When we speak about going to a funeral, the responses vary:
- “Oh, no! I’m so sorry!”
- “She’s in a better place”
- “Heaven just got a new angel.”
And so on and so forth.
I am confident that these, or another statements, are well-intended. They are often more a reflection of the speaker’s own personal beliefs about life after death or, in many cases, simply a reflection of their own personal discomfort with the subject of death. In our culture it is not an easy topic. The recent death of my Mother-in-law has brought many opportunities for these and other good-intended statements upon hearing the news.
I completely understand.
However, it is a good opportunity to say a few things about what beliefs such statements confess. In other words, the things we impulsively say at the sad news of the death of a loved one often reflects some interesting and, at times, confusing beliefs about the nature of death, and life after death.
For Christians, what we say about death and what happens, or does not happen, after death is a subject strongly boundaried by the Bible. We should not go beyond what the scriptures say (except that we admit we’re doing so and even then be cautious) and we certainly can’t affirm something that clearly goes against the witness of the Bible.
In the third article of the Apostle’s Creed, we affirm that we believe in … the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting…
That is to say, the summation of our best attempt to understand the scriptures renders to us a confident hope that:
- Those who are in Christ are forgiven from anything that might separate them from God.
- There will one day be a physical, bodily, resurrection for all who have died and
- Life will somehow continue on, forever.
What happens in-between one’s death and the resurrection is, frankly, up for some debate. Some texts of scripture allude to an immediate reunion with our Lord Jesus (and presumably all others who have died in Christ) and then a waiting period in heaven for the trumpet to sound and all the dead to be raised once again.
In the meantime, the texts that allude to this describe hard to fathom worship around Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, along with all those who have died previously. And, apparently, it is over the top amazing! Other texts allude to an experience of sleep. And, to be honest, that’s not bad either. If one us is truly asleep, time does not seem to pass and one simply is awakened at the right time for the celestial party to end all parties, again, at the resurrection of the dead.
Scriptures to consider:
- 1 Cor. 15:51-55
- 1 Thess. 4:17
- John 14:2-3
- Luke 23:43
Either way, God knows what he’s doing, and I trust him. And I urge you to do the same.
What seems to be hard, if not impossible to affirm are ideas such as:
- Your dearly departed is now an angel. Why take a demotion? (see below)
- Your dearly departed is now floating around ‘up there somewhere’ strumming a harp, sitting on a cloud.
- Your dearly departed has a conversation with St. Peter to determine whether or not they get in to Heaven.
Psalm 8:5 says that you ache made Mankind a little lower than angels and crowned them with glory and honor. So it sounds like we’re lower than angels. Except that most scholars believe that this is less about rank and more about a separation of kind. This conclusion is strengthened by 1 Cor. 6:3 which states that in the resurrection, we will judge the angels.
We cannot judge the angels if we are either less important, or of the same kind. Also, Genesis 1:25 reminds us that God created everything after its own kind. In other words, humans are meant stop stay humans. God saw that humans remaining humans and angelic being remaining angelic beings is part of the created order. God affirms that this is good.
Anyway, the point of all this is not to nit pic but to perhaps clear up some potential confusion. I hope it does. We have much to be grateful for as people baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
In Him we have our hope.
Thanks be to God!
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