A Memorial Service for the Victory of June Caprice Hart

July 19, 2009
+A Memorial Service for

the Victory of June Caprice Hart +

1922 - 2009
John 14:1-6

In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Where June has gone, you cannot yet go. Nonetheless, where she has gone, you know. And the way you know. She has gone to Jesus Christ, her Savior from youth. She has gone by way of His death outside of Jerusalem where He took her sins and guilt into Himself and put them to death. She has followed Him to His and her Father's house, where there are many rooms. And soon this body which has gone to ashes will follow Him out of the tomb. For Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the reconciling bridge to His Father. He will not allow His children to suffer corruption. He will not abandon them to the dirt. He will raise them up again, even as He is risen and lives.

It is better for her. For her mind is now clear. Her body and heart is strong. Her joy is without end. But it is not yet complete. For even though she has been relieved of the sorrows and sicknesses that surround us here on earth, even though she is encompassed with the songs of angels in the congregation of the Christ, even though she no longer needs your prayers, still you are not there. Time has not yet ended. God's children on this side of glory are asked to carry on until the last of the elect has been sealed in the waters of Holy Baptism and the four angels that restrain the destructive winds of the apocalypse let loose. Until then, when the good work begun is completed and fulfilled, we prays for you and for all the believers on earth, that Christ would quickly bring this all to an end and reunite June with her believing loved ones at last. Then, when the last trumpet reveals to this eager creation the sons of God and the end of vanity and the disgrace of the fall, then her resting body will be raised up again to life, reunited with her soul, perfected and whole. Then, her joy will be complete.

That is where she has gone. And that is how she got there. And you can go there too. For the death Jesus died, He died for all. The forces of Hell have been defeated in that blessed, innocent death. He laid down His life for you and He took it up again. So it is that you do not need to face Hell's fury. There is no one to accuse you. Justice has been served by injustice. Mercy has been obtained by betraying violence. The Lamb who was slain, lives, and freely welcomes you into His embrace. Here is comfort for those who must carry on without June: she believed and confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and trusted in Him to deliver her from this vale of tears. He has. And for those who hold this same hope, who have been anointed with this same washing of the Spirit and the Water, she has not been taken away forever. There is a reunion. There is a resurrection.

Thanks be to God. He does all things well. In the blessed name of + Jesus. Amen.