What Does This Mean?

Sermon on Luke 17:20-37
Kramer Chapel
Concordia Theological Seminary
Friday after the Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year
November 15, 2013

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our coming Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text is the reading just read. Day of wrath, day of mourning, when to ashes earth is burning like David and Sibyl predicted. Oh, the future filled with trembling as the judge descends from heaven in order to judge and discuss in great detail. The trumpet sounds and resounds through the sepulchers and up the dead come together before the judge. Now, it’s not the end of the world, just the end of the quarter.

But people have thought a great deal about the end of the world. It turned out that, as the millennium approached, many people thought that the Lord Jesus would return that coming December 31st, and so they began all of their preparations: they sold their property, and they gave it to the poor, they went on pilgrimages, they even one day gathered with the Pope in order to welcome in the new year and the new kingdom as Christ returned. Some, deathly afraid, like the words of the Dies Irae just quoted, were said to have died of heart attacks, in fear, while waiting for that moment. But time passed, the bells of St. Peter’s rang, and Pope Sylvester II made the sign of the cross and greeted the year 1000 into the world. The trumpet had not sounded and the dead were not raised. And there were a lot of people really relieved. There’s something a little bit wrong with that picture, but let’s save that for later.

A few hundred years later, a Baptist farmer by the name of William Miller had become convinced he had cracked the code to the date of the return of Christ. It would be no later, he said, than March 21st of 1844. And the popular message went throughout the United States, and people began to sell their property, give their goods to the poor, and gather with William Miller in pilgrimages around the country, and eventually went to a hilltop, it is said, in white robes, awaiting the Lord. And the trumpet did not sound, and the dead were not raised. And William Miller went, “Oops, a slight mathematical error. It will be October 22nd of this year, 1844, that the Lord returns.” And the trumpet did not sound then. And the dead were not raised then. And William Miller said, “I guess I should repent of setting dates.” Ellen G. White, however, responded, “Oh, no! You got the date right, just the event wrong.” And so began Seventh-day Adventism. And later, from its stock, Charles T. Russell, an Adventist, decided that the Lord would return in 1874. And when the trumpet did not sound, he decided that the Lord had appeared invisibly, and so it would be 1914 that the absolute end would happen. 1914 came and went. Charles T. Russell came and went. Future dates — 1918, 1975 — all came and went. When Hal Lindsey decided that because Israel had been around for 40 years, the end of the world was coming in 1988, so did a little fellow by the name of Edgar Whisenant, who published a book, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Would Be in ’88, and then later Harold Camping, and the Mayans. And, believe it or not, there will be more, probably, until the day that the Lord does return, and the trumpet sounds, and the dead are really raised. They will not be the last.

You see, no one really knows the day of Christ’s return. As a matter of fact, the Pharisees, while they were sitting with the advent of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, asked, “When is it going to happen?” And so Jesus had to tell them, “You missed it. It’s already here.”

You see, the Bible isn’t an algebra problem, as many of our dear friends in the evangelical community would like to make it out to be. You don’t plug in a despot, crank the wheel, come up with a date, and be able to generate the day that the Lord will return. Jesus said, not even the Son of Man, while He was in His state of humiliation, knew the date — only the Father. But in a perverse way, end-times speculation decides that it can know what the Son of God Himself did not know. It goes something like this, although I don’t think they think of it this way: “I, the first person in 2,000 years, have figured out when the Lord and Savior is going to return — and doesn’t that make me a special prophet? More special than the Son of God and all of the wise prophets and apostles and teachers of the church for 2,000 years since then?”

For those who believe such messages, it gives us a hope in the face of things that in our life just don’t seem to go terribly well. Maybe we don’t feel all that significant because our name isn’t ever in the papers. Maybe we think that all the work we’re doing is going to be completely in vain. If so, I recommend reading Ecclesiastes. If, in all of this, we suffer, either from a long-term debilitating illness or through things that happen in our life — maybe things do not go well, a disaster hits us — we can know, if we believe this, when exactly Jesus is going to come, and we might imagine that we can escape from the sufferings of this world, maybe even we’ll be in a special class that will be zapped out of this world while the rest of the people really suffer. There’s a certain sense of sweet vindication in it for those people we think are persecuting, who are actually persecuting us. We know that they’re going to get theirs when that last day comes, and that we who are righteous will really shine like the stars and will get all of the credit that we have for living our lives so wonderfully during this life.

