Glorifying the Lord in Death
September 13, 2010
Dear Friends,
Woody Allen once said “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work… I want to achieve it through not dying.” I couldn’t agree more though I’m not particularly scared of dying. At least I don’t think I am. We’ll see when the moment comes.
Death is not something we like to talk about. In fact, most of us would prefer to talk about anything else. The undeniable fact is that if we don’t see the Lord’s coming in our lifetime, we, like all those before us, will face the “long sleep.”
The Apostle Paul spoke of magnifying the Lord in death.
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. (Php 1:20)
How is Jesus best glorified in our death? What does the Bible command us regarding funeral services and arrangements?
The Bible is silent regarding commands for the believer regarding burial and funeral arrangements. This being the case it seems to me that all of these issues should be left up to the conscience of the believer. Do you want to be cremated? Fine. Do you want to have a burial service? Fine. The Bible gives no command and so I won’t fabricate one.
While the Bible gives no commandments for the believer regarding funerals and what to do with the bodies, the Bible is not silent on the matter as there are numerous mentions of deaths and burials. Most of the Biblical patriarchs were buried in caves or tombs as was Jesus. (see Gen. 23:19; 35:4; 2 Chron. 16:14; Matt. 27:60-66). The act of burning bodies was considered an ignoble burial and is associated with the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) – the trash dump outside of Jerusalem where prisoner’s bodies were burned. This is also the site where many children were burned alive in sacrifice to Molech. (2 Kings 23:10) Some brethren see all of this anecdotal evidence of a precedent that God doesn’t want us to be cremated, but buried. While I recognize this evidence and respect this choice, let me share with you my reasoning for a different path.
1. “The hope and resurrection of the dead.” (Acts 23:6) We all recognize that God’s power to resurrect us is not at all contingent on what happens to our body. Some saints have been burned to death as Paul alludes to when he says “though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:3) Many saints are long since turned back to dust. Some saints were eaten by animals in the Roman games. Regardless of how we died or in what state that body is when Christ returns, those who God decides to reanimate will come forth from the grave. Even shortly after death when the body of the saint still retains the exact likeness of the believer in life, we know that all we are looking at is dust in the shape of that person. It is not that person in essence because that person no longer exists except in the mind of God. In fact, I can’t think of one religion that teaches differently whether they believe in resurrection, heaven-going, reincarnation or whatever. If that then is the case that the body is nothing, it seems to me that it really doesn’t matter what happens to that “human-shaped dust.”
2. “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” (Ecc. 9:4) Life is what really matters to God and what should matter to us. For this reason, I think that any benefit that can be accrued from our human-shaped dust (or deceased body) to the living should be done. In this case, I mean organ donation. I think that the loving thing to do is to give whatever organs can be used to another living human being so that the quality of their lives can be improved. If God wants us to sacrifice our lives for others in life, why would He not want us to give our dead and otherwise unusable organs to someone who might benefit? As of June 2010, there were 108,589 people waiting for organ donation according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Hopefully we have shown our sacrificial love in our lives. Can we also not show sacrificial love in our death?
3. “Distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.” (Acts 4:35) The cost of funeral in the US is about $6,500 but can run upwards of $10,000 when everything is added in. From what I have witnessed, funerals in developing countries are very expensive as well relative to the people’s incomes. This is a lot of money which, frankly speaking, can be used for more important things. Since our money is really the Lord’s money, should we be plunking down $10,000 to bury someone when this money could be used for feeding hungry children or preaching God’s truth? Cremation, on the other hand, costs about $1,000. Personally, I want to offer whatever I can of my organs and then dispose of the rest in the most economical way which is presently cremation.
Suppose we spend the $1,000 for cremation and then donate the rest of the money we would have spent on burial to a charity of the deceased choice in the deceased’s name? Personally, I would much prefer this kind of memorial to an expensive marker in a graveyard.
4. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death. (Rev. 21:4) We have a hope. This hope is no more powerfully realized than at a funeral. However, I don’t believe that funerals are a proper time to give a public lecture. It is entirely appropriate to reference the resurrection and the reason for our hope, but may I suggest that this is a perfect time to talk about the life of the deceased and hopefully how the hope of Israel changed their life for the better. This is the great witness in how this person was raised to a new life when baptized and was a better person for it. May I suggest that this resonates a whole lot more with people than a lecture on the nuances between going to heaven versus resurrection at the Last Day? Furthermore, it is this hope in God wiping away tears in the future that helps us to wipe away tears now for we know that God, who raised his son from death, has promised the same thing to us. In celebrating the deceased person’s life, we provide comfort for those living who will miss their family member or friend. So for me, the best possible funeral is a celebration of that person’s life as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God on earth. In a sense, it is a time of rejoicing and reflection and, in acting this way, reflects a faith that people might wish to know and understand.
As we started off by saying, the Bible gives no command on these issues, so please do not take the forgoing suggestions as “the right way” or “the only way” to bury someone. This should be left up to the family without any pressure from anyone else. It is a difficult time already without someone interfering by telling the family to do this or that. However, before the time comes, it might serve us well to think about how we might glorify the Lord Jesus in our death should it come before he returns to this earth.
Have a great week,
Comments»
Well done. We can be giving in life and death.