Talking Plainly About Death

Thank you for watching that, bringing back some great memories. I enjoyed it just as much a second time as I did the first time. So thank you for sharing that with us. Well, it's interesting that Mr. Morigian said there's two sure things in life, death and taxes. He talked about taxes. I'm going to talk about death. So how about that? We're going to talk about two sure things in life today. One of the greatest and most beautiful promises found in the Bible is found in Revelation 21, verse 4. I'd like you to turn there by way of introduction to this topic.

Let's read it together. Many of you know this promise by heart. It's a promise to everyone, everyone alive today, regardless of their faith. Everyone alive today is going to have an opportunity to experience this promise if they want it. They're going to be given that chance to experience this promise. Revelation 21, verse 4 says, and God will wipe away every tear, every tear from their eyes.

There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. As we think about the new heavens and the new earth that will come after the return of Jesus Christ and the thousand-year reign on this earth, this promise of a new world for all peoples, the promise of the second resurrection. I think about this verse, and I think about just how powerful that is. And there are four, what I'm going to call misfortunes.

That kind of almost feels like diminishes it, but I don't know how to describe it. These four sort of hallmarks of this age that the Apostle John describes in this verse. He says there's death, and there's sorrow, and there's crying, and there's pain. There's four things that are just part of this life, and we cannot escape these things in our life. They're just here. And the first of those things is death.

Death is just a reality that we have to deal with. The Apostle John lists this as the first misfortune. And the Apostle Paul says that this will be the last enemy that will be destroyed. Death will be the last enemy destroyed. In this congregation, we have watched as many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have died, even in this past week. We spoke of two memorials today in the announcements. I lost my mother last year, and my father died nearly 35 years ago.

Many of us here have lost our parents, have lost children, have lost loved ones. And yet, despite knowing that death will come to us all, we're often afraid to talk about it. We're often afraid to discuss it. In fact, I've often heard it said after someone has died, he or she never really wanted to talk about death. And so we didn't make any plans. It just wasn't something that they were comfortable talking about.

And often this lack of candor and honesty to discuss the reality of death, that we will die at some point, has led to misunderstandings and even conflicts within families as to how to make funeral arrangements, inheritances, and so forth. It's caused financial loss from not preparing important legal papers.

And it has left some members of the family unable to process the reality of the loss of their loved ones because important ways of mentally and emotionally processing someone's death through funeral and memorials and other things were skipped. Or maybe their concerns weren't addressed and their thoughts weren't incorporated into how things were done. Every year we celebrate the Feast of Trumpets. We celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, which represents the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the saints of us. And every year we celebrate the Eighth Day, which recognizes this hope for all humanity of the second resurrection. We celebrate these things and we rejoice in these things, but a lot of times we skip the part that has to come right before, which is death.

We skip that part. And we don't talk about that. There are those in God's Church who fail to properly prepare spiritually, emotionally, and physically for that event, which precedes these resurrections. And so with this in mind, I want to talk plainly today about the importance of discussing and planning for your death. Or, if you're younger, the death of a loved one. Maybe your parents, maybe an older brother, or an aunt, or an uncle, or a grandparent. You don't need to turn there, but you can note it in your notes.

Ecclesiastes 7, verse 2. Ecclesiastes 7, 2 says, It is better to attend a funeral than to attend a banquet, for everyone dies eventually, and the living will take this to heart. You see, it's better to go to a funeral because, oh, wow, I guess that's going to happen to me. I guess it's going to happen to my parents. I guess that's going to happen to somebody that I love. I better take note of that. Take it to heart. And so, taking the wisdom of the book of Ecclesiastes to heart today, I think discussing these things follows the same principle.

And I'm going to try to make this as positive as I can be, because, obviously, talking about death is not a positive thing, but it's a real thing. And hopefully something that we can speak about as mature adults, as mature Christians, both in the sermon and in the sermon chat. This is a stir to action. We discussed this in club. This is a stir to action sermon. I'm looking for each of you to do something when I'm done with this sermon. I've been thinking a lot about this subject over the years.

And when Mr. Phelps gave his sermon last week on healing, and he plans to give a second sermon next Sabbath, I thought, this is it. This is the perfect time. We can talk about healing and what it means to be healed and the hope and the promise associated with healing. And we can talk about when God chooses not to heal and allows us to pass, because these are both things that are within God's control and purview.

