Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, family, loved ones, and friends of Barbara Drews, may the Grace of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, be with you today and always, Amen. Today is a bittersweet day. We are sad that we have to say goodbye to our mother, sister, aunt, dear friend, or even sister in Christ, Barbara. Yet, some of you really said goodbye much earlier than today. It can be hard going to visit someone with dementia; on the good days, it’s a wonderful visit filled with stories and reminiscing about the times that you spent together. But on the bad days, well, there’s a reason they’re called the bad days. The person you came to visit isn’t there, and they’ve been replaced with another person who looks the same but doesn’t know you. Those days were tough. But those days are over now. There aren’t any more bad days for Barbara; they’re all good days from here on out. And for that reason, we can rejoice. And that’s how we’ll look at our Old Testament lesson today, through the lenses of good and bad days, through the lenses of remembering and forgetting.
So why are Isaiah and the people of Israel so worried about being forgotten by God? Why is it so important that God remembers them? Israel is about to go into exile, to be taken from their home and placed in a faraway land, not unlike how we take our elderly out of their homes and place them in a foreign land that we call the nursing home. Some of you may be feeling guilty for this, but don’t. Caring for a mother, sister, or grandmother with memory issues isn’t something that anyone can do. These caregivers are specialists; it takes a special gift to do that work. It’s not easy. So let’s hear again the words of Isaiah from Isaiah 49:13 – 14 13Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. 14But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” Isaiah reminds the people of Israel of God’s promises, but when you’re suffering, it can be hard to remember those promises. There were probably some days when Barbara couldn’t say, “Oh happy day.” But even on the darkest, hardest days, when she seemed to have forgotten everything, Jesus had not forgotten her. And that’s exactly what Isaiah will remind us of in the next section.
Isaiah 49:15 – 16 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” To most people, this question God poses to Isaiah seems impossible. How can a mother possibly ever forget her child? The child that grew within her, whom she nursed and changed diapers. The child that she watched grow up took to the Baptismal font, watched the first steps, kissed all sorts of scrapes and boo-boos, helped with homework, watched them leave for their first school dance, was there at all the sporting events, watched the graduation ceremony, how could any mother forget? But you know how. You know the ugly reality of this sinful world and how disease and sickness can rob a person of their deepest, most treasured memories. It’s an unthinkable horror. It’s a tragedy beyond our comprehension. Yet God knows that some will suffer this, and He is with them. He did not forget Barbara; even when her memories were taken from her, God could not and would not forget her. Why? Because she is engraved on His hands, in the exact spot where the nails pierced His hands. Jesus will not forget her because He paid His life for her, and there is nothing in all of creation that can separate Barbara from Jesus’ love and His sacrifice for her on the cross.
You, too, are engraved on the hands of Jesus. You are engraved in His side where blood and water flowed for your salvation. And as your memories fade, as the bad days are forgotten, and the good ones become treasured memories, Jesus will still remember you. He will not abandon you but will be with you because He died for you too. So, as Barbara did, trust Jesus, your savior. And remember His words, that is true now for Barbara, that today she is with Him in paradise. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, Amen.
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