The Vision We See :: Revelation 7:9-17, John 11:17-45 :: Funeral of Sharlyn Stocklaufer

Dear Jerry, Clint and Lance ... dear family and friends ... dear brothers and sisters in Christ ... all of you who have gathered today to commemorate the homecoming of Sharlyn Kyne Stocklaufer: Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

You heard the reading from The Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John the apostle. Jesus revealed, and Behold, Saint John saw ... a blessed vision ... Behold, a great multitude that no one could number ... Behold, a crowd wondrously big, clothed in white robes standing before the throne and the Lamb! And they were worshiping!

And what did Saint John hear? ... Crying ... the kind of crying with no tears, ever. They are crying with joy. As the Prophet Isaiah told us ... they don’t labor in vain or bear children in calamity. The sound of weeping is gone! The cries of distress are gone! Their song goes on forever. 

1.

And now we are looking ... And what do we see? ... What do we hear? 

We see the casket of our beloved Sharlyn ... which is a sad reality before us. We see death. It has taken our joy. We see death in this valley of sorrow. We see death on this side of heaven. We see a body that had been wracked in pain ... shriveling, becoming so weak she could barely stand, let alone walk. ... We see our powers leave us ... We see our systems shut down. And if we are wise, we also see our own end and learn to number our days. 

We wish we could make death and burial softer. ... We wish we could “manage” it somehow ... We wish some way, somehow to dull the sting of death. 

But we can’t ... Yet.

What we see isn’t John’s beautiful vision revealed by our Lord Jesus. We see only what’s before our eyes this morning. Sharlyn had become unrecognizable over the decades, especially the last two years. Her pain was overwhelming. So we weep ... we cry. What else can we do? 

2.

Because of death ... and the sin that brings that death ... the sin and death that we all carry in our bodies ... mine! ... yours! ... these bodies ... our bodies that still give every appearance of life and living ... What can we do? 

We can do nothing ... but cry ... and weep like our Lord does when he sees the result of sin. We cry for salvation from death like Mary and Martha. We cry for salvation from sin. Cry for relief from the curse. Cry like our Lord Jesus did as he approached the tomb of his friend Lazarus. Jesus wept (Jn 11:35). 

Our Lord Jesus came from heaven above to earth below for this reason ... to see what we see. Death. To hear what we hear. Crying. To experience what we experience. Pain. He too saw the death of his loved ones. Lazarus. So he wept. God knows what sin is doing to us. He knows firsthand what sin would do to us. Destroying us. Thus, he has compassion for us. 

Now ... because of Christ’s compassion ... we are not like those who have no hope. Like Martha, we too can cry out, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me though he die, yet will he live (Jn 11:24-25). 

We have ... like Martha and all the saints who have gone before us ... a confidence in Christ that grows stronger each time we hear the Gospel that God has come to us. He has come to our valley of sorrows. He has come to give new life to the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, has lived for you, suffered for you, died for you, risen from the dead for you, and ascended in the heavens to prepare a place for you. Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God, Jesus asked Martha. And having lifted his eyes, Jesus said Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

3.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we do not suffer like those who have no hope. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He who has faith in him will live forever. Sharlyn had faith in Christ.

Saint John “looked” and saw his beautiful vision. And he has shared this vision so that you will believe and have life in his name, too. 

There is no question that all of her life, Sharlyn beheld the Gospel and heard the Gospel. Jesus was slain for you. Jesus suffered for you. Jesus felt the sting of death for you. Jesus shed his blood for you on the cross. Jesus has overcome sin and death for you. He destroyed sin and death ... her sin and death ... your sin and death ... the sin and death of the entire world. He carried your sin and death to the grave ... and then rose from the dead. 

Alleluia. He is risen! He is risen indeed! 

Look and behold ... the resurrection is real! 

Listen and hear ... the cry of those clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. Listen and hear those standing before the throne. Listen and hear their no-tear cry, voices loud and firm with the worship of heaven’s glorious song and chorus ... Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! (v 10), they say. He has given this salvation to all who believe and are baptized! 

All of heaven rejoices in this news. The angels and archangels ... the whole company of heaven ... they all cry ... Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!” (v 12). 

This is the song Sharlyn is singing. Sharlyn loved her Lord, but more importantly the Lord loved her, and gave himself up for her. She loved returning to her baptism. She loved receiving the Lord’s Supper. Why? Because through it she could stand with Jesus. He became one with her to bring her to this day. He served her and enabled her to choose a life of service to others 

Jesus has given Sharlyn ... and all of us ... his victory. 

THERE IS FOR SHARLYN, AND FOR ALL THE BLESSED DEAD, THIS VISION OF SAINT JOHN FULFILLED.

4.

Then one of the elders addressed [John] saying who are these clothed in white stoles, and from where have they come? [And John said], Sir, you know. And he said ... These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation ... that is, those on this side of heaven, those in this valley of tears. They are like Sharlyn, those baptized in Christ who have robes washed white in the blood of this Lamb, Jesus. They can now see our God. They can hear his voice and rejoice at the sound. They serve him day and night in his temple. They are alive in Christ forever. They neither are hungry nor thirst any more. They no longer bear the burden and have the day strike them hard.

That’s because the word of God united himself in the water of life to wash our robes, to become one with us. His life is your life, as Saint Paul tells us in Romans: Do you not know that all who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised out of death on account of the glory of the Father, we too may walk in the newness of life (Rm 6:3-4). 

And so it is with Sharlyn today. Jesus has given her new life. And someday soon her body will rise too ... released from the cords of death that envelope us. 

For with eyes wide open in resurrected life ... hearts that have long stopped will beat again in the resurrection of our body on the Last Day, and with the stain of sin washed off and the sting of death no more ... you too will see the Lamb coming on the clouds from the right hand of God.

This is what Saint John saw.

And you too will see him no longer “hidden” in his words and preaching or in bread and wine at the altar. You too will see nothing but Jesus. Our Lord has released you from the binding of sin and death.

Saint John looked, and behold, this is what he saw. For the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rv 7:17) ... In Jesus’ name.