BROADCASTS.com

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)

These are perhaps some of the more well known words from the book of 1 Thessalonians. \xa0I know I became aware of them in grade 7 after the death of my uncle. \xa0These are go-to words for funerals. \xa0

Some have twisted these words to suggest that Christians ought not to grieve. \xa0Instead, that we should just wave death away as if it were nothing to be sad about at all\u2014\u201cthey\u2019re in a better place,\u201d we say. \xa0Or, \u201cGod has a plan.\u201d \xa0But in fact, when we use those statements or this text to skip over the pain and sorrow of losing some dear person, we have actually missed the point of all of it and perhaps even wounded ourselves or someone else in the process.

Paul never suggests that Christians ought not to grieve. \xa0Indeed, the Bible is full of examples of heart-sick and painful seasons of grief and weeping over the death and loss of so many things, including the people we love. \xa0Lament over the things that are not right but that we cannot change is a major thread through the Psalms. \xa0We even see Jesus weeping at the death of his friend, Lazarus\u2014even though Jesus is himself the resurrection and the life! \xa0

So we ought not hear Paul wrongly here. \xa0Grief is not a sign of weak faith: it is a sign of deep love\u2014the very thing that Christians are commanded most highly to have. \xa0What Paul does say is that when we grieve\u2014because we will grieve\u2014we do so with hope. \xa0

Our culture increasingly avoids death. \xa0A few years ago, an aunt of mine died in Las Vegas where she had lived for decades. \xa0A visitation was held before the funeral in a little chapel on site at the cemetery. \xa0A number of the people who came steered clear of the front of the sanctuary where her body lay. \xa0Some didn\u2019t even enter the room\u2014admitting that the reason was their fear of facing the reality of death. \xa0They signed the guest book and got out. \xa0That was an odd experience for my family members who were present. \xa0Visitation lines around the casket are still a routine expectation in the rural small-town community I grew up in. \xa0But this is increasingly foreign to the secular world in which we live.

More and more often, the deceased does not attend their own funeral. \xa0Visitations happen less frequently, and sometimes the body or remains of the deceased do not show up there either. \xa0At least in part, that\u2019s because the secular world offers us no hope or story that can ground us in a world of meaning that transcends death\u2019s finality. \xa0So we avoid it altogether.

For Christians, this is different though. \xa0We do have a story. \xa0And we do have hope. \xa0It is a peculiar tradition that Christians hold of caring for the bodies of their dead, and accompanying those bodies every last step of the earthly journey\u2014all the way to the graveside\u2014and doing so with singing, confessions of faith, and proclamations of the hope of resurrection. \xa0Not only is facing death\u2019s cold reality an important psychological step in the journey of grieving\u2014it is also an act of faith that our world without faith increasingly cannot take. \xa0They grieve without hope. \xa0

As Christians though, we are able to face the death of our loved ones. \xa0It is not easy. \xa0But we do it, because we stand together in the faith and hope that \u201cJesus died and rose again:\u201d the sure promise that \u201cGod will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.\u201d \xa0It is important that we do this together, because those closest to the loss cannot always hold on to this hope or sing the songs of resurrection themselves. \xa0So we do it for them as the Christian community. \xa0We carry them with our songs, prayers, and confessions of faith, trusting that this hope we\u2019ve placed in Jesus\u2019 final word of life will carry us all until he comes again.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together\u2014spirit, soul, and body\u2014and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he\u2019ll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).