Karen Heller writes that
"end-of-life ceremonies are being personalized: golf-course cocktail send-offs, backyard potluck memorials, more Sinatra and Clapton, less 'Ave Maria,' more Hawaiian shirts, fewer dark suits. Families want to put the 'fun” in funerals.'In fact, Heller begins with an example of a"Memorialpalooza" for a famous person who recently died. The party at a renowned theater with gift bags, baseball hats, a famous hotdog cart, and stand up comedy.
As Christians, we must think, live, and die in line with the truth.
The truth is that while funerals and dirges become "relics," death does not. Heller points out the reality of death when she writes, "Baby boomers, despite strenuous efforts to stall the aging process, are not getting any younger. In 2030, people over 65 will outnumber children, and by 2037, 3.6 million people are projected to die in the United States, according to the Census Bureau, 1 million more than in 2015, which is projected to outpace the growth of the overall population." No change in how we mark death will change the reality of dying.
The truth is that death is an enemy and sad reminder of the brokenness of the world. Christians should, like Jonathan Edwards, resolve "to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death." We recognize death is a reality, but this doesn't mean we celebrate death. It is an enemy. We don't celebrate the death of another person with entertainment that is designed to distract from the brutal reality of death. Of course, in the case of a Christian who dies, we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We grieve, but with a profound sense of confidence and even a subdued joy. Confidence because death is a defeated enemy for the Christian. Joy because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
When our culture tries to ignore death, we must remind them that it is a reality and one which ought to call them to do some soul- and truth-searching. Why do we die? Why are we alive? Such existential questions must be faced head-on. Instead, many in our culture push aside such questions with entertainment in life and, now, in funerals. As Christians, we answer big questions based on what God has revealed in his Word. Death is an enemy. It will remove all that you set your hope in unless your God is your shepherd.
Psalm 49
Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.[b] Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