The problem, if you haven’t learned it from the classes now ending, is that we don’t deserve a bit of it. The big problem with actually wanting the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to return, and to do away with sin, death, and the power of the devil — all those other guys — is that we’re one of those guys as well. We also are sinners, and that sin we cannot free ourselves from. And God, when He promises the end of the world, if you look very carefully, doesn’t promise an escape hatch for Christians. As a matter of fact, He says, “As I have suffered, so you will suffer.” And so escape from all of the things, the troubles and the trials of this world, is not on God’s schedule for us. Instead, He will use those to polish our faith, to strengthen our trust and our grasp in Him, so that when the end of our day — even if it isn’t the end of days — comes, we will be in His hands forever and ever, and we’ll get to see the real thing transpire, because we will be with Him where He is.

The problem with becoming obsessed with the future, in addition, is that we miss the present, and we miss what God is doing here and now. You see, the advent of Christ is not about us. That may come as a kind of a shock to us. The advent of Christ is about what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do for us.

It is yesterday, when He came and lived a perfect life for us, when He suffered and died, rose again, and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us. It is then that our sins — even our conceit, and our desire for revenge, and desire for escape — were all paid for upon the cross, when, because He had pronounced that sentence upon Jesus, He pronounced the sentence of “not guilty” on us, so that none of these sins will go with us into the next life.

Because He died and rose again from the dead, He has promised that He will be with us always, even to the end of the age itself. In other words, even though Jesus is coming back, He never really left. He has been with His Christians all these years, and He has been with you from the day you were a twinkle in your mom and dad’s eye, to the day when you were admitted to the seminary, to the day when the Lord calls you to serve in His church, to proclaim the gospel or to minister mercy to those in need. He will be with you until the day is come that there is no more for you to do in this life, and He gladly takes you to be by His side at the end of your time, or at the end of time itself. It makes really no practical difference to you, does it?

But there is also the coming of forever, the coming that makes the bride scream, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!” — the day when He will come to earth, and the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised, and those in faith in Christ will go to be with Him forever, for He will dwell with them, and there will be no more sorrow, or sighing, or crying, or pain, for all these things will have passed away. And so I would recommend that we live this life awaiting the second coming, but live it the way that Martin Luther supposedly said, but didn’t. It is said that he said, when he was asked what he would do today if the world was going to come to an end, “I go plant an apple tree.” And so, even though Luther didn’t say it, let’s go plant some apple trees. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be and abide with us both now and forevermore. Amen.

Audio of the sermon as it was originally preached: http://ctsfwmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/Kramer_Chapel/Kramer2013/DailyChapel/Audio/ser-DCKRAM-131115-rsmith.mp3

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2018-2026 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share, and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

[Twelfth in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

One of the most popular of the signs Jesus predicted would happen before the Second Advent is the success of the missionary mandate. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world,” Jesus predicted. (Matthew 24:14) This sign appears to be, unlike the other signs, a unique condition, one that was not fulfilled during the ministry of Jesus. Millennialist prophecy scholars note that it wasn’t until the 19th century that missionaries reached many parts of the world. While this is true, it is based on an English translation of the prophecy. The passage is better translated: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole inhabited world — the civilized world of the Roman Empire. (οἰκουμένῃ–oikoumene–Ecumene)”

The Greek language of the New Testament uses several words that are translated as ” world in our English Bibles. The Greeks and Romans used οἰκουμένῃ for the lands of the Roman Empire. They thought of humanity as made up of two classes of people, the civilized Graeco-Roman nations and the barbarians. κόσμος (kosmos–cosmos) was the word Greek philosophers used to speak about the universe. In Jewish-Greek writing it carries the sense of all creation and especially all peoples — this is the word used in John 3:16. The word γῆς (ges–the root of our word geography) was used for the physical world, translated as earth or the land.

This prophecy, then, is similar to the others we’ve examined. It does not give Christians a trigger for calculating the date of the Second Advent. It describes the age between Christ’s Ascension and his return: the gospel proclaimed among all peoples. It was fulfilled already when, according to tradition, St. Paul reached Spain, known in his day as “The End of the World.” The apostles themselves could speak of the gospel as already proclaimed in all creation under heaven (Colossians 1:23).