And we are part of his plan, and we are in his hands. And so I thought, well, this is good. We can talk about both these things in this context.

And we can have hope that no matter what happens, God is in charge, and God is going to direct our lives. And I thought that this would be the time that we could have the courage, frankly, to consider what happens when God decides to not heal, when it is our time, or our parents' time, or our loved one's time to go. Now, there are many things to do to prepare for death.

There are advanced health care directives. There are things that have to be filed with our health care system to make sure they know our wishes. There are living trusts that can be established. There's a last will and testament that can be written. There are funeral plans that would need to be made, deciding where you want to be buried, or if you want to be cremated, or where you'd like your ashes placed.

There's a lot of details associated with that. If you're older, I'm asking you to talk with your loved ones about these things. Like I said, this is stir to action. There's a homework assignment for each of you. If you're older, I'm asking you to talk with your loved ones about these things. Recognize that when it comes to funeral plans, it's not just about what you want. It's not just about what you want. It's about what your family needs. It's also about what they need emotionally to come to terms with your death.

Allow time for some good discussion. These things are not done in one and done. These things are part of an ongoing discussion of what the family needs, what you need, how everyone comes together. If you are younger, I encourage you to pray that God would open a door so that you could talk to your parents or grandparents about their thoughts in this regard. It can be sensitive.

It can be a sensitive topic to bring up with your parents or your grandparents or your aunts or your uncles or whoever it might be. But it needs to be discussed. The pain associated with not talking about this will be much greater than the awkwardness of broaching the topic. The pain of not talking will be much less than the awkwardness that you might feel in talking. If you are younger, I hope this sermon will spur you to pray for that and look for that opening and look for that moment when this topic can be broached so that you can understand what their wishes are.

Most importantly, though, I hope you are stirred to action to not fear these discussions, but that these discussions will draw you closer to your loved ones and to your family. To be able to have these conversations, I think we need to learn to view death as God views death, to be at peace with our lives, and to have an elevated perspective.

And with this in mind, the title of my sermon today is Facing the Enemy, Talking Plainly About Death. Now, we're going to cover four points, and we're going to review many examples. Well, we'll review some examples, but there are many examples in the Bible that we can go to to see principles that we can use today in this regard, whether it's about traditions and rituals or about about planning.

So if you start here with the first point, which is, we need to see death as God sees it. That's point number one. We need to see death as God sees it. We need to see death as God sees it. Turn with me to Philippians 1 in verse 21, please, because this really sets the basis for a conversation, and it takes the fear away. It takes the awkwardness away. It takes the strangeness away. Philippians 1 verse 21. If only we could all have this attitude.

Paul says, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul wasn't afraid of death. He had no fear of death. He understood where death fit into the plan of his life. Verse 22, but if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. I know God will do things with me, and I want to do those things for God, and I'm happy to be alive and do those things.

I don't want death, necessarily, but I will proceed if I need to proceed. Then he says, yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. I had this discussion with my wife with her mom, and I heard her say it before. My mother-in-law is not necessarily afraid of death. She's lived a long life. She's in her late 80s, but she wants to be there for her family.

She wants to see what's next. That's really why she's happy to be around. She's connected to that. She's not afraid for herself. I think Paul had the same understanding. He wasn't afraid of dying. He was just happy to be there for the people he was serving. He was happy to be there for the church. There was no reason to be awkward about this. Now, if you're 20-something, you might have a little different perspective, and that's understandable. I have a whole my life in front of me.

I don't need to be talking about this necessarily. But nonetheless, having this perspective to say, I'm going to live my life in such a way that I'm going to be comfortable when that time comes, that's a very positive thing.

That's a very constructive and healthy perspective. That we're going to live our lives having a sense of peace and strength, that we're doing what we should be doing, that we're fulfilling our purpose and our meaning here, and that when the time comes, even if that time is cut short, we are going to be at peace with that.

That's really the perspective. That's really the starting point for a lot of these discussions, that we don't have to be afraid of this. That if we really are putting ourselves in God's hands, then He'll choose that time, and we will be comfortable with that. My second point, and now we're going to get into maybe some of the details here, and this might sound a little bit odd, but I thought it might be more memorable if I put it this way. My second point is, respect your future dead body. Respect your future dead body. Let's turn to Luke 23 verse 50.

