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Voddie Baucham - Two Funerals · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: If you want to see what we believe about worship,
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  Speaker 1: go to a funeral. A young man I know died
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  Speaker 1: in a tragic accident. His death was utterly sad. At
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  Speaker 1: his funeral, his friends were all wearing T-shirts adorned with
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  Speaker 1: his picture. At the front of the church were heaped
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  Speaker 1: up flowers, footballs, and stuffed animals. On top of his
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  Speaker 1: coffin was a picture from his senior prom The service
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  Speaker 1: began with a recording of his favorite song, a heavy
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  Speaker 1: metal power ballad. The preacher gave a eulogy, praising how
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  Speaker 1: the teenager was such a good friend, such a good person,
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  Speaker 1: recounting some of the funny things he used to say,
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  Speaker 1: telling about the dreams he had for his life. Everybody
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  Speaker 1: in the church was crying. Then his best friend got
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  Speaker 1: up to say a few words. He was sobbing. He
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  Speaker 1: finally croaked out his goodbyes. As the congregation joined his sobs,
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  Speaker 1: his girlfriend recited a poem she wrote about how much
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  Speaker 1: she loved him. Then the boy's grief-stricken father had to
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  Speaker 1: get up in front of everybody and talk about his son.
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  Speaker 1: As if all this emotion were not wrenching enough, the
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  Speaker 1: funeral director next played a video showing highlights of the
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  Speaker 1: boy's life, his baby pictures, playing with his friends, enjoying
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  Speaker 1: Christmas with his family, waving at the cameras. There was
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  Speaker 1: not a dry eye in the house. People said, what
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  Speaker 1: a beautiful funeral it was. This is a living, breathing
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  Speaker 1: picture of the affective principle. This is a service that
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  Speaker 1: was not designed based upon what God says about himself.
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  Speaker 1: It was not designed based upon bringing clarity to who
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  Speaker 1: God is in light of this tragic event. It was
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  Speaker 1: a service that was designed with this young man at
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  Speaker 1: the center. And it was designed for the people so
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  Speaker 1: that they might have an emotional catharsis. Poitras goes on.
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  Speaker 1: Another funeral I attended was of another young person who
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  Speaker 1: died a tragic death, one that was even more senseless
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  Speaker 1: and terrible. She had been raped and murdered by a
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  Speaker 1: serial killer. I was one of the elders on duty.
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  Speaker 1: My job was to keep the news media away from
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  Speaker 1: the family. At this funeral, the congregation sang old hymns.
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  Speaker 1: They were in a minor key, but the lyrics centered
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  Speaker 1: on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. the grievers
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  Speaker 1: joined together in a responsive reading of the Word of God.
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  Speaker 1: The pastor, garbed in black, read more text from the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of a eulogy, the pastor recited the facts of
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  Speaker 1: the girl's life, emphasizing her baptism, her catechism, her confession
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  Speaker 1: of faith. He described how she joined the church, her confirmation,
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  Speaker 1: and her regular reception of the Lord's Supper. The pastor,
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  Speaker 1: preaching from the Bible... gave a sermon on our travails
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  Speaker 1: in this wicked world, on how the Son of God
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  Speaker 1: entered our sinful condition, how in His sacrifice and His promises,
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  Speaker 1: we have a sure and certain hope that this poor
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  Speaker 1: child has entered into everlasting joy. The justice of God
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  Speaker 1: will be manifest, and so will His mercy. He will
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  Speaker 1: wipe away every tear. We sang some more hymns. The
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  Speaker 1: mood was sad and somber, But the word of God
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  Speaker 1: that permeated the whole service was like a lifeline, or
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  Speaker 1: rather like a strong arm supporting us in our grief. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: we cried. The funeral gave us strength. Do you see
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  Speaker 1: the difference between these two events? Yes. This was not
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  Speaker 1: a matter of preference. This was a matter of fundamental presuppositions.
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  Speaker 1: This was a matter of fundamental understanding about who God
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  Speaker 1: is and how we meet him in worship. On the
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  Speaker 1: one hand, there is the idea that says we need
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  Speaker 1: an emotional experience. We need an emotional catharsis. We need
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  Speaker 1: to focus in on what it is that will create
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  Speaker 1: the environment that will allow us to feel the way
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  Speaker 1: we want to feel or we ought to feel or
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  Speaker 1: would like to feel. And everything needs to be designed
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  Speaker 1: around that. And the other says, here's who God is,
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  Speaker 1: regardless of the circumstances. And here's what God says about himself,
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  Speaker 1: about worship, and about death. And it will be enough.
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  Speaker 1: It will be enough.