And it continues to be fulfilled wherever Christians preach the good news of salvation, wherever they live. As they fulfill Christ’s sending, baptizing and teaching, the Holy Spirit uses their witness to create faith, call the lost to faith, and build Christ’s church. This sign is not a countdown but a description of the Church’s work through the whole New Testament age — and it is why God patiently delays the end (2 Peter 3:9). Through the preaching of the gospel, Christ continues to call sinners to himself, and wherever sinners are baptized into Christ and trust in him for salvation, this prophecy is being fulfilled.

When he completes this task and our mission is accomplished, Jesus will return to bring his bride home. Until that day, the Church keeps doing what her Lord commanded: preaching the gospel, baptizing, and teaching.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019-2026 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share, and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

[Eleventh in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

Jesus repeatedly warned his disciples that people would hate them for his sake. Already in the Beatitudes, Jesus tells them they will be blessed when they are persecuted and slandered for his sake, for they have the kingdom of heaven and are like the prophets who came before them. (Matthew 5:10-12) He tells them that being a disciple means taking up their cross and following him. (Matthew 16:24-26) The enemies of Jesus and his gospel would arrest you and throw you in prison, bring you before kings and governors. Even parents, family members, and friends will betray you to the authorities. Some will even be put to death. You need not worry, however, because the Holy Spirit will give you the words to speak. Yet you will not perish. (Luke 21:12-19)

So, as a sign of the end, this prediction is nothing new for them or for us. It should not surprise us that it is associated with the end of days. It is not, as some millennialist writers believe, a specific prophecy of the persecution of the Jewish church after the rapture. Like the previous sign, it describes times infected by sin and its effects.

This prophecy was fulfilled in the days following the Ascension of Jesus and continuing to the present. All but one of the apostles died a martyr’s death. Throughout the early Church, persecution occurred from time to time. The witness of these early witnesses to Jesus was so impressive that pagans — including persecutors came to faith. As Tertullian put it, “The blood of the martyrs is seed for the church.”

Throughout the ages, the church has continued to be persecuted until today, and more Christians are persecuted and martyred than in all of history. Like their Lord, they laid down their lives for Jesus. When Jesus returns in glory, they will come with him to greet those of us who are alive on that day. May we be numbered with them, here and in eternity.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share, and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

[Tenth in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

When Jesus’ disciples asked him for signs of the end of the age, the first sign he gave them came with a warning: “See that you are not led astray” (Luke 21:8). The Lord warned that two things would happen. First, people would come claiming to be the Christ. Second, others would insist that the end was near when it was not. (Luke 21:8; Matthew 24:5, 11, 23-28)

History has supplied plenty of examples. Some have claimed to be Christ returned in the flesh. Others have claimed special prophetic insight into the timing of his return. Still others have taught that Christ already returned secretly. Yet Jesus leaves no room for confusion. Christ will not return secretly, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. He will not return through a new birth, as Sun Myung Moon claimed. Nor will he come as a prophet who appears after him, as Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and others have taught.

When Jesus returns, he will come from Heaven in glory with his angels and the saints who have gone before us. Every eye will see him. (Revelation 1:7) No one will need to announce his arrival. No one will need to point him out. No one will discover later that he came unnoticed. As lightning flashes across the sky from east to west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:27)

Like all the signs of the end, these signs appeared during the lifetime of the Apostles and have remained with the Church ever since. They describe the entire age between Christ’s Ascension and his Second Coming, not a specific event to be checked off a prophetic list. False christs and false prophets remind us how desperately the devil seeks to lead God’s people away from their Savior. They are signs that this age is passing away and that Christ may return at an hour we do not expect.

So Christians do not chase after false christs, secret revelations, miraculous claims, or predictions of the end. Instead, we seek Christ where he has promised to be found. He is already with his Church and will remain with her to the end of the age. He comes to us in his Word, in Holy Baptism, and especially in the Lord’s Supper. There he gives us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation that he won for us by his suffering, death, and resurrection.

