Pastor Dan Eddy
Revelation 21:1-6
Tears of a Sailor
11-19-11
Grace, mercy, and peace be yours this day from God our Father and through our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
This morning’s sermon meditation
comes from our Epistle Reading from Revelation 21:1-6. You may follow along in
this morning’s bulletin as I preach.
In Christ Jesus, dear
friends and family of Charles “Dick” Lesher.
One of the first people I
met after becoming pastor here at Christ Lutheran just three years ago was Dick
and Doris Lesher. And I remember it well. It was a sunny, summer August day at their
home just around the corner. And I had only intended to stop by for a few
minutes. It ended up being a two hour visit. Time flew by.
So here this man sitting
in his chair, humble but strong and was telling me about his life…running away
from a troubled home at age 14…finding his way to Cohasset and graduating from
High School and then signing up and serving in the Navy for over 20 years. I
remember thinking, “This is a tough guy.”
Fighting in two wars…
As he’s telling me about
his life he includes this story. Dick told me about how an African-American
Navy buddy of his, Willy, wanted to go on shore leave because his wife was
pregnant. But the higher-ups would not grant him leave, so Dick stepped in on
Willy’s behalf and “worked it up the
line,” and got him that leave. Twenty years later at a ship’s reunion Willy
sought Dick out and thanked him again for what he did. Dick had tears in his eyes when he told me that story.
I quickly learned one
thing about Dick Lesher. He appreciated
life, because he had faith in the Lord. It was that appreciation of his life in
Christ that helped him prepare well for his death.
You see when you’re a
believer in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior…tears are not a sign of
weakness. Tears from the Lord are the ways He helps you appreciate the good God
blesses you with, and tears from our Lord and Savior comfort you as you grieve
the pain and the losses in this life, as you battle life’s challenges, as you
face disease and death.
Now, one thing a Navy
person will tell you…the sea is a rough place. Ships and submarines conquer the
elements in order to be effective on the battlefield.
In the book of
Revelation…the sea is a symbol of turmoil, conflict, trouble, and danger….it’s
the massive pool of sin and evil. Water’s brute force can shake, rattle, and
roll your ship. If the sea is rough enough, it can destroy. Just think of the
recent tsunamis that hit
Satan’s sea can uproot
your life as you are the victim of sin and be a temptation for you to sin
yourself…to give into the sea and be sucked away from the faith in which you
were baptized, sucked away into the sea of the everlasting abyss known as Hell.
But when you’re a sailor in Christ’s Navy…on His ship called the Church…the sea
can not take you down.
So in the midst of life’s
turmoils, the Apostle John was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write down an
apocalyptic dream he had and use this imagery to comfort seven churches under
oppression in Asia Minor near the end of the 1st Century. Their
lives were under such oppression from the
I never met a man who
talked more about death, and was prepared more for death than Dick
Lesher. And that’s not meant to sound macabre. That’s meant to help you as you
face your own troubles in the sea of life today…whether physical, mental,
financial, or spiritual.
If you read through
Revelation it plays out like a Lord of
the Rings trilogy, mirroring the real life battles the Church has and will
face until Jesus Christ returns in the flesh someday to end all this misery we
live everyday. But when you are sailor
on Christ’s ship…the victory will be yours. Your tears will not be in vain.
Dick faced a lot of
battles…and I’m not talking about the ones while he was in the Navy; I’m
talking about the ones he faced in the sea of life in just these past three
years. He battled gout, cancer on his face, lymphoma in his stomach, rehab done
on the right hip, spinal problems and infections to his body. And all that
after successfully recovering from a heart attack and a severe motorcycle
accident, which happened long before I met Dick.
I remember one day I was
visiting Dick in the hospital and asked him how he was feeling. He said bluntly
“Pastor, I feel like Hell.” And I
said so you would like a little relief from Heaven. He laughed and said, “Yes, I guess so.” Then I read him
Scripture and prayed with him. Not seeing or feeling Heaven every moment of
your life makes you want it even more. And one of Dick’s most treasured moments
of relief, the moment he got a little taste of Heaven, was when he received
Christ’s real body and true blood in the bread and the wine of Holy Communion.
Occasionally here at
Christ Lutheran we distribute Holy Communion continuously…and that allows me to
personalize it for the recipient. One of the first times I did that here as a
pastor, Dick was in line ready to receive the Sacrament and as I placed
Christ’s body in his hand I said, “Dick
Lesher, child of God, the real body of Christ given for you.” And tears
started to well up in his eyes. He never thought of himself as someone’s child,
let alone God’s child. He knew he was far from perfect. He knew he had hurt
friends, family and closed loved one over the years. He just couldn’t believe
this Jesus loved him that much.
