Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep.

The message chosen for God’s Word for this, the Christian funeral of Cornelia Theel, comes to us from the words of God found in Titus 3:5-7, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Dear neighbors, friends, family, and especially you, Fred and Doris – grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

It’s hard not to be impressed when you look back over the life of Cornelia Theel – or as many of us know her – of Granma. As a child, she sat next to her dying grandfather reading the German Bible to him. She was a faithful, hard-working wife and a God-fearing mother who took serious the command to train her children in the ways of the Lord. She was a diligent servant to her Savior as year in and year out, for forty years, she taught God’s Word to children in Sunday School. She was an important part of the Redeemer Church when it started in Yale and an active member of the Dorcas Society and Ladies Guild. Even in her final years, while wheelchair-bound, you never heard her complain.

And I suppose it could be easy for a person to think, that because her life was so full of impressive acts God would have to accept her into heaven. That would, after all, make the death of one so dear easier to handle. Or maybe it’s her age – she was 100 you know. No doubt, the thought has entered the mind of many, if not all of us, that Cornelia lived a nice full life. And I suppose, for some, that fact too could help make her death easier to handle.

But to tell you the truth, that isn’t what makes the passing of our dear loved one easier to handle. You see, no matter how many years Cornelia lived; no matter how many splendid acts Cornelia did, she was still just like you and me – a sinner. The words from the book of Ephesians, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), were spoken to her as they are to us. The same expectations God has for you, he had for her: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The same devastating results that are pronounced on us if we do not live up to that perfection were pronounced on her: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). No, the fact that she lived a good life for a long time is not the source of our comfort today. The source of our comfort today is Jesus, and the fact that Cornelia knew and believed in Jesus as her Savior. She knew the way to heaven. That is what God’s words, chosen for this Christian funeral, direct our attention to.

The first thing God makes clear to us is how a person doesn’t get to heaven: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done.” The way to heaven is not manmade; it is not based on something that you or I as human beings can do; it is not found in the works that we perform. The way to eternity has to be a perfect way, and anything that we do is tainted with our own sin and our own selfishness.

Cornelia knew that well. It was something she expressed to me quite frequently during my visits with her over the past 6 years. So the fact that she was a faithful servant of her Lord and Master Jesus Christ, the fact that she served her Lord’s church in faithfulness and humility for so many years, was not because she thought she was earning anything, but because she knew that her Lord had already served her by saving her. It was her way of showing that she knew the way to eternity that is spelled out right here, “He saved us…because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

The foundation for the way to eternity is God’s mercy – his compassion upon poor, lost, sinful creatures like us by sending a Savior for us in the person of his Son, Jesus. Without Jesus there wouldn’t be any salvation; without Jesus there wouldn’t be any forgiveness of sins; without Jesus there wouldn’t be any way to eternity. But God in his mercy made Jesus to be sin for us. At the cross on Calvary’s hill we see what was taking place: Jesus was pierced in order to pay for our transgressions; he was crushed to endure the penalty for our sins; the punishment that brings us peace was upon him; by his death we are healed.

This is the merciful grace of God which Cornelia knew and which she experienced abundantly through all the years of her life. That was the confession of Cornelia since the day of her baptism. And it didn’t stop there, she knew that because Jesus had lived a perfect live, he now supplied her with the perfection she needed before God. On top of that, she knew that her Savior didn’t stay dead, but rose from the grave. Therefore, she was certain that he had paid for her very own sin, and defeated Satan for her, and did away with fear of death. She knew the way to eternity. And now, by faith in Jesus Christ, your dear mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great grandmother, and friend has received her inheritance and has taken her place in God’s eternal mansions.

Often times when I would go out and visit Cornelia, and after we had shot the breeze for a while, we would get ready for our devotion and communion. To make sure that she remembered what it is that Jesus gives us in Holy Communion, I would ask her a few questions. God’s gift of her sharp mind was always on the ball with the answers. And then she would say, “I haven’t forgotten the important things.” And dear family and friends of Cornelia, that just it! She hadn’t forgotten the important things. She knew she couldn’t save herself, but she knew that Jesus had saved her. She knew that death would one day come, but she knew that it would be nothing more than the passage from this life to the glorious home in heaven Jesus had prepared for her. She knew and she believed that with his perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection, Jesus had done it all. And you know what, this was made beautifully evident with the life she lived for her Lord – in her kind words and actions, in her gentleness and service, with her love and care.

So it is possible for us to sit here today and be comforted. We know where she is. We know who she is with. We know why she is there. And we know that for us who believe in Jesus as our Savior, and trust in him and his work to make us right with God, we will see her and be with her again as we gather around the one who made it all possible – Jesus Christ.