Home at peace where glory dwells.

 

O Lord, we are gathered in sorrow, yet not as those who have no hope.  We thank You for all the blessings bestowed on our brother, now fallen asleep and for all the blessings given through him.  But most of all, we thank You for making him Your dear child by faith in Jesus Christ.  Give us to have that same trust in Jesus always.  We ask this all in His holy name.  Amen.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

For our words of comfort, we read in Jesus’ name from,

Psalm 26:8-12  LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.  Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands is a sinister scheme, and whose right hand is full of bribes.  But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; redeem me and be merciful to me.  My foot stands in an even place; in the congregations I will bless the LORD. (NKJ)

Home at peace where glory dwells.

Dear friends of Byron Kosen, and especially you, his family: June, Sherry, Eric and Taunya, Lance and Laura, grandchildren and spouses, and great-grandchildren,

            In each of our lives, there are things we value above all else: our family, our home, perhaps some piece of memorabilia handed done from a loved one who departed from this life in our youth.  Some people value recognition and will do anything to become famous.  Others desire power, so they may sacrifice home life to climb the corporate ladder or enter the ugly world of politics in the hope of making the decisions that change lives and fortunes. 

Bryon had things that he valued; his family is, of course, a great treasure to him, and he cared about your futures above almost anything I can think of.  Yet, perhaps secretly, his greatest treasure, as it should be, is expressed in the words of our sermon text, which Byron mentioned was one of his favorite verses of the Bible, “LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house.”  It should be noted that Psalm 26 is the prayer of a believer who looked forward to the promise given in the temple of the Lord, that of a Savior who would make us right with God.

Love of that particular verse may strike many people as rather odd.  In our time, probably more people than not think attending church is a waste of time, something to be avoided.  Yet, for Byron, being here in this building was a favorite activity.  He loved to sing the praises of God and our Savior.  He also greatly wanted that forgiveness and salvation to be possessed by each of you.  Some of you might be asking, “Why?”

Today is the reason why.  No one likes to hear it, but the ugly, ragged truth is that we are here this morning because of sin—no, not any particular sin that Byron committed, but sin that afflicts the whole world brought the curse that brings us here today.  “The wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23) the Bible says.  The curse that sin brought upon the world causes all the illness, pain, trouble, and death that so afflicts our everyday lives.  However, to understand why Byron loved that verse from Psalm 26, we need to hear the second part of the verse St. Paul wrote to the Romans: but the undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Early in Byron’s life, the Holy Spirit worked faith in him, first at baptism, and then as he was taught about Jesus.  Yes, he learned that he was a sinner, something we really don’t like to know.  Yet, learning about sin also showed that he needed a Savior, and that is why Byron loved being in this house of the Lord, because, here, he kept hearing about what Jesus did for him and for all of you, so that we all might receive eternal life instead of everlasting punishment.

Many people think that in church you only hear about what you do wrong and what you need to do to be good, and perhaps that is what some hear.  But in a true Christian church, what you hear, and should hear, is what Jesus did so that you are reconciled with God, so that when the appointed hour comes for you, you will be Home at peace where glory dwells.  That is what the Bible is all about; it tells of God’s great love for sinners which caused Him to send His own dear Son to live and die for us so that you and I can be reunited with God in the glory of heaven.  Beginning last Friday afternoon, Byron has been enjoying the real house he has been looking forward to for eighty-two years.  He is Home at peace where glory dwells.

David, the psalmist, pleaded with God in this psalm, “Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands is a sinister scheme, and whose right hand is full of bribes.”  Now, David was certainly not without his sins, and many of them were in the public eye.  Furthermore, his armies brought an end to numerous foes.  At the same time, David was counted as righteous because he believed and trusted in the God of his forefathers who promised to send a Savior.  In fact, God promised David that the Savior would be born of his own descendants. 

David indeed sinned, but he lived repentance continually while trusting that the Lord would redeem him from those sins.  He prayed, “But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; redeem me and be merciful to me.”  When David said “I will walk in my integrity,” he was not at all presuming any good in himself.  Rather, he trusted the promises God had made to his forefathers, and to the world.  Instead of condemning the world for sin—which would have condemned every one of us to an everlasting torment—God promised a Savior who would live the righteousness we need to dwell with God and then suffer the death we deserved so that we would be set free from the curse of sin.

The Old Testament is filled with prophecies about the Savior who was to come into the world.  All of them are fulfilled in Jesus.  Therefore, St. Paul wrote, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)  The reason Byron expressed a love to be in church is because here we have a foretaste of the glory of heaven.  No, we don’t sing like angels, and none of us are holy.  However, here we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who prepares us to enter heaven through the faith he works in us through the Word of God.  Now, that is something to sing about, that God loves us enough to live and die to cleanse us of all our sin to make us ready to meet God face to face, so that we may dwell with Him in peace and harmony and glory forever.

My promise to you today, and my invitation, is that believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Redeemer, you too will enjoy peace with God and a home in heaven.  That is what this service is all about, a reminder that because of Jesus, Byron is now Home at peace where glory dwells.  Furthermore, because he is there, he will never again have trouble, or pain, or the shakes of Parkingson’s.  He will never again have to worry about the markets, or hail storms, or drought, or any of a thousand other things that trouble us in this life, and it’s not because he is dead and there is nothing after, but because while his ashes rest here waiting for the return of our Savior, his soul now lives where God promises, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Physical death is not the end of our existence.  God did not create us to die but to live, and to enjoy a relationship with our Creator that would never end.  Sin had separated us from God, but Jesus came into the world to restore to us the peace with God that Adam and Eve enjoyed at their creation.  They walked in harmony with God and so will all those who believe in Jesus.  Byron now enjoys that eternal peace where, with all the saints and angels, he can raise his voice in songs of praise to the Savior who won his freedom from death and the devil’s curse, and you too can look forward to being with Byron again when we are Home at peace where glory dwells. 

My friends, today, we have sorrow, and that sorrow will trouble us in the coming days, because one we love is no longer with us, but we do not mourn our loss without hope, because we have God’s promise that because Jesus lives, Byron now lives as well.  Jesus promised His disciples, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16)  The faith that was implanted in Bryon at his baptism grew and grew until he could sing with the psalmist, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” (Psalm 122:1)  

Before going to the cross to suffer and die in our place, Jesus promised His disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.  In a little while the world will see me no longer, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  The one who has my commands and holds on to them is the one who loves me.  And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father.” (John 14:18-21)  One of the most verifiable events in ancient history is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day just as He prophesied long before.  Christ’s resurrection shows that His sacrifice was sufficient to reconcile us all with His Father in heaven.  Thus, united with Jesus by faith, we walk through life joyful and unafraid, for with Jesus’ resurrection, we are given sure proof that we too will be raised on the last day. 

The Bible says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of the divine nature.” (Hebrews 1:3)  Because of faith in Jesus, Byron now dwells forever in the presence of God’s glory.  We too have the Lord’s invitation to believe in Him and live.  Therefore, believing in the name of the Lord Jesus, we too will again walk with the Lord, and with Byron, because he is now Home at peace where glory dwells.  Amen.

The peace of God, established and won for you and for all by the sacrifice of God’s own precious Son, be with you always to the very end of the age.  Amen.