James Roger Kor
Born November 9th, Year of Our + Lord 1945 in Pierre, SD
Baptized
into Christ January 12th, Year of Our + Lord 1947,
at Zion Lutheran Church,
White, SD
Married in Christ August 28th,
Year of Our + Lord 1970
at the Catholic Campus Chapel,
SDSU, Brookings, SD
Confirmed in Christ, May 28th, Year of Our +
Lord 1972
at Mt Calvary Lutheran
Church, Brookings, SD
Died in Christ September 4th, Year of Our + Lord 2023
at home with family, in Custer
County, SD
Soli Deo Gloria – To God Alone Be Glory
Rose, Aaron, Katey, David, to
all the family and friends of Jim,
Grace, mercy and peace to
you, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
“For everything there is a
season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a
time to die; … a time to weep, and a time to
laugh.” “A time to laugh.” It’s right there, in the Bible. So, this being Jim Kor’s funeral, it seems we
should be allowed at least one joke, don’t you think?
I was no greenhorn pastor when I was
installed here at Our Redeemer, I’d known lots of interesting Lutherans,
including some who liked to tell jokes.
But I have to admit that within a few months, Jim Kor got me pretty
good. It was after a Sunday service, and
Jim, who was the Head Elder, stood up in the pew after service to make some
announcement. His dear wife Rose, who
had just recently begun to attend services after some serious health challenges,
was right there next to Jim. As Jim went
on, I could tell he thought he was about to say something he thought was funny. To emphasize some point he was making, Jim
said, “It’s like I used to tell my first wife…”
What?
I don’t know how my face looked, but I didn’t hear whatever Jim said
next. I was too busy thinking “Man, Jim,
that’s terrible. Why would you say that,
with Rose sitting right there?” I couldn’t
help myself, my gaze went to Rose. Who,
to my surprise, was just rolling her eyes and shaking her head. She hardly seemed fazed. Slowly it dawned on me that Jim’s only
wife was still technically his first wife. Ha ha.
I looked back to Jim, who was looking at me with that big grin, very
pleased to have zinged at least me with his one-liner.
I’m sure we could go on for a long while,
remembering bad jokes that Jim told. But
Jim would not be grinning if we did. Because,
as much as Jim loved jokes, he let me know early on that his funeral was to be
a Lutheran funeral, that is to say, one focused on Christ and His great saving
work on our behalf. He absolutely did
not want some sappy emotional tribute to Jim Kor. Because a Christian funeral is an opportunity
to give people the one thing necessary, the true Word of Christ, the message of
human sin overcome by God’s love and grace, through the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
In the best cases, we can proclaim Christ and
talk quite a bit about the deceased, by speaking of how the Gospel was clearly
evident in his or her life. And we can
surely do that today. Because evidence of
his faith in Christ Jesus abounds in Jim’s life. Each one of us remains a sinner until we
leave this life, and Jim was no exception.
Knowing this, Jim consistently gathered to hear Jesus and receive His forgiveness,
and all His gifts. Jim also eagerly and
regularly served as a leader in his congregations.
Another
clue to a man’s faith can be the faith of his family. And Jim’s family has followed his example in
many ways. They are faithful Christians
who serve the Church in important roles.
For which we all rightly give thanks and praise to God. The readings today were picked by the family,
and reflect well on their Christian maturity, which in turn is more evidence
for the work of Christ in Jim’s life.
The day Jim died, Aaron specifically asked me that the funeral be a
clear presentation of the Gospel. The readings
the family picked couldn’t have set me up any better to do so.
From Ecclesiastes we heard the realistic
perspective of God’s people in this world.
Christian life is not some rainbows and unicorns imaginary life without
challenges and problems. Human sin has infected
and damaged every aspect of life on this earth, and God’s people must learn to
deal with it. Which we can, because God
has not abandoned us to sin and death.
Rather He is determined to rescue us, and promises to walk with us
through both the joys and the bitter struggles of this life. King Solomon in Ecclesiastes lays it
out: birth leads to death. Tearing things down is sometimes necessary; other
times we are blessed to be able to build.
Mourning and dancing. Keeping and
casting off. Sewing up, and rending,
tearing our garments in repentance. It’s
quite a list.
But note, the list ends with peace. A foreshadowing of Easter evening, when the
resurrected Jesus, fresh from His victorious battle to destroy sin and death
and rob Satan of all his power, appears to 11 frightened followers, and begins
His message with “Peace.” Peace with God
for sinners. The peace that passes all
understanding, which Christ won for His enemies. The peace of everlasting life that Jesus won
by dying our death, this peace is God’s goal for all people. This is the victory that He has now delivered
to Jim, the salvation the Lord delivers to all who die, trusting in Jesus.
