Lift High The Cross
Preaching
The Life Of Christ And The Death Of A Loved One
Crafting The Funeral Homily
A Funeral Homily For Holy Cross Day (September 14)
Music: Lift High The Cross
The death of a loved one is always a difficult and traumatic time. As one of our prayers says, at a time such as this, ''Our hearts fail us, we long for that which cannot be, and there is none to comfort us ... [for we know] our eyes no longer will behold the one we love, and our ears no longer will hear the familiar footsteps'' (See J. B. Bernardin, Burial Services, page 139).
If we were in a church with a large crucifix of the suffering, crucified Christ hanging down over the altar, I suspect it would be natural and quite easy for us to kneel down before that crucifix, because it in so many ways reflects what we hold inside. Grief. Pain. Broken hearts. Fear. Defeat.
There our suffering mingles with the suffering of Christ. As Charles Winfred Douglas wrote:
O Sorrow Deep
Who would not weep
With heartfelt pain and sighing.
(''O Sorrow Deep,'' The Hymnal 1982, 173)1
And somehow, gazing at a cross of the suffering Christ, his head hanging, his body limp, wrists and feet nailed to the cross, blood emerging from his side, we find comfort.
Before the cross in our time of grief, the truth of it all hits home: The suffering Lord understands our suffering. He shares our sorrow. He knows our sadness.
Recently, Christians around the world celebrated the feast day in the church year known as Holy Cross Day. It is the day set aside to especially remember Jesus' being lifted up upon the cross, to think on the Man of Sorrows who shares our sorrows: ''O sacred head, sore wounded, defiled and put to scorn ...'' (''O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded,'' The Hymnal 1982, 169).
That is one part of Holy Cross Day - the crucifix of the suffering Christ. The other side of Holy Cross Day is the triumphant crucifix. Perhaps you have been in a church or a home where a crucifix with a fully clothed and crowned Jesus is present. That is the other side of Holy Cross Day - the cross as a triumphant sign.
As we sing in ''Lift High The Cross'':
So shall our song of triumph ever be;
Praise to the crucified for victory.
(''Lift High The Cross,'' The Hymnal 1982, 473)2
What does Christus Victor - the Christ victorious over evil and death - have to say to us today?
First, Christ has trampled down death by death, as the Prayer Book puts it. By his own sacrificial death, Christ has destroyed death. Paul explained it this way to the Christians in Corinth:
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died ... Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
You see, death is not the end. ''For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.'' For God's faithful people, life is changed, not ended. In Christ, life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing but the limit of our sight. Christ the Victor has destroyed death.
Secondly, just as Christ was raised with a new body, so will we be raised. ''How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?''
Paul answers: When you plant a seed in the ground, what comes up looks nothing like the original seed. So it is with resurrection in Christ. A physical body is placed into the ground, but it is a spiritual body that is raised. For the perishable body must put on imperishability, and the mortal body must put on immortality.
In this time of N.'s death and burial, look to the Holy Cross. See there the Man of Sorrows who knows our sorrow. See there also the Victorious Christ, the triumphant Christ, trampling down death by death, and raising us up to new life.
Then, as Paul writes, this saying will be fulfilled:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin ... but thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
_______
1--Words: George W. Kitchin, Rev. Michael R. Newbolt. Copyright 1974 by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
2--From The Hymnal 1982, Copyright The Church Pension Fund. Used by permission.
Music: Lift High The Cross
The death of a loved one is always a difficult and traumatic time. As one of our prayers says, at a time such as this, ''Our hearts fail us, we long for that which cannot be, and there is none to comfort us ... [for we know] our eyes no longer will behold the one we love, and our ears no longer will hear the familiar footsteps'' (See J. B. Bernardin, Burial Services, page 139).
If we were in a church with a large crucifix of the suffering, crucified Christ hanging down over the altar, I suspect it would be natural and quite easy for us to kneel down before that crucifix, because it in so many ways reflects what we hold inside. Grief. Pain. Broken hearts. Fear. Defeat.
There our suffering mingles with the suffering of Christ. As Charles Winfred Douglas wrote:
O Sorrow Deep
Who would not weep
With heartfelt pain and sighing.
(''O Sorrow Deep,'' The Hymnal 1982, 173)1
And somehow, gazing at a cross of the suffering Christ, his head hanging, his body limp, wrists and feet nailed to the cross, blood emerging from his side, we find comfort.
Before the cross in our time of grief, the truth of it all hits home: The suffering Lord understands our suffering. He shares our sorrow. He knows our sadness.
Recently, Christians around the world celebrated the feast day in the church year known as Holy Cross Day. It is the day set aside to especially remember Jesus' being lifted up upon the cross, to think on the Man of Sorrows who shares our sorrows: ''O sacred head, sore wounded, defiled and put to scorn ...'' (''O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded,'' The Hymnal 1982, 169).
That is one part of Holy Cross Day - the crucifix of the suffering Christ. The other side of Holy Cross Day is the triumphant crucifix. Perhaps you have been in a church or a home where a crucifix with a fully clothed and crowned Jesus is present. That is the other side of Holy Cross Day - the cross as a triumphant sign.
As we sing in ''Lift High The Cross'':
So shall our song of triumph ever be;
Praise to the crucified for victory.
(''Lift High The Cross,'' The Hymnal 1982, 473)2
What does Christus Victor - the Christ victorious over evil and death - have to say to us today?
First, Christ has trampled down death by death, as the Prayer Book puts it. By his own sacrificial death, Christ has destroyed death. Paul explained it this way to the Christians in Corinth:
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died ... Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
You see, death is not the end. ''For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.'' For God's faithful people, life is changed, not ended. In Christ, life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing but the limit of our sight. Christ the Victor has destroyed death.
Secondly, just as Christ was raised with a new body, so will we be raised. ''How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?''
Paul answers: When you plant a seed in the ground, what comes up looks nothing like the original seed. So it is with resurrection in Christ. A physical body is placed into the ground, but it is a spiritual body that is raised. For the perishable body must put on imperishability, and the mortal body must put on immortality.
In this time of N.'s death and burial, look to the Holy Cross. See there the Man of Sorrows who knows our sorrow. See there also the Victorious Christ, the triumphant Christ, trampling down death by death, and raising us up to new life.
Then, as Paul writes, this saying will be fulfilled:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin ... but thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
_______
1--Words: George W. Kitchin, Rev. Michael R. Newbolt. Copyright 1974 by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
2--From The Hymnal 1982, Copyright The Church Pension Fund. Used by permission.