Therefore, when false teachers arise, and predictions about the end multiply, Christians need not be troubled. Christ has not abandoned his people. He is with us even now through the means of grace. And we look forward to the day when the same Jesus who comes to us now in humility will come again in glory to destroy sin, death, and the power of the devil forever. Then he will wipe away every tear from our eyes and bring us into the new heavens and the new earth, where we will live with him forever.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019-2026 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share, and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permission inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

[Ninth in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

The second sign that Jesus gave to his disciples to show that the world is coming to an end is that there will be wars and rumors of wars. (Matthew 24:6-7, Luke 21:9)

The first time we read this prophecy, it strikes us as rather strange. After all, there is nothing unusual about wars and rumors of wars. Nations have gone to war throughout history. In fact, this creates a constant problem for people seeking to determine the year of Christ’s return. They cope by admitting that, yes, there have always been wars, but that wars will become more frequent and intense as we draw closer to the end. They do have a point, since Jesus describes these signs as labor pains. At first, labor pains come far apart. The closer one gets to birth, however, the more frequent and intense they become.

The difficulty with this reading is that wars do not follow a steady pattern. Sometimes they come one after another; other times, years pass with relatively few. Most Romans living at the time of Jesus experienced Rome’s peace and knew little of war firsthand. Yet only a few decades later, the Jewish people would see war in all its horror as the Roman legions crushed a revolt in the Holy Land. In our own era, the two deadliest wars in human history took place in the first half of the twentieth century. Nothing like them has occurred since, thank God. The wars fought by us and other nations since then have been far smaller.

So, if wars cannot help us determine when Christ will return, why did Jesus give this sign?

Jesus answers that question himself: “See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6). Wars are not signs that Christians should panic. Nor are they clues for calculating dates. Rather, they remind us that all is not well in the world. Human beings were created to live in peace with God and with one another. Because of sin, however, the world is filled with hatred, violence, greed, and the desire to dominate others.

Like earthquakes, famines, and pestilences, wars are part of the labor pains of this present age. Labor pains are painful, but they are not meaningless. They point to what is coming. Every war and rumor of war reminds us that this fallen world is passing away and that our hope cannot finally rest in any earthly kingdom. The kingdoms of this world rise and fall. Empires come and go. Peace treaties are made and broken. Yet the kingdom of Christ endures forever.

These signs remind us that the world is cursed and that it will one day pass away. They keep us from growing too comfortable in our sin and call us to repentance and faith. When nations rage, and the headlines are filled with news of conflict, Christians need not despair. Jesus told us these things would happen. Instead, we cling to him and look forward to the New Heavens and the New Earth, where war will cease, righteousness will dwell, and we will live forever in the peace of God that has no end.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019-2026 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

[Seventh in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

Before the world comes to an end, Jesus told his disciples that there would be earthquakes, famines, and pestilences. Fearful things and strange signs would appear in the heavens. (Luke 21:11, Matthew 24:7) As with wars and rumors of wars, these signs aren’t of much help in predicting the Second Coming of Christ. After all, disaster is part of the curse that Adam and Eve received for committing the first sin. St. Paul describes creation as subject to futility, groaning like a woman in childbirth. (Romans 8:20-22) Jesus uses the same image for these very signs: “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:8)

Pastor Hans Fiene observes that, because of the fall, creation is cursed and has been turned from harmony with us to hostility toward us. The world that once gladly yielded its fruits now resists us with disease, floods, famine, fire, storms, drought, and every kind of disaster. To survive, human beings must exercise dominion over it.

These signs were present from the very day Jesus predicted they would be. Even as Jesus died on the cross, an earthquake struck the Holy Land and the sun went dark during midday. Famine struck during the dark days of the AD 60s and 70s. Throughout the millennia that followed, natural disasters have destroyed countless lives.

Many Christians have concluded that these events will become more and more frequent as we get closer to the Second Advent. Perhaps. The problem is that we will never know for sure whether such events indicate Christ’s return in our generation. The key to understanding what these events tell us is to realize that they describe the whole age from the Ascension to the Second Coming. They are not like the prophecy of the Virgin Birth, the town of Bethlehem, or the precision of Psalm 22 describing the crucifixion.

