Funeral Meditation

In todays Gospel passage, Jesus is saying farewell to his closest friends. He knows that his time on Earth is almost finished, and he is trying to comfort his disciples who do not understand why he is leaving them behind. Jesus knows that the cross is before him, that he would be abandoned by these men before him now, but the Holy Spirit would be following him. Its difficult to understand. Like the mystery of death itself. That the one we love has left this Earth, yet we are never alone. 

Just as the believers of Jesus were not abandoned, so we too are not left desolate. Just as Jesus sought to comfort his disciples, so we gather together to seek comfort from this same Lord and Savior today. While God knew the number of days Al had with us, just as he knew the number of hairs on his head, we did not have such information. But we were blessed to know Al while he was on this earth. To hear of his passion for the scripture and share time with him traveling or outdoors. While we grieve that we did not have enough days with Al, we feel blessed for the love that he showed each person in this room as a father, uncle, brother, friend, during our time with him. 

We are not left alone. We have gathered as this community to grieve the loss of Al today, but also to proclaim the truth that Al believed with his unshakable faith - that we will be reunited again for we have victory over the grave through Jesus Christ. So today we gather together in our grief while looking forward for the hope in the life to come. God gives each of the same Holy Spirit that Jesus spoke to the disciples about, to give us hope and peace, especially during difficult times like this one. 

And Jesus also blessed us with this community. For we have not been left to grieve alone, though surely we will each grieve in our own way. The promise Christ makes in today’s passage is two fold - the gift of the Holy Spirit, to bring Jesus to our minds, and to remind us that we are to follow the way of Christ laid before us, but also the promise of community. A community that remembers. A community that seeks to live faithfully. A community to comfort and support one another.

So we have gathered together as this community to speak truth into each other’s lives. To remember who Al is. To proclaim the hope and home that he found in Jesus Christ. I believe we will be reunited with Al one day to laugh at his unique sense of humor and celebrate the Yankee’s wins, to break bread together and talk about his favorite scriptures. To share together in all that Al loved. But as we look forward to that day, we come together this day to remember. To remember what we loved about Al. To remember the hope that Al believed in. May we now share our memories with one another, and feel the peace and presence of the Holy Spirit that Christ has promised us.