When I Die

Okay, I admit it. I’m different…really different, at least when it comes to certain aspects of life. One of these areas is my thoughts regarding my funeral. First of all, I have decided that when it is my time to go I want to go while I am preaching. Now there is a sermon you won’t soon forget. Then, I have two wishes. My wife has not bought into either of these so they will probably not happen. After all, funerals are for the purpose of the living, not the dead. In the end, my funeral needs to be done in a way that will be the best thing for my family. But I do have a couple of suggestions for them to consider.

First, I would like to preach my own funeral. I’m serious. I don’t want someone else making lame jokes at my funeral. I want to be the one telling the funny stories and going over the entertaining anecdotes. The way I see it, this would be simple. I’ll get Tim Reedy, who is our Media Director at Grace Church, to video me preaching my own funeral. He can keep the tape in a safe place and when the time comes that it’s needed, he can pull it out of his archive room and cue it up. I’ll even be sure to update it every 2 to 3 years so it is current. Now come on, don’t you think that’s a good idea?

Here is my second thought. It is a little morbid so for those of you that have a weak stomach or get offended easily, you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph. Instead of embalming me or cremating me, take my body and chop it up into a million or a billion, possibly even a trillion pieces. Then take all of my remains and get on a plane and travel around the word. Every hundred or so miles, toss a little piece out the window. Do this until the entire globe has been covered and all the pieces are gone. Now why do I think this would be good? Because then at the resurrection of the dead in Christ I will have the most remarkable resurrection of everyone. Pretty cool, huh?

I told this story at church last Sunday and one lady told me afterwards that it reminded her of an episode from the TV sitcom, Everyone Loves Raymond where Debra is being extra moody and her husband, Ray, keeps bearing the brunt of it. He tells his family about it and they think he’s exaggerating. Ray responds and says, “Okay, but if you find me in the freezer chopped up into a million pieces, don’t believe the suicide note!” That’s funny!

Paul told the church at Thessalonica that because Jesus died and rose again we can be sure that those who are dead in Christ will be part of the coming rapture. They will be resurrected. Not only will they have part, they will have priority. We who are alive at the time of the rapture will by no means precede those who have died as believers in Jesus. You can bank on this. It comes from the very word of a God who cannot lie. Check it out for yourself in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians in chapter 4 and verses 13-15.

I’m not sure what it will look like when this happens. I’m not sure if the ground will burst open or what but I do know this…it will happen! It’s in the bank. So the next time you are in a cemetery be very careful. As you walk among the tombstones you just may be walking on resurrection ground. After all, for the Christian, dead or alive, the best is yet to come!