Funeral for John Michael Korntved on July 2, 2010
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God’s plans
When John returned home from the hospital after his heart surgery, I think he expected he was going to stay home and recover. Then get back to his normal life with Ethel, his children, dog and trains.
But, it turns out, God had other plans.
While in the hospital, John wasn’t too happy. Wearing a flimsy hospital gown, eating green beans and Jell-O off a plastic tray and having such bland hospital food that Ethel had to sneak spices into his room in her purse. But now John is wearing the white robe of the saints and eating the feast of heaven described by Isaiah with the best meats and finest wines (Jeremiah 25:6). Everything now is perfect.
For years John lived near the Root River in Caledonia and Sturtevant. But his new home is along the River of Life, surrounded by green pastures and quiet waters. While John’s return home from the hospital was brief, he has now been released from this world and transferred to heaven where the time he has there is eternal. For as John’s Shepherd led him here in this life, so he has led John through the valley of the shadow of death and into the life of paradise.
And that’s why we are here this afternoon. To remember John, yes; and his life, yes. But more importantly, to hear once again the words and promises of our Savior to us, that this life is not all there is; that those who die in the Lord we will see again; and that although our plans may not work out as we expect, our Savior’s plans always do. For His plans are to prosper us, to give us hope and a future. For His plans are perfect, even if we cannot understand them. Even when His plans don’t seem to be what we want. Even when it seems as if our Good Shepherd isn’t being very good at all.
Because Good is what our Savior-Shepherd is. He proved it on the cross, when He laid down His life for His sheep. When He took our sins upon Himself and then died our death so that we might live. He is no hired hand that cuts and runs when the going gets tough – but a Shepherd who sticks by His sheep. For He doesn’t see the dark and dangerous valley and say, “I’ll see you on the other side.” No, He walks with us every step of the way through this valley of death for He knows the way. He walked it before with His own death on the cross.
He is the Savior-Shepherd who came into this world of sin and troubles and death, not to promise us that we would avoid the troubles of this world, but to be with us through it all. And He was with John through it all.
From the moment John was baptized on July 9, 1944 in West Jacksonport, WI, the Lord was with His washed and wet saint. The Lord was with him as John confirmed his baptismal faith in his confirmation in 1958 and received Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper for the first of many times of having his faith fed and nourished with tangible forgiveness. The Lord was with John as he trained for the U.S. Navy, in his many jobs throughout life and when he served as this congregation’s janitor in the 70s.
Though John’s heart eventually gave out and failed him, Jesus never gave up on John or failed this precious child of God. Even stronger than the grip of death and sin had on John was the grip of His Savior. On this weekend as we celebrate our nation’s freedom from tyranny and oppression, we also thank God that He has set John free from the burden and bondage in this world, set him free from Satan’s tyranny and sin’s oppression, set free to praise and glorify His victorious Champion with all the saints and angels in heaven.
And as we remember today the plans God had for John, we must also remember the plans our Lord and Savior has for us.
Plans not to harm us, but to give us hope and a future. Plans not of death, but of life. Plans not of defeat, but of victory. Plans not of despair, but of hope.
The life, victory and hope that cannot be seen, but comes only by amazing grace through faith in Jesus, the crucified and living One. The life, victory and hope that comes from your Savior who laid down His life for you, rose from the dead for you and lives for you. For this Savior is the Good Shepherd who knows His own. Who knows you. Who knows everything about you. And that’s both a terrifying and a comforting doctrine.
He knows the sins you hide in secret. He knows the hurts that drive you to despair. He knows the evil you pass off as righteous anger, the gossip you deem as harmless and the lusts you excuse as normal. He knows who you are, what you are and what you need.
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
He knows who you are and He has promised to change you. He knows what you are and has promised to correct and forgive you. He knows what you need and has promised to provide it. He knows what threatens you and has promised to protect you. He knows what is best for you and has promised to do what is best.
Always.
For your Savior never starts you in His life only to leave you on your own! No, He who has begun a good work in you has promised to bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6). As He did with John, so the Lord will do with you. From start to finish, loving, forgiving and leading you, until finally He sets you free from the burden and bondage of this world, and like John, scoops you up in His arms and takes you home.
Until He does, not all our plans may work out as we expect. There will be troubles, pains and heartaches. The valley of the shadow of death may seem very long and dark. It may seem that we say a whole lot more goodbyes than we say hellos. We want more time with our loved ones. But whenever a person is baptized and becomes a child of God, along with that wonderful gift comes the knowledge that at any time, their Father and ours may call them home to live with Him. We get them for a while, but they never belong to us – they belong to Him. Mourning, then, is the price we pay for the privilege of having loved another human being. They belong to Him who gave them life, and then redeemed that life with His death and resurrection.
We thank God that He gave John to us for as long as He did; that He enriched our life with John’s; and that He blessed us so abundantly by allowing us to spend time with John … even if we wish it had been a bit longer.
We didn’t really get to say goodbye to John because his death was so sudden. But that’s okay. Because it really isn’t a goodbye for as Christians, is it? It is “God be with you till we meet again.” That is the comfort we have as Christians that makes this difficult day so much easier. Because we know that this life is not all there is. Because we know that our loved one who has died in Christ, who clung to the cross of Christ, is now before the throne of Christ in heaven. And when we die or when our Savior returns, we will join John and all the saints around the throne, wearing our white robes and waving our palm branches of victory. And that day we enter heaven and all the eternity of days that follow will be glorious. For we will no longer remember the pain, the disease, the sorrow or the troubles of this world – but we will only rejoice in the peace and rest of Paradise.
That is the time when there will be one flock and one shepherd, and we, with John, will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. For that is our Lord’s good and gracious plan. Amen.