Let's read an example of how the body of Jesus Christ was treated after His physical death. As you're turning there, I want to share with you that I've often heard, more than I thought I would hear, that because we know that the Spirit goes up to God at our death, and we've talked about what that is. Is that a cassette tape? Is that a DVD? Is that a streaming of our life that God has? When we're resurrected, that sort of experience of our life is returned. Because we know the Spirit goes to God, we often say, just throw me in the hole. Burn me up, scatter me around, it doesn't really matter. I'm not there. There's a certain disrespect that we might have for our own self. We carry this body around, and sometimes it doesn't treat us so great. We don't treat it great sometimes. It can do things that we're not happy with. After a while, I'm done with this body. Get me out of this thing. We can have a certain disrespect. Notice how the followers of Jesus treated his body after his death. Luke 23, verse 50 and 56. It says, And behold, there was a man named Joseph, and this was after Jesus's death, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their council. He was from Erithmethiah, the city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. This is a man who was a follower of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. This body needed to be treated with respect. He asked for the body.

Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. This was a new tomb. This was a fresh tomb. What would happen at that time is families of certain wealth would buy a freshly created tomb, and that would be where they would bury their family members. Sometimes you could have extended family members. You could have a lot of people who would be able to benefit from this tomb. What would happen is they would lay the body there after the body died, and they would prepare it with spices. They'd wrap it in linen. They'd prepare it, and then they would close the tomb, and they would come back a year later.

A year later, they would open the tomb, and then what would be left is basically bones. Because after a year and the heat and everything, it would have decomposed. They would gather the bones, and they would place the bones in the back of the tomb. If they could, they could dig, or they would just place it in a receptacle and put it in the back. Then they would have a place for the next body to be laying. Over time, the tomb would fill up with the bones, and everybody would know, this is grandma's bones, and this is daddy's bones, and this is aunt so-and-so's bones. That's how these tombs... This was a tomb where no one had been laid before. This was just a fresh tomb, which was pretty special. This was a special thing that he was offering there for Jesus. That day was the preparation day, and the Sabbath drew near. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed after him, and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid. We know how he's laid out there. They returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils, and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. There was a lot of work to get ready to prepare this body after its death so that it could be properly treated prior to decay. There's a parallel account of this in John 19, verse 39, where it says that Nicodemus, this is a teacher of the law, a very prominent figure, brought a mixture of myrrh and allos about a hundred pounds worth. You ever tried to carry a hundred pounds? He couldn't carry it. There were people who were carrying these spices in. This was a really big deal. Again, we might say, well, you know, it was just a body. Well, no. There was a respect that they had. Our bodies are made in the image of God. And God breathed into us the breath of life. That's an important and. We were made in the image of God, and God breathed into us the breath of life. Even without the breath of life, our bodies are to be treated with respect. As I said, there's a new tomb. The body was wrapped in linen. There were burial products purchased. People made preparations. They were going to come back. And from Scriptures, we see that from the time of Abraham, through to the end of the New Testament, bodies were buried. They were primarily buried. They were prepared for a burial and buried, or placed in a tomb to decompose and then be respectfully placed in a portion of that tomb. There are a couple exceptions to this. Saul and his son Jonathan were cremated. And we believe that they were cremated primarily because they had been so badly mutilated in battle that it really did not make sense to bury them. Achan, a very famous story of Achan and his family. Achan was the one who basically contradicted what God said in terms of the commands as they were going into the Promised Land. And he was killed, along with his family. And that whole family was cremated.

Now, although cremation is not forbidden or condemned in the Bible, the examples of its use are primarily associated with punishment. That is the biblical example. Today, cremation is often an economic choice. It's just a reality that it costs a lot to die. A lot of people can't afford it. And so, cremation is a much cheaper option for people. And it's perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with cremation in that sense. It's a perfectly fine option.

