Romans 5:1-5, 8:28-39 (ESV)

My fathers and brothers, my mothers and sisters, and even my sons and daughters in the Christian faith, we gather here today to worship the God and Father of Jesus Christ, to worship our God and Father, on the occasion of the death of our brother, Lewis M. Fetterman, Sr. We give thanks to God for the gift of life, even as we acknowledge before him the mystery of death, and we also proclaim to all the world the good news of the resurrection.

It is significant that we have gathered here today as the church. So it is that we do not face death alone. Instead, we face death in the great company of those who believe in God and who believe in his Christ, our Lord and Savior. Moreover, we face death in the assurance of the Christian faith. We face death surrounded by a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), both the living and the dead, with all of whom we are in communion. Indeed, we face death in the very presence of Jesus Christ, in whom death has been conquered. So, here in church we can admit that death is real. Here we can admit that it catches us unprepared. Here we can say that it counts against what we work for in life. But here, in the church, we can also say that we are not defeated by it. We are glad that we knew Lewis in this life, and it is also our good hope that we shall know him again in the fullness, beauty, and wonder of that life into which by God's grace he has passed and into which we, too, shall soon all go.

As the gathered church, we also confess our Christian faith even and especially in the presence of death, that the meaning of life, the significance of life, and the purpose of life, are revealed not in death, but instead in the love of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is to say, we understand death in the light of God's love, not the other way around; we do not understand God and life in the light of death, as if the latter were somehow greater. It is not.

So, as we gather here as the church to face Lewis's death together, and as we understand our loss within the larger context of God's love, let us hear again and so make for ourselves at least three basic confessions of the Christian faith, even as his friend and our friend, Dr. John H. Leith, taught us through the years (see note below). First (1), we confess our faith that Lewis's life was established and had its origins in the eternal purposes of God. God thought of him before he was (Jeremiah 1:5), called him into being (Romans 8:30), and gave to him his identity (Ephesians 1:4), his individuality, his name, and his dignity. We establish our hope now in the fact that the eternal God knows us by name, that he searches us out and hems us in, behind and before (Psalm 139:1, 5), that he numbers the hairs upon our head (Matthew 10:30) and does not allow a sparrow to fall without his notice (Matthew 10:29). Not even death can take away this hope and assurance.

Second (2), we also come together as the church to confess our faith that the last word about our lives today and every day is the grace of God. God made the world in such a way that death occurs, but death is not the last word. That is, death is not the final or ultimate reality. Death may be allowed to have the next to the last word about who we are. But the last word is the grace of God, and that grace enables us to take whatever comes to us and to use it in the building of a life of beauty, wonder, and authenticity here and now, and that grace enables us even here in the presence of death to praise God Almighty. The ultimate reality is God's grace, not only at the end of time but also as the context, setting, and reality for every day here and now.

We realize that God made the world so that human life is precarious. In this world our hopes are frequently frustrated. We have to live in this dangerous world, where from the perspective of our hopes many events are irrational and absurd for those who believe in God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It should be obvious that the world was not designed to promote human ease or comfort. Life is hard. But consider this: if God's purpose was to bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 12:7), or to bring us to human maturity, then this is precisely the kind of world that challenges us to grow into the maturity of faith, trust, and human sympathy.

It is good, of course, to push back the boundary of death and to fight against death, and we are grateful for medical care that does this, but even more important than postponing death for a few years is the receiving of a wisdom, an insight, and a grace that enable us to face death and all the challenges of life with the dignity, poise, and serenity that comes from a great faith in God.

Third (3), we as the church confess our faith that the eternal God who called us into being and who is gracious to us shall also complete and fulfill the work that he has begun in us. As Jesus said, "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me" (John 14:1). How will God complete our incomplete and even broken lives? At the very heart of the Christian faith is our belief in the resurrection of the body from death to a new and eternal life beyond here. Following the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, God raised him from death to new life. In him, God defeated the power of death once and for all. And God raised Jesus Christ to new life as the first fruits of a large harvest of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Consider that the first disciples, who had been cowering behind locked doors for legitimate fear that they would be arrested and crucified next (John 20:19), were soon publicly proclaiming the risen Christ (Acts 2:14). There is no human accounting for this turn around. They had nothing to gain by it and much to lose. The only explanation for it is the one they gave: the risen Lord Jesus Christ had met them, encountered them, spoken with them, and commissioned them to preach his gospel (Matthew 28:16-20). That is to say, he is alive! This is their witness, and we receive it gladly. So we rejoice in Christ's resurrection as the promise of our own resurrection, as the promise of the resurrection of those we love, and as the promise of the resurrection of Lewis Fetterman (John 14:3). In Jesus Christ, we have good hope for eternal life.

Again, it is significant that we have gathered today as the church. So it is that we do not face death alone. Instead, we face death in the great company of those who believe in God and in his Christ. We face it in the assurance of the Christian faith. We face it surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, the living and the dead, with all of whom we are in communion. Surely now Lewis has taken his place in that great cloud of witnesses. So today we give thanks to God for the gift of life, evan as we acknowledge the mystery of death, and we also proclaim the good news of the resurrection. That is to say, we have good hope for eternal life.

Jesus Christ lived and died and now lives again in order to glorify God, to forgive our sin, and so that we, too, may be raised to a new life, forever beyond the power of sin and death, to join our voices with those of the angels eternally singing God's praises. This is the good news we proclaim, this is the faith by which we live, and this is the good hope by which alone we are made brave to face tomorrow.

To God be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

Note: Portions of this sermon were drawn from several of Dr. John H. Leith's writings, including: "The Message of the Christian Faith on the Occasion of the Burial of the Dead," in Pilgrimage of a Presbyterian: Collected Shorter Writings, ed. Charles E. Raynal (Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press, 2001), pp. 256-262; The Church: A Believing Fellowship (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1965, 1981), pp. 175-178; and Basic Christian Doctrine (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993), pp. 292-298.