Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized… Acts 9:17-18

Don’t misunderstand this, but I think more of us should go to more funerals more often.

Seriously. There is nothing like a memorial service when it comes to shining the spotlight onto what is true and real and important.

I have not thought about it in this context before, but this is exactly what Paul is talking about in Philippians: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

The focus of this world is so often contrary and contradictory to the teachings of the New Testament. Then we show up for a funeral and – if the preacher knows anything about anything – we are encouraged to put things into perspective and to recenter ourselves spiritually.

People just seem to listen with more spiritual engagement. I suspect maybe it is the gravitas of a memorial service that commands our attention and facilitates better listening. Regardless, it’s hard to shrug things off so much when what’s up for discussion is our own mortality.

But – and I have written about this before – I don’t see the end of our journey here on Earth in terms of finality so much as transition; not placing a period after the dates in the parentheses, but a semicolon (For now we see through a glass darkly).

“Rebekah told me,” I wrote after one particularly impactful funeral in Florida, “that she doesn’t know that she has ever before experienced such complete, absolute attention during a message. It was as if 400 souls were laid bare, the doors to their deepest places swung open (or at very least the windows cracked) to receive words of hope, words of encouragement, words of faith, words of truth.“

You see I believe the doors to our deepest places should be swung open on a regular basis – or at least significantly more often.

Clarity

What we experienced Saturday afternoon at the service for Linda Tharrington Goines was clarity. Maybe clarity is a more useful word than gravitas. Truth helps us to see clearly; a good memorial service lifts the scales from our eyes for a while and we all need that experience more often.

Something like scales fell from the apostle Paul’s eyes, the Book of Acts points out, and he could see again; his immediate response was to get baptized.

For me, the idea of getting baptized is essentially a euphemism for “becoming immersed in God and getting on with life as a follower of Jesus.” That’s what a good funeral tells me, it reminds me that I am a part of the Greatest Story Ever Told, and that it is our story too.

It is our story too. I look forward to seeing you in worship today – DEREK