Funerals - Three in a Week

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I've used this graphic before - first on Baptist Funerals, and again writing of funerals. They happen. People die. Expectedly. And, extremely unexpectedly.

Friday we attended the funeral of a friend from church. That same day another friend from church died. His funeral will be this Thursday. Saturday morning the daughter of a church friend experienced a ruptured aneurysm. Her death Sunday morning was still a shock. Three deaths within a week's time of people we knew.

The first thing we are able lto do is to pray, and my first thoughts in those prayers take me to a verse I've used on this blog many times for a variety of occasions:

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:26-28)

Those verses are not a prayer - they are an explanation about prayer. We've been given instructions about prayers by the very person who is our intecessor in Heaven. He began by explaning how NOT to pray:

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. (Matthew 6:5-8)

Did you get the part "your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him"? Reminds me of "And he that searacheth the hearts knoweth what is in the mind of the Spirit." God knows exactly what just happened in our lives - every single moment in our lives. There are no surprises to Him as there are to us. From the last breath of a loved one in hospice to the staggering shock of an unexpected loss, God knew it was coming and He knows what we need.

My second thought about preparing to speak to someone who has experienced a loss is II Corinthians 1:3-4:

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

The Holy Spirit is the Comforter Jesus spoke of in John 14, and among those verses is:

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)

Remember Pentecost? When the Holy Spirit first came upon Jesus followers? From then on, believers' baptism included the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the comforter who was to teach us and help us remember all that Jesus taught. How do you get that education Jesus taught? Bible reading. 

Reading God's word with prayer brings us closer to understanding where we are, why we are where we are, where we need to be next, and trust God's presence in placing us where He wants us to be doing His will.

I knew two of the three people who died this week, and the mother who lost her daughter. Three families with multiple generations are missing someone who meant life to them. They need comfort. It is available in a number of ways.

First is contact at home, letting them know there is help with transportation, planning, and guests. Food is needed, and they have little attention left for meals. That is easily provided. The funeral can be attended as a sign of caring support - and in our church, a meal afterward is available with a variety of simply awesome comfort food. Key word remains "comfort." Never forgetting there is a Comforter provided by God through Jesus Christ for every event in our life, good, bad, or deadly.

Each of these people made a public profession of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, based on biblical beliefs that go beyond John 3:16:

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)

It also encompasses:

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8)

Obedience to walk with God goes beyond public words. I'll be adding a small prayer for my readers:

Oh, Lord, my strength in all that is around me, I pray for those that stop and read your words here that they will reach for the full, so very Holy, Bible. Your messages to us over millennia carry history and hope for every living person. I pray it is opened and read, read and prayed over, understood and carried out that your will is done in our lives. Comfort us, Lord, in our losses, and restore joy in our blessings. Guide and directd our lives as we seek Thy will in our daily lives. Amen.