Funeral - Suicide
Notes
Transcript
Text: John 16:31–33
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.
32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Friends, we are gathered here to remember our friend, family, XXX, and to give thanks for a life and to praise God, the Creator of life. And even though we gather in a spirit of worship, our hearts are so very heavy with the grief we share in common.
There is something within us that demands to know why is this happening. There is another part of us that wants to deny this and say that "This just is not happening."
But more often than not, we will probably not be able to come up with a conclusion.
This demand for an explanation comes from the fact that our mind looks for logic and sometimes, this simply doesn't exist in the world we live. I think this is more so now, than ever before, with the increase of terrorism and violence in the world. While we may want to believe that a reason exists for everything, which gives us a sense of control, some sort of defence against the helplessness of our existence. However, the truth of the matter is that there is so much mystery to our existence, so much we do not understand, and to seek clarity where is none would perhaps, only fuel frustrations.
In fact, 1 Corinthians 13:12 is helpful in the context of our gathering today, and this passage talks about us looking at things dimly through a mirror. This basically reinforces our hunch that there is much in this world around us that we do not understand. We may spend much time studying our environment over many many centuries, but we have only scratched the surface of what reality is and what our world contains. Day by day we are making more discoveries in the world around us, constantly revisiting and reviewing scientific facts that we have taken for granted. Our grasp of reality is, at best, limited. Therefore, to find ourselves in the midst of circumstances we do not understand is a part of our human condition.
What then should be our response to this?
In Psalm 136, the psalmist suggests that we should give thanks for God's enduring mercy, by saying
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (v. 1).
How is it that we can give thanks to God in situations like this when nothing make sense?
The answer is found in verse 23 which says tells us that our God is a God “Who remembered us when we are down”[Message]. In this verse, the psalmist offers comfort and hope for us today as he points to a God whose mercy is upon us. In other words, because of God's mercy we can come together as a people of hope.
Given our setting today there are some important words that need to be spoken.
In God's own time, we will know and understand what is now a vast tangle of mystery and loneliness.
The passing of XXX seems to be untimely in what will continue to be a mystery.
Perhaps we will never know the actual circumstance of XXX's life, but one thing we know, while for XXX, this life was filled with cares and responsibilities that seemed too much for him/her to bear, and had come to complete physical exhaustion and an illness during which he/she was not like him/herself, but now, he/she is no longer bound by that anymore, for he/she is now in the arms of our risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Though we will never be able to answer why XXX must go this way, we can understand that his/her passing, at the end of the day, is no different from one that is because of sickness for the grace of God nullifies the difference in all circumstances.
For reasons that will remain a mystery in this life, XXX's life had become one of pain. There was distress that seemed larger than life. And there is no way for us to explain it. We cannot get into another person's mind. For whatever reason, life became unbearable.
Nevertheless, family of XXX do not ever entertain any form of guilt that all of this is the result of something you did or did not do. If death occurred from incurable cancer, you could not have changed the direction of events. Even so here the same is true. Only an Eternal God can know the sickness and suffering which can grip both mind and spirit and God does know. We are not God and we should not try to be God and should not seek to understand things that will ultimately remain a mystery for us on this side of heaven. But this you should do… Seek assurance from the fact that regardless of the circumstance of death, God will welcome into His heavenly Kingdom, those who love Him and genuinely receives Him into their lives. His/Her life is secured in the Lord Jesus now… And He/she is free from the pain that once gripped him/her.
Let us instead, celebrate the goodness, kindness and good times, which characterized XXX's life. The rest we must safely leave to the Father's love and mercy.
Though difficult, we should turn to God, our risen Lord Christ Jesus, our Savior, for comfort and assurance. He is saviour not just for our souls, but is also the saviour of our lives, and saviour for the here and now, even in trying times like this.
As Jesus faced what appeared to be certain death He said, “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me." Jn 16:32[NIV].
This passage is apt for our gathering today, because Jesus is saying now to us who are shocked, and are grieving, “You are not alone, for the Father is with you.” and not just the Father, but the whole Trinitarian God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is with us, and He promised never to leave us nor forsake us, even in periods such as now.
Therefore, the real question for us today is not “Why?” but “How?”
Now that this has happened, how may we face it?
How may we find strength to face our pain and grief, and still go on affirming life and the God who gives it?
We are not protected from life's pain. God does not prevent our suffering, and yet He does not cause it.
Instead, He meets us in the midst of life, even here today as He has always met us, with a love that goes to a cross. Only in that faith and hope can we continue to move forward. We come together today to share our faith and our hope. We do it in the midst of our tears and unanswered questions. In these moments of loneliness, remember the symbolic embrace of friends of our common faith. Most of all remember the words of Jesus, “I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”
Christ found comfort in this truth. In this same truth, your comfort is to be found.
And it is in this that we can pray to our God saying, "Father, there is much to life that we do not understand. We dimly through a mirror, and until that time during which we are reunited with you, we will trust in You. Embrace our loved one with Your merciful arms of love. We offer our prayer in the name of One who came as Ultimate Love. Amen".
Cadenhead, Al. The Minister's Manual for Funerals (Kindle Locations 1292-1342). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.