I received a phone call last October when our senior pastor was out of town. A church member had passed away. I'd proudly served on staff as "Minister for the Young, but funeral services remained unexplored. I panicked for a moment receiving a call from the pastor who told me to prepare and lead the funeral service. Looking back, however, grace abounded in every moment. What I am most grateful for is that God confirmed the hope of resurrection and my calling in me.
I called and asked pastor friends of mine about it and diligently looked up some resources. One thing that struck me was the terminology that the United Methodists use for this service. Although commonly referred to as Funeral Service, it was also called A Service of Death and Resurrection. The primary reason for the church community to gather for worship facing the death of members was to proclaim the power of resurrection. The Funeral Service or the Service of Death and Resurrection was to affirm the life that overcomes death in Christ, the love of God that embraces us in the face of death, and the comfort we find in a church community that weeps with those who weep. We get sick, grow old, and die, But this hope is burning brightly in our hearts at any moment, which1 Peter rightly calls Living Hope.
I had a chance to sit with the widow who had been married to the deceased for over 65 years. After moving to the States at a later age, he worked hard to build a livelihood for his family, accepted faith in Christ, and devoted himself to the church for the rest of his life. The life of a faithful servant deeply resonated with me. I was honored and grateful to lead a service to celebrate such a person's life, in which I could find God’s gracious hands all throughout. In Genesis 47, Jacob stands before Pharaoh and says, “... My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers” (v. 9b). But this old man who lived a life marked with difficulties blesses Pharaoh twice (vv. 7, 10). He had to endure lots of pain in a life filled with ups and downs, but somehow the pain was turned into a blessing for others.
As the service began, the members rose from their seats to welcome the family into the sanctuary. The widow, holding a large-print Bible in hand, walked down the center aisle supported and followed by her family, in the presence of the community. Standing behind the podium, I tried to hold back my tears. Nothing could better represent our pilgrimage to heaven than that. We hold onto the unchanging Word of God and journey towards heaven with the support of our families and the love of the community. At no point in our spiritual journey on earth are we alone. Death never means the end of our lives; it is rather a gate we pass through to enter into eternal rest. Death is a pathway through which we are led into the world of glory, where God’s reign is fully realized.
What a sacred calling that God has placed upon my life to declare the Living Hope in the face of death, to be with those suffering, and to comfort them. I will uphold it with humility and faithfulness.
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