https://app.dropwave.io/episode/7a39877d-d0ff-4a6a-ab39-1b531ed59c49/pregnancy-and-infant-loss-memorial-service-ad-2025.mp3

++ JESU JUVA ++

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In much of our lives, we live by expectations. We act according to what we expect. That’s actually what faith is. We act according to what we believe to be true. This reveals what kind of faith we have. But when reality doesn’t meet our expectations, we become frustrated and disappointed, perhaps even angry and resentful. We wonder if our faith is misplaced.

You had expectations of what your life would look like right now. You had many expectations for and about your children. We call it ‘expecting,’ don’t we? You weren’t alone in having expectations. Your loved ones and friends also shared some of your thoughts for the future. The holy Christian Church, too, had expectations for these little ones.

The Church had expected that according to our Lord’s own invitation that these children would be baptized. The Church had expected that according to our Lord’s institution and promise, they would be washed with water and God’s Word and be made members of His Body along with you. But these expectations have been frustrated by death. We mourn what we have lost. And it also means that the Church mourns with you. You do not grieve alone.

These little ones belong to God, so it is His right to give or to take as He sees fit. From our limited perspective, we cannot help but grieve. Jesus says that little ones belong to Him. He gives them for a time to parents, and then, when their life in this world is over, He intends to receive them unto Himself. God is the Author and Giver of Life. God does not desire the death of the wicked, but death has come into the world because of sin.

Death is the last enemy to be destroyed. For Christ Jesus has taken all sin upon Himself. He put Himself under the curse of death and died. But now, by Jesus’ resurrection, death is brought into subjection. In this way, the Lord forces even death to serve His mercy. From sin’s curse, He brings blessing. From death, He brings forth life — by His suffering and crucifixion.

Maybe you just want to ask, “Why?” Why me? Why now? Why this suffering? Why this degree of heartache? Why not some other pain? Why does it seem that God seems to mix things up so badly? To those who don’t want to have a child — or for those who aren’t ready and eager for a child right now — the Lord opens the womb and gives life. And to those who dearly desire children, who have begged and prayed God for them, the Lord gives — and then He also takes away what He had previously given.

Many mothers and fathers have been deceived by lies that brought them to have abortions. They are surrounded by the world’s lies that tell them that their abortion was not only a matter of convenience, but even that it was a good work — a godly and holy action. This false teaching and evil confession confuses their consciences and hinders their repentance. Such lies have also robbed many who have miscarried of the comfort of properly mourning the children they never got to hold.

But what of our expectations? Is any expectation of good left for us now? Do we expect our grief to just kind of fade away? Do we expect to just move on and get back to life? If that is all there is, it is a poor expectation, indeed.

That was the kind of expectation that a group of women had after they had witnessed the death of their Lord. Saint Matthew says that on Sunday morning they went “to see the tomb.” No other expectations. Simply to see a hole cut in the rock and their loved one’s cold dead body laid within. Not much to expect. Not much to look forward to.

But Christ Himself counteracts their expectations and brings them to nothing. He replaces their foolish expectations with something glorious. They are rejoined to Him whom they had lost.

OK, that was good for them, but what about now? What about when I can’t hold my loved ones, when I can’t be with them? Yes, I know that they will rise again, at the resurrection on the last day. But what about now? What about today?

Dearly beloved: do you not know Christ? Do you not know that Jesus Himself is the Resurrection and the Life? Do you not know that Christ Himself is keeping your children for you? Do you not know that your children are still yours? That such children can still be numbered among your children, among your brothers and sisters?

For Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is our Lord, who has redeemed us, lost and condemned persons, purchased and won us from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that we may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. So whatever else you might think or feel in your grief, it is this that is most certainly true.

As Christians, we know and confess that God alone gives and takes life, yet it seems He was far too eager to hold these little ones. We were eager for the joys which these little ones would have known and experienced in this life. We feared the troubles that these little ones may have known in this life — and even the crosses and struggles that we ourselves would have had to bear on account of such little ones.

Even though these children didn’t know life in this world, God has brought them into a better world. They see the light of Christ and He satisfies them at all times and in ways that we never could — no matter how invested we may have been. Whatever it is you wanted for these little ones — and whatever it was that you feared on their behalf — these children now lack nothing in Christ. They are now more fully alive — even more fully human — than you or I have ever known or experienced in this life. Our Lord Jesus has taken them into His arms and blessed them in a most direct way.

According to our feeble and fallen reason, we think it would be best if God would just fix this and make everything right. And even if God didn’t restore that which we had lost, that we, ourselves, could bring about the resolution we seek.

These little ones lived for a very short time here. But a short life does not mean a vain life. Carrying a child in the womb even for a few weeks wasn’t a waste. Yes, the life was short, but it was life given by God — and that’s what makes it valuable. You and I do not create life; God does. God gives life and He makes it holy.