There Are Two Kinds of Funerals

            I haven’t been to many funerals but I’ve been to enough to notice a difference between a few of these.

            When I was going into my freshman year of high school I lost a close relative of mine. I was heartbroken. We all knew it was coming but none of us were truly prepared to deal with the loss. When it was time for the viewing there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Before the service began there were a few sniffles with boxes of tissues being passed around and there was arguing in front of the casket. Once the preacher began to speak sobbing ensued.

            With the tears being shed it was almost as if there was no real peace in the room, no peace in our family or in our hearts. The preacher had to speak loudly for everyone to hear. I can’t remember too much about what was said, but I remember the theme of the message matching the tone of my family’s tears: They are forever gone. Now there will always be something missing in our lives and there is nothing that can mend our hearts. We should just take our loss and try to find a way to cope and move on.

At this time I was not in Christ. All I knew up until then was that there is no life after death.

Since then I have been to more Christ centered funerals. Recently I went to a funeral to support a friend who lost a loved one. I’ve never heard such laughter, felt such love and seen so many embraces being passed around by the family who where rejoicing in the lives once lived by the recently passed. Of course there were tears but these tears were not the same as the tears I’ve seen being shed in the past. These tears had more life and love in them. These tears were uplifting, merciful, and in worship to God.

The difference between these funerals was God. God was invited and he was praised.

In this funeral the Pastor had a greater message that summed up what our attitudes about life and death should be. He read the passage Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. What a perfect verse to speak on at a funeral. If we truly give ourselves up to God there is no real deep sorrow but a great joy. We rejoice because death is not the end of us. We don’t simply live and die. We are given a life so that we might know Christ and to have the ability to proclaim his name. Death should not be feared because Christ has taken away its sting. It is now something we should readily accept because it brings us back to Christ. We live our lives on earth for the gospel of Jesus Christ and whenever we do pass we are reunited with our savior!