And again, this comes down to discussing these things with our families about what we want. But I guess what I'd want to share here is that cremation should not be chosen because our bodies are worthless after the Spirit lives on. That should not be the reason. If there's an economic reason for cremation, then you should choose that. But to think, well, it doesn't really matter anyway and so forth. Well, we see in Scripture that burial was something that was done from the beginning to the end. Our dead bodies, although considered unclean under Mosaic law, if you touched a body, you were considered unclean. And interestingly, many of the stories that we might see, that house was considered unclean. And the body was often buried within the same day because it was so hot. So if somebody died that day, they were often buried within 24 hours because of the health effects of that. But even though they were unclean, they were treated with dignity and care. And like I said, we might dismiss ourselves, but our families and friends may not feel that way. So it's important to discuss burial versus cremation and what those things that we should do. My third point, and we're going to spend the majority of the rest of the message on this. There's a point after this. But the third point is to give your loved ones what they need to grieve your loss. Give your loved ones what they need to grieve your loss. Let's turn to Matthew 26 and verse 6. Give your loved ones what they need to grieve your loss. Matthew 26 and verse 6, we see this example, which we often cite during the Passover season, about Mary of Bethany and what she did in anticipation of Jesus's death. But let's think about this from a standpoint of giving somebody what they need to grieve the death of a loved one. Matthew 26 verse 6, And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him having an alabaster flask, a very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it out on his head as he sat at the table. And when his disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor. But Jesus was aware of it. He said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for me. For you have the poor with you always, but me you do not always have.

Or do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on my body, she did it for my burial. Assuredly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached, in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as memorial to her.

If you think about this verse, Mary of Bethany, she completely believed what Jesus was saying relative to his coming death. Many of the disciples were in denial about this, but she was clearly not in denial. She 100% believed, and she was in mourning. She was in mourning. And you think about the status of women at the time and what she would be allowed to do and so forth and so on. She was in mourning for Jesus and his soon death. And this act of anointing was her way of emotionally processing that reality. This was something she needed to do to process the death of her beloved Messiah. This is how she was going to process and come to terms with the fact that her teacher, her rabbi, was soon to be dead. And the disciples' reaction, I think, is often our reaction. Oh, what a waste of money. Oh, don't spend money on that funeral. Oh, what a waste. Oh, there's so much need in the world. You know, send money here, or let's keep it for this.

And, you know, if you think about it, help the poor. Let's help the poor. Think about all that. If we'd taken all that money, we could help the poor. But a funeral, like a wedding, marks a moment in the lives of our family and our friends, and it is a time deserving of money. Jesus literally says, the needs of the poor can wait. Can you imagine that? I mean, this is, you know, he came to preach to the poor. And yet he said, no, let her do this. Let her do this. The needs of the poor can wait.

And I think these accounts were written and saved for us to show the great care that was taken for Jesus, even though he was not a rich man or a man of status. In building on this, let's see an example, another example in Scripture, of how a family mourned the loss of a beloved member of the family. Look over in Genesis 50. Genesis 50, and we're going to read about the funeral that Jacob had. Jacob's funeral. And what went on with Jacob's funeral?

Because we see a lot of things in here about how people can process loss, how they can process grief. And it's varied. This is a, we're all unique in this way. We all have different needs. We have all had different relationships with the person who is passing. Let's start in Genesis 49, verse 33. Genesis 49, verse 33.

We're going to read through this whole passage down to verse 15, and then we're going to pull some things out of it. So let's read this together. Genesis 49, verse 33. When Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. And now we're going to see all the things that happened after his death. Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed.

And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. And when the days of his mourning were passed, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I am dying. In my grave, which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.

Now therefore, please let me go and bury my father, and I will bring him back. I will come back. And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear. And so Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great gathering.

And then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning of the Egyptians. Therefore, its name was called Abo Mizram, which is beyond the Jordan, which means the Egyptians' mourning, or the mourning of Egyptians.

So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Makhfala before Mamre, which Abraham bought from the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who went up with him to bury his father. What an incredible story!

If you think about all the things that went on here, first, let's notice the actions that were taken to mourn. In verse 1, he wept over his father. He kissed his face. Verse 2, he embalmed him, which was a special process that we even use up to this day. It's remarkable that truly the Egyptians were at the forefront of this amazing thing where you could preserve the body over a long period of time, such that it could be carried even after 70 days to another place. They were mourning for 70 days. They traveled back to a special location that was designated for burial. After traveling, they spent another period of time mourning, as it said here, seven days of mourning once they got there. They carried him, and they buried him.

