Tough Week

This past week was a difficult one in FoggyPitt. We all experienced a deep and profound loss. Yet, because the Lord is omnipresent in the midst of the grief-producing storms of life, we may ever hope and have our faith strengthened.

A young man went to be with the Lord last Tuesday evening. He was, all at once, husband, father, son, brother, teacher, coach and friend. He will be missed and others will need to step up to the plate and continue the work that he had so ably and lovingly begun.

As I reflect on what I saw and heard at the funeral on Saturday, I must take issue with one statement expressed by the pastor in his eulogy, "...thirty-two year olds are not supposed to have funerals." While this 'view-from-groundlevel' touches our sentimentalist feelings right where they live, it is not biblical. This statement, when held up to Scripture, is really not helpful or comforting, for it impugns God's character. It implies that somehow this happened outside of God's control, or worse, that God could have done something to stop it but didn't...the age-old heresy that "evil happens because God is either wanting in power or in goodness."

Although this young man has died to us, he yet lives to and with his Lord. That's good news. He is in the bosom of Abraham and will dwell in his Father's house forever. While on earth, he and others were well aware of his foibles as a Son of Adam, but as a Son of Christ, he was a forgiven, faithful son in His Father's vineyard. Yet, it was that very same Father, whom he loved and served, that called him Home. "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment..." (Hebrews 9:27) Though tragic the circumstances and bereft the survivors, this was an appointment that this young man did not want to miss. Each of us has such an appointment, praise God. It is a one-to-one correlation that we, as Christians, should embrace, not avoid. "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21b) Funerals happen when God wants them to happen. Do we want what God wants...or not?

In saying all this, some will accuse me of being either overtly insensitive or overly inconsequential. To the first I would ask the question, "Is it insensitive to speak the truth in love?" Here in FoggyPitt, "love" equals "nice". If one is not nice, then one doesn't love. Neither Jesus nor Paul were always "nice". So...who among you would say that they weren't loving, or in Jesus' case, not Love itself?

To the second I would ask, "Is God's character suspect?" This is not inconsequential! But you might say, "...but it was just a small statement in a larger context, does it really matter?" Yes, God is profoundly interested in the details. Just read the description of the building of His temple. And, since He is building a habitation for each of His children in His Own House, would we want Him to scrimp on the details?

As American Christians we are neck-deep in modernity, statism, sentimentalism, feminism, pluralism and a host of other anthro-centric "isms". By and large, we don't think, act or eulogize biblically. To do so, we must begin by worshipping rightly. Pastors must preach the whole counsel of God, faithfully and forcefully. We, the congregants, must sing the Psalms, recite the creeds and weekly partake of the Lord's Supper in order to hide the Word of God in our hearts, know what we believe, unite our hearts and minds with one another, and be nourished and strengthened. We, the fathers, must faithfully lead our wives and children in sacrificial living and washing them with the water of the Word.