Life at a Funeral

This past Sunday our church ended a ten week Christian Formation, (also known as Sunday school), series on death and dying.  I know, what better way to ring in the start of the Fall season then with DEATH and DYING!?  But it struck me as early as the first Sunday class…this is not something that many people talk about.  We started out kind of heady discussing theology of the resurrection, new body, second earth (meaning heaven is HERE not some far away cloud kingdom), and the connection between the body and the soul and not the separation of the two.

With the theology as the foundation we moved into the practical: have you ever planned your funeral?  Have you discussed your wishes with a loved one?  Have you thought about what it means to die well?  We discussed suicide, long term illness, sudden death, and the impact for the people left behind.  As a twenty-eight year old single female, I have never discussed my hope for my funeral with a loved one or even given it much thought. 

But why not?  Death is a reality that all of us will face one day and the stigma of it comes from a place of lack of hope.  But I do have HOPE!  And I am SURE of what I hope for and CERTAIN of what I do not see, (Hebrews 11:1 à Definition of faith).  Death does not have to be scary and planning for my funereal, near or far does not have to be abysmal.  In fact, I can make my funeral a celebration.  I can take the opportunity to in planning my funeral to tell my family and friends just how much I love them and appreciate them.  I can make decisions now, so that my family will not be faced with struggle and heart ache in the chance that death comes suddenly and they do not know what I would want.

This might all sound morbid, but here is the truth.  I can face my fear of this life ending, and look forward to the hope I have in the final resurrection, where all creation, human and non-human, will be redeemed and have new life.

Compelling Christian Community

The other Sunday I preached on what it means to be a compelling Christian community.  Looking at the community in Acts 2 we see a picture of the early church and we see the importance of living a life of faith together.  The way the early church loved one another spoke to their faith and witnessed to God’s transforming salvation.  During this sermon I used the story of my friends Emily and Kari as an illustration of how community changes our lives of faith.

In my first Chicago marathon, I knew I did not want to run alone.  I convinced some friends to meet me at different points in the race.  The idea was that my friends would meet me at mile markers 15, 17, and 19 and run a portion of the race with me.  My plan was perfect…or so I thought.  As it turns out, I was on a faster pace than anticipated.  What that meant was that as I passed mile markers 15, 17, and 19, my friends were no where in sight.  As mile after mile dragged on I didn’t know if I would make it to the finish line.  Then with one mile left a miracle happened.  Amidst the 45,000 runners, my friends Emily and Kari, that were supposed to meet me at mile 19, found me!  That last mile was like running my very first.  Having my friends alongside me changed my race.  

Again, in a life of faith we get to run the race together and that makes all the difference.  This past weekend I had the opportunity to go on a retreat with some dear friends from seminary.  I was so blessed to be with friends and loved ones that make my heart rejoice.  I love my life of ministry, but times of transition are always an adjustment.  What makes it so hard?  We all need community to thrive and be healthy.  We all need community.  

So here is a bit of a tribute to the wonderful people in my life that I love so much.  Thank you for the reminder of why we need community and what it means to be a part of community.