Death, Dying and the Christian Funeral Part One (testing Bible Study Material)

Death, Dying and the Christian Funeral

The theology of death and dying

LSB 708 - "Lord Thee I love with all my heart" v. 1

Lord thee I love with all my heart;

I pray thee ne'er from me depart,

With tender mercy cheer me.

Earth has no pleasure I would share.

Yea, heav'n itself were void and bare

If thou Lord wert not near me.

And should my heart for sorrow break,

My trust in Thee can nothing shake

Thou art the portion I have sought;

Thy precious blood my soul has bought.

Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord my God and Lord,

Forsake me not I trust Thy Word

 v.3

Lord let at last Thine angels come

To Abr'ham's bosom bear me home,

That I may die unfearing,

And in its narrow chamber keep

My body safe in peaceful sleep

Until Thy reappearing.

And then from death awaken me,

That these mine eyes with joy may see,

O Son of God, Thy glorious face

My Savior and my fount of grace,

Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend my prayer attend

And I will praise Thee without end.

Prayer

O God of grace and mercy, I thank You for Your loving-kindness shown to all Your servants, who having finished their course in faith, now rest from their labors.  Grant me grace to say with a believing heart, "Thy will be done," and know that Your will, though often hidden, is good and gracious.  Strengthen me through Your Word and Sacraments for that day when You will call me to Yourself, that I may also be faithful unto death, joyfully receive the crown of eternal life, and join the whole company of heaven to live with You forever.  Amen. 

Death, some misconceptions

n     Death is natural

n    Elton John's song, the "Circle of Life"

n   We are born, we eat, we live, we die.

n   Discovery Channel, National Geographic

n    Death is not natural

n   God did not intend for death to occur

n    He created the world without death, He created it good.

n    Genesis 2, "If you eat of it, you will surely die"

n    Romans 6, "The wages of sin is death."

n    Death is an invasion of God's Creation.  It is bad.  It is the Christian's enemy. 

 

Death, some misconceptions

n    Death is natural continued

n    If someone is laying there dead, you know one thing about them, they are a sinner.

n    Jesus does not accept death.

n   Jesus comes to destroy death, he comes to conquer death. 

n    Because death is the enemy, grief is not a sickness

n   We don't say, "Get over it," rather we look to Jesus for comfort and promises

n    Jesus has overcome death, and now uses it as the portal to life everlasting.

Death, some misconceptions

n     After death, we will be judged.

n    The joke about the pearly gates, and St. Peter

n    Jesus says, "All who believe in me have passed from death to life." 

n    In baptism, we die with Christ and are raised with him.

n    Judgment occurs on the cross, and is against Jesus.

Death, some misconceptions

n     When you die, you become an angel. 

n    Scripture says Death is the unnatural rending of body and soul – nothing about becoming angels.

n   You are created body and soul, in death they are separated,

n   Soul goes to Jesus, body rests in the grave.

n     Angels were all created in the beginning, they don't increase or decrease in number

Death, some misconceptions

n     When you die, you are done with your body

n    False, your body is a gift from God, and you will have the same (Sin free rejuvenated) body following the resurrection on the last day

n    We will talk more about this when we look at the funeral rite in the hymnal. 

n   We pray that God will keep this body and guard it until the day of resurrection. 

n    We care for the body, God cares for the soul.

n    It is still the person

n   (i.e. They removed the body of Jesus from the cross, that very body also raised from the dead.  Lazarus was in the tomb.  The widow's Son was being carried out etc.)

Death, some misconceptions

n           Cremation is a Sin

n          False, it is not sinful by itself.  But what is the reasoning behind cremation?

n          Four main reasons to be cremated

n         Save Money – burial is expensive

n         Save Space – Caskets take up space

n         Afraid of body decomposing, or of getting wet in the rain etc. - you won't notice this in burial. 

n         To deny the resurrection – This reason is sinful.  In ancient world, people would burn a body to show how it couldn't be raised from the dead.  Some still do, "If I burn the body, no god could put it together."  False, God created it from nothing, and will put it together no matter what. 

Death, some misconceptions

n    Funerals should only be a celebration

n    Even Jesus wept and mourned at the loss of Lazarus. John 11

n    If Death is not natural, but is the punishment for sin, we should feel somewhat sad about the consequences.

n    We may celebrate the rescue by God from our sin through Jesus' death and resurrection.  We look ahead to eternal life, not backwards at our lives on earth.

Death, some misconceptions

n    Others you can think of?