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Funeral messages are by nature underprepared. It is rare for a preacher to have more than 72 hours notice before the service?three days filled with regular responsibilities plus extra time spent with the family of the deceased. It is a privilege, though, a chance to minister to people uniquely prepared for a word of comfort and gentle exhortation. The service is also an opportunity to preach the gospel to folks who never attend any other kind of religious service. How could a preacher miss this teachable moment to speak God’s word, however briefly, to those he’s never seen before and will likely never see again in this life?
I think in doing so, a preacher is saying what the dead person would say if he or she could be heard by our ears. It sounds odd to say but if the dead one who entered eternity days ago could rejoin his body for just a moment he would grab his friends or loved ones by the collar and say, “Listen to my example in this life!” That would be true of the godly departed and of those who weren’t.
In our culture, funerals are more likely to be the only truly religious service that lost people attend. It is becoming ever more common for weddings to be nonreligious or vaguely ecumenical (Revelation 3:16 comes to mind), so we often hear a weak homily, hear terrible music, and go to a rowdy party rather than anything consonant with the importance of the commitment being made. Truly nonreligious funerals are more rare?even though the religious aspect can be pretty weak. People are more serious at a funeral, more likely to think about ultimate things. It is a shame that weddings are becoming less serious, but funerals remain an entrée into the lives of the most spiritually poor people we’ll ever meet.
Just recently, I did a funeral for a family that has been dear to me for almost 25 years. The matriarch of this family lived a long and generous life, and she left a godly example to all who knew her. It was easy to preach the gospel in that context because her example preached the gospel. Her favorite verses were those that spoke of the benefits that come from trusting the Lord. As always, some attendees were likely lost or struggling spiritually. It occurred to me as I stood behind the casket that I’d seen a great number of funerals where people were deeply moved during the service but little affected in the days that followed. It seems as though the example of a beloved Christian person is nice and inspiring but also apart from us in some way. Maybe our disregard for the message of a well-lived life is a rationalization in service of neglecting important decisions. I do believe that this lady, three days in God’s presence, would have plainly, passionately called her mourners to follow her Lord. The dead do speak as we consider what we know of their lives, and if we’ll listen.
Of course, I’ve also done the more difficult funeral where the mourners grieve as those who have no hope. There is no godly legacy to cite, and it’s not an appropriate time to say that there is no godly legacy to cite. But such a person’s testimony has a spiritual message nonetheless. He is also three days into eternity, though his experience of it might be that of the rich man in Luke 16. And like that tormented soul, an ungodly dead person would very much wish that those he left behind would consider his example, as a warning. The preacher speaks for the ungodly dead also, though he is not so free to call attention to the example of a person who gave no apparent signs of faith in God.
The message is the same, though. In Christ we can have hope in this life and the next. In Christ we can find comfort even as we grieve the loss of someone dear to us. Since his example did not preach Christ, the opportunity to explain who our Lord is and how he gives life to those who believe seems more natural.
So find a way to gently, briefly, but directly cut loose when you preach a funeral. It’s pretty hard to deny that the person in the casket would say “amen” to your gospel message if he could. The message of redemption from sin and hope for eternity is the most comforting message that any preacher can offer.
