Following last week’s baptism celebration during worship in the park, we have a unique opportunity this Sunday to again surround a family with Christian community as our service includes a time of commendation and a celebration of the life of Christ the King member Lois Lembcke, who died on June 13. As a church congregation, we are called to support each other on the journey of faith, in both times of joy and times of grief.
This week’s Scripture readings are Hebrews 12:1-3, Psalm 121, Romans 8:1-11, and John 15:1-5. This is my first time including a funeral as part of a regular Sunday worship service, and I think it was meaningful for both the family members and the congregation.
Here’s the podcast sermon audio and the video of the entire service from Christ the King.
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Grace and peace to you from God our Father, the Holy Spirit our Comforter, and our risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen
During my parental leave, Christin and I worshiped with several different churches, and I’ve noticed something about our congregation here at Christ the King: We’re a pretty small church. Kind of obvious, I know. It doesn’t take long for most of the people in worship most weeks to look familiar.
Obviously, part of our mission and purpose is to grow and reach beyond ourselves, so I hope you are inviting neighbors and praying for people who aren’t here yet. Outreach and evangelism are part of who we are. That said, there are some great things about being a small community.
I want to talk a bit this morning about the beauty of a small church, but first, I also want to remind you we are part of a big church. 3.3 million of us make up the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the ELCA, and we’re part of around 77 million in the Lutheran World Federation, over 500 million in the World Council of Churches, around 2.6 billion Christians in the world, and that number’s growing rapidly.
But much more importantly, you and I are part of the capital-C Church. We are claimed by God in the waters of baptism and adopted into God’s family, gathered into the Body of Christ. We talked about that a lot last week as we celebrated Jonah’s baptism.
And our identity as God’s children, as members of the Body of Christ, that isn’t about one particular congregation or denomination. The Body of Christ includes all Christian churches, everyone alive following Jesus today, but it goes even further, because even death doesn’t end God’s baptismal claim, God’s love for God’s people.
The big-C church extends beyond time and space, including all those who have gone before us, those who have completed their course on earth, as our funeral service says.
And yet, there is significance in being part of a local church family. As Christ the King Lutheran Church, we are traveling on the journey of faith and growing together. Being a church member means making a commitment to walk with these people, committing to support one another, encourage, lift up, and even challenge and provoke each other when necessary—in love, of course.
And sometimes that can be more challenging. One of my seminary professors used to talk about how the nastiest fights people have are with family, because we know how to push each others’ buttons.
We’re not called to all be the same; we can disagree on a whole variety of issues. We come from different backgrounds, with different experiences and expectations. But as a church, we’re walking on the way together.
There’s a vulnerability in showing up week after week to worship and pray and confess together, perhaps especially when it’s a small church and we know each other. A community where we allow ourselves to be known.
Today, we are gathered as a local church community to celebrate the life of someone who has been a part of this small community, and who was and continues to be part of the big-C Church, the great cloud of witnesses extending beyond time and space.
I love how Pastor Winn Collier describes the church in his book, Love Big; Be Well: Letters to a Small-Town Church. He writes:
As the church, we are the people (whenever we live true to ourselves) who will welcome you into this world, who will join you in marriage and in friendship, who will bless your coming and your going.
We will pray for you to prosper and know love’s depths even if you think our prayers are foolish or offered in vain, and we will mourn you when you leave us. We will bless the land and the nations we share, and we will grieve together through tragedy and heartache.
We will celebrate, with you, everything beautiful and good, everything that comes from the hand of mercy. And then, when your days conclude, we will bury you. We will return you to the earth and pray God’s kindness over you.
A great verse in Hebrews 10 tells us, “Do not neglect to meet together.” Pastors and church leaders tend to really like that verse.
But, I think sometimes we want to stop there and just say that coming to worship is important, you need to be here, sort of use that verse to guilt people into coming to church. And it is important to come to church!
But the point is not guilt, the point is the rest of what the verse says: “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.”
The Christian community exists to support one another. We’re here to proclaim God’s message to the world, and also to remind each other of the promises of God, the promises we just heard about in our Scripture readings.
Psalm 121 – Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth, and the Lord will watch over you by day and by night, never getting tired, keeping you forevermore. We need that encouragement.
And the promise from Romans: “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” We gather to remind each other of the freedom found in Jesus. We encourage one another with eternal hope, hope the world cannot give.
Again from Romans, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” Talk about good news to share!
As a community, we journey together in faith through all the stages of life. We walk with each other through times of joy and sorrow; we laugh and mourn together.
Paul talks about that too, in Romans 12. He writes, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” That’s what we’re doing today, rejoicing and weeping.
As a church, we celebrate milestones from baptism all the way through funerals, milestones like first communion, confirmation, marriage. We believe God has something to say, that faith is relevant in every stage of life.
We are branches connected to the vine, which is Jesus. As the Body of Christ, we bear fruit in the world because we are connected to Jesus, because we abide in Jesus.
At our quarterly joint council meeting on Wednesday, I asked our church council members to intentionally, consciously think about what difference it makes in our lives to be part of the local church, to be a follower of Jesus, part of Christ’s body.
I won’t make you write down answers in the same way I asked them to, but it’s worth thinking about. What difference does faith in Jesus make, what difference does being part of the great cloud of witnesses (the big-C Church) make for you?
What difference does being part of this particular church congregation make in your life? What fruit do you bear when you abide in Jesus?
This morning, we are saying good-bye to Lois, remembering and celebrating God’s faithfulness in her life, and reflecting with gratitude on her time in this community of faith, the fruit she bore.
We are reminding each other yet again of the promise of eternal life, the promise we declare—even in the face of death—that Lois’ story isn’t over.
What difference did faith make in Lois’ life? She was active in this community for many years, singing in the choir, spending her time making quilts for people she’d never meet, building up her church family by serving fellowship, enhancing worship by bringing altar flowers. She was a life-long Lutheran, and her faith helped her get through some challenging times in life, including a divorce, and then her second husband’s death ten years ago.
There were times of joy, especially spending time with family and friends, and she was often “a little bit of a mischief-maker” (that’s Denise’s wording, not mine!); and lots of pride in her Norwegian heritage. And then there was another season of challenge, living with memory loss at Alexian Village.
But throughout her journey, she knew the promises of faith. She was surrounded by the cloud of witnesses who pointed her towards her savior Jesus, in whose loving arms she now rests.
Gathered as God’s people, we give thanks as a church community for the life, legacy, and witness of Lois Lembcke, thanks that she is part of our cloud of witnesses. And we give thanks for the God who claims each of us in love, who calls us into community.
We give thanks for God’s faithfulness in working through us, God’s faithfulness in giving us a mission, trusting us with good news of resurrection to proclaim in this hurting and broken world.
Siblings in Christ, be encouraged by the good news of the resurrection. Abide in Jesus as he abides in you.
And may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen