Life from Death
In past the several months, I’ve attended nine funerals at my church. Twelve this calendar year. This is more than normal in a short period of time. But we’ve been through seasons like this before. The truth is, I count it a great blessing that I grew up in a church and now serve in a church where we have a regular number of funerals every year. That might be odd to read. It feels a bit odd to write. But funerals have always been intended to do good to those who attend (Ecclesiastes 7:2). Here are some of the reasons I thank God that I am a part of a church with its regular share of funerals.
Funerals reflect a generationally diverse church. This isn’t always the case. But at our church the regular number of funerals indicates a church that is generationally diverse. At the beginning of this year, a third of our church members were under the age of 40, and another third were over the age of 65 (with the final third in between). It’s a joy to be in a church with older saints, many of whom have served the Lord faithfully for decades. The funerals this year included a longtime English teacher, a Bible professor, a research assistant turned stay-at-home mom, an expert tailor and teddy bear maker, an addict-turned-evangelist, a stillborn of a young couple, and the wife of one of my mentors. These represent a spectrum of faithful members at my church. They served in various ways for as long as they were able. They touched many lives through their work and through their involvement in the church. I knew each of them, some better than others, and their faithfulness and consistency of involvement, even sometimes with physical limitations, were a godly example to me.
Funerals teach us to number our days. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to a funeral than a feast” (NET). That statement will catch your attention. And it’s intended to. If it seems counterintuitive, it is, which is why the writer of Ecclesiastes goes on to give the reason that this is the case: “For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart.” The reason that it is good for us to go to funerals is because funerals bring us face to face with the one reality of life that none of us can escape: death. It is the end (of this earthly life) to which we all proceed. And thus, funerals cause us to think about our lives, how we are spending them, what we are investing in, and who is reigning in our hearts. One of my mentors used to say that numbering our days isn’t living every day as if it is our final day. Rather, it’s living every day in light of the fact that there will be a final day. Funerals help us to number our days by confronting us with the reality that we, too, will have a final day on this earth. Are we ready for it?
Funerals are a time to weep with those who weep. For the past year, my church has studied 1 Corinthians, and we recently were in chapter 12. Verse 26 says, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” One of the ways that God cultivates unity in a church family is through suffering. When a particular part of our physical body is hurt, it naturally affects our whole body. The same ought to be true of a church family. We rally around those who are hurting to support them and walk with them in their suffering. We move towards them in their suffering. We spend time with them. We encourage them with God’s promises. As I walk through a visitation line before a funeral, it is not uncommon to cry with my brothers and sisters who are crying. Or again to cry as I listen to members of the family or friends share memories about the one who passed away. It is a good thing for us to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). We ended up in 1 Corinthians 15 (the great resurrection chapter) during another group of funerals a month ago. God’s timing is perfect.
Funerals teach my kids about the gospel. As often as I can, I like to bring one or more of my children to the funerals at our church. At funerals, my children get to hear the gospel while being confronted with the consequences of sin: suffering and death. They get to hear how people came to faith in Christ, how they went on to serve the Lord with their lives, or how they trusted God through significant trials. They hear stories of what it is like to follow Jesus through all kinds of life circumstances. They hear the gospel truths of Jesus’ resurrection, our future resurrection, and eternal life. Last month they got to hear a choir of recovering addicts sing “Is He Worthy” by Andrew Petersen. Funerals are a place of gospel urgency when the need for the gospel is easily seen. A funeral pictures that we all need life from death, and the message of Christian funerals is that through faith, Jesus’ death becomes our death, and Jesus’ resurrection becomes our resurrection. Jesus brings life from death. I love that my kids get to hear the good news in this context during their growing up years.
Funerals encourage a church to give, expecting nothing in return. I know a lot of the elderly in my church. I don’t know all of them well, but I’m still connected with them and care about them. Because the church is a place where we commit to one another and serve one another, not because of how well we mesh or because we are in the same life stage or because we like the same kinds of things but rather because God has united us in a family to build one another up in the faith. We love each other because God has loved us. We serve one another because God has served us. And funerals are a great place to display this. Funerals aren’t simply a time for family and close friends to come together. They are a time for the whole church to encourage and support a hurting family, no matter how well they knew the person who passed away. Attending funerals is a simple, practical way to display a gospel-driven commitment to a church family. The presence of the body of Christ gives suffering saints great encouragement.
So, I thank God that I grew up and now serve in a church where I get to experience these wonderful blessings on a regular basis. The message at funerals is that God brings life from death, joy from sorrow, hope from hurt. Death does not have the final word. At our most recent funeral, one of my pastors quoted these verses which sum up this point well: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).