Fr Saulo Bledoff's Homily at the Interment of a miscarried child

A WORD OF COMFORT FOR PARENTS OF A STILLBORN CHILD

St. Matthew 28:1-10

One of the marks of this life is frustrated expectations, among them the expectation of a child who died before being born. Much was expected for this child and about this child – you were expecting, it’s how we call it – but death frustrated all these expectations. So, what to expect now, if there is still any expectation left? Maybe you expect the ability to forget the trauma of the last days, for the sharp stinging pain to become just a dull ache that can be ignored so that you can move on.

It’s understandable. It is the kind of thing that we all expect in a situation like this. Christ, first and foremost, certainly understands that we, that you have this kind of expectation - for we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15). But it is a poor kind of expectation, I must say. It is an expectation of defeat. The expectation of one who runs in retreat hoping to get out alive, nothing else. The kind of expectation that settles for the minimum. Christ has more than that for you.

In the Gospel we just read, we see a group of women with their hearts full of this kind of poor expectation. They went “to see the tomb”, says the text. That’s all they think they have left. They settle for the minimum – “to see the tomb.” Nothing else to expect. But Christ frustrates these poor expectations. And how wonderful it is when Christ frustrates our poor expectations and brings into our reality something that no one expected!

So, dear parents, maybe in your hearts you are now settling for the minimum – for this terrible week to be over, for the strength to move on. And God knows that, and He has mercy on you, and He will give you strength to move on. But in Christ, He wants to give you more than that today. He wants to lift your hearts toward things that people don’t usually expect in a situation like this. We do not grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13ss). He gives you a bold, ambitious expectation, one that hopes for great and unexpected things.

We came here today expecting to bury this child, to see the tomb, but so much more can be expected for this child and about this child. On the day of the resurrection, of course, but even now. You still have this child. Christ is keeping this child for you. This is still your child. This child can still be numbered amongst the number of your children. And for this child you can expect even more, right now, than for the one you still have in this world.

Imagine what the life of this child is like. The last thing this child knew was the embrace of the mother’s womb and then the arms of Christ. This child never needed to see the evil of this world. Never needed to be afflicted by the devil or feel the burden of sin. This child never had to cry. Never had to understand what sadness, fear, or death is. It is true that this child never saw the light of day or felt the warmth of the sun, but now this child sees the light of Christ and basks in His glory. This child never saw this world, but will see the New Heaven and the New Earth. This child is not losing anything but is being spared many things. In their life, they only knew and will only ever know what is perfect and full. Christ satisfies them at all times in a way that we never could have done, no matter how invested we were. God spared them from what we still have to go through and took them directly to Himself. As the prophet Isaiah says, some the Lord takes to Himself early, before the evil days come (57:1).

The short period this child lived was not in vain. Carrying this child in the womb for a few weeks was not a waste. It was a short life, but a life worth living. It is still life, and life is what God wants for us. Through you, He gave life to this child, and this child can now see Heaven because of that. Even though you were not able to bring this child into this world, He brought this child into a better one for you. The kind of a world that we could not have given them here. Look at the happiness your toil brought to this child.

It is true, we did not have the opportunity to baptize them. However, let us remember that the sacraments are a rule to which we are bound, but God is not bound to it. He can choose to apply His grace outside of the sacraments to someone who did not have time to benefit from them, as He did with the thief on the cross. This child had already been entrusted to Christ in prayer even before birth. How could the Lord cast out someone who is brought to Him? (John 6:37) This is not the kind of God we have – a rigid God. No. We have a Father of mercy. With confidence we can say what David said about his son who never had the opportunity to be circumcised: “He will not return to me, but I will go to him” (2 Samuel 12:23).

And you will go. And that is what you can now look forward to and expect. You can expect the day when the Lord will call you to see His New Heaven and His New Earth, and there you will see a child whom you have never seen before, but whom you will feel you know, because they look like you. And this child will call you father and mother. And will say “greetings”, just like the Lord said to the women by the tomb. As casually and as wonderfully as life. And this child will have so much to tell about the wonders they experienced while waiting for you.

Lift up your heads and expect these things now—things that others do not expect. And we know that those who wait on the Lord, those who hope in Him, those who expect from Him, will not be put to shame and will not have their expectation frustrated. Amen.

Revd Saulo A. P. Bledoff, p.

St. John’s Lutheran Church, Snyder, ON

20 July AD 2025