Funeral Sermon

Palm-Passion Sunday A 4/13/14
Matthew 26:14-27:66

O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth might declare your praise.

The worship committee laughed at me when they saw my notes about this worship service from last year. The team debriefs major services at our monthly meetings, and we make plans for how we cant to celebrate the same day next year. So, at last year’s debrief of Palm and Passion Sunday, I made a bunch of notes.

We liked starting the service with the palms – we want to remember that the crowds loved Jesus when he entered Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week.

And the worship team also wanted to do the whole Passion reading. We liked the idea of hearing the entire story of Jesus’ betrayal, trial, and crucifixion all at once. It gets the point across better, don’t you think? The story means a little bit more when you read it a chapter or two as a time. When we pull out segments of the Bible to read out of context, a few verses at a time, we sometimes miss the overarching story.

So the worship team really wanted to do the Passion reading as part of worship on this day. But they also wanted to have a sermon. We won’t have a sermon on Good Friday, we’ll let the story just speak for itself on that night. But for today, they thought, a little explanation is in order.

That’s when the worship committee laughed at my note in the worship order.

I had written next to “sermon” – keep it short!

A colleague of mine asked me this past week if I was preaching today, since he knew that we were doing the whole long Passion reading. I said yes, but it would be brief.

He asked if I would be doing a homily – and really, I don’t know what the difference is between a sermon and a homily. If you look them up in the dictionary, they mean the same thing. So I just responded that I was giving a short sermon… that my message would be funeral sermon length.

Well, that’s appropriate, isn’t it? What better day to give a funeral-length sermon than on a day when we are remembering Jesus’ death?

At funerals, people don’t want to hear elaborate biblical interpretation or thoughtful theological tomes or exemplary scholarly preaching… they just want to hear words of comfort.

So pastors don’t usually preach for 45 minutes at a funeral. We keep it short and sweet, we focus on the good memories we have of the person, and we focus on the hope that our faith gives us for forgiveness and eternal life.

When I’m preparing to preach a funeral sermon, I have a go-to formula.

At funerals, people need to hear three things.

1. Jesus loves you.

2. Jesus loves the person who died. 

3. We will all be together again someday.

In almost every scenario, that formula works perfectly.

Today, though, not so much.

We’ve got #1 – Jesus loves you. We’ve got #3 – we will all be together again someday.

But what does it mean to say that Jesus loves the person who died… when Jesus himself is the one who died?

Remembering Jesus’ death is tough.

Like the disciples, we just don’t quite know what to do with it. His death doesn’t fit with the rest of what we know about him.

Jesus is a teacher and a healer. We remember the story about him raising Lazarus from the dead, and we can’t make sense of his own death. We think about how much everyone celebrated Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. How quickly things have changed!

Why did this wonderful man have to die? Why did he suffer an unjust execution?

Even if we believe that (#1) Jesus loves us, and that (#3) we’ll be reunited someday with our loved ones and with Jesus… how does his death demonstrate love?

That’s the counterintuitive mystery of the Christian message.

Remember how you felt 20 minutes ago? Remember the energy that started the service today?

And somehow, by reading just a few pages from the Bible, the mood has changed completely. We were upbeat, and now we’re subdued. We were cheerful, and now we’re somber.

The story of Jesus’ death makes us doubt #2 in my go-to list for funeral preaching.

Jesus loves the person who died.

That point doesn’t seem to apply today, because Jesus’ love wasn’t enough to stop the suffering and death.

Doesn’t that happen a lot in life? We know that Jesus loves our family and friends, but their illness still isn’t healed. Death happens even in the midst of Jesus’ love.

And it’s confusing.

It’s hard to understand, because we know that Jesus came to bring life, and yet here he is, suffering betrayal and torture and execution.

Our loved ones – and Jesus’ loved ones – suffer and die in spite of his love.

But God’s love remains, even in the midst of all that suffering.

Even on the cross, when Jesus cries out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – even then, God has not forsaken us.

That’s what makes Jesus’ funeral sermon different from the one I would preach for any of you.

At your funeral, I would tell your loved ones that God’s love was present throughout your life, and is present in the promise of your resurrection from the dead. That’s the hope that all Christians have – because of God’s grace, we can look forward to eternal life with God and all our loved ones.

It’s different today.

In the Bible story we just heard, God’s love for us is shown in the fact that Jesus died. God allowed for his suffering in order to save us from the same fate. God’s love, in this case, is directed at all humanity. It comes at the expense of Jesus.

Too bad for Jesus, right?

That’s the thing, though.

Jesus’ death is different.

Jesus didn’t have to wait long for the promise of life eternal.

We know the end of the story. We know that on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead – he conquered death. And this is good news for us. It’s the best news for us! The power of God brought Jesus out from his grave, alive.

Death no longer has power over our lives. Because God loves us (#1), and because God loves Jesus who died (#2), we are all able to look forward to seeing Jesus and our loved ones again someday (#3).

Today’s story makes no sense based on what we know about Jesus. He didn’t deserve death. His betrayal and suffering seem opposed to everything we know about how God works in the world.

But then, when Jesus is raised from the dead, new meaning is given to everything we’ve heard about his suffering.

Sure, Jesus didn’t deserve death.

But we do.

We’ve sinned. We’ve made mistakes. We’ve denied the power of God in our lives.

But because of Christ’s death on our behalf, we don’t have to worry about punishment for our mistakes. The penalty has already been paid.

Jesus’ death is a difficult story to hear. But his resurrection is the best story that has ever been known to humankind.

And the resurrection could not have happened if Jesus hadn’t died.

The story of Jesus’ betrayal and trial and execution only make sense in light of the resurrection. That is when we get the good news of God’s forgiveness for each one of us, and that is when we learn that we don’t need to fear death any more.

         Come back next week for that story.

For today, we remember Jesus’ death.

And we give thanks.
Amen.