Perfected In His Presence; A Funeral Message. Series

Perfected in his presence, a funeral message.

Bula,

We are here today to remember the life, to celebrate the life of our dear friend and sister … To some she was more than a friend and sister, she was the wife of and mother of ….and grandmother of …and ... Many of you were close to her.

… and… have asked that today’s message centre a verse in Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapter 14 verse 8. The verse reads “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord, So, whether we live or we die we belong to the Lord.”

The verse is part of a chapter in which Paul is talking with the Roman believers about their lifestyles. Why? Well at the time the Roman Christians had a judgemental view of one another. They were judging one another and being critical of one another’s behaviour.

But Paul who had interestingly been a member of the Pharisee sect, possibly the most judgemental of Jewish religious orders before his conversion to Christ, was pointing out to the Roman Christians that instead of being critical and judging one another they should replace these things with tolerance and understanding. That they should accept one another as Jesus had accepted them. (Romans 15:7) That they all belonged to the Lord.

He was pointing out that as believers we answer ultimately not to one another, but to God. While some may be in positions of authority or leadership, each of us ultimately answers to God. He goes as far as to say that the strong in faith should make every effort to “do what leads to peace and improvement of all.” Paul had had a change in the direction of his life and thinking when he met Jesus after Jesus resurrection.

Paul’s lesson to the Romans is to act out of love, to follow the example of Jesus, the example of service for the good of the whole Church.

Grumbling and complaining, the arguments that were occurring were doing nothing to advance the mission of the church. Interestingly if we do the maths of conflict, in a two way conflict there is always either one or two losers. But if we act out of love while someone may have to give some ground or respect to another there are always two winners.

Paul’s other point is that we answer ultimately to God and that he alone is our eternal Judge, that we have one master who is Jesus Christ. As Romans 14:8 says “If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die , we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we belong to the Lord. “

So, where Paul is going with this is that while we live, we take into account our own interests, but in doing so we know and acknowledge that we are brought by the blood of Jesus our Saviour. That being saved by grace through faith in him, we are to extend grace to others, not judging them but loving them.

This verse is one that should also challenge our thinking beyond the here and now. Let me be quite open here, there are a few mysteries about what heaven will be like, but think about those words “So whether we live or die we belong to the Lord.” We who encountered through Christ, the Spirit of God and God the Father understand the reality of Pauls words. … knew this and had God’s witness the Holy Spirit as her comforter, helper, guide and friend. Paul in letter to the church in Ephesus chapter 1:13-14 says it this way: ”And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” The Holy Spirit is the deposit of eternal life. We live in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life. The Holy Spirit with us is the guarantee of our eternal life. This sure and certain hope that we hear about at funerals often is not the English meaning of hope, like, I hope that the day is not too windy or I hope that there is a cold drink at lunch time. The hope in its meaning is sure and certain, this comes with grace, of forgiveness of sins and the ability of those who believe to enter the Holy of Holies through Jesus broken body. As the scriptures tell us he has defeated sin and death.

Here's a few verses that tell us this: The next day he, (that is John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John’s gospel 1:29.