Why Funerals Aren't All Bad

I’ve attended funeral services where grieving loved ones’ cars overflowed the parking lot and mourners watched the service from side rooms on closed-caption tvs because the sanctuary was standing-room only.

And I’ve attended funeral services where random bits and pieces of a tattered family stood awkwardly around a casket checking their watches to see how long until the perfunctory rituals were completed.

I’ve been a part of services that were more like weddings, because they were celebratory, albeit in a sad, tender sort of way. 

And I’ve been a part of services that were bitterly painful and completely devoid of hope.

I’ve participated in tributes that testified of a life well-lived to the glory of God, and I’ve participated in tributes where the minister was hired for the hour and scrambled to piece together enough facts to fake an association.

Funerals make people introspective, because they bring us face to face with the reality that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). It is fitting that we ponder both our eternity and our lives today.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” the psalmist prays. 

Do I want those attending my funeral to tell stories about what a great tennis player I was, or what a difference I made in someone’s life? Will they expound about what a brilliant mind I had, or about my tender heart? Will they share how I stood in line for hours to see a great concert, or how I stood by their bedside when they were sick?

At my funeral, what will people say?

And what will they say at yours?

Most importantly, what will Jesus say?

I pray it will be “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.”

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