This is the sermon I preached for the funeral of my father-in-law last November. He was a great blessing and influence upon me along with his wife, Mary, and my own parents.
Farm, Family, Faith
Psalm 119.65-72
Funeral Sermon for Robert Edward
Bauer
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy
word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy
commandments… The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of
gold and silver. (Psalm 119.65-66, & 72)
Introduction
Dear
Mary and all the children, grandchildren, great grand children and friends and
neighbors of Robert. I am glad to be here today and so glad that we can gather
together in the name of the Lord to thank Him for all the blessings we received
from God through His servant Robert and also that we can ask God to help us
serve Him and reach the same heavenly home that God has prepared for all who
believe in Him.
How
God Has Blessed Us All Through Robert?
I
know that all of you have, in many different ways, experienced blessings from
God through Robert. My personal experience began when God allowed my to meet
his daughter Carol and eventually be married to her and to become part of this
family. I was blessed to see how Robert considered himself a servant of the
Lord. He served the Lord in his devotion to his farm, to his family, and
to Jesus.
The
summer after we were married I worked for Robert and got to know him fairly
well. I admired how he worked so steadily and wisely. He was always thinking
ahead, and he was always ready to try new ways to improve. He loved the land,
the cows and the horses, and he saw all of these things as great blessings from
the Lord that needed to be managed with care.
Robert
loved and cared for his family even more than that. He knew the gift that God
had given him in his wife, and though he teased and sometimes aggravated her,
he loved her and knew he wouldn’t have accomplished anything without her. To
see how he loved his children of each generation you only had to watch his face
and to see how happy he was whenever they could be around. He always worked to
instill in them the same faith and wisdom that God had given him. He
loved his extended family as well, and it was always one of the highlights of
his life to make that long trip back to Illinois to see the kin up there!
To
be very honest, from my point of view, it was his faith in Jesus that was the
greatest blessing for me. Sunday morning always started on Saturday night as he
got out his Bible and prepared to teach the adult Bible study. He was a good
teacher of God’s word, and I still try to use his methods. I remember how
closely he stayed with the text, line by line, word by word. Whenever the class
ventured into speculations he would often bring them back to the inspired word.
What does it say? What has God called us to do? What has God done for us?
For the rest, he would say, “We’ll have to wait until we get to heaven.”
How
God Will Continue to Guide Us in Our Lives?
That
brings me to the second question I want to answer in this message, and the one
that I know Robert would like us all to really think about: “How will God
continue to guide us in our lives?”
We
can’t just look back. We have to look forward. More important than that, we
have to move forward in faith. There are so many ways that we can go astray;
and Satan, and the world, and our own sinful natures are more than happy to
separate us from God, from what is true, and good – from life itself. My
greatest concern for myself personally, for my family, and for the church is
that we are tempted to think that as long as were not quite as bad as the
culture around us, we’ll be okay. This culture is sinking, and it is
sinking fast. You will never reach the goal of faith if you just try to stay
above it. God has called you and me to a better way. With the writer of
Psalm 119 we need to pray: “Teach me good judgment and knowledge.”
That
is what God has given us in His word – and particulary in the Word made flesh –
Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus Christ came into this lost and sinful world and
redeemed it by being perfectly obedient to God, by teaching the perfect will of
God, and by giving up His life as the perfect sacrifice for every last one of
our sins. That is the way of life. That is the way of everlasting life. It is
better than anything. It is better that all the pleasures this world offers. It
is better, as the psalmist says, than thousands of coins of gold or silver.
Conclusion
The last
time I rode with Robert in the pickup he and I were driving through Winnie. As
we drove past the Arboretum Nursing Home, he said, “I’m going to be there one
of these days, but God will be with me.” Not long ago I got to spend a
few days with him there even as he was battling the fraility of his body and
the feebleness of his mind. I tried to imagine what was going on behind his
eyes as we talked. I imagine he was fighting against some kind of fog, some confusion
that takes over as life begins to ebb. He was trying to stay connected to
this world. He was trying to realize why he couldn’t go home. He was trying to
live while the body was trying to die. But when I would say, “Robert,
let’s have our devotions.” Immediately his big hands came together to listen
and to pray. Those were the hands that so often held the saddle and the reins,
the hands of his wife and children, and his big black Bible. They were
the hands of the soul that holds one gift that even death cannot take away –
the gift of faith in Jesus. He certainly would agree with our psalm,
“Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O LORD, according to Thy word.” May the
LORD deal well with us according to His word. In the name of Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Obituary for Robert Edward
Bauer
Robert Edward
Bauer, 85, of Winnie, died Wednesday, November 6, 2013, at The Arboretum of
Winnie. He was born on June 1, 1928, in Jefferson County, to Ruby Louise Gaus
Bauer and George Richard Bauer. Robert was brought to Jesus in Holy
Baptism in 1928 at St. John Lutheran Church in Hamshire, Texas. He publicly
affirmed his faith in the Rite of Confirmation in 1943 at St. John Lutheran
Church in Beaumont, Texas. Robert was married to Mary Heiner at St. John’s in
Beaumont on June 26, 1949. He and Mary, along with other area Lutherans, helped
establish Hope Lutheran Church in Winnie, Texas. He loved to teach adult Bible
class and Sunday school. He was a prayerful and generous supporter of many
Christian ministries and Christian educational institutions.
Mr. Bauer was a cattle rancher and farmed rice in
the area for many years.
Mr. Bauer was involved in many organizations within
the community. He served on the Board of Regents, at Concordia Lutheran College
in Austin. He established an endowed professorship in religion at Concordia, as
well as a music scholarship in memory of his daughter, Marilyn. He was a
representative of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund; President of the Texas
Rice Improvement Association for twenty five years; Hardin Jefferson
Independent School District School Board, President; Coastal Cattle Association
Board of Directors, President; Gulf Coast Bank Board of Directors; East
Chambers Agricultural Historical Society, President; ASC Board of Directors;
Vice President of Southeast Bancorp of Texas, Inc.; Director of American Rice
Growers, Beaumont Division; and LCMS Foundation Board Alternate.
His many honors include Concordia Lutheran College
Christo et Ecclesiae Award of Excellence; Concordia University Christo et
Ecclesiae Award of Excellence; Texas Rice Festival Honoree; Texas Rice Festival
Pioneer Farmer of the Year; FFA Honorary Chapter Farmer and Honorary State
Farmer; Friend of Texas A&M Agriculture; Winnie Area Chamber of Commerce Agricultural
Award.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Heiner Bauer of
Winnie; son, Jack Bauer and his wife, Christie, of Winnie; daughters, Carol
Walther and her husband, The Reverend Michael Walther of Maryville, Illinois;
Janet Taylor and her husband, Tim Taylor, of Houston; and Linda Bauer of
Austin; grandchildren, Gerald Bauer, Sherri George, Jennifer Abshire, Brandon
Erickson, Katherine Dube, Emily Penney, Jonathan Erickson, Aaron Walther, David
Walther, Paul Walther, Stephen Walther, Lydia Walther, Travis Taylor, Everett
Taylor, and Grant Taylor; nineteen great-grandchildren.
Mr. Bauer was preceded in death by his parents;
daughter, Marilyn Erickson; and brothers, Orland Bauer and Leroy Bauer.
A gathering of Mr. Bauer’s family and friends will
be from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Friday, November 8, 2013, at Broussard’s,
134 West Buccaneer Drive, Winnie. His funeral will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday,
November 9, 2013, at Hope Lutheran Church, 9th and Leblanc Street, Winnie, with
interment to follow at Fairview Cemetery, Winnie.
In
lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to one
of the following: Hope Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 701, Winnie, Texas 77665; East
Chambers Agricultural Historical Society, (Ag Museum), P.O. Box 1715, Winnie,
Texas 77665; or to Concordia University Texas, 11400 Concordia University
Drive, Austin, Texas 78726.
