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Attended a funeral today - a two-hour drive each way, but this was for a gentleman from our previous church who we had great respect for, and had grown close to. It was a wonderful celebration of his life of faith. Aside from rekindling a scad of memories, the service hit on the topic of a recent post, and another article.
The term "life after death" frequently recurred through the service, a phrase evangelical christianity has used extensively, particularly in relation to evangelism. But the implication today, clearly not intended, was that only now -in death - would this man reap the benefits of a life of faith, in spite of the eloquent testimony of the way in which it had shaped his life on earth.
Now, maybe I am a little over-sensitive, but does this convey that the only benefit of christian faith is "pie-in-the-sky, by-and-by when I die?" Ought we not be speaking of life through death? The christian faith talks of transformation in the here and now, which continues on beyond the grave.
While the focus of gathering is on a life now ended, with all its questions for each of us about death, ought we not also place the call back into life? The reason the christian ought not fear death is because he knows who meets him on the other side, and has already lived in ways which foreshadow the kingdom, and which reflect kingdom experience...
This same discussion was started by our children the other day, as the image of heaven they had received was boring, one they weren't keen on: angels on clouds playing harps and singing boring church songs... When we began to share images of heaven which better reflect the priorities of Jesus and God's kingdom, they were much more animated and excited - because they knew they could live and know them (at least in part) now.
Posted by gary at March 1, 2005 09:33 PM
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