Be Faithful unto Death: Crown of Life Awaits :: Revelation 2:10 :: Funeral of Geraldine Steffens
Brothers and sisters in Christ, especially you, dear Stan, and Hope, Scott, Gregg, and Leigh, and all others who consider themselves close to Geraldine Mae Steffens: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today, I draw your attention to the end of our first reading from the Revelation to Saint John, where we read, Be faithful until death, and I will give to you the crown of life (Rv 2:10b). This word of our Lord Jesus, given first to the church at Smyrna, is his promise not only to you, but most prominently, to our beloved Jeri. She received this promise as her own during her confirmation in 1945 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Emma, Missouri. And she held onto this promise her entire life unto death. Brothers and sisters in Christ ... Be faithful until death, and I will give to you the crown of life.
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What does it mean to be faithful?
To be faithful means to be loyal, steadfast in affection or allegiance, firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty ... conscientious.
When we thus consider faithfulness, we must first realize that this gift applies absolutely, and most importantly, not to us ... but to God. God is faithful and just. He gives the crown of life to those who are his.
Faithfulness is not just a trait of God: It is literally part of his identity. The apostle Paul said that because God is faithful, he cannot disown himself (2 Tim 2:13). The saying is trustworthy, for if we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. Therefore, we know that God can be counted upon without any reservation. We know that God’s Word is completely reliable and inerrant. When God says something, we know it is exactly as he says. Therefore, when God the Father promised that he would send his Son to save mankind, the faithful Father had to do just that ... not only for you ... but for Jeri.
And so he did ... in the fullness of time (Gal 4:4).
God the Father fulfilled his promise given first in the garden to Adam and Eve, then to Noah, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to David, and the prophets. Our Heavenly Father stayed faithful to his promise from the very beginning. Jesus was born of a woman, born to purchase us from sin and death with his holy, precious blood so that he could give you a crown of life. Such a promise is a certainty, for it comes from the mouth of God.
To make this promise a reality, the faithful Son of God had to die our death and rise from the grave. As the evangelist to the Hebrews said it so faithfully, Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession ... becoming faithful unto death [too]. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Because of such work, he indeed can and does give a crown of life.
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The question is, then, are we faithful? And if so, how?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, there is only one who is faithful, and it’s not you and me. You can find peace in this truth and apply it to the life of Jeri.
Shortly after her birth on November 6, 1931, our faithful God ... Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ... put his name on Jeri in Baptism. There, in the waters of Holy Baptism ... through a font not unlike this one ... Jeri became a child of the heavenly Father, the faithful one. Jeri became one of the redeemed, united with the death and resurrection of Jesus. As Saint Paul tells us, Jeri died in her baptism, and was raised into eternal life (Rm 6:3-4). Jeri thus became a temple of the Holy Spirit, so that he could live in her, and her in him (Rm 12:1, Col 2:10). Our faithful triune God gave these blessings to Jeri because God had promised to do this in Baptism.
In Jeri’s Baptism, God’s side of the covenant was to freely bless her with the gifts of salvation in Christ Jesus. While we are prone to break our covenants and promises frequently, God is not. He is faithful unto death, even death upon a cross. Therefore, he who knew no sin was raised into eternal life. And now all who believe this and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord will not perish but have eternal life too. The one who has an ear, let him listen to what the Spirit says.
God cannot break his promise to Jeri.
Her sin died with Jesus. And so too has yours.
Jeri learned all of this through her own confirmation. In preparation for that day, she was taught the Chief Parts of the Christian faith, beginning with the Ten Commandments. She learned the Apostles’ Creed. And her Lord taught her how to pray. He reminded her constantly of her baptism, his word of absolution. And she received the forgiveness of sins in the Lord’s supper whenever possible. Without Jesus, we all rightly deserve God’s condemnation ... that is eternal death, which is the second death. But God has made a promise to Jeri to deliver her!
I didn’t get to know Jeri all that well in our short time together. The weakness of body and mind sometimes got the better of her in her waning days. But there was no doubt she knew her Lord and remembered his promises that he would give her the crown of life. She knew by heart many Bible verses about her Savior. She could speak them ... not only in English, but in German. Most of all she knew that Jesus Christ [is] the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood ... to him be glory (1:5, 6b).
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!
Therefore, hear the promise of Christ, our Lord, one more time. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in men, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
God, our faithful God, has done and said these things so that ...