Christian Burial of Audrey Adeline Hansen

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: 1 Peter 1:3
Theme: Living Hope

Dear family, friends and loved ones of Audrey; and especially you Elaine,

The words of God are never trivial. God only speaks when His actions require explanation. And He always speaks for the sole purpose of redeeming sinners. On the cross Jesus said, “It is finished.”1 But at the empty tomb He said nothing at all. He summoned no one to witness the moment of His exit from the grave. For we do not go to call Him forth from the tomb. He comes to summon us. And His words are powerful. He has welcomed Audrey with those words found in St. Matthew, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”2 If you doubt that this is so you must be prepared to contest the truth of the resurrection itself.

Audrey Hansen was ready to be with her Lord. It was a desire she expressed repeatedly in her last months. The cumulative burden of life’s challenges became more than she could bear. She experienced many joys and had her share of sorrows. She knew the number of days God had ordained for her was drawing to a close. She was ready to receive the promised rest. She was ready to be released from the weight of human frailty. She was ready to be crowned with eternal life. She was ready to be fully embraced by the immeasurable compassion of the Saviour. Her expectations have not been disappointed. The angels in heaven rejoice once again. Thanks be to God!

Death can become welcome when living on becomes too much of a burden. But we shouldn’t be misled, as if death was just the easy way out. Society’s sanitization of death has its drawbacks. It gives us a false frame of reference. It gives the impression we can carry on almost indefinitely with no thought for the eternal future. Desperate to indulge in all the world has to offer our culture is steeped in a worldview that avoids grappling with the horror of death, preferring even the illusion of youthful immortality to that of mature sobriety. Our culture can hardly resonate with Audrey’s confirmation verse, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”3 The world says death is natural and even Christians become conditioned to see it from that perspective.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Death is the devastating consequence of sin. Death is ugly, crippling, and final. It rips away all human powers crushing them like the proverbial ant on the foot path. It is the ultimate bodily penalty for disobedience. It is the final punishment for failure to measure up to divine decree. There are simply no ways to circumvent facing this impending reality. Denial, avoidance, and despair are merely downward spirals which incapacitate. We have no basis to contest God’s judgment. We are called unequivocally to repent.

The Holy Spirit intends to help us reset our priorities with honesty and humility. The Psalmist addresses things forthrightly saying, “The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, save me!’ The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.”4 And the Lord does not fail us when we call upon Him. His grace is definitively proven through a cross and empty tomb. “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”5 “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”6

What happens quite quickly in the end was, of course, planned by God from the beginning. The Scripture says that believers are chosen in Christ since before the foundation of the world. The point of reference for us is baptism. In that act of grace believers are made inheritors of all divine blessings in Christ. The Scripture says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope thorough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you.”7

Ours is a living hope precisely because Christ is living. His life is the source of life. It is immortal, incorruptible and invincible. Hope is not playing the odds or entering the lottery. Biblical hope is the patient but eager expectation of a promise to be fulfilled. Christ has destroyed the last enemy- death itself. He will come again in glory. The Spirit gathers us here today not to despair, but to be buoyed by that hope. We grieve, yes. We celebrate too. We reflect and give thanks that all promises in Christ come to fruition. Audrey now understands that more fully than we can imagine.

For the majority of her life Audrey was blessed with good health. It enabled her to meet the demands and rigors of life on the Mallee farm near Wunkar. She was content with her roles as wife, mother, and nana and great nana in her later years. Ivan’s early death meant an extended time of independence in her retirement decades. Of course, she never retired from those things that defined her. She was devoted to her family, her gardening, and her church.

Audrey was a sinner, like all of us. But she was forgiven. She was made worthy to enter into the presence of God by the Lamb whose blood covered her sins. She was saved by grace, and through faith freed from the sentence of condemnation. Baptized and redeemed she was God’s cherished child. She regularly received strength from His body and blood at this altar and was lifted by the promises of the Spirit.

Elaine, no one can be your surrogate in the journey of grief. The experience is unique, never duplicated. But you do not walk alone. When you are too frail, Christ Himself will carry your. Easter has come early for Audrey. Good Friday is past. Suffering has ended. Death has been conquered. Satan has been denied. Peace is now hers. It is not simply the peace of escaping from a taxing or tiring situation. It is the vital peace, lively and dynamic, that results from being freed from all of sin’s consequences and for all of eternity. God has spoken. Not for Audrey’s benefit, but for ours. For Audrey is sufficiently occupied by the sounds of angelic symphonies and the sight of the triune God Himself. Christ has promised it. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Christian Burial of
11 April 2014
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Matthew 25:34
2 1 Corinthians 15:19
3 1 Timothy 4:8
4 Psalm 116:3-6
5 Romans 5:8
6 Romans 4:25
7 1 Peter 1:3-4