“We now commit this body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subdue all things to Himself.

 May God the Father, who created this body, God the Son, who by His blood redeemed this body, and God the Holy Spirit, who by Holy Baptism sanctified this body to be His temple, keep these remains to the day of the resurrection of all flesh.”

Today we will place my mother’s remains in her grave, next to my sainted father’s remains. It will be a day filled with emotion. Words similar to the ones above, which I have spoken myself at least a hundred times over the years, will be said again. And we must face the fact that she is no longer here with us. Tears will flow. Sobs will be heard. Emotions are part of the way God made us, and there is nothing wrong with them. They are how we express the feelings inside of us.

Emotions can be an expression of our faith and part of our worship. But they are not the BASIS of our faith and worship. Our faith is based on who God is and what He has done for us. Our faith is based on what God has told us in His Word, the certainty of His love and the forgiveness He offers to everyone for Jesus’ sake. It is all about what He has done for us, not what we do or don’t do. That is why I requested the following words to be read at the committal service:

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

We do not grieve as those who have no hope. Our hope is based on Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, who paid the price for all sin, rose from death, has prepared a place for us with Him in eternity, and is coming again to take all the faithful to be with Him. Encourage each other with these words.