Covenant Church

Resurrection Sunday is one of the highest holy days of the Christian calendar. Throughout Christendom believers celebrate an empty tomb and Risen Lord. Sin lost. Calvary won. Christ Arose!

As a young pastor I made every effort to picture death of a Christian as beautiful. The day or event that my attitude changed is not known to me. However, along the way it became apparent to me that my perspective of death needed to be revisited.

What followed was a revolt against the pretended beauty of a coffin or the esthetics of a cemetery, no matter how tastefully done. Beneath the green carpet in the cemetery was dirt, dirt to soon be dumped without ceremony to cover up a coffin. Inside the coffin would be the body of a loved one.

Fancy hearses but symbolized a one-way trip. Flowers are beauty too soon to be faded. Tomorrow the sod above the grave would be level with the rest of the cemetery.

I gave up trying to make the journey of death pleasant. My task and commitment shifted to focus attention on the reality of death being defeated. A journey to the cemetery is a story of promised resurrection.

Recently one of our Burmese families lost an 18 month-old boy. My part as pastor was to love the family and friends. We made it to the cemetery. My part was finished. There was hesitation. It occurred to me that some wanted to open the coffin again. The mother was expecting another baby any day, any hour. I was concerned for her health and the health of the unborn child.

Cemetery workers were summoned. The family indicated they wanted to remain while the body was lowered and covered. One worker brought tools for the shallow grave.

Few of the Burmese spoke English, but with motions they signaled they would lower the body. The carpet was pulled back by the father and friends. Everyone helped to clear the area of chairs. The father and friends lowered the little casket while the cemetery worker watched.

Once the casket was lowered the dad and friends took the shovels and post to tamp the soil. They carefully filled in the grave. With a gentleness and love that no cemetery worker would afford, the dirt surrounded the little coffin. The mother sat nearby and wept. I motioned for the worker to please let the men proceed.

Never was a grave more lovingly filled, tamped, and sod replaced more carefully. It was a work of love.

Yet, it was more. These precious people have a heritage of American missionaries bringing the gospel to them in 1850. Death is not uncommon. They have not had a culture of trying to make death beautiful. Death is a necessity. It is a fact. It is a result of a sinful world.

Yet, death is more. Death is met with fortitude that the Enemy has only won temporarily. In the end the Enemy will lose. In the end Death will step aside, the grave will empty, and those who have gone to be at rest in Jesus will come forth from the grave!

I resolved that day in the cemetery that if there is another Burmese funeral we will ask that no cover be put over the dirt. The dirt is not ugly, nor is the grave ugly. They are just temporary facts. Jesus will come.

My heart is much encouraged these days with Christians who are saying: "Take my body to the Church when I died. Let the saints sing and praise the Lord. Rejoice. Weep, but not for great sorrow, because in a little while the grave will open. Because He lives we too shall live!"

Sunday will come. I pray that around the world pastors will preach the power of the Resurrection. If America comes to a future without the power of the Resurrection, all the weapons of our military will not be enough to save us. If we come to a time that we are not a Christian nation, then we will live in the shadow of atheism or whatever the dominant religion is.

May God open our eyes to see Jesus, the Risen Lord, resurrected from the grave and alive forevermore!

In Hope of the Resurrection,

Pastor Bare

"...because I live, you will live also..."( John 14:19 NKJV )