Notice also in verse 15, we didn't read this, but I think it's interesting. In verse 15, we see this situation where Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, and perhaps Joseph would hate them. They began to get worried. What this shows is that basically for this period of time, that was the priority. That was the priority. When somebody dies, there's a priority to address that death when that happens. There was a priority such that they weren't really worried about Joseph coming after them during this period, because they would know that the focus was on the funeral arrangements for Jacob. When someone dies, we have to stop what we're doing and take that into account. Take action. Sometimes we can't. Sometimes there's health issues or things that preclude us from doing it. But it shows that it's a priority. I think this conveys the sense of priority. Joseph was a rich man. He was a rich and powerful man. Not like most of us here. But nonetheless, despite being a rich and powerful man, it shows us that there are a whole series of things that can be done that help us process and help the family process the passing of someone. There are 70 days of official mourning, and the mourning process emotionally takes as long as it needs to take. But these processes, these rituals, these traditions, they provide closure. They help provide that closure for us. And in this story, we also see there's a specific place that Jacob wanted to be buried. A specific place. Go back to Genesis 49, verse 29, and let's read about that specific place. He says, Then he charged them and said to them, This is Jacob, I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Macphala, which is before Mamre, on the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field. And the land of Ephron the Hittite, as a possession for a burial place. There they buried Abraham, and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac, and Rebekah, his wife. And there I buried Leah. I think it's interesting. He had such love for Rebekah, excuse me, for Rachel, but he was ultimately buried with Leah. This was a place where the family was to be buried. This was a place of meaning for that family. The field in the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.

It's important that we don't underestimate the importance of place after we die.

It may be fine to scatter someone's ashes. Perhaps that's what they like, and that's what people agree to. But before making such a decision, I think it's important to discuss this with family and friends, as they may want to have a place that they go to see you, or to see Grandma and you, or Mom and Dad, or an Uncle or an Aunt. They may want to have a place that they go. That is a place that they can remember you. I was put in a very difficult situation when I was 21 years old, needing to make funeral arrangements for my father, who was 46 at the time. I had to go through this process, and so I bought a burial plot in Pasadena for my dad. There were all sorts of things, and we made it through that. I have gone to visit that place many times. When I was dating my wife, I took her there. I took my girlfriend, my very serious girlfriend, to that place, because that was in a place that was important to me, and it's part of my story. Having a place can be important to some of your family members. Where you think about what that place is, even though, in this case, he was far away from that place, even as I live here, and that is likely where my wife and I will be.

That's a bit of a travel, even from here, to go down.

It was important to Jacob where he was going to be. There's a separate story. We don't have time to read it there, but you can mark Genesis 47. 27 is where Jacob and Joseph had a special conversation to talk about that. Jacob shared what he wanted with his son, and he asked his son to do it and to follow through on it. You can also read Genesis 23, verses 3-20, where Abraham purchased that land.

Genesis 23, verses 3-20. Think about that. There's not a lot that we have in terms of the books of the Bible. This is it. This is all we got. These are the books of the Bible. There is a lot devoted to the discussion of burials and funerals. Nearly a whole chapter to how Abraham bought a place where his family would be buried. A place where we see a conversation between Jacob and Joseph on what Jacob wanted. Nearly a whole chapter on a funeral for Jacob. There's something here we should pay attention to. Finally, in Genesis 50, at the end of the chapter, in verse 25, we see that Joseph also asked that his bones not be left in Egypt, but his bones be transported back to the same place that he might be buried with his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather.

These are the relatives. Right after the feast, a close family member died in France. Maryse had been very close to her cousin, who passed away during the feast. We traveled the day after the eighth day. We traveled across France. We got a burial early. We had it at four o'clock in the morning, so we could make it there in time.

We attended a portion of the funeral. I only share this story just to give an indication of the processes and the things that can be done, and even in a modern day. There was a funeral mass at the church in the morning, and then there was a processional of cars from the funeral mass to the crematorium. My wife's cousin was going to be cremated. In the crematorium building, there was an assembly hall where her casket was placed at the front of the room. It could be like this. You can imagine an assembly hall like this, and the casket is placed here.

Behind the casket were two glass sliding doors, frosted, such that you couldn't see through the glass. You knew that when this ceremony was done, that casket was going to pass through that opening, and those doors were going to close. She was going to be taken from the casket, and she was going to be taken to the crematorium, and she was going to be burned. Those ashes were going to be left in an urn. You knew this was going to happen. There was a ceremony there before that cremation where family members got up and they spoke about her.

