I didn’t tell any jokes, I didn’t share any funny stories, and my sermon was only a few minutes long preaching to handful of mostly elderly people uncomfortably gathered around a thin wooden coffin. They quietly gazed at the undeniable, terrible truth of death and wiped the sweat from their brows in the 95f midday sun.
I did the only thing I could do in a circumstance like this, I opened God’s Word and read from John 11:25-26
Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live.
Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”
I explained the gospel as carefully, simply, and clearly as I could in the few minutes I had. Then young men came, grabbed the coffin and walked a few steps over to the grave where the gravedigger, a very fat shirtless man, had apparently just finished his ungrateful task and was seated on the other side of the pile of dirt waiting to undo his previous labor.
They lowered the casket then presented the mourners with a glistening stainless steel bowl filled with dirt.
“Go ahead and throw some dirt in the grave, you can do it with the trowel or with your hand.” They told us. I waited until most everyone had finished, which wasn’t long at all. A quick scoop and then a toss, then I started to turn away.
“You need to do it three times.” The young man holding the bowl whispered quickly. I obliged and quickly repeated the movements twice over.
Now back to the car, back to our end of town, dropping people off near their homes. I still had to run and pick the kids up from school, then on the way home pick up a young man who I was supposed to be meeting with for discipleship today.
I finally made it home in time for dinner before heading back to downtown to speak to our church’s youth.
“What a contrast!” I thought to myself, a funeral and youth group all in one day!
Laughter, small talk, getting to know a few guests, more laughter, a song, and some prayer. I made sure we turned the A/C on in the meantime the young men and women sipped tea and tested cookies. The atmosphere was far different from what I had experienced just hours earlier standing on the naked ground under a merciless sun in front of the deadly truth.
Again I did the only thing I could do in a circumstance like this, I opened my Bible and began to read from Eph 5:1-2
So be imitators of God, as his dear children.
Live lovingly, just as the Messiah also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God.
For the next hour or so we went from one Bible passage to another. I instructed them on the importance of growing in their faith. I told them that choices they make now can have ramifications for years to come and they can have eternal consequences or rewards.
I exhorted them to be sure that their faith is squarely grounded in Jesus Christ, I encouraged them to strengthen their faith not by simply reading God’s Word but by learning to love God’s Word.
I talked from Phil 2 about the importance of humility in our spiritual growth. I challenged them to view suffering as a vital means for strengthening their faith. Finally, I asked them to pursue the knowledge of God personally and invest their time into learning his attributes, character, and will.
Some asked questions, some thought of good ways to possibly apply what they were learning, some shared challenges they have with Bible reading.
How good it is for them to study God’s Word now, while they’re young. What a difference it will make in their lives, in their marriages, in their families, in their jobs! Above all it will change how they view death die and it will make a difference in eternity.
As I think back over this day I’m grateful for the range of ministry God has allowed me to take part in. I am daily further impressed with the Bible’s vastness, it’s ability to touch man at every age, in every situation from birth to children, to youth, to middle-aged, to aged. The Bible is right for every situation. It is the Book of Life because it and it alone can give life even at a funeral!
Consider for a moment this beautiful quote from J.C. Ryle
“Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience. Mathematics never healed a broken heart. All the sciences in the world never soothed a dying man. No earthly philosophy ever supplied hope in death. No natural theology ever gave peace in the prospect of meeting a holy God. All these things are of the earth and can never raise a man above the earth’s level. They may enable a man to strut and fret his little time here on earth with a more dignified manner of walking than his fellow-mortals, but they can never give him wings, and enable him to soar towards heaven. He that has the largest share of them, will find in time that without Bible knowledge he has no lasting possession. Death will make an end of all his attainments, and after death they will do him no good at all.”
Friend find your Bible, read it, study it, memorize it, believe it, live it!
