The text that I have chosen for Loren’s funeral is Isaiah 49:13-16.

¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. ¹⁴ But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” ¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. ¹⁶ Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Here ends our text.

Kathy, Bev, and Diana, Monday was a day that had been at times long coming, while at times seemed sudden. Regardless of whether it was sudden or long coming, it doesn’t make today any easier. The fact of the matter is that we are gathered to mourn the loss of a father, a brother, a grandfather, a great-grandfather and a friend.

At age 82, it is safe to say that Loren lived a long and good life. However, that wasn’t always the case. To bury a spouse is something that can be expected, but to bury a child is the most of unnatural things to do. Loren had to do this not once, but four times.

All of this can be devastating to a person. It can take a toll on a person, both physically and mentally. The prophet Isaiah experienced hardships and difficulties in his life. He brought good news to the people of God’s promise of salvation while at other times, he was the bearer of bad news and judgment from God to the people. As we look at our text, we see how distraught Israel was in thinking that God had forsaken and forgotten them. The reason why Israel felt this way was because of the many grievous sins they had committed. But throughout the many and various sins the people of Israel committed, God never forgot them. God could never forget them because Israel was His chosen people.

Just as God did not forget Israel, so did God not forget Loren. In all of his adversity, he still had a promise from God. In His Baptism, God placed His name on Loren and made him His beloved child. He forgave him all of his sins and granted to him the gift of everlasting life. This was a promise that God made to Loren and it was a promise that God kept, just as He keeps every promise He makes to His people.

Death comes upon us all because of our sinful condition. We all are mortal, meaning that one day, we too, will die. The reason is because we inherited our sinful, mortal condition from our first parents, Adam and Eve. Not only do we have that original sin, we also are guilty of that sin that we ourselves commit.

Even in our wretchedness of sin, God did not abandon us. God saw fit to send to us a Savior in the person of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We have been redeemed; our sins have been forgiven. All are wiped clean by our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered on the cross for the sins of all people, including Loren. Jesus died. Death came to Him as a member of the human race, though He was without sin. His resurrection from the grave is our comfort and our hope in all aspects of our Christian life and especially at this time.

The words that Isaiah records from God are words that indeed bring comfort to us because they are a promise to us: “Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” Focus your eyes and look closer into our Lord’s hands. On the palms of our Lord’s hands something is engraved. The Lord says, “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” Inscribed in the two palms of the hands of the Lord God Almighty, you are there! St. Paul writes, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” From eternity you have been in the mind of God and inscribed in the palms of His hands and that is where Loren has been.

God is not a God of “cheap grace,” easy forgiveness. The payment for our sins cost Him the life of His Son—our Savior. But by Christ’s death and resurrection, we are forgiven people. God declares us righteous—made right again in His eyes—through Christ’s atoning work for us. We cannot save ourselves. Christ did save us. And He wants the assurance and peace and comfort and hope of that forgiveness to be a living reality in our daily lives. God says: “I have redeemed you . . . you are Mine.”

Loren believed that. He was baptized and knew he was a forgiven child of God. And that’s what he has right now: life with God. Three words sum up Loren’s state right now. These three words are “with the Lord.” That’s what life eternal is: being in the presence of the eternal God who is love. That is joyful bliss beyond all description.

As you grieve today and in the days to come, rejoice in the fact that your Lord has called Loren home to be with Him and the children that God saw fit to call unto Him. Amen.