Getting up this morning I didn't really even take a look outside. As I rolled out of bed (almost literally) I was already thinking about what I was going to say at the funeral which I had found out I would be officiating only last night. I noticed that it was cloudy, but it had been cloudy for the last couple days and it is always cloudy in the spring. I actually didn't really even notice that it was a rainy day until I was sitting in my car at the cemetery watching rain drops falling on the windshield in front of me.
I'd never been asked to officiate a funeral before. A few years back I had been asked to share a few words at the funeral of someone I'd never met and that was a little bit awkward mostly because they asked me to share as we were all standing around the grave. The circumstances were a little different this time. The man who died was the father of a young man about my age that is good friends with quite a few people in our church. He lives in Kiev with his family but they are all from Kaharlyk. When his father died he called his friends to ask them to dig the grave, because that is the way things work in Ukraine. I was on the short list of people who may be free on a random afternoon to go dig and so I showed up to lend a hand. When we got to the cemetery a lady walked up to me and asked if I was Danny and upon my confirmation of my identity she asked if our church could help by doing the funeral. I agreed to help and then asked a few pertinent questions as to when, what, and how and then realized that it would most likely be me that would be doing everything as Wayne (who as the lead pastor usually does this sort of thing) was out of town.
I went from the cemetery back home to change for the evening for Senior Citizens and sometime in the middle of of dinner realized that I still needed to get people together to sing some songs (as is traditional at funerals here) and I needed to figure out what I was going to say and who this guy was who died. We made quite a few of the arrangements but didn't have time for everything. I fell asleep thinking about what I was going to say, and woke up wondering if I had come up with anything yet.
As I sat at my desk reading the bible and thinking I decided to share from the 12th chapter of the Gospel of John when Jesus went to a funeral, cried, and told the mourning family "I am the resurrection and the life". Then I realized I still didn't know the full name of the guy who died, or his wife's full name. So I made some phone calls and got that all straightened out. Then I realized that I didn't know how to tie a windsor knot, and one shouldn't wear a suit with a half-windsor, which was the only knot I knew how to tie. (I now have a suit thanks to a visiting Australian who found out I was doing a funeral, but that is another story.) Once I got my notes and my tie all straightened out it was time to go.
We picked up a few people and drove to the cemetery where I finally realized that it was a dreary rainy day and I that hadn't even thought to bring an umbrella. Liese, of course had remembered an umbrella. She is very practical. As we stood huddled under umbrellas and waiting for some tardy pall bearers, I realized that I should have also brought a coat because it was freezing. I kept mulling over my notes, hoping I would read the verses without messing up and hoping that I would get peoples names right.
When everything was finally in place and we were all gathered around the grave I thought of something that comes into my mind at every funeral: Jesus wept because crying is the appropriate response to death. As I read the verses from John 12, and talked about faith in Christ and the resurrection, I tried my best to communicate that death is a loss, it is painful, it is a reason to cry and that is the response that Christ had to it. But that wasn't his only response – Jesus also conquered death for us so that though we die, we might live with him. Tears are appropriate because death is a horrible thing even in light of the victory of the resurrection.
Funerals are sad affairs because death is a sad affair. It is sad, but it confronts us with reality and forces us to think beyond our daily lives and into eternity. It forces us to ask ourselves what we really believe; is Jesus really the resurrection and the life? Though we die, will we really live? Is this world all there is, or are we made for something more? The comfort and hope that God gives us is more than just words that promise a future paradise. He offers us the comfort of one who knows the pain of watching his son die. He offers us the comfort of one who actually can see the end, who can see the light of the sunrise that for us is still far off.
The cold spring wind cut through my thin suit as I walked back to the car hoping that by God's grace some of the people who had gathered at the funeral had stood at edge of eternity and seen a loving God offering comfort and mercy to all who would come to him.
Malaysia's population of 28 million is comprised of about 180 ethnic groups, with the Malays making up about 50% of the population. By constitutional definition, Malays are Muslims who practice Malay customs and culture. Therefore, technically, a Muslim of any race who practices Malay customs and culture can be considered a Malay and have equal rights when it comes to Malay rights as stated in the constitution.
