Death and the Gospel

This week I had the honor of attending the memorial service for my neighbor who passed away at 50 years of age. This blog post is not about her salvation, but about what was missing during her service. The gospel was MIA. For the average person setting on the church pew during the service it probably never crossed their mind that the gospel was absent. But for hundreds of years pastors have believed there is no ministry that offers the open door of spiritual opportunity and receptive hearts than death. During this service (held at a Methodist Church), like every funeral or memorial service there are people who desperately need the Lord. There are individuals present who are spiritually lost, waiting to be saved. There are individuals who are without hope, who don't need empty words from a eulogy, but the life changing good news of Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that a pastor shouldn’t speak about the person’s life and minister to the family, because they absolutely should, but as I sat in the back of the church of what turned out to be a full house, I waited with anticipation for the gospel to be shared, but it never came. A funeral or a memorial service is not an event about desolation, but of hope. The gospel is that hope, there is hope for those who are still living and there is hope for those whose salvation hangs in the balance of eternity. Finally, a funeral is not about preaching a person in heaven. The deceased’s eternal destiny has been finalized and there is nothing anyone can do about it. But the opportunity has arrived for a pastor to prayerfully and sincerely speak about the brevity of life, the certainty of death, and the need of a Savior, Jesus Christ.

 Thus an appeal must be made to those attending the memorial service or funeral so they can clearly understand what the gospel is and why it’s good news. Unfortunately, the opportunity was missed at my neighbor’s service. But fortunately, it wasn’t during the service of Sandy Roper…45 souls were saved during her service.

 
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…”

Romans 1:16