What Ecclesiastes teaches in poetry, Paul
lays out in no uncertain terms in Ephesians chapter 2. These 10 verses are perhaps the most comprehensive
and yet concise proclamation of Christ and our salvation to be found in all of
Scripture. You doubt that sin is really
such a problem? Paul declares we were
all once, by our nature, by our inheritance from Adam, children of wrath,
destined for destruction.
But God. But God is rich in mercy. He does not desire the death of anyone. He does not wish eternal condemnation for
us. And so, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when
we were dead in our trespasses,[God] made us alive together with Christ. Christian faith centers on Christ Jesus,
and so the Christian can face the end of life in this world calmly, knowing
that whether we live or whether we die, we are alive in Christ and so will live
with God forever. Christian faith knows
it’s all God’s doing, all a free gift to us.
For we were already dead, spiritually, before physical death even began
to threaten us. And what can the dead
do? Nothing. But the living God can do things. And He has, and He still does.
For by grace you have been
saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that
no one may boast. 10 For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
From the beginning at Pentecost, the biggest
problem Christ’s Church has had to struggle against is the constant temptation
to change this Gospel of salvation by grace, a gift received by faith, without
any works on our part. Every Church
body, every congregation, every Christian is susceptible to twisting this Good
News into a false teaching that in some way, large or small, the salvation of
sinners depends on the works of sinners.
God must save us first, so we can begin to do the good works that He has
prepared for us. God’s salvation is
always a free gift, delivered to you through the power of His Word, and
received by faith.
And so I thank God that the Kor family chose
Ephesians chapter 2 for us today. We all
need to hear this truth, again and again, until the day the Lord takes us
home.
What Paul in Ephesians lays out in plain
language and precise teaching, faithful old Simeon gives to us in song and
through touch. The Gospel which Paul
declares is not just words about grace.
The Gospel also a person, a man.
A man who was at one time a baby, who at 40 days old was brought to the
Jerusalem Temple to do as the Law of Moses required. The Savior came to Simeon, a faithful
Israelite who was patiently waiting to see and touch the Lord’s Christ.
Simeon sees his Infant Lord, and comes and takes
the Babe from His startled mother, rejoicing to hold his Savior in His
hands. “Lord, now you are letting your depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my
eyes have seen your salvation, 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all
peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
In the Church today, we sing Simeon’s song
after we receive the Lord’s Supper. The
same Savior who came as a baby to Jerusalem to confirm Simeon’s faith and give
him joy and peace as he departed this life also comes to His people today. Jesus comes to give the same peace and joy to
His Church, Sunday after Sunday, and many days in between.
Baby Jesus in Simeon’s arms didn’t look like
a powerful Savior, and the bread and wine of the Supper don’t look like the
medicine of immortality. But God says
they are. Jesus promises that He is truly
present, giving His Church to eat and drink of His Body and Blood, for the
forgiveness of sins. The joy and
confidence of Simeon is also the birthright of everyone born anew by Baptismal
faith. Everyone who trusts in Jesus is
invited to eat and drink and rejoice, for our victorious Savior is with us,
strong to save.
The joy of Simeon was the last thing I was
privileged to share with Jim. In late
August, when Rose told me Jim had entered into hospice care, I headed out to
the house to see them. Along with heavy
hearts, and a couple of bad jokes, we also sang with Simeon. We heard the Word of Christ and prayed for
His blessing on all of us, and we celebrated the Lord’s Supper.
I had a trip to make and didn’t get back to
see Jim again before the Lord took him home.
But no worries, the Lord was with Jim.
God surrounded him with family and gave him peace, peace that Jim’s soul
now enjoys at a level we cannot yet imagine.
And yet this peace is ours, too. Jesus
comes for us, for me, and for you, with grace and forgiveness and peace and joy. Jesus is truly present, whenever His Gospel
is proclaimed, whenever another sinner is washed clean in Baptism, whenever
God’s people kneel to eat and drink Holy Communion.
Jim Kor lived a good life and died a good
death, the best possible death, connected to Jesus, covered by His forgiving
love. I pray that God grant each one of us
here today the same wise faith, that will carry us into eternal joy, with holy
laughter and big grins on every face, today, and forever and ever, Amen.
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