Christian Burial of Dean Braun (April 10, 2017)

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

Text: John 14:2-3
Theme: Divinely Prepared


Dear family, friends, and loved ones of Dean, especially you, his children; David, Keith, Trevor, Peter, Kay, Christine, Leon, Tricia,

The summons of God is not negotiable. When the days ordained for us have been fulfilled, the Almighty requires the presence of His servants. There are no proxies. Dean Braun was ready. He was prepared. He was well and truly looking forward to having the weight of mortality lifted. Life had become unpalatable and without much pleasure. Not that Dean was complaining. He was too self-disciplined and content for that. God’s timing would suffice. He was patiently waiting for the Lord to receive him.

We shouldn’t assume, of course, that the devil didn’t get his jabs in. As the time grows short, Satan gets desperate. He throws the sins of our past in our face. He fabricates a specter of doubt saying, “Can you really be at peace with what you have done? Remember this! Remember that! Why did you! How could you!” The devil plays upon the natural fear people have of the unknown, something that becomes more intense as death draws near. These things are not child’s play. Even the strongest Christians are not exempt.

Remember, twelve men who were with Jesus day and night for three years still had doubt. And what does the Lord say to them? “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms…I am going there to prepare a place for you.”1 He says, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”2 Satan’s strategy is fatally flawed. The guilt of sin has been removed for all who believe. The devil’s claims me nothing.

Dear friends, you have heard the Scripture, “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 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you.”3 Dean Braun is now a possessor of that inheritance. He has passed through the gates. He did so the only way possible, by grace. Until the sacrifice of the Son of God was completed the door of heaven remained shut. The holy God does not tolerate any corruption of the goodness He originally created. Sin is incompatible with God’s being and therefore sinners in and of themselves are barred from His presence. Hell is nothing more, but nothing less than being locked out of God’s gracious presence forever.

Dean’s soul is in the presence of Christ not because God recognized his cordiality, his productivity, or his humility. Dean has passed into the profound joy and peace of eternity because Christ possessed the only virtue that was acceptable: His very life given in sacrifice. The transition into heaven isn’t a given. The way had to be prepared. Dean clung to the truth of Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and ascended for us and for our salvation. Dear friends, if we believe that God sanctions or requires even the smallest measure of worthiness on our part to qualify us for heaven, then the gospel is no longer good news but a new articulation of the law. Furthermore, if we think that we can impress God is any way then we do not really understand sin. In and of ourselves we are condemned. In Christ, we are redeemed. Hold fast to His promise!

Dean’s capacity as a younger man to work and provide for his family was exceptional. He toiled tirelessly, but willingly for the wellbeing of others. And the Lord blessed him mightily. God once said to Abraham, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.”4 Apparently, Joyce and Dean thought God was talking to them too! And, indeed He was! Look at their descendants gathered here! Dean fathered eight children, was grandfather to 27 grandchildren, great-grandfather to 30 of the next generation, with more on the way. That might not be exceptional by biblical standards but it’s pretty impressive by today’s measure. Few are keeping pace.

But Dean doesn’t have to provide any longer. He doesn’t have to do the milk run, split Mallee stumps the size of human heads, or discipline the children. More importantly, his heart and conscience are at ease. He has no regrets, no anxieties, no worries about future problems. And Dean has not taken on the role of a guardian angel. His time is not being occupied by watching over the family or fretting about how they are. Heaven is a tad bit more riveting than that. Nothing even remotely trivial will distract from the mesmerizing attention the majesty of the Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit requires.

In heaven, we will be manifestly content. That’s something the maturing Christian learns already in this life. St. Paul once said, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.”5 Dean learned the same wisdom. Not one to complain he took most things in stride. He left things in God’s hands. He knew where strength, and hope, and forgiveness were found. Dean didn’t fit church into his life when it suited, when he wasn’t too busy, or when he felt like going. Dean was in God’s house because that’s where he believed he should be. There was nothing, forced, artificial, or self-serving about it. He understood that to absent oneself from God’s blessings was to be foolishly deprived. Dean’s presence in church was always characterized by dignity and modesty. He was a churchman of the highest integrity.

So today we give thanks even in the midst of our grief. And we carry no false hopes about God’s intentions. Paul once wrote to the Thessalonians saying, “We do not want you to be uniformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.”6 Dear friends, to grieve without hope is to feel the bitterness of separation without the expectation of reunion. It is to concede that the coldness of death is the final reality. Left to our own devices it is the conclusion we always reach. Death is a burden that is too heavy for us to bear alone. The Holy Spirit understands that. He reminds us of the empty tomb. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid…I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!”7

Dean enjoyed a full, and active, and blessed earthly. And during that life he was being prepared for even more important things. Think what an instant our time here is, whether we live one year or hundred, in comparison to eternity! Dean didn’t quite make it to his 89th birthday, but he achieved something far more important, he made it home for Easter. He has profound peace and unknowable joy. Thanks be to God! Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Christian Burial of Dean Leslie Braun
10 March 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 John 14:1-2
2 John 14:27
3 1 Peter 1:3-4
4 Genesis 22:17
5 Philippians 4:12
6 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
7 Revelation 1:17-18