Last evening, Cole Buchholz, a young, Christian man died after a brief illness that came upon him suddenly and mysteriously. I was Cole's pastor for a time at Zion Lutheran Church - Storm Lake, IA. I served him and his family when his grandfather died in 2007. The sermon that follows is the sermon I preached at his grandfather's funeral. The sermon for Cole's grandfather, Wally, also applies in many ways now. I offer it to Cole's wife, Caitlin, his family and friends who are mourning his sudden death. Cole was baptized into the same Triune Name his grandfather was. I look forward to seeing Cole, Wally, and the rest of you in the resurrection of the dead. God will grant it for the sake of Christ.
Funeral: Wally Buchholz
January 25, 2007 (edited)
Stephen W. Kieser, pastor
Zion Lutheran Church
Storm Lake, IA
“Wally
– Born of God and Victorious”
TEXT: 1 John 5:4
For everyone who has been born of God is victorious
over the world. And this is the victory
that overcame the world – our faith. (my
translation)
In the Name of
Jesus. Amen.
Dear children of Wally: Barrie, Stanley, Brian, Bradley and
Philip. And Wally’s surviving
sisters: Dora, Alma, Leona, and Lea. As well as grandchildren, great-grandchildren
and many other family members, friends of the family, and fellow saints of Zion
congregation…
October 26, 2005, was a day that Wally had long waited to see. The Chicago White Sox had not been victorious
in the World Series since 1917. But on October 26, 2005, all this
would change. Chicago would wait until the 8th
inning to score its only run against the Astros. With two outs, Jermaine Dye’s ground single
up the middle would drive pinch-hitter Willie Harris home. That would be the only score of the
game. There was no doubt that Wally was
an avid White Sox fan. Even as a
life-long fan, he would have to wait until he was 81 years old to see a White
Sox World Series victory. For Wally, a
victory for the White Sox was also a victory for him and every faithful White
Sox fan.
The thrill of
victory … and the agony of defeat. Today,
you and I gather together NOT in the agony of defeat BUT to celebrate and enjoy
the true thrill of everlasting victory given to Wally as a free gift. Wally died on January 21, exactly three years
after his beloved bride, and today is three years after her funeral. For the baptized-Wally,
January 21 cannot be the agony of defeat. The
World Series of 2005 is but a poor and meager victory when compared to the awesome
grandeur of Wally’s cross-earned victory in Christ. Let there be no mistake, Wally has received Christ
– his greatest Trophy and death has no power over him.
The text chosen for
the sermon today is from 1 John 5:4, where the Apostle John writes, “For
everyone who has been born of God is victorious over the world. And this is the victory that overcame the
world – our faith.” This text was given
to Wally on April 10, 1938, Palm Sunday.
1 John 5:4 was Wally’s confirmation verse.
Here St. John teaches us about
victory. The Old German… which Wally was
familiar with… put it this way, “Denn alles, was von
Gott geboren ist, überwindet die Welt; und unser Glaube ist der Sieg, der die
Welt überwunden hat.” Whether in German or in Englush, the meaning is the
same. Everyone who is born of God is the
victor… and this victory is theirs through the gift of faith.
But how
was Wally “born of God?” In John 3,
Nicodemus had the same question: How can
a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Amen, Amen, I say
to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom
of God.” Wally was born of God… born of
the water and the Spirit… as a 17-day old baby.
His parents, Friedrich and Ida, had brought him to the baptismal font
where water was splashed on his little head and Matthew 28 was spoken by the
pastor… “Walter Heinrich Karl, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
On that
day baby Wally was born of God. On that
day, the gift of faith to Wally was sealed and sure… and that faith was a faith
that was preserved by the power of the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament
until his soul departed his body this past Sunday. It is just as the catechism says, “I believe
that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in my Lord Jesus Christ or
come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me
with his gifts and sanctified and kept me in the one true faith.”
Wally
was sanctified or kept holy in true saving faith by hearing the Word of God and
receiving the body and blood of Jesus.
Ida and Friedrich were faithful parents.
They knew that the faith given to their infant son in baptism would be nurtured
by the Word and Sacrament. So they
taught Wally about Jesus at home, brought him to the Lord's house on the Lord's Day and placed the Scriptures into his hands… but
just as important, they sent him to a Lutheran day school where Wally would
learn about His terrible plight as a sinner, about Jesus his Savior, and about
the forgiveness of sins given for him in and through Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper. Ida and Friedrich simply would
not starve the faith of their son who was a child born of God.
Wally loved
the Lord’s Supper. Before he died, he requested
that the tubes be removed from his mouth so that he might partake one last time.
Wally departed this life with the living
body and blood of Christ. I asked him, “Wally,
are you dying confessing Christ alone as your Savior?” His final word to me was, “Yes.”
St.
Paul preaches to us in Romans that Baptism is a death in itself. “Do you not know that all of us who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory
of the father of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Wally’s obituary reads that he died at the
age of 82. But in and through baptism,
Wally’s death was included in Christ’s death in 1924.
In
baptism, Wally died with Christ… but in baptism, Wally was also raised/resurrected
with Christ. From the vantage point of
Baptism, Wally already had been given the victory over sin, death, and the
world some 82 (almost 83) years ago.
This why the apostle John wrote, “And this is the victory that overcame
the world – even our faith.” “Overcame”
is in the past tense. Wally’s worldly death
was already overcome. Baptism not only
gives the reality of eternal victory for Wally today, but it had been a reality
for him his entire life.
Since
Wally has overcome the world, he has been given the Victor’s reward. And that reward is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Both Wally and his beloved
wife of 56 years, Leone, await the final victory of baptism – the resurrection of
their bodies to live in the new heavens and the new earth. In that Day, Wally and Leone will stand before
the throne of God, with glorious eternal flesh.
Together with the whole company of saints they will wave their palm
branches in victory. Each of you who
were born of God has been given the victory over this sin-filled world. And that victory not only includes heaven
today, but also the undeniable hope of the future bodily resurrection. On that Day you will see Wally again. On that Day of resurrection, all who have
been born of God will have the victory of heaven in both body and soul,
forever.
Walter
Heinrich Karl was born of God – this Christian
is victorious through Christ!
In the Name of
Jesus. Amen.
