Funeral Sermon - Fred C. - Rev 21: 1-7

       When people ask me as a pastor what happens to us after we die, I have to honestly answer that I do not know. I would have to say that I do not know the facts of what happens, or the process, or what Heaven is like, but I do know what I believe because of my experience with God’s grace and passages in scripture like today’s.

I believe that when we die we have the opportunity to experience the new heaven and the new earth. The new Holy dwelling place of God , where God dwells fully with us, and there will be no more crying or pain. A place where death no longer exists, and God is making all things new.

When many people hear this description they gravitate to the idea that Heaven will be a place without pain and suffering, where there will be no more tears of sorrow. And I believe that. But the part that resonates with me the most, is that even after we die, even in Heaven, God is in the process of making all things new. Throughout scripture, some of the verses that have resonated the most with me, have been about God recreating and renewing. God doing a new thing in spite of the people’s lack of creativity or protesting that a new thing is not possible. And in today’s passage we are told that this renewing nature of God does not cease with our mortal bodies, but continues eternally. We are continually given new chances, new times to make things right. God’s love for us transcends our mortal sense of time and place into eternity. And that gives me comfort and hope more then any other statement in today’s scripture passage.

There are very few people who can claim to have lived a perfect life. Most of us make mistakes and are in need of God’s renewing spirit within us. If we are lucky and wise, we accept that renewing spirit, that second chance, that invitation to reinvent ourselves, when we are alive on this earth. In talking to Fred’s family members, it seems that in some aspect of his life, he was this wise and renewed man. Like with his grandchildren, whom he deeply loved and strove to taught new things that he cared about, like fishing, so they could experience them together. Things may have not been perfect before or after the grandchildren, but with them he was a renewed person.

Fred was also lucky because he knew about the simplicity of life. He worked hard throughout his life traveling as a roofer and a painter. He enjoyed NASCAR and cooking on the grill. He had a dog Dusty, whom he adored to spend time with and care for. And he always could be found enjoying a good game of Yazettz, where by the sheer number of Yazettz alone, he was probably the champ.

Even with the ability to profoundly love his grandchildren and the simple things in life, Fred was not a perfect man. As none of us really have a perfect existence. But God loves us despite of our imperfections. I believe that in the life eternal, God even more boldly proclaims, “Look, I am making all things new” including each of us. Even in eternity we have the ability to be renewed by the knowledge and love of God. And I don’t know about you, but that excites me. Why who we were on this earth may be tied to the memories of those whom loved us, that does not mean that is who we are going to be in eternity! Those small moments and times when we were able to be renewed here on this earth, like Fred was with his grandchildren, will not stop. They will keep growing in heaven through God’s grace and love for us!

Today we entrust Fred into God’s care, which is filled with this love and grace. We give him back to the God that says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing.” May that give those of us left here grieving, hope and comfort. Amen.