Matthew 26:41 A Funeral Sermon For Colleen

The text that I have chosen for our meditation on God’s Word is Matthew 26:41, Colleen’s confirmation verse:  “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and especially you, Colleen’s family:  I bring you grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

As most of you no doubt realize the church has entered into the season of Lent—that time in the church calendar when our focus is especially upon the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ for the sins of the world.

It is traditional within our Lutheran Church that we observe this time of the year with special services where we once again hear some part of the passion history and meditate upon those last few days of our Lord’s life before he went to the cross for us.

And over the last several Wednesdays in our Lenten services we have been with our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

We have seen the weakness of the disciples who, even in that moment of great need, could not stay awake long enough to comfort the Lord.  We have witnessed our Lord praying with such fervor that the sweat fell from his brow like great drops of blood. 

We have heard our Lord beg his heavenly Father to let the cup of wrath pass from his lips-- but also his willingness to go to the cross and die.  And we have heard the words that Jesus speaks to his disciples:  “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

These words were spoken by our Lord to his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane that first Maundy Thursday.  But they were also spoken to every disciple who would ever follow him as Lord and Savior for they capture the struggles of the child of God:  the brokenness of our human condition—the new person that we are through faith in Jesus—and the necessity of spiritual struggle and reliance on God to get us safely to our heavenly home.

I have no doubt that all of this was in the mind of Pastor Edwin Wolf in the spring of 1944 as he chose confirmation verses for his confirmands. 

Lutheran pastors take this seriously and they give it a lot of thought and prayer.  And so on April 2, 1944—Palm Sunday—little Colleen, just 14, knelt at the altar of St. John Lutheran Church in Corpus Christi, Texas and felt Pr. Wolf’s hands upon her head as he prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon her and she heard these words applied to our her own life:  “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

These words were true of her life from that day forward as they are true for all of Christ’s disciples.

When Colleen was born on the 23^rd of July 1930 she was a healthy little baby girl—but spiritually, she was broken just like the rest of mankind since Adam and alienated by nature from God. 

The Bible says that all people by nature are dead in sins and trespasses and that because we are children of Adam we are subject to death.  Jesus said that flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit must give birth to Spirit.

Colleen’s faithful Christian parents believed God’s word concerning their little girl and so they brought her to the waters of Holy Baptism to receive the new birth that comes by water and Spirit. 

On January 18, 1931 Pr. Deffner baptized Colleen in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas.  From that moment when she became God’s child and by God’s grace she had that willing spirit which desired to follow the Lord.  But of course she also had that weak flesh that is also a characteristic of even those who believe in Jesus. 

Paul talked about that in his own life:  that the good he wanted to do, he didn’t do and the bad things he didn’t want to do—that’s what he ended up doing. 

That was true of Paul and it is true of us and it was true of Colleen and so her life in the church was spent like ours is:  confessing her sins and hearing God’s forgiveness. 

So it was last Saturday when I visited her in the hospital.  One last time she confessed that she was a sinner.  One last time she heard that by the death and resurrection of Jesus she was forgiven and God’s child.  One last time she received Christ’s true body and blood in Holy Communion to personally assure her that she was a child of God and could look forward to eternal life in heaven. 

Less than a day later she entered into eternal life where she rests in God’s presence, basking in his glory and light, and waiting for that great resurrection reunion that is still to come for all of those who have trusted in Jesus.

Her birth and baptism and confirmation and entrance into eternal life were those spiritual milestones that marked her journey to heaven.  But there was a lot of life that was lived in between those markers. 

Jesus knew that would be true for his disciples that night in Gethsemane and he knew it would be true for us too and so he spoke those words:  watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

Watching and praying.  Can there be any better summary of the life that a child of God is called to live—particularly when that person is a Christian wife and mother and homemaker?

On June 8, 1948 Colleen was given the greatest earthly gift that God bestows upon his children:  the gift of a spouse to share her life with.  She and Sam had a long and happy marriage and just enjoyed one another’s company whether it was playing softball when they were younger or fishing later in life. 

God also blessed them with children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren—a legacy of love that was a testament to their love for one another and God’s love for them. 

When I met with the children after Colleen passed away they said about their life together as a family that they could not have had a better childhood or better parents.  What a testimony to a mother’s love!

Colleen cared for her family in all of the ways that were common in her generation but oh so rare in ours. 

She was an excellent cook and baker.  She managed the household budget and stretched a dollar so that, despite a modest salary, her kids said they never did without.  She also made their clothes—the Easter dresses and bonnets that I can remember girls wearing when I was a child—even up to prom dresses and wedding gowns. 

She and Sam made sure that they passed on these skills to their children—Colleen teaching them all how to cook and clean and care for a home and Sam teaching them home repairs and how to care for the yard.

Hers was a married life and family life that I suppose many would consider ordinary but we know to be extraordinary because it was marked by care and concern for those God entrusted to her.

And her concern for her children did not only extend to their physical well-being but to their spiritual well-being, seeing to it that they too were brought to the waters of Holy Baptism and taught the Christian faith and confirmed in the church. 

Watching and praying marked her life as a wife and a mother and how richly God answered her prayers is attested to in the people seated her in front of me—the members of her family—the legacy of her love.

The words that our Lord spoke to his disciples that dark night in Gethsemane were words spoken to all his disciples—Colleen included, but us too:   “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”   

These are words that our Lord would have us hear with fresh ears today.  All of us know the temptations that come during this earthly life—the temptation to put material goals over spiritual goals—the temptation to live life as if this world was all that matters and will go one forever—the temptation to neglect the one thing needful and that is our faith in Jesus.

We know today, in a fresh, painful way—that this earthly life does not continue forever—that there is coming for each of us a last year and month and day and hour—and then eternity.  Colleen knew this about herself and acknowledging her sins, and hearing God’s forgiveness and confessing her faith in God and receiving Christ’s true body and blood she was strengthened in her faith and ready to face eternity. 

Can we say the same thing about ourselves?  Nothing has changed much in the last two thousand years when it comes to human nature:  the spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak.  God has graciously brought us to this place so that Colleen’s prayers for her family and friends and family members might be answered:  that we would be renewed in our faith in Jesus Christ and so be ready to be reunited with her in heaven.  God grant it for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.