoken at such funerals is for the sake of those in attendance, that is so that everyone feels good about the person who has passed on, as if our good words might make a difference on how God might judge that person. And maybe we might be thinking, as we think about our own lives and the not so good people we are, maybe that will work for us too when we pass on. Quite frankly, that is a lousy way to think. Indeed, we are not good people, no one is righteous, no not one. We are sinners one and all, myself included as the greatest sinner. So, we are not here to speak a good word about Mimi. No, we have something better and more comforting to say.
Last Tuesday morning during my morning Scripture reading I was reading Psalm 103, this was after we had gotten the call that Mimi had passed. As I read the Psalm it seemed that this Psalm was written for this occasion. So, I want to reread parts of the Psalm with some added commentary as we go.
“1Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” As I always tell people, we get it right when we point to Jesus. God is the prime mover, He gives and we are given to, He does and we are done to. Life is not about us, it is about God’s giving and doing and so we are truly blessed as the Lord blesses us. He redeems us, not with gold or silver but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. He crowns us with His steadfast love and mercy. He renews us.
“6The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 8The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” Thanks be to God that He is slow to anger and that He is not angry forever and that He does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us. Before God there are no degrees of sin. Certainly we might look upon others and cast our own judgement, yet with the same judgement we will be judged. If we should ever think ourselves so good, then we need to go back and compare ourselves with Jesus. And as John reminds us, if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Thanks be to God that as we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgives us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
“11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. 14For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. 15As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.” Indeed, we rejoice in our Lord’s steadfast love for us. We are dust and to dust shall we return. Our days are numbered and often are truly difficult.
Let me remind you that as we understand heaven as a place of complete perfection and as we know that our lives in this world are fraught with bad mistakes, pain, and suffering, we probably will not remember too much of this world when we get to heaven, which begs the question of why we spend so much time concerned about the fighting, struggles, and mess of this world, instead of spending time on what is truly important, our faith life and being ready for heaven.
It is at the time of the death of a loved one that we may have questions about death. Death came into our world as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience. Because of their sin, all people are born in sin. Because of their sin, all people are born to die. Our Lord reminds us to turn to Him and His Word, especially during our times of sorrow, because in His Word we will find the answers to our questions. In His Word we will see a God who is always there, always ready to help us with our concerns, our cares and our worries. Indeed, in His Word we are brought to the Word made flesh, Jesus Himself, true God in human flesh who came into this world as one of us in order to live for us. God’s demand of us is perfection and because we cannot be perfect Jesus came to be perfect for us, in our place. Indeed, Jesus was perfect for Mimi in her place. After living a perfect life, Jesus took our sins, all our sins, our perceived big sins and little sins and He suffered the price of hell for us in our place. He shed His blood, the price for sin, death, for us in our place. What greater comfort can we get than to know that our sins, that Mimi’s sins have been paid for by Jesus Himself. Thus, as we take our questions to the Lord, as we listen to Him in His Word, He gives us comfort and rest from them.
Today we come and say, “Thanks be to God,” because we are confident that Mimi has fought the good fight, she has finished the race, she has kept the faith. We are confident that she has suffered only physical death. She has merely fallen asleep in the Lord. When Mimi was baptized on November 22, 1925 the Lord claimed her as His child. The Lord committed Himself to Mimi. He washed her. He created faith in her heart. He put His name on her. He forgave her sins. He clothed her in His righteousness. By faith in Jesus as her Savior, Mimi has now been received into her Father’s house in heaven.
This morning we are here to remember Florence (Flo) (Mimi) Hinojosa. We are here to pay our last respects. We are here as a part of our grieving process. We are here not so much to say goodbye, but so long, see ya real soon. In a sense we are here to give thanks that she has fought the good fight, that she has finished the race, that with God’s help she has kept the faith, that she has been given the prize of the Lord’s commitment to her. We are here to give thanks that she has made her final move to her home in heaven. We are here to give thanks that the Lord has given her rest. We are sad, because we will miss her, and that is okay, but we are thankful because we know that now she is far better off.
We are not here today to celebrate death, because, as we said, death is a result of sin. We are not here today to praise Mimi, because she too was a sinner like you and me. We are here today to celebrate Jesus’ work in and through her. We are here to give thanks to the Lord for His bringing her to faith, for keeping her in faith, and for watching over her because her death is precious in His sight. We are here today to be comforted and strengthened in our faith. May the Lord give you that comfort and strength for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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