On her casket was a picture, and you could see her picture as people spoke. After people spoke and gave that remembrance, each person who was in attendance was given the chance to stand up and to walk and to circle the casket. Some people touched the casket, some people touched the photo, some people kept their hand on the casket, and there were people who were given an opportunity to put a rose petal on the casket as they went by. By the time that was done, the casket was covered in rose petals. After everyone was seated, those glass frosted doors opened, and that casket was wielded behind the doors, was left there, and then the doors closed.

You knew that was the time when she was now going to be taken and she was going to be cremated. There were a whole series of these ceremonies and rituals that continued. After two hours later, the urn was then given to the family. There was another processional from the crematorium to a cemetery where that urn would be placed in a vault. There was a ceremony of placing the urn in the vault.

Then there was the covering of that vault, and then there was a covering of that vault with flowers. That was an entire day. There were so many touch points in there. That's an example of what one family did. Everyone has different things, and that's why it's important to discuss it. In my case, for my family, when my parents died, we had a graveside memorial, which is often done.

Then after the memorial, we went to someone's home, and we ate a meal together. People brought food, and you had a potluck meal, and people stayed late, and they talked. These things are very, very important to process the grieving that we have, one for this person that we've lost.

Again, I mention these details because without going through these details, a lot of times we can feel like that day just disappeared. Then we're left to kind of process this on our own. Jesus allowed Mary what she needed to process his death. Joseph's leadership allowed for Jacob's family to process Jacob's death, and our funeral ceremony should allow our family members the time they need to process the reality of our death. Sometimes this can be done simply, and other times this may be a little more complicated, as in the case of Bricfestedia next week because of COVID restrictions. Again, we don't have time to discuss all these things, but if you want to read more, you can look in John 11, where it talks about Lazarus. We can see in some of these cases that some of these periods of mourning went on for a week. When Lazarus, it was the fourth day, people were wailing and grieving on the fourth day. You can also look in Mark 5, verse 21-43, and see the story of the death of the daughter of Jairus. There's a lot in Scripture about this. My final point that I want to bring out is to plan financially. Plan financially for your death. If you're younger, I hope that the door will open to understand what your parents' plans are, because a lot of times that's where the issues are. You're the one that's going to be on the receiving end of a bit of a mess if they don't do what they need to do. Please turn with me to Luke 12, verse 13. Luke 12, verse 13.

Here we have just a simple request, but a very complicated request, one that Jesus himself wouldn't even touch. Luke 12, verse 13. Then one from the crowd said to him, that is Jesus, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

Verse 14. But he said to him, that is Jesus, Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?

This is a very complicated, messy situation when you start talking about inheritances.

So much wrongdoing has occurred in this area over the centuries that elaborate processes and sets of laws have been created to ensure fair, equitable, and just distribution of inheritances. There has been a lot of suffering on the part of families by a lack of planning by people before their death. And there really can be nothing more divisive in my experience within a family than sorting through issues of who gets what. There's a lot of emotion attached, even to things. That was Grandma's this, or that was Grandpa's that, or Grandpa said I could get that, or what do you mean that's not?

And I'm only getting it's very, very problematic. And in this case, this man perhaps had an issue. Maybe it was his issue. Maybe it was his brother's issue. Maybe it was his parents issue. And Jesus used it as an opportunity to talk about covetousness.

He used it as a launching point to basically say, look, don't get so wrapped up in that. And he gave a parable about covetousness. But I think that we have to recognize that even at this time, this was a problem for families. Don't let this be a problem in your family. There is this thing that society has created here in this country called probate, which can often be considered to be very problematic.

But the reason probate exists is to ensure for the fair distribution of assets, to make sure nobody pulls a fast one and tries to get something that they don't deserve. So there's something called probate. And probate is expensive, and it takes a lot of time to sort through these things. So what happens is somebody dies, they have some assets, and people think, great, okay, there's a last will, and it's going to be distributed, and everything's going to be fine.

And then a year later, nothing's really happened yet. And they're like, what's happening? Well, because probate takes time. And probate requires that fees be paid on the value of the estate. And so what happens is heirs are losing out because of all these probate fees. And there are ways to avoid this.

