Burying your Friend

In most of the western world, death is not an easy topic to talk about, let alone tackle it in a message. The great theologian Jonathon Edwards, made a point as did most Puritans, to discuss it regularly with his kids. I choose to address it, and burial as well, here because God has brought it to our attention and because we should all be acquainted with its sting. In truth I have no agenda before me and no need to prove the superiority of burial over cremation, and certainly have no interest in 2nd guessing any decisions that have been made with regard to a loved one. 

That said, Abraham and Sarah still speak to several realities that are bound up in the grieving process. And in case you’re wondering this is not some obscure passage between a couple of chieftains that has no bearing on your life and death.

Briefly then,

DEATH CRIES OUT FOR MOURNING

it’s a natural part of the process through which death exacts it’s sting. In Jesus’ day families hired professional mourners to make sure the family could grieve openly.

And so, Abraham mourns and we should not cheat people from the process by saying, “oh stop it now and get over it.”

Truth is, we don’t know how to handle grief, and so we excuse ourselves from people’s misery; hoping they’ll feel better so we can feel less uncomfortable.

DEATH CRIES OUT FOR BURIAL

Think about it! The pagans and the demonic burned their dead, the church first strangled Tyndale then burned him at the state for good measure and because they claimed him a heretic! 

But for the crown of God’s creation, who started out as the dust of the ground, then bore the breath of life, they must  return to the ground from which they came. 

Abraham would leave a marker for her life. A place of meaning… their footprint on the planet… her remains, her life… her place. 

My parents could have been buried anywhere but where our family planted it’s foundation, where they lie! 

If not important, then why the burden, then why the detail, why the fuss from Moses?

Because life and death matter and we don’t throw people out the window into the field, like we would the trash! People matter. Babies inside the womb, and elderly struggling to remember their name matter! Roger mattered, Roy mattered, Delores Mattered, Jim mattered, Ray and Frances mattered! Your mom, your dad, mattered!

DEATH CRIES OUT FOR LEGACY

Notice the priority for a plot! He could have possessed it for free, but it would not have been his! Because this speaks to their legacy he doesn’t want it to become a tool for manipulation. 

He’s building a family plot! For Himself, for Isaac, for Jacob, for Joseph! 

He’s creating a family burial plot for generations to come, where they’ll return and celebrate the meaning of life, the greatness of God, and the hope of his eternal kingdom.

And that’s why cemeteries matter!

MJC