Spiritual Hunger Satisfied/Tears Wiped Away
Preaching
Life Everlasting
The Essential Book of Funeral Resources
Object:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars -- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
The last two chapters of the Bible are filled with words of comfort. You could just read them in their entirety to people. But, for the purposes of enumerating preaching themes, we will break the chapters up a bit. These first eight verses of Revelation 21 are a flash of blinding light in the darkness of death. A new heaven and earth is created. All that is old is washed away. Death, sorrow, and pain are all eradicated. This new place is beautiful. God and humanity dwell together in this place, and God claims them. In this place, our hungers are sated and our thirsts are quenched.
One possibility in preaching this passage at a funeral could be to focus on the hungers of the heart; the thirstiness of the soul and how our entrance into God's new kingdom leads to a satisfaction that is beyond imagination.
I also love the image of God wiping away our tears. This image could be used both in providing a picture of what the one who has died is experiencing, and in talking to those left behind about the comfort God can provide. Picture your loved one who has just died; maybe they left this world a bit frightened, maybe they were not yet ready to say good-bye and let go of this life; picture them entering the next life, meeting God and having their tears wiped away as a parent wipes away the tears of a little one who is frightened. This is a wonderfully comforting image for those who have lost someone they loved.
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars -- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
The last two chapters of the Bible are filled with words of comfort. You could just read them in their entirety to people. But, for the purposes of enumerating preaching themes, we will break the chapters up a bit. These first eight verses of Revelation 21 are a flash of blinding light in the darkness of death. A new heaven and earth is created. All that is old is washed away. Death, sorrow, and pain are all eradicated. This new place is beautiful. God and humanity dwell together in this place, and God claims them. In this place, our hungers are sated and our thirsts are quenched.
One possibility in preaching this passage at a funeral could be to focus on the hungers of the heart; the thirstiness of the soul and how our entrance into God's new kingdom leads to a satisfaction that is beyond imagination.
I also love the image of God wiping away our tears. This image could be used both in providing a picture of what the one who has died is experiencing, and in talking to those left behind about the comfort God can provide. Picture your loved one who has just died; maybe they left this world a bit frightened, maybe they were not yet ready to say good-bye and let go of this life; picture them entering the next life, meeting God and having their tears wiped away as a parent wipes away the tears of a little one who is frightened. This is a wonderfully comforting image for those who have lost someone they loved.