Instead, they are signs of a creation in labor. Just as labor pains remind a mother that the child is coming, so earthquakes, famines, pestilences, and disasters remind us that this present creation is passing away and that a new creation is coming. Every earthquake, famine, pestilence, and disaster reminds us that this creation is fallen and that our hope cannot finally rest in this world. The groaning of creation points forward to the day when Christ will make all things new.

These signs remind us that the world is cursed and will one day fail. They keep us from becoming too comfortable in our sin and warn us to repent and cling to Christ. For the same Lord who foretold these birth pains also promised the new heavens and the new earth that will follow them.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019-2026 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

[Eighth in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

As winter approaches in many areas of the world, plants and animals begin preparing for changes in their home climate. In the American Midwest, the leaves on many trees change color and fall from their branches. The Canada geese first fly in circles and then most head south for the season. The juncos, small sparrow-like birds, are the last to leave where I live and the first to arrive in spring. When these things happen, you can expect winter weather, and cold will not be far behind.

The date of Christ’s return is unknown to us. Jesus taught that even he did not know when it would happen — only the Father in Heaven. (Matthew 24:36) Yet we do know Jesus’ return is near. He told his disciples that they know summer is near when the fig tree starts to grow leaves. They knew — and we know — that time is growing short because we see the signs of the times that the Lord gave them.

Yet the signs of the times are not specific events, nor are they like variables in some prophecy algebra problem — you know — insert the invention of television, the establishment of the modern nation of Israel, the identity of the anti-Christ, and the use of bar codes, and then you know the year of Christ’s return. These signs are like those that identify the season — they tell us the kind of times that we live in. A checklist counts events; a season is known by its character. These signs tell us the world is passing away. Jesus made the same point to the crowds: they could look at a cloud rising in the west and say rain is coming, and feel a south wind and say it will be hot — yet they could not interpret the present time (Luke 12:54–56).

Since Jesus told his disciples they would see these signs in their generation, what is taking so long? Over two thousand years does not seem like soon — at the very gates — to us. But those are Jesus’ own words: “So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates” (Matthew 24:33). St. Peter explains this to us. The return of Christ is not measured on our human calendar. It is on God’s scale. For the Father, a thousand years pass like a day passes for us. (2 Peter 3:8-9)

We had a similar experience. On a long trip with young children, they often ask, “Are we there yet?” We say, “soon.” But while an hour or two is soon for us, it is very long for the children! He waits for the last person who will be saved to repent. And we should be glad for it — it includes us!

Yet still we remain alert. We do not know when that day will come, and the great marriage feast of the Lamb will begin. We want to be ready for that party!

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019-2026 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

[Eighteenth in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

It begins and ends with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The funeral service starts with a baptismal remembrance. At the graveside, we pray and rejoice in the resurrection promised to our deceased loved ones in their baptism. The obituary should be no different.

“Jason Matthew Kaspar, a baptized child of God, died (situation may be included) on Blurnsday, Septober 32, 20xx, (location), having lived [x] years upon the earth (sometimes years, months, days, and hours are calculated).”

Use Baptismal names up front. Short forms and nicknames are suitable in the body that follows. We ought to use baptismal names at the start and in the funeral, reflecting the name God used to claim us. He knows the day He called you by name, forgave your sins, and placed faith in your heart. He knows the name by which you were called.

“Jason was born on [date, location], baptized in the Name of the Triune God on [date, congregation], confirmed in the Christian faith on [date, congregation], graduated from [name of high school, college, technical school, or such institution] on [date], was married to Mandy on [date, congregation], enjoying and toiling [x] years as husband and wife together. [They were blessed in their union by the birth(s) of [x] child(ren)]. He was ordained into the office of Holy Ministry on [date], serving the people of God [x] years in full-time ministry and [x] years of pulpit supply in retirement.”

A listing of significant dates shall include the most important ones: those involving the Christian life in faith. This is also a good spot for a military service record and/or other public service like law enforcement, elected office, service organizations, term as king or queen, and the like. It makes for better reading to list activities dryly here and expound on them in the following section.

“‘Pacco Kappa’ as he was called by little ones struggling to learn their intervocalic ‘s’es and terminal ‘r’s…” [Fluffy details and glowing remembrances go here. Please avoid making the deceased sound like a flawlessly angelic figure in need of no savior. Definitely avoid saying they deserve admission into the heavens by dint of their deeds or character.]

