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How to Plan a Christian Funeral*
by Joe Morecraft, III
I. Prepare for it! Spiritually, Psa
90:12. Also, make arrangements with
the deacons concerning your funeral.
"IT IS lMPORTANT TIIAT WHEN
WE DIE WE HAVE NOTHING TO
DO BUT TO DIE." -Charles Hodge.
Make sure you have a will, and a proper
(biblical) one. Leave your children as
little debt as possible.
II. Prepare your family for it! Spiritu-
ally, mentally, and financially, l Tim.
5:8.
III. Take into consideration the follow-
ing points.
A Inadequate answers to the ques-
tion: what is a funeral?
1. An opportunity to exhibit our
grief publicly.
2. An act of social therapy to
help us overcome our sorrow.
3. A gathering to pay our re-
spects to the dead and to eulogize his
good deeds.
4. An occasion for the display of
family wealth in a costly casket.
B. An adequate answer to the ques-
tion: what is a funet;al?
1. A funeral is a worship ser-
vice. "The funeral should be a service of
worship in which God's people witness
to their faith in the communion of tile
saints, the resurrection of the body, and
the life everlasting, and in which also
assurance of God's love and salvation in
Christ is ministered especially to the
bereaved (Christians)." -The Book of
Church Order of the PCUS.
2. The elements of a Christian
funeral.
a. The Word of God is cen-
tral; and everything that takes place
must be consistent with the biblical
principles of worship.
(1). Preaching is dimin-
ishing in the modem funeral.
(2). Eulogizing a person
is inappropriate in the worship of God.
Eulogies offer shallow and temporary
comfort
b. As worshippers we partici-
pate in the funeral.
(1). We are participants
not spectators.
(2). We should sing
hymns, recite the creed, etc.
c. We pray: Thanking God
for the memory of the dead, for the
triumph in the resurrection of Christ;
and interceding in behalf of the family.
d. But wait!, you say. This
seems just like a Sunday morning
worship service. That's right. It is of
the same kind. It is a worship service
and we gather not so much to mourn
the dead as to confess our faith in a
living Savior. We come to worship
God, and in worship, our grief is healed
and our sorrow comforted by Christ.
IV. Some practical questions and an-
swers about funerals.
A. Where should the funeral be
held? Unless there are unusual condi-
tions, the funeral should be in the
church building, where faith is nour-
ished, where marriage vows are made,
where children are baptized, where com-
munion is received, and where prayers
are offered together as the people of God-
in a place where week by week the
congregation gathers for the word,
praise, prayer and dedication.
B. What about the practice of 'view-
ing the remains'? This is not a part of
our worship to God and so the casket
should be kept closed in the church wor-
ship in order that the worship of those
gathered may more naturally be directed
to the Author of their faith, the living
God. In light of the fact that 'to be ab-
sent from the body is to be present with
the Lord', this practice should be mini-
mized. If we give primary emphasis to
preserving and displaying the physical
body, we pervert the purpose of the wor-
ship service.
C. Is an expensive casket necessary
t() a Christian funeral? The most simple
is more appropriate than the most ela-
borate, for in our Presbyterian heritage,
simplicity expresses the Christian life
much better than extravagance. Similar-
ly, give to the church or to charity,
rather than spending much on a lavish
display of flowers.
D. Should fraternal or civil rites be
included in the funeral? Since this is
not a part of our worship of God com-
manded in the Bible, it is more appro-
priate for these organizations to pay tri-
bute to their deceased members at anoth-
er hour and another place.
E. What about having interment
(burial) before the funeral service? This
is good. It is historical. First, have a
brief graveside service for the family
soon after death. Then the family and
congregation should go to the church
building for a worship service of praise
and thanksgiving.
1. This practice was followed by
the early Christians and by the early
American protestants. Bringing the
body to the church was the practice of .
Roman Catholicism, and was done in
order that prayers might be said for the
dead soul suffering in purgatory.
2. Having the interment first is
a Presbyterian procedure. It was the
required practice of the Westminster
Directory of Government, Worship and
Discipline of 1644: "When any person
departeth this life, let the dead body;
upon the day of burial, be decently
attended from the house to the place
appointed for public burial, and
immediately interred, without any
mooy." .
3. The advantage is this: if the
casket is present during the worship
service in the most prominent place
backed by towering banks of flowers, it
can become a kind of worship center,
Our thoughts are naturally directed
toward the physical remains, 'the
ly tent' rather than 'the building from
God, a house not made with hands.' 1
CONCLUSION: Make your funeral a
testimony to Christ, drawing attention
to Him, that your family might be com-
forted and that your unsaved friends
might come to Him by His grace. What
greater climax could there be to an
earthly life that has been lived in trust
The Counsel of Cbalcedon, January, 1989--------------.,..--------------Page 7
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and service to Jesus Christ, than a
thoroughly Christian funerat.2
Footnotes:
*This outline is taken .largely from a
pamphlet published by the PCUS years
ago by Rev. E.D. Robertson, entitled,
Funerals in a Presbyterian Congrega-
tion.
1. For a discussion on the biblical teach-
ing on death; see my outline entitled,
What Happens to You the Moment
You Die? JCMIII
2. From the Book of Church Order of
the PCA, pg. 86: "'qiE OF
TilE DEAD: The services for
such an occasion are: the singing of ap-
proptiate psalms and hymns; the read-
ing of some suitable portion or por-
tions of Scripture, with such remarks as
it may seem proper to the minister to
make; prayer, in which the bereaved
shall be especially remembered, and
God's grace sought on their behalf, that
they may be sustained and comforted in
their sorrow, and that their affliction
may be blessed to their spiritual good."
Continuing the series of
taped messages on
I Corinthians
by Joe Morecraft, ill
The Final Judgment of Christ
(l Cor. 4:l-5)
The Imitation of Christ, I
(I Cor. 4:1-21)
The Imitation of Christ, II
(I Cor. 4: .
The Imitation of Christ, III
(I Cor. 4:14-21)
$4.00 per tape (cassette)
$14.00 for set of four
Order from:
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Tile Counsel of Cbalcedon, January, 1989