To live is Christ, to die is gain

Sermon preached at the funeral of Jeanette A. Ernst by Adam Hiles, pastor of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, Freeburg, Illinois, June 26, 2026. Scripture readings: Job 19:23-27; 1 Peter 1:3-9; Philippians 1:19-26; John 14:1-6, Psalm 23.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours this day, forever, from God our Father, and from the Lord our Savior, He who is himself the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

The Christian life is not a life that is lived in ignorance. It's not a life filled with lies about really anything. Most especially, it is not a life lived in ignorance about this life. It's not a life where we are just happy-go-lucky about everything, and we act like none of the bad things that go on in this world go on. And we're completely ignorant of the fact that life is hard. And it is filled with hardships.

In fact, you can see all of God’s saints who write for us today, Job, and Peter, and Paul. They are all very honest about that fact of this world. Job is in the midst of great suffering, and he really has not done anything to bring it on himself.

And yet, where he should get comfort from his friends, they are the ones in fact scorning him. You must have done something to deserve all of these terrible things. Losing your family. Losing your house. Losing your livestock. The boils. The sickness. All of the things that have come upon your health. You must have done something to deserve that. Throughout the book, Job, is very honest. He hasn't done anything explicitly to deserve those things. Those things have all come upon him.

Peter says it very clearly. That in this life, we are grieved by various trials. And Paul is honest about that fact. He has lived that fact as he writes this letter. Because when he writes this letter, he is in prison. And he has not done any horrible deed to deserve it. He has not killed anybody. He has not worshipped false gods. He has not besmirched or slandered the name of the emperor or anybody else. He has preached Jesus Christ. And that has gotten him wound up in prison. 

And Paul himself is very honest about this fact. Because he is hard pressed between the two options that he has. He has the one option, as he says, that he could continue on in this life. And he knows that it will be fruitful labor. It will be good. And whatever good he does in this life, it will produce some kind of fruit. He is hard pressed between that option and the other option: To depart, to die, and to be with Jesus Christ. And he is very honest about the fact that he would much rather choose to die and be with Christ. Because that is far better.

None of us need to be dishonest and say that this life is sunshine, rainbows, butterflies, and roses all the time. The saints of God are very honest that that is not true. We can be honest about that fact.

Jeanette was honest about that fact. In reality, she actually said, almost verbatim, the very same thing that St. Paul says here in Philippians. And I don't even think it was intentional. She was just being honest. That she would much rather die and be with Christ. But at that time, God had not yet brought her to be with Jesus. Jesus had not come and brought her to heaven. She knew there was a  purpose for why that day had not yet come. And she told me very explicitly, I know that God is keeping me here for a reason.

And that it will be fruitful. That is not to say that she did not love this life. She did. She was very happy to remain because she knew her purpose was to serve her family. She loved you all very, very much. She knew that her purpose was even to show Jesus Christ and his truth to all of the people around her in the nursing home.

And every time I visited her, and I'm sure it was the same for you , Pastor Keseman, she would tell me about the conversations and sometimes would turn to the arguments with the various residents that she would talk with at lunch and at dinner. She was happy to be here in this life. But Jeanette knew that to die and be with Christ was far better.

On the one hand, because she longed to be with Christ and to be with His Son. She longed to see her husband and she longed to see her daughter. But she was also longing to be with Christ because she was honest that this life was not easy.

Jeanette was grieved by the same kinds of trials that Job and Peter and Paul were all grieved by. She was grieved by the same thing that Job was grieved by. He misunderstood, in fact, other residents that she was with. She was grieved even by things that Peter and Paul were grieved with by her own illnesses, of which she had many, especially later on in life. So of course, of course she was honest about that and we should all be honest about that. The Christian life is not one lived in ignorance. We do not act like our sufferings are not, in fact, sufferings. They are.

Life is not easy, especially for the Christian in the midst of a world that does not understand. But that honesty comes not in the sense of complaining. I will be honest, I did not hear Jeanette complain about any of those things.

We can be honest about the fact that this life is hard because we live in the truth. Yes, we can be honest about the truth that this life is hard because we live in the truth, even in Jesus Christ who is Himself the way, the truth, and the life. The Christian life is honest, in fact, we can be honest about our hardships because we know that these trials do not last forever and that what we are going through today pales in comparison, not only to what is promised to us, but to what Jesus Christ has given us now and today.

