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.”

If you enjoyed this devotion, may I tell you about my new book, Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women?

 Today's women want to connect with God, but in the craziness of life, it’s just not happening. You want practical, biblical answers to situations you face every day, but you don’t have hours to pore over Scripture.

You need a resource that answers the questions you’re afraid to ask out loud. Questions like:

• Is my situation hopeless?
• If God already knows what he’s going to do, why bother to pray? 
• Why have you allowed this to happen to me? 
• No one appreciates what I do. Why shouldn’t I quit? 

Each devotion begins with a Facetime question and ends with a biblical answer wrapped in a modern day parable. Like a spiritual power bar, Hungry for God … Starving for Time is packed with enough scriptural nutrition to get you through the day. Wherever you are—in break rooms, carpool lines, or wherever you can snatch five minutes of quiet reflection—Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women is for you. 

 

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Everything in a cemetery isn't dead -- a tribute to my sister-in-law

I found the dead tree in the middle of the cemetery strangely appropriate.

Everything is dead in a cemetery.

Flowers that were once alive wither within hours.

Some of the flowers there were never alive, yet they fade and drop as well--twice dead, perhaps?

But no, one needs to be alive to die.

 Ironic.

We come to commemorate my sister-in-law's life. It's her birthday.  It seems cruel to list her birthday on a marker right next to the date of her death, but death is cruel.

"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14).

We bring a bright balloon that proclaims HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to tie around the  grave marker.

I wonder if such celebratory language is disrespectful in such a dismal place.

I'm certainly not feeling the exclamation point stamped in gold on the balloon. Instead, I feel a pang of regret for the last birthday we could have celebrated together. But she was busy, and we were getting ready to leave on a mission trip, so we hugged over the phone and made promises of how we'd celebrate when we got home.

We never dreamed that we would return in two weeks, and she would be gone.

 "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow" (James 4:13-14).


I threw the gift in the trash.

She doesn't need the necklace and earrings anymore. She's wearing a spotless robe that needs no accessories.

"I know you're not here," my mother-in-law says, "but I want to sing to you any way." Her warbly voice makes it almost all the way through the traditional refrain before it cracks, and she kneels down to tie the balloon.

And then she loses her balance. More of a slow roll than a fall, and we know she'll not be hurt, but in the tumble, the happy birthday balloon sees its chance and escapes. Focused on her, not it, we don't see it drift away toward the clouds until it's too high to jump for.

As it escapes the bond that tethered it to earth and slowly makes its way to the sky, there's a certain rightness about it.

And I realize that we've got it all wrong. Tying the balloon to the grave marker flies in the face of the fact that Kay is not here.

The balloon remembered what we had lost sight of --

Not everything in a cemetery is dead.


"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies" (John 11:25).

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? (S)he is not here; (s)he has risen!"

 "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:54-58).

". . .  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:26).

Happy Birthday, Kay. We'll celebrate when we get home. 

If you enjoyed this devotion, may I tell you about my new book, Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women?

 Today's women want to connect with God, but in the craziness of life, it’s just not happening. You want practical, biblical answers to situations you face every day, but you don’t have hours to pore over Scripture.

You need a resource that answers the questions you’re afraid to ask out loud. Questions like:

• Is my situation hopeless?
• If God already knows what he’s going to do, why bother to pray? 
• Why have you allowed this to happen to me? 
• No one appreciates what I do. Why shouldn’t I quit? 

Each devotion begins with a Facetime question and ends with a biblical answer wrapped in a modern day parable. Like a spiritual power bar, Hungry for God … Starving for Time is packed with enough scriptural nutrition to get you through the day. Wherever you are—in break rooms, carpool lines, or wherever you can snatch five minutes of quiet reflection—Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women is for you. 

 

If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe? I'll send you twice-weekly 5-minute devotions to help nourish your soul. 
Because women need to connect with God in the craziness of life. 

Enter your email address and VALIDATE the Feedburner email sent to your inbox.



Delivered by FeedBurner

Hungry for God is on Facebook! Will you take a moment and LIKE my page? CLICK HERE to help HFG share 5-minute devotions.