Public Memorial Address For

Transcription

1 Text of Public Memorial Address For Nicole Ames At Concordia Lutheran Church, Lakewood, Co September 9, 2016 By Paul Welk Holy Scripture: The God of peace himself sanctify you completely, And may your whole spirit and soul and body Be kept blameless At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5: 23 Theme: THE GOD OF PEACE PROVIDES FOR US. Nicole died of cancer, as did her late husband, Randy, only two years before her. Both, Nicole and Randy, served their Lord, Jesus Christ, in life and in death. Nicole was more than a niece of Paul Welk. Her ministry and death produced an ironic twist: The death of Nicole overruled LCMS and LCC officials and put Paul Welk back into the pulpit to proclaim publicly the substance of this the Christian Biblical faith. 1

2 If I were to ask you, What does the name Nicole bring to mind? What does name Randy bring to mind? If I could pronounce the name of God, and speak His name what comes to mind? This is the task before me, to take all your many different thoughts and emotions, and bring them all together in a way that you can say, Yes (Ja) that s the way it is. that you may walk away from this memorial service with your head lifted high, and maybe even with a song in your heart. You noticed the service began with a song about Love in tension and conflict; it will end with Alleluia! Alleluia! But it is more than about Nicole, Randy, God, you, and I. it is also about Tyler and Jack. I will also have a few words for them but a little bit later. When I saw Nicole, on her 45 th birthday, last August 5 th, I was somewhat prepared. I anticipated her request, Pray for me. Pray that I will be healed, physically, bodily. How can you turn down such a request? You can t. So I started praying, O Lord, heal Nicole, in body, soul and spirit. After, what I considered a lengthy prayer, I invited others to pray also, upon which Nicole started praying. She prayed out loud for at least five minutes also specifically for healing. So instead of me standing there like a statute, I placed my hand upon Nicole s head, as she prayed. We had an enactment of Biblical praying and laying on of hands. Today, exactly five weeks later, Nicole is dead. What happened?! Why did God not grant the fulfillment of the prayer, for healing of body, soul and spirit? You may not follow me, just as yet; but without doing mental gymnastics, no twisting of words or meanings, I can say, without any reservations, God did answer that prayer, for healing of body soul and spirit. But I also say to you, as many others have said, Be careful what you pray for, because God may grant your wish. 2

3 The resolution to the apparent dilemma (prayer for healing yet death) is in the text before us, The God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5: 23) Did you note the detail, the difference between my prayer healing of body, soul and spirit and the text? It is not God, who is mixed up; it is we, who are mixed up. It is not God, who does things backward, when he says The first shall be last and the last shall be first. It is not God, who is lost, when we shout out in despair, WHERE ARE YOU, GOD? It is we, who are lost, who don t know what we are doing, or saying. THE GOD OF PEACE ALWAYS PROVIDES FOR US, and always does what is best for us that your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please note the detailed sentence structure of our text: The God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whereas, we think of ourselves as a trichotomy, as I prayed for healing of body, soul and spirit, in reverse order, God has a different priority. He created us in the likeness of His Spirit. We are created in the image of God: Spirit, soul and body. Whereas, people pamper their bodies, massage and medicate them, most people starve soul and spirit. Many live, as if we had neither soul nor spirit. But God does not concede to human perversion. According to His Word, the Good Book, God reminds us what the real priorities are; the way things really are: The God of peace himself sanctify you completely your whole spirit and soul and body. What we think is first and of utmost importance, the body, in reality is of least importance. What is of importance is not the body and the soul, but the spirit. It is as Jesus repeatedly says, What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8: 36) So what, if they kill your body; they cannot touch or harm your soul. (cf., Matthew 10: 28) And again, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6: 33) 3

4 Make no mistake; God answered the prayer for healing of Nicole s body, soul and spirit. But God does it, God provides in priority, the proper sequence of events: The God of peace himself sanctify you completely in spirit and soul and body. The God of love and peace provided for Nicole and for us, the process of healing, according to proper sequence, priority and importance. What would it profit Nicole, if God would have healed her body, but allowed harm to come to her Spirit? Spiritual healing always has priority over physical healing. And after spiritual healing has been confirmed, physical healing will be inevitable. Unfortunately our consistent relapse into sin, doubt, selfishness, greed, even unbelief, and (to use a big word) egocentricity interferes with God s healing process, and magnifies pain. When I visited Nicole six weeks ago, I said to Nicole, Nicole, the first thing I must do is to apologize to you: We the clergy, the Church, have presented to you only a partial Gospel. We have presented to you a Jesus, who died that you may have forgiveness of sin by way of repentance and faith. You have been told: If you have faith in Jesus you will have forgiveness and blessings. But a Gospel, which focuses primarily on forgiveness of sin, is only a partial Gospel; and a partial Gospel is not the true Gospel. Forgiveness of Sin is a Partial Gospel for in heaven is no sin; in heaven is no need for the Gospel of Forgiveness. The true allembracing, never-ending, eternal Gospel Promise is that in and by Jesus, the Son of God we will be restored to the image of God. God promises and says, BECAUSE I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM HOLY YOU WILL BE HOLY ALSO. (Leviticus 19: 2) Jesus re-affirms and rephrased this eternal Gospel promise in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 48), AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT, YOU WILL BE PERFECT, in spirit, soul and body. That is the never-ending Eternal Gospel. It is eternally in effect. YOU WILL BE HOLY. The God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and your whole spirit and soul and body will be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You will be holy, incorruptible, and immaculate at the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 4