That truth, the promise that He has died for us, that He has risen to new life for us, that He took on our sins, that He died for them, and that by His resurrection He has defeated their power over us. He has destroyed death forever, turned the whole thing upside down, and that He has banished Satan and his powers. That changes everything for us.

Because as we can see from Peter, it turns what should be all of our sufferings into reason for despair and defeat. It even turns them into a great reason to rejoice. That's a kind of testing of our faith. Not, oh, Jeanette, oh, Dan, oh, Veronica, oh, all of you listening, oh, all Christians, you have to make sure you pass this test and get an A or else you're out of the game. The testing of your faith is the same way that gold is put into a furnace and it is tested, where the impurities are removed, and when it comes out, it is pristine, it is perfect. That is what the trials that we go through, that is what they are for.

Jeanette knew that. Consciously she said it, but also unconsciously she showed it by her life. There was a time where I visited Jeannette in the hospital. At that time, she was intubated, she had a tube down her throat, and she was suffering. And as I sat there with her in the hospital, she was conscious, she was looking at me, but she could not speak, literally. And so as I sat there, reading the 23rd Psalm, reading to her about how Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and kind of just stumbling my way and explaining that and trying to give comfort, she grabbed my hand, held it tightly, and as I told her that the Shepherd never left her and was with her now, was right now leading her out of this valley of the shadow of death But there, even in the midst of hardship, there is always a reason to rejoice, even as Peter says, with joy inexpressible.

Because our faith is founded on Jesus Christ. He is the one who left his father's throne in love to die for the world. Even when we were enemies of God, God showed His love for us, and while we were still sinners, Christ Jesus came to die for us, risen to new life.

He has defeated sin, death, and the power of the devil, and those are promises that He gives to us, not just in the future when he returns. That is when He will make good on those promises. Not just even when we die and we receive all the inheritance that He stored up, but even now in this life.

That He is the way, and the truth, and the life. Because He has brought us into the way of everlasting life. That is the way that we walk today, day by day.

It is the way that He walked, not a way without suffering, but it is a way of glory. Not our glory, His glory. A glory that rises from the dead, a glory that will never die again.

A promise made to us, a promise given to us, that we can stake our lives on today. He is the truth, the truth that He himself admits, that this world is filled with darkness, and hardships, and all manner of evil. But the truth is that He has overcome all of those things.

For he is the life that the darkness can never overcome. And he is the life, the light of men. He is the life that gives us life. Not just gives meaning to our lives, He gives us life. When Jeanette was washed in those baptismal waters, she received the life of Jesus. He is death, He is resurrection.

And at every single point of her life, He was with her. Of that she knew very well, confessing, every time I saw her, I know He is with me. I talk to Him every day.

She knew Him not to be far, she knew Him to be there with her, in her sufferings, personally. That is a fact, that is the truth, that Job, and Peter, and Paul, they all speak about today. Because Job, could even say, in the depth of sufferings, when my flesh is destroyed, yet in my flesh, I will see my Savior face to face.

Paul says, it is good for me to remain in the flesh, because when I die, I will be with Christ. And Peter talks all about the great gift we have, the inheritance he has stored up for us, that we are all pressing for. The outcome of our faith, salvation of our souls.

That is what Jeanette suffered in. She suffered in the truth, in faith, with the promises of God given to her, that now she is rejoicing in, face to face, her, her husband, her daughter, with all of the saints, your friends, your family, what all of us will receive when we die, when Christ comes for us. But those are promises and gifts that God has given even now.

So to you all, all of you here, all of you watching online, all of you who now remain in the flesh, know that Jesus Christ is the way, and the truth, and the life. Know that He has laid his life down for you, and taken it up with you. Know that He is your Shepherd, who is with you, that His rod and staff, with those things, He will comfort you, He will protect you, He will guide you.

To know that He has, in fact, gone to death, gone to resurrection, gone to be with the Father, to prepare a place for you. Each and every single one of you has a place prepared with Him and the Father. He went to prepare a place for Jeanette, and now Jeanette is there in that place, and she is not alone.

Even now, you are not alone. Your Savior is with you. The saints are with you. The saints in heaven pray for you. But the saints on earth are here for you, here throughout the world to pray, but also here in this church. God is with you, in the midst of your suffering, in the midst of your hardship, so that you can be honest. Honest about the fact that this life is not easy, but far more than that, honest about the fact that the eternal life Jesus Christ has given, that is yours, and will always be yours, in Him. Amen.