Mary, and family and friends of Wilbur Carlson: What is the best way that you can honor Wilbur? Is it by remembering him? Well, memory is important. We could barely go on without memory. And of course you want to remember Wilbur in your heart, the seat of your emotions, and in your mind. And so, Mary, telling your grandchildren and great-grandchildren stories of Wilbur is something good to do.
Yet, however good your memories of Wilbur may be, they are still not the best way to honor him. For remembering Wilbur doesn’t change anything in your life right now except to help you to grieve. Now, grieving in needed and important, but grief itself cannot renew you.
What about celebrating Wilbur’s achievements? For I’m sure there are many parts of Wilbur’s life, which can inspire you to follow his example in doing good deeds and helping others in your life. Yet, our achievements, however good they may be, are but fleeting and fall into dust and decay.
So, the best way to honor Wilbur it to seek that which endures. Of course, some think that nothing endures beyond the grave, except the memory and record of human achievement. That was what our Old Testament reading from the Apocrypha book of Wisdom revealed. For “in the eyes of the foolish, [those who have died] seemed to be but dead” (Wisdom 3:2). If death is the last word, then, as the book of Ecclesiastes says, everything would be meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
Then our sorrows would be limitless and without comfort for a loved one who has died. Even more, if the Lord didn’t give out eternal life, then our life would be pointless, for it would end with death. And that would be it; nothing more. What benefit would there then be from virtue and good deeds? Then they would be correct who say: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32).
Yet, death is not the last word for those who hope in the risen Christ. For that reason, and that reason alone, can we rejoice even amid our deepest sorrows. That is why we can grieve, but not grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
From the beginning, God created us for immortality. And by His resurrection, Christ has opened the gates of the Heavenly Kingdom, of eternal blessedness for those who have believed in Him and live out the life of faith. Even more, we can see our earthly life as a preparation for the future life, and this preparation ends with our death. As Scripture says, “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). That is when we leave our earthly cares. After death, the body crumbles, all so it may rise anew at the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day.
But where is Wilbur now, in that time between his death and the Last Day when Christ returns? Where is Wilbur until Jesus will rejoin his soul with a new, sinless, and eternal body? For, right now, what is left of his body is but dust and ashes. Through the lens of Holy Scripture, we get a glimpse of what we cannot fathom in our fallen state. Wilbur, his soul, is now part of that vast number of saints in eternity, robed in white, delighting as a child of light in the presence of the holy, almighty, and eternal God.
Eternal life is such a blessed experience that our language and mental faculties cannot even describe it. We have no language or experience that can describe the state of joy and bliss of being in God’s unadorned and glorious presence, covered in the white robes of Christ’s righteousness.
But we do know what heaven is NOT like. Those in heaven “will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any heat” (Revelation 7:16). Even more, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17). In other words, for those who die in the one, true faith, eternal life will have no sorrows or pain. It will have none of the bad, but only the good–and the good is beyond our fallen human understanding and description.
Yet, that was not Wilbur’s life here on earth. He suffered from the ravages of this fallen world, just like all of us. He suffered from disease. That’s why he died, as you and I will also do. For, like you and me, Wilbur was also born in a fallen state of sin, needing the salvation that only God gives in Christ Jesus. Yet, being baptized, believing in Jesus, and living the life of faith do not keep the fallen ways of this world from afflicting you.
What did the Apostle John see about those saints entering heaven? He said, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14). John was speaking in the present tense. In other words, the blessed Apostle saw Christians entering heaven in his God-given vision. John then described life in our fallen world as a “great tribulation.” And compared to life in eternity, even the best, most joy-filled day here on earth is a “great tribulation.”
But what allowed those entering heaven to be in heaven? Ah, that, too, John tells us: “They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). So where did those heaven-dwelling saints get their blood-washed robes, which made them white, pure, and free from sin? It was in their baptism. We know this because the Apostle Paul tells us, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
But there’s more to it than baptism. Oh, baptism saves just as Scripture clearly says: “Baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). We cannot take that away, for to do so would violate God’s way in which He brings someone into His family (Colossians 2:11-14).
Yet, the Apostle John says, “They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.” The Apostle Paul says, “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” God gives you the robe of righteousness in your baptism. But washing your robes and clothing yourself is an act that each Christian is to do in the Holy Spirit. That’s the Christian living in his baptism and living out his baptismal faith. It’s remaining in the one, true faith, and not letting anything take your baptismal robes away from you.
But how do you wash your baptismal robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb? Well, where do you get Jesus’ blood? For if you get His blood, then your baptismal robes remain white from the Lamb’s blood, the blood of Jesus. So, where do you get Jesus’ blood? You get His blood in His Supper. Jesus tells you so.
When Jesus told His Apostles to do the “do this” of the Lord’s Supper, He said: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” You get Jesus’ blood in His Supper. There you get Jesused with His blood and your baptismal robes become white again, all-the-more ready for eternity and God’s full and glorious presence.
Baptism and living out the baptismal life go together. You don’t have one without the other. It’s like the tree and the fruit the tree bears. An apple tree produces apples. Yet, it’s not producing apples that somehow makes an apple tree into an apple tree; no, it’s the apple tree simply being what it is.
Baptism gives you your identity; it lets you know who you are in Christ Jesus. And that’s how baptism and living out the faith–and even coming to receive Jesus in Word and Sacrament–all come together, for it all is to take place based on who you are in Christ Jesus. For God calls each of us to live out the spiritual life that He gives us in baptism, not letting our sinful inclinations steal the seed of faith within us, causing us to fall from faith.
So, how best can you honor Wilbur? It’s not just honoring him by knowing who he was while he was alive on this earth. No, it’s much more than that. For Wilbur is now sinless. Wilbur now sees all of life from an eternal perspective. And what is he doing? Ah, Scripture tells us.
Wilbur is doing more than worshipping God in eternity. Oh, he is doing that and delighting in that. But the book of Hebrews also tells us that the saints in eternity are all around us. Oh, we can’t see them, for the eternal reality is beyond our fallen senses. Hebrews says that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1).
So, how best can you honor Wilbur? Wilbur in eternity is now part of the great cloud of witnesses all around you. And what does it mean that Wilbur also surrounds you? The book of Hebrews tells us: “Therefore, [because Wilbur now also surrounds you]… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
Wilbur is now part of the great cloud of witnesses encouraging you to run the race of faith and not give up. Throw off that which takes you away from Jesus. Turn from the sins that ensnare you and turn to Christ. Persevere and endure the race of faith during your life here, which is often a “great tribulation.”
Keep your baptismal robe that God gave you in your baptism. Don’t throw it way. And keep it white by receiving Jesus in His Supper whenever it’s offered. For Wilbur wants to see you all in eternity in the greatest of all family reunions. That’s how you can best honor Wilbur, based on who he is right now and what he wishes for your life.
May God grant this to us all, as He also has for Wilbur and all the saints in eternity. Amen.
