Through the Valley of the Shadow For a Cancer Victim
Sermon
In Sure And Certain Hope
An Anthology of Exemplary Funeral Messages
Carl B. Rife
This sermon was preached at the memorial service for an aunt who died of lung cancer.
Recently, while I was driving in Frederick, I had a rather lengthy wait at a stop light while a very long funeral procession went through the intersection. I must admit that my reaction was annoyance and impatience: I had things to do and places to go. But as I moved beyond my initial feelings I had a number of thoughts about the whole matter of death. My first thought was that every day in the city of Frederick and all over the world people die and there are similar processions that temporarily interrupt other people's journeys. Then I realized those funeral processions do not affect us too much unless we are part of the procession because of the death of someone we love, And then I reluctantly gave way to the thought that someday I will be the cause of someone else's temporary annoyance and impatience as they wait unknowing and uncaring for my funeral procession to clear the intersection.
What my musings point to is this: when someone we love dies, we become a part of the funeral procession and that entirely changes our perspective on the matter. Our concern then is not to
get through the intersection as soon as possible. Rather our concerns lie at a different level, We feel the loss, the terrible emptiness left by the absence of one who occupied an important part of our lives. We seek assurance concerning the eternal destiny of the one we have loved. And we look at our own lives anew in the perspective of the hard core realities of life and death and the promises of God revealed to us in the written word of scripture and the living word in Christ.
Aunt _______ has passed through the Valley of Death. We feel her absence. We all will miss her. When the Christmas season comes and I am eating cookies I will especially feel the loss. Our tears are tears of loss. There is an empty spot in our lives because she is no longer with us.
Aunt _______ has passed through the Valley of Death. She was ready to face her Lord. Her faith rested in God's goodness and grace. And thus, with an assurance rooted in the God we know in Jesus Christ we can be comforted by the knowledge that she indeed is in God's loving care.
But the difficult thing is that Aunt _______ not only passed through the Valley of Death, for which we feel a loss and seek assurance, she also passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, marked by suffering, pain, and the fear of unknown aspects of death. The last few weeks were a difficult time for her. And it was difficult for her family and friends as they watched her struggle and suffer and could do so little to help. Those of us who visited her in the last days found ourselves at times breathing deeply, somehow hoping this would help her breathe.
Aunt _______ recent struggle and suffering dramatically reminds us that throughout our lives we all have walked, we all do walk, we all will walk at times through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It is not death itself that causes us the most difficulty, it is the shadow cast by death throughout our life. From the moment of our bitth we are caught up in the struggle between the forces of life and death, knowing that eventually the forces of death will have the last word. To state this is not to be morbid, but to face life realistically. Most of our life we spend ignoring or repressing this reality and that is another reason why the death of a loved one affects us so deeply, for we are brought face to face with the forces of death that lie within us.
Someone once summarized the entire history of the human race this way: they were born, they suffered, they died. There is a lot of truth in that. Life does have an uncanny resemblance to a soap opera which moves from one problem to another, interrupted only by brief periods of happiness and fulfillment, and not even the happiness and joy described in the Beatitudes.
But there is also reality and truth in the affirmation of the Psalmist who states that "Even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me". Amidst the hard realities of life and death is the promise of God that he will be with us. One of the creeds we use in our church puts it this way: "We are not alone. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. Thanks be to God."
Paul said it this way: "For I am absolutely certain that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Christ himself repeated the promise: "Lo, I am with you always ..." This is the promise that helps to ease our loss. This is the promise that gives us assurance about the eternal destiny of the one we have loved. This is the promise that helps us as we and our loved ones journey through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
Beyond the Cross is the Resurrection. Beyond the Shadow of Death is the Light of the World. He who himself walked the Valley of the Shadow of Death on our behalf is with us. Through him we find life and light. Thanks be to God!
This sermon was preached at the memorial service for an aunt who died of lung cancer.
Recently, while I was driving in Frederick, I had a rather lengthy wait at a stop light while a very long funeral procession went through the intersection. I must admit that my reaction was annoyance and impatience: I had things to do and places to go. But as I moved beyond my initial feelings I had a number of thoughts about the whole matter of death. My first thought was that every day in the city of Frederick and all over the world people die and there are similar processions that temporarily interrupt other people's journeys. Then I realized those funeral processions do not affect us too much unless we are part of the procession because of the death of someone we love, And then I reluctantly gave way to the thought that someday I will be the cause of someone else's temporary annoyance and impatience as they wait unknowing and uncaring for my funeral procession to clear the intersection.
What my musings point to is this: when someone we love dies, we become a part of the funeral procession and that entirely changes our perspective on the matter. Our concern then is not to
get through the intersection as soon as possible. Rather our concerns lie at a different level, We feel the loss, the terrible emptiness left by the absence of one who occupied an important part of our lives. We seek assurance concerning the eternal destiny of the one we have loved. And we look at our own lives anew in the perspective of the hard core realities of life and death and the promises of God revealed to us in the written word of scripture and the living word in Christ.
Aunt _______ has passed through the Valley of Death. We feel her absence. We all will miss her. When the Christmas season comes and I am eating cookies I will especially feel the loss. Our tears are tears of loss. There is an empty spot in our lives because she is no longer with us.
Aunt _______ has passed through the Valley of Death. She was ready to face her Lord. Her faith rested in God's goodness and grace. And thus, with an assurance rooted in the God we know in Jesus Christ we can be comforted by the knowledge that she indeed is in God's loving care.
But the difficult thing is that Aunt _______ not only passed through the Valley of Death, for which we feel a loss and seek assurance, she also passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, marked by suffering, pain, and the fear of unknown aspects of death. The last few weeks were a difficult time for her. And it was difficult for her family and friends as they watched her struggle and suffer and could do so little to help. Those of us who visited her in the last days found ourselves at times breathing deeply, somehow hoping this would help her breathe.
Aunt _______ recent struggle and suffering dramatically reminds us that throughout our lives we all have walked, we all do walk, we all will walk at times through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It is not death itself that causes us the most difficulty, it is the shadow cast by death throughout our life. From the moment of our bitth we are caught up in the struggle between the forces of life and death, knowing that eventually the forces of death will have the last word. To state this is not to be morbid, but to face life realistically. Most of our life we spend ignoring or repressing this reality and that is another reason why the death of a loved one affects us so deeply, for we are brought face to face with the forces of death that lie within us.
Someone once summarized the entire history of the human race this way: they were born, they suffered, they died. There is a lot of truth in that. Life does have an uncanny resemblance to a soap opera which moves from one problem to another, interrupted only by brief periods of happiness and fulfillment, and not even the happiness and joy described in the Beatitudes.
But there is also reality and truth in the affirmation of the Psalmist who states that "Even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me". Amidst the hard realities of life and death is the promise of God that he will be with us. One of the creeds we use in our church puts it this way: "We are not alone. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. Thanks be to God."
Paul said it this way: "For I am absolutely certain that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Christ himself repeated the promise: "Lo, I am with you always ..." This is the promise that helps to ease our loss. This is the promise that gives us assurance about the eternal destiny of the one we have loved. This is the promise that helps us as we and our loved ones journey through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
Beyond the Cross is the Resurrection. Beyond the Shadow of Death is the Light of the World. He who himself walked the Valley of the Shadow of Death on our behalf is with us. Through him we find life and light. Thanks be to God!