God’s plans
When John returned home from the hospital after his heart surgery, I think he expected he was going to stay home and recover. Then get back to his normal life with Ethel, his children, dog and trains.
But, it turns out, God had other plans.
While in the hospital, John wasn’t too happy. Wearing a flimsy hospital gown, eating green beans and Jell-O off a plastic tray and having such bland hospital food that Ethel had to sneak spices into his room in her purse. But now John is wearing the white robe of the saints and eating the feast of heaven described by Isaiah with the best meats and finest wines (Jeremiah 25:6). Everything now is perfect.
For years John lived near the Root River in Caledonia and Sturtevant. But his new home is along the River of Life, surrounded by green pastures and quiet waters. While John’s return home from the hospital was brief, he has now been released from this world and transferred to heaven where the time he has there is eternal. For as John’s Shepherd led him here in this life, so he has led John through the valley of the shadow of death and into the life of paradise.
And that’s why we are here this afternoon. To remember John, yes; and his life, yes. But more importantly, to hear once again the words and promises of our Savior to us, that this life is not all there is; that those who die in the Lord we will see again; and that although our plans may not work out as we expect, our Savior’s plans always do. For His plans are to prosper us, to give us hope and a future. For His plans are perfect, even if we cannot understand them. Even when His plans don’t seem to be what we want. Even when it seems as if our Good Shepherd isn’t being very good at all.
Because Good is what our Savior-Shepherd is. He proved it on the cross, when He laid down His life for His sheep. When He took our sins upon Himself and then died our death so that we might live. He is no hired hand that cuts and runs when the going gets tough – but a Shepherd who sticks by His sheep. For He doesn’t see the dark and dangerous valley and say, “I’ll see you on the other side.” No, He walks with us every step of the way through this valley of death for He knows the way. He walked it before with His own death on the cross.
He is the Savior-Shepherd who came into this world of sin and troubles and death, not to promise us that we would avoid the troubles of this world, but to be with us through it all. And He was with John through it all.
From the moment John was baptized on July 9, 1944 in West Jacksonport, WI, the Lord was with His washed and wet saint. The Lord was with him as John confirmed his baptismal faith in his confirmation in 1958 and received Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper for the first of many times of having his faith fed and nourished with tangible forgiveness. The Lord was with John as he trained for the U.S. Navy, in his many jobs throughout life and when he served as this congregation’s janitor in the 70s.
Though John’s heart eventually gave out and failed him, Jesus never gave up on John or failed this precious child of God. Even stronger than the grip of death and sin had on John was the grip of His Savior. On this weekend as we celebrate our nation’s freedom from tyranny and oppression, we also thank God that He has set John free from the burden and bondage in this world, set him free from Satan’s tyranny and sin’s oppression, set free to praise and glorify His victorious Champion with all the saints and angels in heaven.
And as we remember today the plans God had for John, we must also remember the plans our Lord and Savior has for us.
Plans not to harm us, but to give us hope and a future. Plans not of death, but of life. Plans not of defeat, but of victory. Plans not of despair, but of hope.
The life, victory and hope that cannot be seen, but comes only by amazing grace through faith in Jesus, the crucified and living One. The life, victory and hope that comes from your Savior who laid down His life for you, rose from the dead for you and lives for you. For this Savior is the Good Shepherd who knows His own. Who knows you. Who knows everything about you. And that’s both a terrifying and a comforting doctrine.
He knows the sins you hide in secret. He knows the hurts that drive you to despair. He knows the evil you pass off as righteous anger, the gossip you deem as harmless and the lusts you excuse as normal. He knows who you are, what you are and what you need.
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
He knows who you are and He has promised to change you. He knows what you are and has promised to correct and forgive you. He knows what you need and has promised to provide it. He knows what threatens you and has promised to protect you. He knows what is best for you and has promised to do what is best.
Always.
For your Savior never starts you in His life only to leave you on your own! No, He who has begun a good work in you has promised to bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6). As He did with John, so the Lord will do with you. From start to finish, loving, forgiving and leading you, until finally He sets you free from the burden and bondage of this world, and like John, scoops you up in His arms and takes you home.
Until He does, not all our plans may work out as we expect. There will be troubles, pains and heartaches. The valley of the shadow of death may seem very long and dark. It may seem that we say a whole lot more goodbyes than we say hellos. We want more time with our loved ones. But whenever a person is baptized and becomes a child of God, along with that wonderful gift comes the knowledge that at any time, their Father and ours may call them home to live with Him. We get them for a while, but they never belong to us – they belong to Him. Mourning, then, is the price we pay for the privilege of having loved another human being. They belong to Him who gave them life, and then redeemed that life with His death and resurrection.
We thank God that He gave John to us for as long as He did; that He enriched our life with John’s; and that He blessed us so abundantly by allowing us to spend time with John … even if we wish it had been a bit longer.
We didn’t really get to say goodbye to John because his death was so sudden. But that’s okay. Because it really isn’t a goodbye for as Christians, is it? It is “God be with you till we meet again.” That is the comfort we have as Christians that makes this difficult day so much easier. Because we know that this life is not all there is. Because we know that our loved one who has died in Christ, who clung to the cross of Christ, is now before the throne of Christ in heaven. And when we die or when our Savior returns, we will join John and all the saints around the throne, wearing our white robes and waving our palm branches of victory. And that day we enter heaven and all the eternity of days that follow will be glorious. For we will no longer remember the pain, the disease, the sorrow or the troubles of this world – but we will only rejoice in the peace and rest of Paradise.
That is the time when there will be one flock and one shepherd, and we, with John, will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. For that is our Lord’s good and gracious plan. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment