Erika Edith Wefel Funeral Sermon – Luke 12:22–32 November 12th 2025 / Consider the Lilie

Erika Edith Wefel Funeral Sermon / Regina Funeral Home / Pr. Ted A. Giese – Mount Olive Lutheran Church / Wednesday November 12th 2025: Season of Pentecost / Luke 12:22–32 “Consider the Lilie”

And [Jesus] said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends and family of Erika Wefel it is no secret that Erika loved flowers, loved them dearly, loved working with them and when preparing for today a passage from Scripture came to mind that provides comfort in the midst of our grief. It is from the Gospel of Saint Luke and in it Jesus speaks of flowers in relation to our life in this world:

And [Jesus] said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

The key phrase nestled in this teaching about anxiety in the face of hardship that jumps out when thinking of Erika is the one where Jesus says, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Jesus isn’t talking about cow lilies, the word we find there in the original language of the Bible that Jesus uses as His example is more of a general word that include other types of wild flowers besides lilies, blossoms like gladioli, irises and anemones and the striking scarlet coloured poppy. Jesus mentions how Wise King Solomon, son of King David who wrote the 23rd Psalm which we heard this morning, how his kingly regiments pale in comparison to the lilies of the fields. The robes of kings woven from spun wool died to achieve vibrant colour are the effort of a great amount of human toil they do not spring to life from a seed naturally growing into a glorious feast for the eyes, they don’t achieve their delicate textures naturally without some effort from the weavers, seamstresses, tailors and designers. On the other hand, flowers, in all their radiant glory, spring to life from a seed not made by human hands but by the Lord, and if your heavenly Father does this for them how much more will He do this for you on account of His Son Christ Jesus our Lord.

With a cut of the knife, with the snip of the scissors the stem of a flower is cut from the plant and set into a beautiful arrangement, and while keeping them hydrated and fed with nurturance will extend their life the moment the flower is cut from the root the clock starts ticking, and time will eventually catch up and it will begin to waste away. But even in the field the flowers when the seasons run through in their pace will with the grass dry out and wither. The Lilies in all their glory as they grow and die remind us that the flower in and of itself cannot keep itself from death and we, no matter how careful we may be in this life, cannot keep ourselves from eventually facing death. The question then is what follows that death. And what is life to be like for the Christian before that day comes?    

In the Letter to the Hebrews, found in Scripture we find the encouragement to remember our leaders and consider the outcome of their way of life, and as such we are then encouraged to imitate their faith.[1] When Erika fled from East Germany and Communism she couldn’t be stopped by any worry of what she would eat or what clothing she may or may not need for she knew that “life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” She knew that, by the grace of God, the birds of the air had feathers and food and that God in His mercy would be sure to provide for her needs and more. Without her determination to leave the dangers of life behind the iron curtain she would not have met Heinz and would not have had all the blessings the Lord poured out upon her through him in their 68 years of marriage together here in Canada. Learn from Erika to trust in the providing hand of God, learn from Erika to trust in the mercy of the Lord even in times where the heart is tempted to despair and the mind is tempted to anxiety and worry. The Lord knows what you need, it may not be what you think you need, what you want, but it will be what you truly need: yes, as Jesus says “do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.”

In your daily bread He “gives us everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbours, and the like,”[2] and while the evils of the world and the fallen nature of the world can seek to take some of these things out of our hands for a time, the Lord will not have all of these things taken from us all at once. Erika for her part was blessed with many of these blessings in life. She and Heinz, in their marriage, sought after the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus and so they through the years had each other, they had house, home, land, money, goods, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbours, faithful children, good workers and more all added unto them. They had honest labour and every opportunity to care for each other, for family and their neighbour. Dear ones seek the kingdom of God, and these things will be added to you. As Jesus says “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

In many and various ways Erika had a foretaste of that kingdom of God during her life in these days and on The Last Day when all things are made new in Christ Jesus she and all the faithful will partake in that eternal kingdom which will have no end. Were the grass and the flower will not dry out and wither and where we will be clothed with more splendor than the Lilies of the field. Where the flower arrangements will last and not waste away: where no petal blight, or powdery mildew, or gray mold, or leaf spot, or downy mildew, or root rot will ever spoil what God provides.        

Today as we lay her body to rest, Erika’s soul, her mind, her spirit are at rest in Christ Jesus perfectly provided for until the resurrection of her body on The Last Day. So it is with the resurrection of the dead: as Saint Paul teaches, “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.”[3] Imagine a little packet of wildflowers, now most everyone would be hard pressed to pick each seed up and look at it and know what that seed will look like once it is planted, and watered only when it is grown will we be able to identify it and so it is with us. This is why Saint Paul also encourages us to “set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” “For,” Saint Paul teaches how in your baptism, “you have died, and your life is [now] hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”[4] Jesus Himself walked out of the tomb that first Easter Morning in glory after His cross and passion on Good Friday, after His rest in the tomb on Holy Saturday so too will Erika come forth in glory from her rest: body and soul and mind and spirit reunited and made new for all eternity to come.[5]

This is not only for Erika, Jesus has won this for you as well, hold fast to this, keep the faith and if your heart today is wandering hear the call of Jesus back to His heavenly Father, your days are not over and the Lord is patient with you as He is patient with us all.[6] The blood of Christ shed upon the cross of His crucifixion washed away every imperfection, every sin, every affliction; His innocent suffering spells the end of our suffering and when The Last Day comes and He stands upon the earth now made new, the fields will be awash with radiant flowers and the glory of That Day will be beyond what our imagination now can dream; and the faithful will be arrayed in white robes more splendid than the most beautiful flower washed clean in the blood of Jesus.[7] Erika will be there and God willing we will all be there with her in Christ Jesus, for He is the Way the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father expect through Him.[8] Amen.    

Let us pray: Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

[1] Hebrews 13:7
[2] Fourth Petition, The Lord’s Prayer, Luther’s Small Catechism, Concordia Publishing House 2017, page 21.
[3] 1 Corinthians 15:42–43
[4] Colossians 3:2–4
[5] Revelation 21:5
[6] 2 Peter 3:9
[7] Revelation 7:13-14
[8] John 14:6