Psalm 27 Today we gather together in this place to lay to rest a beloved
husband, father, and grandfather—a brother in Christ and fellow member of this
congregation—and a valued member of this community. We also gather here today to remember and
honor a man who served in our nation’s military over the course of three wars.
When totalitarianism threatened the world
during the days of WWII, Lindy answered our nation’s call and served in the
Pacific theatre aboard the USS Samuel Chase in Tokyo Bay. When communism threatened the world in the
decades that followed, he once again came to our nation’s defense and served
during the Korean and Viet Nam wars.
I chose Psalm 27 as the text for our
meditation on the occasion of his funeral because Lindy, like the psalmist, knew
what it meant to courageously and confidently face real enemies who were
committed to his destruction. These were
his words too:
The Lord is my light and my
salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart
shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
In the fascists of
WWII and in the Communists of the Korean and Viet Nam wars, Lindy faced the
most terrifying enemies of the 20th century in his chosen profession
as a Christian naval officer. Where did
his confidence and courage come from?
How did he face these adversaries who were bent on his destruction?
Lindy knew that the psalmist did—that no
matter how great the enemy he faced, no matter how terrifying the situation—the
Lord was his light and salvation and stronghold. He knew that no matter how fierce the opposition
and no matter how frightening the situation—the Lord was greater than any enemy
he face.
So it is for us. We have come here today, face to face the
greatest enemy of all—and that is the grave.
We walk through the valley of the shadow of death. In Lindy’s passing we recognize our own
frailty in a way that we did not understand before. But what was true for Lindy during a lifetime
on the stormy seas is true for us too as we sit here today:
The Lord is my light and my
salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
That was Lindy’s
faith. That was the promise of God that
sustained in the face of some of the greatest enemies humanity has ever
known.
But where did that faith come from? What was the source of his courage and
confidence? And how can we come to know
the same so that we can meet the day to day challenges that will come as we
mourn his passing?
The courage and confidence that were at the
heart of Lindy’s life-- and the courage and confidence we need in the days ahead--
come from the gracious gifts the Lord gives in his house. The psalmist writes:
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day
of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me
high upon a rock.
The courage and
confidence that enabled Lindy to face the enemies who desired his destruction
came from the Lord who had been part of his life from his earliest days.
When he was just a boy, he was baptized in a
West Virginia stream. In those cold,
clear baptismal waters, as the name of the one, true Triune God rang out
overhead--he died with Christ and he was raised with Christ and he lived from
that moment on in the power of Christ’s resurrected life.
Lindy could look death in the face unafraid
because he knew that he had already died the only death that matters—and that
is the death to sin. He could face the
great enemies of the 20th century because he knew that his real
enemies of death and the devil had already been defeated by Jesus.
Lindy knew that his life was hidden in
Christ and that no one in this world could take it from him apart from the
gracious will of the One who saved him.
He knew that his sins were concealed under
the blood covering that Jesus poured out for him upon the cross.
And he knew that even if his earthly end
came at the bottom of the sea like so many sailors before and after him, the
Lord would lift him up on the Last Day and set him high upon the Rock of
Salvation in heaven.
That was Lindy’s faith—a firm faith that he
confessed as a boy—an enduring faith that he confessed in this place.
When Lindy joined our congregation 25 years
ago he promised that he would suffer all, even death, rather than fall away
from this church and her confession. It
takes courage and confidence to make that kind of promise-- and it takes
strength to keep it.
But on that day, Lindy knew what he had
always known, that the Lord was his light and salvation and stronghold and Jesus
would help keep his promise to remain faithful unto death. And that’s exactly what the Lord did, working
in his life to preserve him in faith and bring him safely home.
In this, the Lord’s house, God called Lindy
to repentance and then forgave his sins.
He fed him with the Body and Blood of Christ to strengthen his
faith. He taught him the narrow way of
life through his Word that was preached and studied. And Lindy rejoiced in these gifts and
endeavored to live his life serving in the Lord’s house like the psalmist who
wrote:
My head shall be lifted up above my enemies
all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I
will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Here in this place
those words were fulfilled in Lindy’s life.
He confessed his faith. He sang
God’s praises. He sacrificed to support
our mission. And he served those around
him in the church and community, signing up for every volunteer opportunity we
had--serving as usher and greeter and member of the Social Ministry Board.
All of this and more was part of his active
life of faith right up until he faced the last and greatest enemy of all in his
own mortality. In that moment he joined
his voice to that of the psalmist and said:
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be
gracious to me and answer me! You have
said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to
you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you
who have been my help. Cast me not off;
forsake me not, O God of my salvation!
Lindy had faced
some of the greatest enemies of the 20th century with courage and
honor. And then about fifteen years ago
he faced the greatest enemy of all—his own mortality.
He was diagnosed with an illness that would
undermine the plans that he had for retirement; take away his physical vigor;
and slowly but surely rob him of his keen mind that had allowed him to progress
from an enlisted man to an officer and then make a successful career in the
corporate world after his retirement.
Who among us in that situation wouldn’t
wonder if the Lord was somehow angry with us?
Who among us wouldn’t worry that the Lord had turned his back on
us?
But Lindy knew that the God who had been his
help all those years on the open sea was still the God of salvation and was
working his good and gracious will in his life.
Like the Apostle Paul, Lindy was sure that
nothing in this world could separate him from the love of God that is found in
Jesus Christ. The God who had saved him
would use all things—even sickness and death—for his good, to bring him safely
to the home that Jesus had prepared for him.
God wants you to know and believe the same. Because we are here in the place with the
mortal remains of our brother before us does not mean that God is angry with
us. Because there is an empty place in
our home and life and congregation does not mean that God has turned his face
away from us.
Lindy’s passing simply means that our
gracious God has mercifully brought our brother home—to a safe harbor where
there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more loss, and no more sickness.
Just as God had always helped him navigate
the stormy seas and the storms of life, so now God has taken him to his
heavenly home. The psalmist wrote:
For my father and my mother have forsaken
me, but the Lord will take me in. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.
Lindy was blessed
with a family who loved him. They didn’t
forsake him-- but they did leave him—as we will all one day leave those we love
if the Lord doesn’t come first.
His father was a barn storming pilot who
died in a plane crash. His brother was
shot down in England in WWII and his body lies there to this day, waiting for
the call of Christ to arise on the Last Day.
His mother died soon after. Painful
losses!
But Lindy knew that the Lord had taken them
in and he would welcome him into heaven as well. And so he has. That was Lindy’s faith and he could say with
the psalmist:
I believe that I shall look upon the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
To all of those assembled here today, I ask
you the same: do you believe that you
will look upon the Lord in the land of the living? You can
have that same confident faith!
Jesus Christ has shed his life’s blood for
you on the cross to take away all your sins.
He has conquered the devil so that you can face life unafraid. And he has risen from the grave so that we
can know and believe that we will rise from our graves too.
That was Lindy’s faith and it gave him
strength and courage to face his enemies—even this last enemy of death.
As we wait for that day when our Lord Jesus
Christ will appear to raise the dead—as we wait for that day when sorrow and
parting are no more—as we wait for the day when we will see our loved ones
again—may we have that same strength and courage of the psalmist and Lindy that
comes from knowing that the Lord is our light and salvation—the stronghold of
our life. Amen.
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