So we talked more God’s
plan for his life and about the end of his life. And as we did we discussed the
irony of life for those who trust in Christ. We, believers, live life to the
fullest today with all its aches and pains, knowing the best life is ahead. And
how those who don’t believe in the next life with Christ…they cling to this
one, and live selfishly for today, scared of tomorrow for they don’t know for
sure where they will be…they have no hope. I hope that is not you.
But if it is…or you need
to be reassured…that’s okay. But believe in this: Jesus Christ and Dick Lesher
would not want you to leave here today with no or uncertain hope. Those are not
the tears the Lord wants you to have. He wants you to have the tears of this
sailor. The tears of a sailor now victorious in battle thanks only to the
sacrifice of his admiral, your admiral…our Lord Jesus Christ…who conquered the
sea of sin and death…who literally walked on the water and calmed the wind and
the waves…who Himself…shed tears at the death of His own dear
friend…Lazarus…and then raised him from the dead.
And then a little over a
week later, shed not tears but all His blood, and came out of the sea of
death…rolling the stone away from his grave…on that first Easter…to walk the
Earth in the flesh after facing a brutal death, stripped and beaten and nailed
to the cross to slowly suffocate for six hours.
He will give you this
victory over death as he has Dick. He will wipe away your tears, if you trust
Him to do so…if you believe the Word of God and join in the fellowship of His Navy, the Church. There’s
always room for more sailors.
But make no bones about
it…the wages of our sins is death as Romans 6:23 says…but the free gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
One of the things I almost
always do is when someone goes into surgery or is at life’s end….it is my job
as a called and ordain servant of God’s Word to encourage them to confess their
sins so I can through the power of God’s Church they can be assured they have
been forgiven.
And that was never so
vividly seen then when Michael called me a few Sundays ago…with tears in his
eyes…saying that there was nothing more than could do for his dad…and asked me
to come up to the hospital room to prepare his father for the relief of Heaven.
And I will never forget that
gloomy Sunday afternoon. I was with Dick, Michael, Jeanie, Joyce, and Doris. And
they had removed the tube so that Dick was able to speak for the first time in
days. And he had a lot to say. And he was planning his funeral…making sure this
was done and that was done…there were these papers at home one for instructions
of this and other for instructions of that. I told you Dick had prepared well
for death. He talked about it, wrestled with it, and finally gave it over to
the Lord…and was ready.
And then in the hospital
room I read these words from 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 ESV written for believers in
the
7But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show
that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8We are
afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted,
but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying
in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested
in our bodies. 11For we who live are always being given over to
death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our
mortal flesh. 12So death is at work in us, but life in you.”
Then Dick confessed his
sins and received the assurance they were forgiven…so that the sea would not
drown him and so he could know that the only water that has power was the water
poured over him with God’s Word at his baptism.
And he wanted to make sure
there was this song that was included in his funeral. And it was a little hard
to hear him speak the title: “What you are saying Dick, ‘it was peace?’”
“It was well?” “It was my soul?” And in a moment of levity Michael, Joyce,
and I are all searching on our iPhones for the song, and
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And as Dick heard that
Word of God…tears rolled down his face. The tears of a sailor.
You see God had been
planning for a long time for His Son to be the perfect version of you, me and
Dick so he could save us all, if we want it.
And yes, for all who have
faith in Christ, who are a part of His Church, we will as Job said in this
morning’s Old Testament reading….we shall stand in our flesh and see our Savior
face-to-face and He will say to you and me “Well
done thou good and faithful servant.”
And as our Epistle reading
from Revelation 21 says…Jesus will wipe away every tears your eyes…because they
will no longer be needed. Death shall be no more, nor pain, nor hideous
diseases like Myasthenia Gravis that
disfigures your body. All gone. The sea will be no more. Sin has evaporated
forever. Satan is defeated never, ever to threaten us again. You stand with a
perfect body and soul…no flaws…never to die again.
And in the life come, you,
I and Dick will walk with the Lord in the garden. Dick will be in charge of the
garden, and we will talk with him, and eat with him. Dick will probably want
some of that Japanese food he always liked…I don’t know if there will be
Schilitz beer like he used to drink on Friday nights.
But I do know this…what
you’ve heard today is from the Word of God…from Jesus Himself…are trustworthy
and true. You can bet your tears in Christ on it. Amen.