In my case, this will be a short section. The life-and-times bit is very important to the surviving family. It will likely be the hardest part to write. No one will likely get everything they want into the obituary. Space limitations and the memory-blurring power of immediate grief will almost certainly truncate the information contained herein. Survivors, don’t beat yourselves up about a perfect remembrance. The years to come and your memories will serve far better than these paragraphs.

“He was preceded in death by [expand or abridge this section as desired], and all the host of those have died in the faith.

He is survived by [living relative and descendants are listed here, close/beloved acquaintances are also appropriate].

We, the surviving family, with certain confidence, entrust our son, brother, grandson, friend, pastor (list exhaustively), into the arms of Jesus Christ, who called him by name on [baptismal date], and who is the Resurrection and the Life.”

The conclusion should absolutely recapitulate our only true hope and promise. No comfort exists outside of Jesus and his work for our loved ones, which has now been delivered! Double down on what gives lasting comfort: the deceased was promised salvation in baptism. And they have it today!

Details for visitation, funeral service, interment, and memorials may follow. These announcements aren’t exactly “part” of the obituary. They’re more like obituary-adjacent material. Do your survivors a solid. Start working on your own obituary today. Even just a collection of dates and basic details will help them immensely.

Let us confess Jesus Christ, certain of the resurrection.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

©2022 Jason Kaspar. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share, and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com.

[Sixteenth in a series of posts on last things]

Encore Post:

The death announcement is as much a part of an obituary as it can be without being in it. The announcement quickly identifies the deceased and where they currently reside. The hopelessness and unmitigated grief in death for unbelievers is the opposite of what we get to confess as Christians. Here is a great standardized format of how we ought to speak of our loved ones in death, commonly used by many pastors in the LCMS. I learned it from my vicarage supervisor, Rev. Robert Smith, formerly of the CTSFW Library.

“It has pleased Almighty God on September 8th, 2022 to call into His presence Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, who, baptized in the name of the Triune God, trusted in Christ, whose tears are gone and whose sorrows have been turned into joy. We pray God will comfort those who mourn her death with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord!”

“It Has Pleased Almighty God to call into His presence…” Our temporal death is a release from our bondage to the sin that remains in this flesh before the resurrection of all flesh on the last day. Our Lord loves us and is pleased to see us delivered from this vale of tears. Our Heavenly Father sent His Son to die for your sins. It shouldn’t surprise us to hear that our death and deliverance into His presence is His will and our blessing.

“…Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor …who, baptized in the name of the Triune God…” The pagan world has convinced us we can only find comfort in memory. In Christ, that’s not so. In the announcement, we say why we should take comfort. Memory can help us. But the only certain comfort, the only true comfort, comes from the knowledge that God has kept His word. He has saved the Queen, Aunt Hildegard, and Uncle Fritz. He saved them through their baptism, preserved them in the Christian faith, and delivered them to Himself.

For the death announcement and the obituary, it is good to use their full baptismal name. Nicknames and/or titles may follow. Your baptismal name is the name God used when He called you His own and put faith into your heart. This is also true of Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor.

“Who… trusted in Christ, whose tears are gone and whose sorrows have been turned into joy.” Everyone who lives a Christian life has lived from the moment of their baptism in faith. They are forgiven and renewed in that same faith by the Lord’s continued blessings in His absolution and His Eucharist for the forgiveness of sins. In that promise, Jesus has brought her from this vale of tears into heavenly joy.

“We pray that God will comfort those who mourn her death with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead.” We’ve developed a lazy social media habit of saying, “prayers.” It’s hollow, keeping up an appearance of faith. Christians and non-Christians alike share the sentiment, revealing its emptiness. Dear Christians, we pray in specificity. In death, we pray for comfort to the survivors. Their comfort comes from the Lord. It flows from knowing God’s faithfulness to us.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord!” He has delivered Elizabeth from death into eternal life. He will do the same for you. That’s the comfort of the resurrection. This separation through death is temporary. We will see it resolved in Christ with our own eyes on the last day.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.” (Psalm 116:15-16)

Let us confess Jesus Christ, especially in death.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

©2022 Jason Kaspar. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share, and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com.