For my Father, Pastor Rudolf Krey, 1/ 12/ 77

┼ Pastor Rudolf Emil Matthias Krey

(December 29^th 1897 – January 9^th 1977)

Funeral Meditation by his son, Pastor Peter D. S. Krey

“Precious in the Sight of the Lord

is the Death of His Saints.”

(Psalm 116:15)

This Psalm can help us find comfort through the Holy Spirit in the time when we feel the loss of our dear father and pastor. The steadfast love of the Lord is mentioned again and again in the Psalm and we are asked to depend and trust in it as on nothing else.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And all that is within me,

Bless his holy name.

Even here in the face of Papa’s death, we can say this, because our Lord Jesus Christ has lived this steadfast love in such a way that he overcame death on the cross, and thereby has received the power of God to redeem his faithful from their graves.

Our lives are not like the flame of a candle, which is snuffed out, but they belong to God, come from Him and return to Him. Papa is now in the presence of the Lord with all the saints who have feared the Lord and attempted to accord their lives with God’s will.

Yes, Papa had faults and he had weaknesses, but because of his fear of the Lord and his unwavering faith, even his faults have been changed by our Lord into blessings. So each of us can say:

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And all that is within me!

Because of our Lord’s steadfast love – even the last enemy – death itself – has been conquered and compelled to serve life and the wishes of our Lord for the salvation of his servants.

But we can be thankful for the unwavering faith that our father displayed throughout his life and the atmosphere of faith that he provided in our home. Herein he was not only our father but also our minister, a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who served the Lord well under very difficult circumstances where the family needed to be the congregation. But he was not ashamed of the Gospel – he went into his study, would get out the bible, lead us in song, do a reading from it, and have a prayer. The relentless courage in faith and his faithfulness to his office, despite much suffering and feelings of rejection, have, I’m sure, made him a very special person in the eyes of God, and a person very dear to our hearts.

His love and faith took sin very seriously – and he often took a great risk in relationships for the sake of improving our lives. But we will be grateful to God for his witness to us and in the way he tried to live it out in his life. In this way he reflected the steadfast love of our Lord and savior for us – who is so gracious and merciful. Yes, we need not mourn as if we had never heard of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and do not have the assurance that papa’s life is now in better hands – in a company of the saints triumphant, who take him in their arms and wipe away his every tear.

Let us pray:

O Lord and heavenly Father, strengthen our hearts in this time when it has pleased you to take thy servant Rudolf from us into thy loving presence. Send your Holy Spirit to comfort us, because we will miss him.

What a gruesome thing is death that stalks the earth and how great is his kingdom and dominion. He sends his messengers to deal death – violence, disease, old age, and decay, and if he could, he would try to bring the Lord’s own beloved creation to naught.

But thanks be to God for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has fought sin, death, and the devil, overcoming them on the cross. Thanks be to God because he has overturned the whole dominion of death. It could not stand before his mighty love. With his power he has now compelled death itself to serve life. Yes, the sting of death had to dissolve, for in Christ the battle is won.

For this thy servant, Rudolf, this minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

We give you thanks.

For this man who stood his ground with an unwavering and unshakeable faith in thee,

We give you thanks.

For his unashamed witness to thy holy name, O Lord, and his courage to intonate a song in thy honor, to read and proclaim thy word aloud, and feel thy words of prayer and praise on his lips,

We give you thanks.

For his leaving the Fatherland for a strange country, for giving up his mother tongue and becoming a stranger in a strange land to serve thee,

We give you thanks.

For the family that he brought forth with Trudy his wife, as an offering pleasing in thy sight,

Lord, we give you thanks.

For friendships of the Greek families, for George and Helen Gazunis, and the presence of the priest of their Greek Orthodox Church,

We give you thanks.

That those who have died in Christ are not lost and are eternally with thee,

We give you thanks.

That you are Lord of the living and the dead and have promised to raise thy children from the grave,

Lord, we give you thanks.

For the blessed hope of the resurrection and the bitter and cruel suffering of thy Son on the cross to bring us this hope,

We give you thanks.

For the knowledge and blessed hope of the resurrection,

We give you thanks.

For realizing that this, our separation from Rudolf, from dear Papa, is temporary and our reunion with him in your Presence will be eternal,

We give you thanks.

Amen.