FUNERALS
The hardest task the preacher has to face is the preaching of funerals, especially those of suicides or non-Christians. Many kind and lovely things may be said of the Christians at death. There is all the comfort of God to be offered to the sorrowing relatives of these. But how very difficult to find any message at all, upon other occasions! And it is very strange but often true, that the meaner the man, the more horrible his death, the more is wanted a big church funeral by his relatives. It may be that they feel that an ostentatious funeral in some measure makes up for, or disguises, the facts in the case.
A man may curse the church, and the preacher, and God, and yet when he dies his family will send for the minister and arrange for a church funeral. The man has never attended church, his family never go, they have never given a cent to the upkeep of the church, and now they never consider that it takes a ton of coal to heat the building; that men must obtain leave from their jobs to sing; and that the preacher stays awake all night wondering what to say. It does not seem to occur to them that they owe anything at all to the church or to the pastor for this service.
There are two lines a preacher may follow in preaching these difficult funerals. One is to preach all of them into heaven; the other is to tell the bald and unadorned truth. If you take either way, you are sure to incur the ill will of some of your hearers. You might try something like this: “He had no use for the church, for Christian people, or for God. He died as he lived and is at this moment burning in Hell!” You may get by with it without being thrashed.
You will doubtless receive many good suggestions from interested friends of departed ones. For instance, if Sam Endall blows out his brains with a gun, a good friend of his wife will tell you that Sam was a good man; that he was better than most Christians, and that she is afraid you will not do him justice. She will suggest text, sermon, songs and procedure and will want for the poor sinful Sam’s remains the grandest Christian burial!
Some preachers preach an hour and a half and preach hell-fire and damnation. Others briefly and hurriedly run through the service all the while fidgeting with the flowers, running here and there, getting in the undertaker’s way, until the audience gets the jitters. You can do as you think best, Oswald. I know you believe in originality and freedom.
If you find it difficult to get a thought for a funeral sermon you might go to a member of the family and suggest that since you were not so well acquainted with the person that you might not say all the things they would expect, and please, couldn’t this member of the family write a nice sermon which you would be very glad to deliver.
Of course there are books and things. You can quote quite a lot of poetry and take up a great deal of time. See any good library.
And, oh, yes, Oswald, one other thing; you might refuse to preach any funerals unless well paid. This will make you popular in your community.
Posted in CHAPTER SIX
You may try to persuade yourself that this is an ordinary book — in order that you may find comfort in the persuasion - but you cannot do so and be fair to facts.