BEEN TO A FUNERAL LATELY? -- Devotional for February 5, from "Good Seeds"

A wise person thinks much about death, while the fool thinks only about having a good time. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. (Ecclesiastes 7:3,4)

Every man wants to live long enough to bounce his children’s children on his knee, and maybe to see some of the fruit of his life’s labors. But those who live long also have the dubious privilege of attending a lot of funerals! Of course, there are those who refuse to go to funerals, and some who won’t even talk about death. Could it be they’re caught up in the foolish superstition that says if you ignore something long enough it will go away? Some people believe in the power of the imagination, thinking they can have what they want, or avoid what they don’t want, simply by the process of visualization. But it’s downright foolish – dangerous, even – to think we can keep the death angel away from our door simply by the power of positive thinking. (Such folks might say they “wouldn’t be caught dead” at a funeral, but their own is one funeral they won’t miss!) In Proverbs 17:22 Solomon wrote, “A merry heart does good, like a medicine.” Today we know this to be true: a hearty laugh sends endorphins through our system, causing both emotional pleasure and bodily well-being. But then Solomon provides a balancing truth in his other book of wisdom with this sober advice: “It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals, for you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time” (Ecclesiastes 7:2 NLV). We like to quote the proverb, for we don’t mind being told that we should laugh more. But who would think there could possibly be any therapeutic value in sorrow? And who in his right mind would choose a funeral over a party? And yet, the Bible teaches that grief can have a refining effect on us that levity and laughter know nothing of. There are two kinds of sorrow at a funeral: the first is the grief felt by those who have lost their loved one, which may never completely pass in this life. Nevertheless, the second is worse: it is the sorrow of Jesus for the one who has said goodbye to the deceased, but who is himself not ready to go, and who refuses to let this funeral make him think of his own, at some future date, for which he is not prepared. He is the fool Solomon spoke of who can’t wait to get away from this sad time and get back to the good times, the fun that will help him forget what is coming soon enough – his own death. Oh for the “sorrow according to the will of God, that produces a repentance that is without regret, leading to salvation” (II Corinthians 7:10). The funeral for such a one can be a festival after all: a celebration of his graduation into heaven!