Funeral Homily for Mike Popenfuss                                                                                          

Job 19:23-27, Rev. 22, John 10:7-18

Yeah… Amen

Mary, Randy, Joan, Ron, Rick, Jill, Ray, Jenny, and Ryan.  Family and Friends of Mike Papenfuss…

Grace, Mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Today has been a day for memories.  I know the last few days have been days filled with memories as well.  You’ve traded stories as you looked through stacks and stacks of picture books.   I’ve been fortunate to be able to hear some of those memories.  Like when you surprised Mike with a new John Deere tractor for his birthday.  Or how he was always a very honest card player, who would never think about putting two cards down instead of one… right?  I got to hear memories of a Father who loved his children.  Of a husband who loved his wife.  And of a grandfather and great grandfather who adored his grandkids and great grandkids.

Some memories have also been on the more serious side.  How Mike struggled with his health these last few years.  It certainly wasn’t easy… for him, or for you.  And yet, he persevered, rarely ever complained, until last Saturday when our Lord called Mike to be with Him in heaven.

There is another memory that I have, which I would like to share with you today.  I moved to La Crescent about 8 months ago, so my time here has been relatively short.  One of the first things I did when I came here was to try to visit the members of the congregation.  It was on one of these visits that I first met Mike.

The one thing I noticed was that Mike didn’t do too much talking.  Fortunately, Mary was never short on words, so it was a pleasant visit.  When someone doesn’t talk much, I tend to notice what they do say.  For Mike, that first day, it was pretty much two words:  “Yeah” and “Amen.”

Two pretty simple words… and yet… they are two very powerful words.  “Amen” it means, yes, so be it, or I believe.  For Mike, and for us, to say Amen at the end of a prayer is to say to the Lord, “Lord, let it be so as you will and as you promise.”  That’s a lot packed into one word.  So let me tell you about Mike’s “Amen.”

Each night Mike and Mary would say prayers before they went to sleep.  They would say the Lord’s Prayer as we will here in just a few moments.  That Amen rang with each sentence of the prayer.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Amen.  Lord let it be so.  And the Lord granted Mike’s prayer as the Father Hallowed His name in Mike.  It was the name of the Lord that was put on Mike in his baptism on September 15^th 1935, and it was this Name that was hallowed as Mike lived his life under His baptism.  I got to see it in a man who in a few words spoke volumes about His faith.

Mike prayed, “Thy kingdom come” and the Amen rang true, yes, I believe, so be it.  The Kingdom of God comes with or without our prayer, but in praying this Mike prayed that it would come to him as well.  And the Lord smiled and answered the prayer.  Going to church is often something that we can take for granted, the Lord’s kingdom comes among us when we hear and believe His Word.  And this was something that Mike treasured. 

When I came and brought God’s Word and the Lord’s Supper to Mike, those Amens spoke volumes.  And when Mike came and joined us for Thanksgiving Eve… well… I can tell you it meant the world to me.  This was also a prayer that Mike and Mary had for each one of you.  That you would hear God’s Word with other Christians at Church.  Did you know that every night they would pray for you?  That God would bless each one of you?  They did, and they knew that the biggest blessing one could have is the forgiveness that Jesus has give each one of us through His death on the cross. 

In fact, it is for this reason that today while we are sad because we will miss our beloved husband, father, grandfather, or friend, we have a great deal of joy and hope because we know that death is not the end.  That Mike is safe in Christ and that on the last day when Christ returns, Mike’s body will be raised in glory and everlasting life.  This hope, this promise, was sealed to Mike in His baptism and it was delivered to Him in the Word of God and in the Lord’s Supper each time he received them.

Each night when Mike and Mary prayed, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” the Amen resounded.  These words often bring to mind the prayer that Christ prayed on the night that He was betrayed to His Father.  “If you will Lord, let this cup pass, but not my will, but thy will be done.”  Our Lord suffered, more than any of us can fathom as He bore the punishment for our sin as He was handed over to be crucified.  And so “thy will be done” is a prayer of those who suffer.

Mike suffered as death stretched it’s ugly arms into his own life.  Yet, even through it all, his prayer, “thy will be done” was answered.  It was the will of God that not one of His beloved sheep would be lost. 

And so, the Lord kept Mike safe in the midst of suffering.  And now, the Lord has made good on this promise as Mike rests in the arms of Jesus, singing with the heavenly choir of the “whole company of heaven.”  It’s this choir that we sing with each week that we have the Lord’s Supper.

Mike knew and believed that man does not live on bread alone, but on every Word from the mouth of God.  And so he prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread” and again the Amen boldly confessed, yes Lord, let it be so.  Providing food is just what a farmer does, and so I’m sure this prayer was close to Mike’s heart.

But when I came and saw Mike, I saw a hunger for something more: he had a hunger for hearing God’s Word and receiving the Lord’s Supper.  And the Lord delivered on this prayer and brought Mike the gifts that strengthened and nourished him in body and soul to life everlasting.

This gift was very important to Mike because he knew that apart from Jesus, he was a sinner in need of forgiveness, so he prayed, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Each time I visited Mike we also went through confession and absolution… the same confession that we have here on Sundays.  When I asked if he had sinned in thought, word and deed, Mike replied “Yeah.”  Then I would speak the words of absolution to Mike, that “upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  To which Mike would reply:  Amen.

Forgiven, Mike knew that relief of the burden of his sins being lifted.  And yet he also knew that his adversary still prowled around him like a roaring Lion.  So Mike would pray, “Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.”

The Evil one, Satan would have loved for Mike to look at the trials in his life and lose hope.  But, again, God delivered on Mike’s prayer.  Many of you got to see God’s answer to prayer this last week.  As through it all, Mike remained steadfast and in his final moments, his loving Father in heaven granted him a peaceful end and took him away from this world of sorrows to be with Jesus.

I’m sure it was also Mike’s prayer that today would be a day for you to hear the hope that he had also.  A day where you too would not lose hope.  A day where you would hear about his loving Savior.  How throughout Mike’s life, God answered those prayers.  How Jesus came to Mike in Word and Sacrament giving him the hope of the salvation that was won for him on the cross by Jesus.  And how just as Christ is risen, this death is not the last chapter in Mike’s life.  That there’s an eternity to be spent in the embrace of God’s love.

What more is there to say then but Amen?!  Amen Lord, let it be so.  For yours is the kingdom, and the power, the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen!

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

And you, beloved friends and family of Mike say, Amen!