The Funeral of Allen Richard Gutknecht

October 18, 2025

John 10:27-28

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, grace, mercy, and peace be to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The text just read from John 10 comes from the well-known Good Shepherd passage. Here, Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd and shows the intimate relationship between Him and His people, His flock.

This is a special relationship, too. A shepherd would live with the sheep, travel with them, guard and protect them, and safely lead them to good pasture.

And this is why the relationship between Jesus and His sheep is most clearly demonstrated by these words, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give to them eternal life” (Jn 10:27-28).

He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them…”

Isn’t this something? Just as a child learns the sound of a parent’s voice, the sheep would recognize all the subtle nuances of their shepherd’s voice. 

And it’s not just that the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd, but that the shepherd also knows the sheep. In this way, the relationship between the shepherd and sheep is present; the two are connected, and the sheep is loved and cared for by the shepherd.

Allen, a lamb and a sheep, was known by his Shepherd, and he was known by name; because in Holy Baptism, Allen became God’s child.

And every time Allen returned to this church in his youth, he was led to live out the baptismal life he was given. He was encouraged to confess his sins so he could hear and receive forgiveness—the Shepherd’s absolution. When he came to this church, he learned and heard God’s Word; the Shepherd spoke to Him. When Allen sang the hymns, he repeated God’s Word back to His Savior, and in a miraculous way, he would hear the voice of His Shepherd again as he sang aloud, so he might learn His voice more clearly, take it to heart, and be led by it and be known by Him.  

This foundation Allen received in his youth would prove to be incredibly important as he aged, as he lost his freedoms, and his difficulties with dementia increased.

In these waning years, Allen no longer recognized his friends and family like he used to. He could no longer remember specific times, places, or events from his life. He struggled to have conversations with the people he once knew; it’s as if the relationships had been severed by the dementia, a burden he had to bear as a child who inherited the sin of his first parents, Adam and Eve.

However, as Allen’s time on earth was drawing to a close, it became clearer to me that it was we who did not truly know him. At least among those of us in and around Tomah who often saw him walking down Superior Street most days. 

Even before his memory declined, Allen did not talk about his Navy service, his ongoing work for our country in his younger years at NASA, or his employment with the Army or Navy, living in Arizona, California, Michigan, Wisconsin, Spain, or even Bermuda. 

In a way, when you look at these places, Allen’s life reads more like the records of the world’s “Most interesting man.”

But I believe that’s because he was countercultural in the sense that he didn’t want to talk about himself. Instead, his life and speech were meant to be occupied with the words and voice of his Savior and being known by Him.

This shows in how he would visit shut-ins, go to nursing homes, and sing to them.

What a wonderful thing we should all strive for and pray for in this life, especially now. To be known by Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to hear and be occupied by his voice.

But again, it all started with how God’s Word was spoken into Allen’s ears and planted in his heart as a child, enabling him to recognize His Savior’s voice even in his last days, as his mind faded. 

While Allen was not able to recall the history of his life these final months, he remembered the story of Jesus, who took on his sin and yours to the cross and died in your place, and how He became the lamb that silently went to the cross to die your death so you could live.

This death of Jesus is, by the way, what makes Jesus Good, that He would lay down His life for you, for Allen, His sheep.

Allen continued to confess this truth, even as I’d sit with him these past few months, and we would pray the Lord’s Prayer and recite the Apostles’ Creed.

Allen could still confess this faith because it was entrusted to him as a child, exercised throughout all the days and years of his life. It’s a faith that united him to Jesus’ death and also granted him new, eternal life in the resurrection of Jesus. 

And if we revisit the text for this sermon, this is what being a sheep of the Good Shepherd leads to, remember, Jesus said,

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give to them eternal life” (Jn 10:27-28).

Allen received eternal life not through his deeds, the people he visited, the places he traveled, or the work he performed. He received it because he listened to his Shepherd's voice, confessed it, followed it, and was made a lamb, a sheep of Christ’s fold by it. 

Do you confess such faith?

I remember the last hymn I sang to Allen was “I am Jesus’ little Lamb.” The hymn is often seen as a children’s hymn, and sometimes only the first stanza is ever taught. But the third stanza goes as such, 

Who so happy as I am,
Even now the Shepherd’s lamb?
And when my short life is ended,
By His angel host attended,
He shall fold me to His breast,
There within His arms to rest.

What a beautiful image of eternal life with one’s Savior. The Good Shepherd, who refuses to let even death separate Him from His lambs and His sheep, but gathers them unto Himself.

This is true not only for Allen but for all the faithful: on the last day, death will not separate you from the love and mercy of Christ Jesus. It won’t.

Do not delay, my friends; hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, your Shepherd. Believe in Him and receive the eternal life that Allen now shares with His Savior. +INJ+

Rev. Noah J. Rogness

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Tomah, WI