The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
Luke 7:11-17
What an incredible sight this Gospel must have been, as the Lord of Life encountered a procession of death.
A widow and mother follow the bier that now carries her son’s body in procession to the grave. It’s a sorrowful journey, filled with many tears and an uncertain future.
The woman must have been asking, is this it? Is this all I’m left with, a slow walk to the grave?
In ancient times and throughout early Christian history, the funeral procession started at the deceased’s home and ended at the grave, usually a tomb or cave. Due to purification laws and health concerns, the body was taken outside the city.
Of course, this was before the rise of funeral homes and similar establishments. The cosmetics of dressing up a corpse or the removal of death from our lives reflect how we have commercialized the process today. Historically, families were responsible for caring for the body and preparing it for their loved one’s final resting place. This process, along with the journey to the grave, served as a way to mourn – it was part of the grieving process.
One thing that might seem unusual to us is that it was also common to hire professional mourners, people who would lead the procession in wailing and crying. When the mourners reached the tomb, prayers, Scripture readings, and hymns would be offered.
Another aspect of burial traditions in the early church was the celebration of the Eucharist, commonly referred to as the Lord’s Supper. In this way, it served as a family meal and a foretaste of heaven. The final step was to place the body in the grave with its feet pointing east, in hope and anticipation of Jesus’ return for the living and the dead.
But that wasn’t the end; it was tradition for the family to return on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after the burial, where family and friends would again sing hymns, read scripture, and offer prayers as they rejoiced in thanksgiving for Christ’s victory over death.
The third day represented Christ rising from the dead. The ninth symbolized fulfillment and judgment. The forty days served as a time of testing, trial, and completeness.
This description reflects an intention and a ritual that were not only present but also designed to facilitate the grieving process and affirm the resurrection of Jesus at the time of death.
And this is an important point for us to remember as we live in times when funerals have become less about ritual, less about grieving, and less about the Lord of Life.
So, how should we prepare for the Christian funeral today?
Well, Luther has a helpful insight regarding this matter. He says,
A Christian is a person who begins to tread the way from this life to heaven the moment he is baptized, in the faith that Christ is henceforth the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And he holds to this way until his end. He is always found on this way and is led in the truth to obtain life, as one who already sees the shore where he is to land. He is prepared at all times, whether death comes today, tomorrow, or in one, two, or ten years; for in Christ he has already been transported to the other side. We cannot be safe from death for a minute; in Baptism all Christians begin to die, and they continue to die until they reach the grave.
If you step back, the funeral dirge of life and the confession of what is received in death begin the moment you’re baptized – it’s at this moment we begin to prepare for our funeral.
For this reason, baptism begins to influence not only your journey to the grave but also how you mourn.
Think about that for a moment…
The font of Holy Baptism becomes the ongoing battlefield of life and death. It involves confessing the sins that have consumed and isolated you in grief and sorrow. It includes confronting the fears of death that fill your mind as you endure ailments and aging. It also involves the struggle with Satan himself.
In Baptism, you die to this life and rise to new life in Christ. This reflects the pattern of the Christian life: confessing and drowning your sins in Christ’s death, so that you may rise with Him to new life and forgiveness.
With this understanding, you are not only exercising your faith every time you gather in this sanctuary, but you are also getting ready to die. I know you might not want to hear this, but you are preparing to die, and everyone around you is preparing to grieve.
Even the prayers before a death in Christ confess these truths.
The prayer for the Commendation of the Dying (commonly known as last rites) is as follows,
Go in peace. May God the Father, who created you, may God the Son, who redeemed and saved you with His blood, may God the Holy Spirit, who sanctified you in the water of Holy Baptism, receive you into the company of saints and angels to await the resurrection and live in the light of His glory forevermore.
How about this, the pastor prepares you for death by pointing you back to your Baptism, praying to God to receive you not because of your deeds on earth, but because of His Son’s death and resurrection.
As the pastor meets with the grieving family before the funeral, he prays,
We give You thanks for all who have lived and died in the faith, especially for name, our dear sister. In this body You gave her life and poured out Your Holy Spirit when You washed her in the renewing waters of Holy Baptism. By the same Spirit You led her to confess with her mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in her heart that You have raised Christ from the dead.
Or, of course, as the casket is placed at the sanctuary’s entrance, next to the font at the beginning of the funeral service, and the funeral pall (symbolizing the white baptismal garment) is laid over the casket, the words of St. Paul are spoken.
In Holy Baptism [name] was clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin. St. Paul says: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
And then the congregation responds by saying,
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:3-6)
Yes, a Christian understanding of death starts at the font. The waters that spring forth and abide with you through life’s trials, but also lead you to a foretaste of heaven here at this altar, and to the grave.
This is the procession, not only of confessing life and death, but also the life and death of Jesus Christ.
No, it doesn’t remove the tears and sadness that accompany you to the grave, but it invites you to grieve with hope, because just as Christ Jesus rose from the grave, He has promised to raise those who have fallen asleep in Him, to raise you and your loved ones. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-13)
For this reason, you don’t need to approach this dirge to the grave the same way as the rest of the world.
My friends, we are in a time when it is essential to refocus and return to a proper understanding of the funeral and the procession of this life to the grave…
We don’t need paid mourners or cosmetics that hide the corpse; we don’t need to alter the Church’s ways to fit the world with celebrations of life; we need to relearn how to confess Jesus, the Lord of Life, and His love for us—poor, miserable sinners—in both life and death.
We need to relearn how to grieve and mourn.
We need to gather around the grave with prayers, the reading of God’s Word, and hymns of comfort. We need to hear the voice of Jesus saying, “Do not weep,” and then return to church for the family meal that is the Lord’s Supper.
Because it’s here at this altar that the angels, archangels, and the entire company of heaven come and dwell on earth with you. It’s here you are prepared not only for death but also for the day Christ returns and says, “Young man, young woman, I say to you, arise.”
And then you will, because the waters of Holy Baptism claimed you and led you to this great and triumphant day. +INJ+
Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI
www.goodsheptomah.org