There are ways to achieve the same purposes without having all these assets stuck for a long time and having to pay a bunch of fees. So to avoid this, people set up living trusts. Setting up a living trust allows those things to go and be, you know, so-and-so, okay, this is what so-and-so is going to get, and this is what so-and-so is going to get, and we're going to divide this equal here, and we're going to give a little bit to the church. And it allows all this to be written down. And then when the time comes that the person dies, it doesn't have to go through probate because it's already been planned out.

And so the laws say, well, that's okay. We can see they had a lawyer, and it was signed, and it's all in a living trust. And so you don't have to pay all those fees. You don't have to wait all that time. And that takes so much frustration out of things for heirs. My wife and I set up a living trust about 10 years ago, and we have confidence that if anything happens to us, our children will receive what we desire for them to receive, and they won't have to wait and lose a bunch of things to fees and so forth.

And it's given us a chance to, like I said, stipulate that we'd like some funds given to the church as well. And so the church can benefit from that. Another thing we can do is to name a beneficiary on our 401k, our IRA, or our life insurance. This is very important. It is so simple. It is a phone call and a form that will save so much frustration for your heirs if you just take a moment to do that.

And then, as we go into an estate plan or a tax consultant can help as well. Many people don't realize there are many tax benefits associated with proper planning. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 4, verse 2. 1 Corinthians 4, and in verse 2. I'm going to show you the concept here. It's just a short scripture, but it's a concept that's very important. It's a concept that we should be exercising in life and as we prepare for the end of our life.

1 Corinthians 4, verse 2, it says, Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. He's using this as a jumping off point to talk about our responsibility as Christians, but he's using something that everybody understood. Being a good steward that is taking care of what has been given to us is important. And so if we have been blessed with a certain amount, then we need to be good stewards with that.

And it doesn't matter how much you have. In fact, it's probably even more important if you have less. Because if you have just so little to share with your heirs, don't let that be eaten away with legal fees and taxes.

Every dollar counts. So even if there's very little, there's things that you can do to make sure that that is protected and that your heirs can benefit from that. The last thing we want is to have what little we have wasted in taxes, government fees, and other legal fees. Now, I said at the beginning of the sermon that this was a stir to action. So I want to finish by sharing a short story in a scripture. The story is about a motivational TED talk that I watched that talked about achieving goals in your life.

And one of the things that you said in that TED talk was that you are never going to feel like it. Whatever it is you want to do. You're never going to feel like it, ever. I need to do this. Well, you're never going to feel like doing that. And if you wait until you feel like doing it, well, then you're never going to do it. You have to force yourself to do it. And so she gave an example. She said, I want you to set your alarm clock for 30 minutes before you regularly get up.

30 minutes before your normal time. And when that alarm clock goes off in the morning, I want you to feel what that feels like to get out of bed. That's the force you need to do whatever it is you need to do. You're in a warm bed. It feels really good. There's no reason to get up right now. But you're going to make yourself put your feet on that cold floor and start your day. That's the force that it takes to actually do something that you need to do.

So I want you to think about that when it comes to making that phone call about a beneficiary. I want you to think about that when it comes to thinking about a living trust. I want you to think about that when it comes to having a conversation with a loved one about what they would like and what you would like for your funeral, or praying for that opportunity to talk to your parents or your grandparents. It is like putting your feet on a cold floor. It is uncomfortable. But you need to do it because you're going to have to eventually get out of bed, just like you're eventually going to die. So just do it. Just set your alarm clock 30 minutes early if you want to feel that feeling. But that's what it's going to take. So that's the story. The scripture is 1 Corinthians 15.26. You're in 1 Corinthians. Go over to 15.26.

Because this is what the Apostle Paul writes about death. I started with this incredible promise in Revelation 21 verse 4. And I want to finish with this promise in 1 Corinthians 15.26. It says in verse 25, For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. Death is our enemy. Let's not pretend. It's an enemy. It steals precious time that we want to have with our parents. It steals memories. It hurts. It is an enemy. But it will be destroyed. And we celebrate that with the Feast of Trumpets. We celebrate it with the eighth day. We celebrate it with the death of Jesus Christ and what he did for us that we might live with God eternally. Ours is a glorious hope. Let this hope inform how we plan for our lives and how we plan for our death.