8/12/2019 1989 Issue 1 - How to Plan a Christian Funeral - Counsel of Chalcedon

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How to Plan Christian Funeral

by Joe Morecraft, III

I Prepare for it Spiritually, Psa

90

:12. Also, make arrangements with

the deacons concerning

y ur

funeral.

IT

IS lMPORTANT TIIAT WHEN

WE

DIE WE

HAVE

NOTHING TO

DO BUT TO DIE." -Charles Hodge.

Make sure you have a will, and a proper

(biblical) one. Leave your children as

little debt as possible.

II

Prepare your family for it Spiritu

ally, mentally,

and

financially, l Tim.

5:8.

III Take into consideration the follow

ing points.

A Inadequate answers

to

the ques

tion: what is a funeral?

1. An opportunity

to

exhibit

our

grief publicly.

2. An act of social therapy to

help

us

overcome

our

sorrow.

3. A gathering

to

pay

our

re

spects to the dead

and to

eulogize his

good deeds.

4.

An occasion for the display of

family wealth in a costly casket.

B. An adequate answer to the ques

tion: what is a funet;al?

1

A funeral is a worship ser

vice. "The funeral should

be

a service

of

worship in which God's people witness

to their faith

in

the communion

of

tile

saints, the resurrection of the body,

and

the life everlasting, and in which also

assurance

of God

's love and salvation in

Christ is ministered especially to the

bereaved (Christians)." -The Book of

Church Order

of

the PCUS.

2. The elements of a Christian

funeral .

a.

The Word

of

God

is cen

tral; and everything that takes place

must be consistent with the biblical

principles of worship.

(1). Preaching

is dimin

ishing in the modem funeral.

(2) . Eulogizing a person

is inappropriate in the worship

of

God.

Eulogies offer shallow and temporary

comfort

b. As worshippers we partici

pate in the funeral.

1). We are participants

not spectators.

(2). We should sing

hymns, recite the creed, etc.

c.

We pray: Thanking

God

for the memory

of

the dead, for the

triumph in the resurrection of Christ;

and interceding in behalf

of

the family.

d. But wait , you say. This

seems

just

like a Sunday morning

worship service. That's right. It is

of

the same kind. It is a worship service

and we gather

not

so much

to

mourn

the dead as

to

confess

our

faith in a

living Savior.

We

come to worship

God, and in worship,

our

grief is healed

and

our sorrow comforted by Christ.

IV

Some practical questions and an

swers about funerals.

A. Where should the funeral be

held? Unless there are unusual condi

tions, the funeral should be in the

church building, where faith is nour

ished, where marriage vows are made,

where children

are

baptized, where com

munion is received,

and

where prayers

are

offered together as

the

people of

God-

in a place where week

by

week the

congregation gathers for the word,

praise, prayer and dedication.

B.

What

about the practice

of

'view

ing the remains'? This is not a part

of

our

worship

to

God and so the casket

should be kept closed

in

the church wor

ship

in

order that the worship

of

those

gathered may

more

naturally be directed

to

the Author of their faith, the living

God.

In

light

of

the fact that 'to

be

ab

sent from the body is to

be

present with

the Lord', this practice should

be

mini

mized. f we give primary emphasis

to

preserving

and

displaying the physical

body, we pervert the purpose

of

the wor

ship service.

C. Is an expensive casket necessary

t )

a Christian funeral?

The

most simple

is more appropriate than the most ela

borate, for in

our

Presbyterian heritage,

simplicity expresses the Christian life

much better than extravagance. Similar

ly,

give

to the

church

or

to

charity,

rather than spending much on

a lavish

display

of

flowers.

D.

Should

fraternal

or

civil rites

be

included in

the

funeral?

Since

this is

not a part of our worship

of

God com

manded in the Bible, it is more appro

priate for

these

organizations

to

pay tri-

bute

to

their

deceased

members

at

anoth

er

hour

and another place.

E . What about having interment

(burial) before the funeral service? This

is good.

It

is historical. First, have a

brief graveside service

for

the family

soon after death. Then the family

and

congregation should go

to

the church

building for a

worship

service

of

praise

and thanksgiving.

1.

This

practice

was

followed

by

the early Christians and by the early

American protestants. Bringing the

body to

the

church

was

the practice

of

Roman Catholicism, and was done in

order that prayers

might

be said for the

dead soul suffering

in

purgatory.

2.

Having

the interment first is

a Presbyterian procedure. It was the

required practice

of

the Westminster

Directory

of

Government, Worship and

Discipline

of 1644: When any

person

departeth this life,

let

the dead body;

upon the

day of

burial,

be

decently

attended from the house

to

the place

appointed for public burial,

and

t h e n ~

immediately interred, without

any

e r e ~

mooy." .

3.

The

advantage is this: if the

casket is present during the worship

service in the most prominent place

backed

by

towering banks of flowers,

it

can become a

kind of

worship center,

Our thoughts

are

naturally directed

toward the physical remains,

'the

ly

tent

' rather than 'the building from

God, a house not

made

with hands.' 1

CONCLUSION: Make your funeral a

testimony to Christ, drawing attention

to Him,

that

your

family might

be

com

forted and that your unsaved friends

might

come

to Him

by His

grace. What

greater climax

could

there

be to

an

earthly life that has been lived

in

trust

The Counsel

of Cbalcedon, January, 198 9 . . . Page 7

8/12/2019 1989 Issue 1 - How to Plan a Christian Funeral - Counsel of Chalcedon

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thoroughly

Christian

funerat.2

Footnotes:

*This outline

is taken

.largely from a

pamphlet published by the

PCUS

years

ago by Rev. E.D. Robertson, entitled,

Funerals in a Presbyterian Congrega-

tion.

1.

For a discussion on the biblical

teach

ing on

death;

see my outline entitled,

What Happens to You the Moment

You Die? J MIII

2. From the Book of Church Order of

the

PCA,

pg.

86: "'qiE

~

OF

Til

DEAD: The services p r o ~ r

for

such

an

occasion

are

: the singing of ap

proptiate

psalms and

hymns; the

read

ing

of

some suitable portion or

por

tions of Scripture, with such remarks

as

it may seem proper to the minister to

make; prayer,

in

which the bereaved

shall be especially remembered,

and

God's grace sought on their behalf, that

they may be sustained and comforted

in

their sorrow, and that their affliction

may be

blessed to

their spiritual

good.

Continuing the series of

taped

messages on

orinthians

by

Joe

Morecraft, i l l

The Final Judgment o Christ

(l Cor.

4:l-5)

he Imitation

o

Christ I

(I

Cor. 4:1-21)

The Imitation o Christ II

(I Cor. 4: 1 ~ 2 1

.

The Imitation o Christ III

(I

Cor. 4:14-21)

4.00

per

tape

(cassette)

14.00

for

set

of four

Order

from:

Specialty Media Services .

P.O. Box 28357

Atlanta, GA 30358

Tile Counsel of Cbalcedon, January, 1989