I preached a funeral sermon today. This is the heart of what I had to say.
I thought it would be good to consider some of the wisdom of King Solomon, one of the wisest men of all time. So, let me read to you from
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.
This is Solomon's perspective. To be sure, there are times to rejoice and to celebrate; times of feasting. But there are also other times, times like today, spent here, a place of mourning. And according to Solomon, it is sometimes be better to be experiencing a day like today instead of a day of celebration. Now, why is that? Why does Solomon say this? It's because, 'this is the end of all mankind'. One day we will die, each one of us. And Solomon's hope is that we 'will lay it to heart'. It is his hope that we will take the fact of our coming death seriously.
You see, once we die we will stand before God, and he will evaluate our lives. This has already happened to Dick. And it will happen to each one of us. The question to ask at this point is, 'What does God look for when he evaluates someone?' Jesus has told us. He said this in the Sermon on the Mount: 'You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.' God will be looking for perfection, complete and absolute perfection. But who is perfect? Are you? I am not, and I am quite sure that no one in this room is. Does that mean that we will all fail the test when God evaluates our lives? To fail is serious. Those who fail are condemned.
This is where Jesus comes in. He was and is perfect. And he offers his perfection to anyone who will become his disciple. So, while coming to Jesus is certainly about the forgiveness of our many sins, it is also about receiving his perfection. That is the only way any will pass God's test. Those who have entrusted themselves to Jesus will pass the test. They will have the required perfection, Jesus' perfection.
So, you can see why Solomon said what he did. It's good to come to a place like this, a house of mourning. It's good to pause and to consider whether you are ready to have your life evaluated by God. To all who are ready, all who follow Jesus by faith, he will provide perfection. Because of that the day of their death is a day of great joy for them. It is a day of happiness. And it is that because they know - they know - that when they stand before God to have their lives evaluated they will hear him say, 'Welcome home.' Because of Jesus' gift they will pass the test.