Precious in His sight is the death of His saints

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. O LORD, I am truly Your servant, the son of Your maidservant, You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the LORD” Psalm 116:15-17.

My mother, Jeanette Anne Hemmingson Ernst, died April 30, 2026, during Eastertide like my father did on May 9, 2000. I chose Psalm 116 for memorial services on May 3, the fifth Sunday of Easter, at our mission in La Caramuca and at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. The sermon text was 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus."

During the Easter season, we celebrate our Lord’s victory over sin, death and the power of the devil by His atoning death on the cross and resurrection on the third day, as He promised. We rejoice that as we have been baptized with water and the Word, as He was, we will share in His resurrection (Romans 6:3-8; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26). This is the great gift that we receive from Christian parents when we are baptized as infants. But not only do we have the promise of resurrection for ourselves, but also the consolation that our parents will be among the great multitude gathered around the throne of Christ, our Paschal Lamb, they that “shall neither hunger anymore, nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them anymore, nor any heat...and God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17). They already are among that “great cloud of witnesses” whose testimony inspires us and they will be with us in the true rapture, which which occur after (not before) the great tribulation when the Lord returns for the once and final time.

The promise is for you and your children

I returned to the theme of Christian families for the opening devotion of a special meeting on May 5 with Luz Maria's afterschool students and their mothers. The occasion was in anticipation of Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10, and to celebrate Luz Maria's birthday. I read from Acts 2:37-47. First, I emphasized the real manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was not so much the speaking in tongues and the preaching of Peter and the baptism of 3,000 souls. Then I focused on verse 39: "This promise is for you and your children," citing examples of how entire households, including children, were baptized (Acts 16:14-15; 22:22-34). Nevertheless, although parents have the privilege and responsibility to bring infants and children forward for baptism, there also is the reponsibility to bring children up in the teaching and admonition of the Lord. This is the basis of Christian education: Not simply the formal instruction, but also the formation of living faith through the power of the Holy Spirit which has become active in their lives through baptism.

After the opening devotion, Luz Maria review with the students and their mothers what the children had learned so far and how it was helping them in their public school classes. Then the children sang a lengthy Venezuelan birthday song to Luz Maria before she cut into two cakes, one donated by her daughter, Sarai, and the other by her brother, Robert Henriquez. It is customary in Venezuela to not only a Spanish version of the brief "Happy Birthday to you" as in the United States, but also to sing one or more longer melodies. These may go on as long as five minutes, or, at least, so it seems. That evening, after a videoconference with women enrolled in the diaconess training program of Concordia Seminary "El Reformador" and Amy Rast, associate director of deaconess formation at Concordia Theoogical Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Venezuelan women sang another long birthday song to Luz Maria.

On April 13, we celebrated the sixteenth birthday of Anyi Garrido, Luz Maria's granddaughter. Anyi assists Luz Maria with the afterschool tutoring program. She has the highest academic profile of any student in her high school and is taking an extracurricular course in graphic design. 

On April 12, the second Sunday of Easter, Ana Andreina Cabello Gomez, a member of "Fuente de Vida" (Fountain of Life) Lutheran Church in Puerto Ordaz and her sister, Milade, of the city of Guanare, brought an offering of packaged foodstuffs. Puerto Ordaz is in eastern Venezuela, while Guanare is about an hour and a half drive to the north of us. 

 As a mentor of Venezuelan women in the deaconess training program, Luz Maria was invited to hear annual program reports from Concordia Seminary "El Reformador" online April 24. We were pleased to learn the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod-sponsored seminary in the Dominican Republic is continuing in partnership with one of our sponsoring mission societies, LeadaChild of Olathe, Kansas.

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

St. Paul’s declaration of our hope for eternal life in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is drawn from the prophecies of Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14. Far from shaking our faith in the reality of the resurrection, the burial of the dead teaches us that the body in its present state must perish and be changed before it can inherit the glories of heaven.

The burial of the dead reminds us of the existence of a loved one who has departed. Also, it is evidence of the end of earthly life. If a person simply disappears, there are always doubts about his exit from this world. Years may pass, but there is always the possibility, even the hope, that the missing person is still alive. The burial and the presence of a cross acknowledge that a person has completed his pilgrimage here. And his fate after physical death? In this matter, we have a hope that does not fade over the years, but lasts until our own demise. We have the promise of eternal life.

Our funeral practices reflect our belief in the resurrection of the body. We believe that at the moment of physical death, the soul returns to God and for those who die in saving faith, they are in paradise that day, as our Lord promised to the thief on the cross. But on the last day, our souls and bodies will be reunited forever in the resurrection. We do not believe that the body is a temporary shell for an immortal spirit that can reincarnate in another form, but body and soul together as God's design. Our Lord was born in the flesh and ascended to heaven as true man and true God. In this way, God has blessed our bodies. Spirituality does not consist in the denial of the flesh, in fasting and celibacy but in our witness to the love and mercy of God in our work, in marriage and in the family. In anticipation of the resurrection, we deliver the mortal remains to the earth, as a seed is planted in the hope that flowers, fruits or grains will sprout from the ground.

This past month I commended two more people to eternal life with one case being the first physical death from COVID-19 in our midst.

Carmen Benicia Garrido Villamizar (September 19, 1939 - July 10, 2021) was the grandmother and great-grandmother of some members of our mission. Sadly, she was not a communicant member prior to her passing, yet in the last days of her struggle with cancer, she and her family requested the presence of Luz Maria and myself as pastor and deaconess to pray at her bedside and for me to preach at the velorio (wake) and her burial. We also observed a “novena” or nine days of prayer and reflection on the Scriptures with her family.

Xiomara del Carmen Torrealba had a communicant member of "La Epifanía" since November 12, 2017. Because COVID-19 was the cause of death on July 26, no velorio or novena was permitted. But Luz Maria and I were permitted to pray over the body before it was taken away for burial.

Well done, good and faithful servant

On July 20, when we learned of the passing of Domingo González, we mourned with our sister congregation, La Ascensción Lutheran Church of San Félix de Guayana. He was for a long time a deacon (lay elder) at La Ascensión. Luz Maria met him more than 30 years ago, when she lived in San Félix and attended the church. Domingo was ordained into the holy ministry on December 8, 2019, and served as the pastor of La Ascensión after its longtime Pastor Elias Lozano began serving Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) Lutheran Church in Puerto Ordaz.

San Félix is located on the Orinoco River in eastern Venezuela. The city was founded in 1724 by Capuchin monks and withstood years of plagues and attacks by river pirates. In 1817 the Battle of San Félix proved a decisive victory over royalist forces in Venezuela’s war of independence. Puerto Ordaz, just across the Orinoco from San Félix, was built in 1952 as a planned city in response to regional growth of mining and hydroelectric power industries. La Ascensión Lutheran Church has met at its current location since 1972 and Fuente de Vida at its current location since 1987.

We also have been notified of the passing of Cruz Celina Moya, mother of Yenny Gamboa Moya de Romero, of Misión Cagua in Maracay, and Juan Toribio Soto Olivares, the grandfather of Luz Maria’s nephew, Roamird Castillo, of Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas.

 

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,

who thee by faith before the world confessed,

thy name, O Jesus, be forever bless’d.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Tú fuiste amparo, roca y defensor,

En la batalla, recio capitán;

Tu luz venció las sombras del temor.

¡Aleluya, aleluya!

Oh, bless’d communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine,

yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Que como ayer, podamos hoy luchar,

Valientes, firmes, fieles hasta el fin:

Corona de oro tú nos ceñirás.

¡Aleluya, aleluya!