Your Own Funeral

Your Own Funeral

Introduction:

This message is a little different from anything I have ever done, but in order to do it I am going to need everybody’s help. Don’t worry it won’t be too hard. I am going to ask that you listen closely. I am also going to ask that you bow your head, close your eyes if you want. I know that sounds great doesn’t it? But please stay awake. I want you to listen with me, play along with me. I need you all to use your imagination.

Imagine with me that you are sitting here at church, but this time you are not gathered for the Lord’s Day assembly, this time you are gathered for a funeral. Do you see it? Can you picture what it looks like? You sit looking on and taking everything in. Perhaps you see crying, grieving, maybe some shedding of tears, maybe even some laughing as people share memories of the deceased. You know many of the people gathered together in memory of this person, so you make your way in and find a place to sit. The pews are packed full of people. Finally, people slowly take their seats and the funeral begins. You look and there realize something very strange and very staggering, the funeral is for you. What would the scene be like at your own funeral? Would there be family grieving? Would there be positive memories shared?

Keep on imagining with me. The Preacher of the funeral begins his message and tries the very best he can to paint a message of hope and a positive message about your life. He tells some stories of your life, he shares some memories, and then speaks of your spiritual condition. He quotes the passage in the Scriptures where it says, “it is appointed for a man once to die and then to face the judgment.” He points out the Biblical truth that as you died your spirit separated from your body and your faith was now made sight. All the doubts that you had, all the questions, all that you lived for, nothing else mattered. You sit there wondering why he wasn’t saying more good about you. You think back to other funeral you attended and the same preacher went on and on about how so and so was a faithful church member, how they were servants, how they were people of character and integrity, and then you realize that maybe there was not that much to say. You want to stand up and shout, “I wasn’t that bad of a person”! “I came to church!” However, the message continues and finally draws to an end. A time was even given for eulogies and a few friends and family got up and reminisced a little about your life and events you shared with them. They spoke of your great personality and how fun you were to be around. You notice that the things people were saying about you were meant to be complimentary, but now after life was over they didn’t matter all that much. People spoke of how hard of a worker you were, of the talents that you had, but you noticed not one comment about your faith, not one comment about your character, not one comment about being a good spouse or parent. All your life you strive so hard to impress people, all your life you thought you wanted people to just like you. So you would do anything to make a friend, and make friends you did. You thought it was vitally important to be good at everything, you wanted people to think of you as a ’good ole boy’. You wanted people to remember your dedication to work. You never thought though that life would come to an end so quickly. You thought you would have had time later for other things, but the chance never came. At that time your mind is flooded with all sort of thoughts, all sorts of regrets. You realize all that you worked so hard to so now did not matter. You realize you spent far too much time in things that did not matter and far too little time on the things that did really matter. You lamented the times you were too busy at work to see your children grow up. You lamented the times you were too busy just to spend time with your spouse. You lamented the times you were so wrapped up in your recreation that you neglected the church. You wish you would have served more, loved more, studied more, paid more attention, you wish you had given more. Now there was nothing you could do about it. Now all that was gone and quickly you learn as you watch your own funeral what was most important. You learn quickly that if you could have written the script for your own funeral it would have been much different. You did write the script of your own funeral, you wrote it by the life you lived, but you do not like the commentary and wish you could change some things. As the funeral winds down, a prayer is made and the pall bearers go and carry your casket out of the building. The hearse drives to the grave yard and all the time you feel that you are watching from outside all of it. They bring your casket down, read a few passages of Scriptures and have another prayer. Then they begin to lower your casket into the ground and cover it up. For you that is a very sobering scene, because that solidifies the truth that your life is done and that there was no coming back to correct mistakes.