Funerals

It's been a long week. A good week, but a long one. And I say a good week, even though there were two funerals. A funeral is an excellent time for a kind of evangelism, “apologetics.” As we become more and more secular, death is seen as some kind of anomaly. The secular mind tends to fear death, to disbelieve it. It happens only to old people who are carefully secluded away so it won't scare children... or adults. And even then, death is seen as an injustice, evidence that God does not exist or does not care. So, on that level, if people thinking that way come to a funeral (and sometimes they do, to honor the person being memorialized), there is a chance to present the claims of the Gospel, the reason for the hope the deceased had in Christ. It's not an easy thing for the unbeliever-- they are alternately attracted and repulsed. From the vantage point of a preacher, you see indifference, surprise, comfort, hostility. But the point is to acknowledge death as the consequence of sin and death and to acknowledge eternal life as the reward of faith in Jesus Christ.

And the deep mourning of the family is also something that a strong, Christ-centered funeral addresses. I remember a funeral that Howard Willen took me to. He was the pastor at First Methodist in Lexington, who helped me immensely, not the least way was helping me discern a call into ministry. Because I was going into ministry, he took me along to things like meetings, hospital calls, nursing home visits... and funerals. So at the first one...

It was interesting. I knew I was going to have to get used to funeral homes. Caskets. Mourning. Death. And constant reminders of death. What a weird job pastors have, I remember thinking. Most people would actively try to avoid going to a funeral home. And yet, we go, and will be with the people as they are dying, perhaps when they die. I won't lie, it's tough. But you get to go with Jesus, and occasionally you see some signs and wonders.

Well, Howard and I were headed into Kerr Bros. funeral home, the one downtown. It was a cold day, maybe winter. Howard had said he would call me if there were a funeral so that I could see how they were done. As we went in-- I will never forget this-- he said, “Let's kick the devil around.”

How? Death is his turf. Mourning and hopelessness is his game. But the Gospel is preached in the face of death. And the death of the believer's physical body is the first step to resurrection to eternal life.

So I am always ready to roll at a funeral. I've got Good News. How good it is to be able to offer the consolation of the Lord!

I wrote some of this in the middle of the night. Nadia had a nightmare, I got her and brought her into bed with Jessie and me. And then Nadia ran me out. Three episodes of Burn Notice later and I was still wide awake.

Now it is Saturday evening, a bit of snow coming down. I had a great Sabbath. Slow morning to go over the sermon. Great lunch with our DS Terry Reffett—we chewed some of the same dirt in Clark County. Good, slow day with the family. Right now a fire in the fireplace. Going to read a few more chapters of My Side of the Mountain with the boys. Thinking back to how Dr. Willen scooped me up out of the gutter, and how good the Methodists have been to me and my family.

What's The Scorecard?

A few years back, I was visiting with some parishioners in Lexington.  The wife was a Methodist pastor's daughter.  She said something that has really stuck with me.  She remembers her dad coming home one day (I think this was the 50s).  He had been at some kind of denominational meeting. She said he sat down at the kitchen table and was weeping.

The powers-that-be had decided to strike a statistic from the reports pastors make: "evangelistic contacts."  He said it would mean terrible things for the church because we no longer valued the important work of reaching out to people who did not know Jesus, and getting out of the church office.

I have heard about this statistic.  But I have never been asked about it in my ministry.  We are asked about money and property and insurance.  And, indeed, we report on worship attendance, professions of faith.  But at some point I can't help but think my parishioner's weeping father was right.

The simple fact is that what you celebrate gets repeated, what you measure is worked towards.  As Methodists, the two things we should value most: people coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ (Justification), and their continued growth in grace (Sanctification).  Put another away, Evangelism and Discipleship.  From my perspective we seem to think you can make unconverted disciples-- never talk about Jesus, just do good things and be a nice guy.  That's works righteousness, and no one has ever seen God that way.

Long Nights

One of my best friends has about 15 years of sobriety in. He told me something about Christmas that really struck a chord in me. Christmas was on a Wednesday, a day he usually chairs an AA meeting. He mentioned that he was still going to chair the evening meeting, even though it was Christmas, because someone may be coming in needing help. It's a bad time of year he says.

I can agree to that. I have found that Christmas-New Year's Eve is a good time to do evangelism. The Christmas-New Year's season reminds people about the past year and the New Year. And for folks who have had a hard year, remembrance is a bad thing. And if there is no hope that the New Year will be any better... I remember a terribly sad evening, visiting a young man in jail. As I was coming out, I noticed that his mother was there, but she was being booked... she had come to visit him, but she had come in drunk. I could not imagine the sadness in that moment.

We have so many opportunities to speak to people. Some times if we speak to them, it is a word in season, something that can bring hope and joy. I wonder if we can think of ourselves the same way my friend thinks of AA, being ready with the word of peace in Jesus' name.