spirits that speak

5.21.2007

the preacher

i went to a funeral a couple of weeks ago. it was a friend of the family. kind of a young guy, couldn't have been much more than 40. he had huntington's disease. it attacks the nervous system or something.

but i was at the funeral in my parents' church (a place i was happy to get away from) and the guy delivering the message is someone who i've never been a fan of. i always found his sermons to by really dry and devoid of anything useful. i was quite certain it would be yet another "we're sad, but we should be happy because he's in Heaven now," type of things.

then he spoke.

this was the kind of sermon that took huge guts. because of the nature of the last years of the departed's life, being sick and all, he related the situation to Job. but it wasn't something i expected. he started by talking about how this wasn't going to be "that kind" of sermon. he talked about the situation Job was in when he lost everything. and he didn't just talk about it, he practically painted a picture. talked for a little while about how Job lost everything; his wife, his kids, his life (well almost), and his faith (again, almost). he talked about how he sat in the dust. how Job's friends gradually wore him down and made him feel miserable.

then, the preacher took us to the reason we were there. yes, the man we were mourning actually suffered. yes, it was painful. but he held on to his faith. and where was God? just as Job asked..."Where have you been?!" but then he said something that i kinda predicted because i knew it was true. God was in the hearts of the many people that sat with the departed while he deteriorated. guys that came over to the care home that the departed was in to watch monday night football. people that faithfully visited him week after week, and his efforts to stay positive.

it was all true. and probably the most appropriate funeral sermon i've ever heard. it kind of inspired a little faith in the Church that i haven't had in a while. like, "wow, we're still capable of telling the Truth." and it worked not just because it was true but because it was the angle on Truth that was good for the family to hear. it was comforting to them for their loss. can't argue with that.