Funerals

February 10, 2020

Funeral preparation is never fun. It’s not like weddings and baptisms where I have plenty of time to ponder your remarks. Two or three days at the most are all I have, and when people are going through such emotional and spiritual trauma, I want to be at the top of my game. Even those who never darken the door of a church are looking for some hope at a time when it seems to be in short supply. I know it cannot be conjured up at the last moment, but people are looking to me to give them something that isn’t mine to give. They’re often like green troops going into battle never having even gone through boot camp. Any way you look at it, funerals are stressful. 

Preparing for a funeral of someone you’ve never met is a particularly challenging endeavor, but is made easier when I learn that this person was a follower of Christ. That’s what I’ve been doing this evening. Tomorrow morning, I officiate, and I am grateful tonight that with all the things I don’t know about this woman, what I do know is that she is a follower of Jesus Christ. Notice I used the present tense. There is no “was” for the believer. This woman is more alive today than she ever was while on earth, and it is this hope I have the privilege of proclaiming tomorrow. It’s never easy, but it also never gets old, for which I am grateful tonight.