Questions of life and death
The first page of the Funeral service – the
reading said quietly beforehand – says:
God’s
love and power extend over all creation. Every life, including our own, is
precious to God. Christians have always believed that there is hope after death
as in life, and that there is new life in Christ after death.
The funeral service will reflect the
personality of the one who has died and the circumstances of their death.
Feelings of grief, gratitude, joy and sadness often intermingle.
Sometimes, a sense of tragedy is uppermost,
especially when it is a young person who has died. When it is the end of a long
and fruitful life, the feelings of thanksgiving can be strongest.
There are times when the death of a faithful
Christian seems to be the consummation of all they have lived for and the
funeral service is a triumphal departure for their true home. As for Christian
in The Pilgrim's Progress,
'all the trumpets sound for them on the other side'.
Funeral services always raise profound
questions about the meaning of life and death. Jesus himself believed in a
life-giving God: 'the God of the living, not of the dead.' Christians believe
that Christ's resurrection is the triumph of good over evil and of life over
death and has made eternal life available to us.
All through history,
Christian doctrine has wrestled with the mysteries which are known as the four last things: heaven, hell, death
and judgement. We know that everybody will be judged by God and the
relationship between God's love and His judgement and mercy is one of the
constant themes of Christian writing.
What heaven
is like, none of us dare say too precisely but we know that we shall delight in
the presence and love of God and of the whole company of heaven. Whatever is
wonderful about life here on earth is only a glimpse of the glory of the life
that is to come.
Most Christians would describe hell as separation from that love of
God. The separation is never what God wants; rather, it is our own
responsibility.
What happens after we die remains a mystery.
Some Anglicans believe in Christ's continuing power beyond death to cleanse us
of our sins and bring us into the closer presence of God. That is why those of
the more Catholic tradition pray for those who are dead.
Evangelical Anglicans, who emphasise that eternal life depends on decisions of faith taken in this
world, see no justification in the New Testament for such prayers with regard
to those who have died, apart from prayers of thanksgiving.
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Page posted 1
November 2009