1 Corinthians 15:50-57 - The Story of Her Life - Theora Utke Funeral - February 24, 2023

Some people in this world are good at storytelling. Others have lived lives worth telling stories about. But there are a precious few people in this world who are both good at telling stories and have lived lives worthy of telling stories about. As you all know, Theora was one of those precious few. Almost every time I visited Theora over the past several years, she would have a newspaper clipping or a letter she had written or received or a photograph laid out on the kitchen table – just itching to tell me the backstory. She especially loved telling stories about her time on the farm and her travels around the country and across the world and stories about her family – especially her brother Maurice’s involvement in the space program. In fact, the very last time I visited with Theora a few Mondays ago, she couldn’t help but tell me – I think for the 6th or 7th time – about the experience of purchasing seeds from a vendor in Randolph. Theora lived a storybook life and was very good at telling it.

But that’s not why we’re here today. Today we are faced with the fact that the story of Theora’s life on this earth has ended. She won’t be writing or telling any more stories. The question is: why? Why did Theora’s – why do all of our – stories eventually come to an end? Why can’t this flesh and blood…inherit the kingdom of God? The answer is: because all of our stories are bound up in a much bigger story, one that goes all the way back to the garden of Eden. Our stories all eventually end because of how the story of humanity began. God had created two perfect humans named Adam and Eve. He gave them everything they could ever desire – a beautiful garden to live in, living creatures to take care of, all the food they could eat – and, last but not least, he had given them each other. He also gave them one command: do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Tragically, tempted by Satan and lured by the attraction of the forbidden fruit, Eve ate and gave some to Adam to eat. By this single act of rebellion, Adam and Eve brought God’s curse on this world; a curse that would ultimately end in death for Adam and Eve and all of their descendants.

Or as Paul puts it, our bodies and lives and stories all eventually come to an end because the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. Every human’s story comes to an inevitable end because our bodies are contaminated with the genetic disease called original sin – sin which the law of God brings to light. And as Paul says in Romans the wages of sin is death (Roman 6:23). I know it’s not really something we want to think about this morning – but we have to in order to properly understand why we’re here and how it should impact our lives as we leave here – but the hard truth is that Theora was a sinner. She was guilty of breaking all 10 Commandments. She didn’t always fear, love and trust in God above all things. She misused God’s name and failed to pray faithfully. She didn’t always want to go to church or read her Bible. She disobeyed her parents and disrespected others in authority. She held anger in her heart. She wasn’t the perfect wife. She may not have robbed any convenience stores, but, like all of us at one time or another, she was greedy and covetous of things God hadn’t given her. She told her fair share of lies in her 96 years on this earth. And I’m not making that part of Theora’s story up; I’m not slandering her. Every time she came here for worship or I visited her in her apartment over the past 10 years, she admitted as much herself. She confessed that she was by nature sinful and had disobeyed God in her thoughts, words and actions. It’s for those sins that Theora’s earthly story has ended here in this coffin.

Perhaps the most sobering part of any funeral is coming to grips with the fact that our stories will end in a similar fashion – and for the exact same reasons. We inherited a sinful nature from our sinful parents. We have proved it every day by sinning against God and against others in thought, word and action. We have more than earned God’s wrath and deserve nothing less than the curse of death – both now and eternally.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that Theora’s story doesn’t end here – and ours don’t have to either. Why? How? How can these perishable and mortal bodies become imperishable and immortal? Only because of one man’s story, the most important man to ever live: Jesus Christ. Jesus’ life story was different from any other human’s right from the beginning. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary – so that he didn’t inherit the sinful nature that the rest of us are born with (Matthew 1:20). He lived in this same broken, sin-filled world – but he never sinned, he never broke any of God’s 10 Commandments (Hebrews 4:15). And yet, having lived a perfect life as our substitute, Jesus willingly shouldered each and every one of our sins and the sins of the world where he paid for them all with his holy, precious blood by suffering God’s wrath and hell itself in our place (1 Peter 1:19). But then, having buried the sins of the world out of God’s sight and mind forever, Jesus then did the impossible: he broke out of the grave; he rose from the dead! Theora may have had some good stories – but none of them can top Jesus’ story – the story of the Son of God defeating sin, death and the devil once and for all!

Now, you may ask: “What does the life story of a Jewish man who lived and died 2000 years ago have to do with our beloved Theora?” By God’s grace, Theora knew and believed in Jesus’ life story – that by his life, death and resurrection, he had swallowed up death in victory. And through that faith, Jesus’ life story became hers. His life story which had no errors, no sins at all – became Theora’s. The story of Jesus’ shedding his blood on a cross on Calvary cleansed Theora’s story from all the lies and greed and disobedience that were there. Most importantly, the story of Jesus’ glorious resurrection from the dead – imperishable and immortal – is a preview of where Theora’s story will continue: when Jesus calls this body back to life on the Last Day and invites her to join him forever in the glory of heaven. Which means that today doesn’t mark the end of Theora’s story – but the beginning.

Theora believed that – and she demonstrated that faith with both her lips and her life. She clung to the promises God made her in her baptism. She confessed her sins and her faith in Jesus as her Savior from sin. She faithfully attended worship to hear Jesus’ story as long as she was able. She eagerly received Holy Communion in which Jesus gave imperishability and immortality to Theora’s perishable and mortal body through his own body and blood. We can say with absolute certainty that Theora is now living a brand-new story-filled life – one that will never end – in heaven, because through her reception of Word and Sacrament, Jesus made his story hers. It may seem like today is a day of defeat – that the grave has claimed yet another victim. The reality couldn’t be more different. Today is a day of victory – Theora’s victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Today is a day for us to rejoice that Theora’s life story has the happiest ending of all – she is at peace with her Lord in heaven!

In my experience, next to telling stories about her jobs, education, travels, and other life experiences, the thing Theora loved talking about more than anything was you: her family. Every Christmas, she loved to show me the pictures you had sent her and point out who everyone was and what they were up to. You made her an extremely proud mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. At the same time, some of you made her a very anxious mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Why? Because she was well aware that many of you have strayed from Jesus’ story. That you have neglected worship and the Word and Sacrament – the ways in which Jesus’ story – the only story that doesn’t end in eternal death – becomes yours. While it’s nice to be able to reminisce about the stories Theora told and made with you – it was always far more important to her that her loved ones be able to continue writing their stories with her forever in heaven. But for that to happen, you need to continue to write – or perhaps, begin to rewrite – your story starting here and now. You need to continue or resume writing Jesus into your story by receiving his grace and forgiveness through faithful worship and reception of the Word and Sacrament. Because when Jesus’ story becomes yours – just like it was for Theora’s – then you can be certain that you will continue to write your story along with Theora and Jesus in heaven forever.

To the eyes of many, today is a tragic story, a day that has ended in defeat for yet another person – a person we knew and loved. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Today doesn’t mark the last page in Theora’s story – but the beginning of a new chapter that will go on through eternity. Today death is swallowed up in victory – so that we can defiantly and joyfully sing and shout: death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? And for someone who was so good at telling stories about her story-filled life, there is truly no happier ending. Thanks be to God, who gave Theora and gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.