5 The true eternal Gospel is forward-looking: You will be holy; you will be perfect in spirit, soul and body. I said to Nicole: You will be holy. That is what the writer to the Hebrews talks about, which few people understand: Let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. (Hebrews 6: 1ff) Let us look beyond the curtain, beyond death, beyond the here and now. For with Jesus, our High Priest, we will enter the presence and glory of God. As our text says, The God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When I said to Nicole, You will be whole You will be holy, in spirit, soul and body. Nicole replied, near tears, Somebody told me, I am cursed. To which I replied, True, we are all under the curse of sin. We have to die totally, so that we are totally separated from this sinful body and soul. That is why Jesus had to die on the cross; He endured the curse for sin for us. Jesus does not promise, You will not die. Jesus did not remove death. Jesus took away the Sting of death. Jesus gives us victory over death. To be victorious over death, we must engage death. We must die. Our sinful nature must come to an end. I had the special privilege to re-assure to Nicole that she had the blessing of the God of Peace. When it was time to say our last goodbyes, I said to Nicole, I will see you again both knowing that we will never see each other in this world again. I placed my hand on Nicole s head and said to Nicole, as she lay in the hospital bed, I said to her, To make sure that that I get this correct, I will read: Numbers 6: 22-26: The LORD spoke to Moses, Thus you shall bless my people: You shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make his face to shine upon you And be gracious to you. The LORD lift up his countenance upon you And give you peace. 5

6 Your will be hard-pressed to find an individual with a stronger faith than Nicole. She loved her Lord and God, the God, who accepted her forgivingly. But, for reasons of her own, Nicole could not yet let go of the here and now, the cares and worries of this world. She was a very conscientious individual, who was very much aware of all the many things that were as yet undone in her life, and in her family s life. She felt obligated, that her job was not yet done. It seems that Randy could accept the Lord s invitation much sooner and much easier, Come unto me and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11: 28) Nicole s life and mine were greatly separated by time and distance. In the last few years, I heard and learned a lot about Nicole s agony and struggle. Only Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, was silent and opened not his mouth, as Jesus endured the cross, on which Jesus served us. He endured the judgment for our sin, he died for us silently. Nicole did not approach death quietly. Nicole cried out in pain. The mission of Jesus took him to the Cross, Calvary. There was no other way. Salvation without the Cross was not, and is not, possible, for the wages of sin is death. For the accountability for sin to end, death has to occur. We share in this ministry of Jesus. He said, As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. We too have to die, and Nicole had to die. We too have a cross to carry; but The God of peace sanctifies us completely. God, in Christ, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, makes us holy, blameless in spirit and soul and body. Nicole had a mission is God s plan of salvation. In her dying, Nicole forced us to face the reality of death; she made us focus of the real meaning of life, what life is all about a fact, which we in the Land of Plenty, materialism, even gluttony have forgotten Thus the death of Christians serves two purposes: (1) Death is part of our spiritual growth and maturing, the ultimate setting apart from this sinful world, the end our sinful body. (2) And, Jesus Christ is not only our Redeemer; He is our example; He is our prototype. Nicole, as Randy, had an awesome, yet terrifying privilege: Through their cross, their pain, their suffering they opened our eyes, the eyes of the spiritually blind, that we may focus on the things of substance, The God of Peace, who provides for us. 6

7 Therefore, in this hour of death, we have a song in our heart: With the Hymn writer, we sing, In the cross of Christ I glory. With the Apostle Paul, we proclaim the cross: We preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1: 23-24) With the writer of the Book the Hebrews, we agree: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12: 1-2) Nicole has finished her race. She completed the course. She carried her cross. When it is our turn to carry our cross, May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and keep your whole spirit and soul and body blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. A personal word to Tyler and Jack, children of Randy and Nicole: No doubt you remember the hundreds of people at the memorial service, when your father died, and you see the mass of people gathered for this memorial service of your mother. Your father and your mother were very special people, who taught you very early in your life, what some people will never learn. The Lord has put you on a spiritual learning curve, which is just awesome. I am absolutely convinced that our Lord Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit will accomplish great things in and by your lives also. You are blessed and privileged to have such parents. They may not be physically with you anymore, but they will be forever in your heart, and on your mind, for they have put you into direct contact with the God of Peace, the God of Love not the God of Power and Might, the Ultimate Authority (the Allah of Islam), but the God of Peace, the Provider, whom Jesus wants us to know as our Father, who provides for us, who loves us, who makes us holy whole in spirit, soul and body, at coming of our lord Jesus Christ, who puts a song into our heart even at a time like this. 7

8 Our Father, in the heavens!* Let your name be sanctified! Let your kingdom come! Let your will be done, As in heaven even so on earth! Give us our daily bread for tomorrow! Forgive our sins and our debts! As we have forgiven Everyone indebted to us. May you take us not into a testing trial; But rescue us from the evil! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! * For Melody and Textual Details See: Printable as pdf Boooklet 8