The Funeral Viewing for an Unbeliever

The Call. Last Saturday afternoon I got a call asking if I would attend a viewing for a man who had recently passed away at a nearby little community. The pastor for the area was out-of-town. A few other members of our church would also be attending since they personally knew that man, but I had never met him. The first question that I had to ask was if the man or his family were followers of Jesus Christ and if they had any hope after death. The answer was: No. He was not a Christian. Ironically, his name was Christian. I hesitated. What do I say? A wife and mother was grieving the loss of her husband, and all indications point to the reality that this man had no hope in a joyful eternity. If you know me at all, then you know that, while I try not to be callaus, even so truth and honesty are of utmost importance. Still in doubt as to what I would say and how God would use me, I accepted.

The Viewing. All that afternoon I wrestled with what to say. By the evening, I had some thoughts, but nothing for certain. I had coordinated with some other members of our church who knew the man and we decided to arrive together at the Viewing Hall. At a Viewing in Ecuador, there is no set schedule or program. The viewing can go all night long and even into the morning. People will come in and out throughout the night. Some will chat. Some will sit quietly. Some will get up and speak.

We arrived and sat quietly for a while.

There were some songs of worship to God. A couple of the men from our church spoke. I could tell that they were feeling the same awkwardness that I was: How to offer consolation to the family of a man who lived his life for himself only? When it was my turn to speak, I had to admit to everyone there that I did not know the man. Nor could I tell them where he was at right then. But! I do know God, and I can tell them what He says about Death . . . and Hope.

It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment

Hebrews 9:27

The Bible is very clear that God is a good and just Judge. He will always judge rightly. We like to focus on the good things that we do, but in order for a good Judge to judge justly, he must also condemn the bad things that people do. Furthermore, if we are honest with ourselves, then we must acknowledge that each of us has done some very unacceptable things. We have broken our relationship with God by our own pride and self-satisfaction, and we are now in debt. Our bad behavior and evil actions (sin) have separated us from God until the full debt can be paid. This is sad and dissappointing news, but this is also why Jesus came. He gave us a way to pay back our debt to God. When Jesus died on the cross, he was, in effect, paying for the debt that each of us owes God for rejecting His ways of holiness, righteousness, and perfection. Our responsibility is to recognize Jesus as Lord and Savior because He paid for our debts. Those who reject God’s offer of eternal salvation in this life will not receive it in the next. For those who do accept God’s offer of salvation through Jesus Christ, there is hope and certainty of an eternal future with God. What a sad shame it would be to live for self in this life and pursue earthly rewards now and miss out on an eternity of joy and happiness.

Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Hebrew 9:28

The Motivation. I would like to say that it was a powerful message that God used to ignite repentence from sin in everyone in the room. It didn’t. I don’t really consider my message to have been very good in itself, but it did accomplish one thing: it emboldened the other believers there by giving them a direction and motivation for their own words. Instead of trying to talk to or about the dead person, the focus was put on those who are still living. The dead are dead and we cannot change that, but the living still have a chance to choose life. To choose unity with God through Christ or separation from God through self. People listened to what I had to say and then continued giving their full attention as others began to speak the wonderful words of life that are only found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Distraction. This intense interest in eternal hope by Christ Jesus from many of the people at the viewing was in conflict with those who did not want to hear anything about sin. While one of the brothers was still speaking, a couple of young men, who were initially smoking right outside the window of the hall, came in and started serving refreshments of bread, crackers, candy, and hot tea to everyone. They even become so bold as to stand in front of the speaker while he was speaking and hand him a piece of bread (though they likely reasoned that they were just being hospitable, as is the custom). With the serving of the refreshments, the once quite room slowly becaming noisier and noisier as people began chatting. The Preacher was undisturbed and continued preaching the gospel. I glanced around and noticed that even though it was noisy in the room and many people were distracted with their own, personal conversations, there were a few people who were still intently focused on the message.

A Reality Check. I will end my recount here, as the point and motivation for it has come. As believers of Jesus Christ, we know that the world as a whole will not accept our message. Some will outright reject it. Others will get bored with it. And some will hear it. In any case, we must be faithful to proclaim the truth about our God and not be discouraged when some choose to turn away from Him. After all, it is not us whom they are rejecting, but Him. Let us be bold and continue to live and share the gospel with those around us and use every opportunity to honor and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ.