30 January 2020 St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Funeral Service for Althea Kekker
Vienna, VA
“A Life Worth Celebrating: Jesus’ ”
Text:
Isaiah 43:1-3; Revelation 12:7-12; Luke 23:33-43
In
the Name of Jesus. Amen.
It has become fashionable
these days to call what we are doing here today not a funeral, but a
celebration of life. And by that it is meant a life well-lived but now ended.
Christian funerals are
not that. We can call this a celebration of life, and maybe we should. But in
this sense: this is a celebration of a life which has not ended, but
that goes on. And will go on forever. Because while we remember
Althea today, we celebrate Christ and His life. And especially
His life given for us on the cross, that by His death
and resurrection the enemy named death which stalks us all is vanquished.
Last Tuesday, in the wee
hours of the morning, it looked like Althea had been vanquished.
That death had won. Again. Her body had finally given
in. It could take no more. But while that’s what it looked like, the reality
was actually quite different. For death is not the end for
those who live in Jesus.
For the fight for Althea’s
life had actually been finished a long time ago. And not in a bed on the second
floor of Silverado in Alexandria, but on a hill called Calvary. Or as we heard today, the place that was called The Skull.
The fight taken up by Jesus not for His own life, but for
Althea’s, for yours, for mine, for every person. So that we, who like
those criminals crucified with Him are under a
sentence of condemnation, might instead of condemnation hear these
words: Father, forgive them, and, Today, you will be with
me in Paradise. That “today” for Althea was last Tuesday.
And that “today” for her
will now never end. Because there is now nothing to condemn
Althea. All her sins that would have condemned her were taken by her Saviour Jesus. He put them on His shoulders and was
condemned for them in her place. So what charge can now be brought against
Althea? Nothing. Her sins forgiven, her death
vanquished, there is now for her only life. Life eternal.
Of course, satan doesn’t want you to know
that, or remember it, or worst of all believe it. The one who was cast
out of heaven and down to the earth, full of wrath, will do his best to pull
you away from that life. He’ll show you your sins, remind you of your sins,
magnify your sins, condemn you for your sins. He’ll
show you death and all the ugliness of death and the strength of death and the
enormity of death and the finality of death. And he’ll show you weak, puny
little you. Loser you. Unworthy you.
Lost you. Celebrate the past, he’ll say, ‘cause that’s all you have.
But he’s wrong. Because
as Isaiah told us today, when you pass through the waters, when you walk
through the fire, you will not be overwhelmed, you
will not be burned, because you are not alone. The Holy One of
Israel, your Saviour, is with you. And it is
His strength, not yours, that will see you through.
His victory, not yours, that will win. His victory given to
Althea on November 26, 1920 when she was baptized into Christ. On that
day, and ever since that day, she had all the promises of God, all the strength
of her Saviour, all His forgiveness and life. So that
99 years, one month, and 25 days later, at 2:38 in the morning, she would die a
blessed death and enter into life with her Lord Jesus.
That’s something worth
celebrating! A life worth celebrating. Not a life now
done, but a life just beginning.
A life that I know Althea
was looking forward to. Especially for the past seven years she had to live
without her dear Michael. The service that we’re using today,
the readings and hymns, are the exact same as for him. She wanted it to
be so. If she were here today, she might not remember that, but she would be
pleased.
Another thing that would
please her is that I’m not really talking about her very much - what she did, her life and accomplishments. She didn’t really like
attention. I found that out a little over 9 years ago when her and Mike’s 60th
wedding anniversary was coming up. I thought: Wow! 60 years! That’s something
worth celebrating. And I wanted to have a special reception and celebration for
them after church that Sunday. But Mike and Althea told me: if you’re going to
do that, we’re not coming to church
that Sunday. So I relented.
But I think Althea will
be okay with receiving the crown of life from her Saviour.
Her body soon will be
laid to rest, to await the day of the resurrection of
all flesh. That day when there will be no more broken hips, no more broken
memories - just the day when all the promises of God to her will be finally and
fully fulfilled. One of her favorite hymns was Crown Him with Many Crowns.
But on that day, she’ll be the one receiving the crown of life. From Jesus. The Jesus she is even now with. The Jesus she
will be with forever.
I am grateful that just a
couple of days before Althea fell and broke her hip and entered her last days,
I was able to visit with her and have the Lord’s Supper with her. We sat at one
of the little tables in the art area near her room by ourselves. But we were
not by ourselves. For where the Body and Blood of Jesus are, there are the
angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. Even
there, in a memory care. The same angels who came for
Althea and carried her home on Tuesday morning.
That’s the life we
celebrate this day. The life of Christ poured out upon Althea in Holy Baptism,
put into Althea in Holy Communion, and strengthened in Althea in Holy
Absolution - the life Althea now enjoys. Her Saviour’s gift to her.
And maybe one final
thought . . . Michael and I would sometimes joke about the different mansions
there would be in heaven - the Lutheran mansion, the Anglican mansion, and
such, and what they would be like. I’m sure Althea saw a lot of mansions in her
travels to England and Scotland over the years. But the one she will now have
surpasses them all. A mansion, in fact, I’m sure, even greater than her beloved
Downton Abbey.
Thank You Jesus, for such
great and precious promises. Thank You for Your life given for
us. Thank You for Your life given to us. And thank You for the
life You gave to Althea, for the blessing she was to
us and to so many, and for the eternal life she has now begun. Keep us all
strong in this same faith, that when our Saviour
comes again in glory, we see Him - and Althea, again - face-to-face.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.