FUNERAL SERVICE

My name is Rev. Jo Burke from Universal Life Church. On behalf of the family, I would like to thank all of you
for being here today. Im honored to stand before you to conduct this service.

When someone we love dies unexpectedly, there is a tremendous amount of shock. When a spouse, a parent,
a sibling, a friend is suddenly no longer with us, it can trigger very strong reactions, emotions, and questions.
We are here today as the people of God to find comfort in the truth of Scripture, and especially to surround N.
with our love, our faith, and our prayers.

If I could summarize the purpose of this service, I believe I could do it in these few words: The Hurt, The Help,
The Hope.

The Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 5:8, To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Today,
we know N. is present with the Lord.

When the wife of the evangelist Charles Finney died, he grieved deeply. Here are his words describing the
experience:

My wife was gone! I should never hear her speak again nor see her face! Her children were
motherless! What should I do? My brain seemed to reel, as if my mind would swing from its
pivot. I rose instantly from my bed exclaiming, I shall be deranged if I cannot rest in God! The
Lord soon calmed my mind for that night, but still, at times, seasons of sorrow would come over
me that were almost overwhelming.

One day I was upon my knees, fellowshipping with God upon the subject, and all at once He
seemed to say to me, You loved your wife? Yes, I said. Well, did you love her for her own
sake or for your sake? Did you love her or yourself? If you loved her for her own sake, why do
you sorrow that she is with me? Should not her happiness with me make you rejoice instead of
mourn if you loved her for her own sake?

Did you love her, He seemed to say to me, for my sake? If you loved her for my sake, surely
you would not grieve that she is with me. Why do you think of your loss, and lay so much stress
up that, instead of thinking of her gain? Can you be sorrowful when she is so joyful and happy?
If you loved her for her own sake, would you not rejoice in her joy and be happy in her
happiness?

I can never describe the feelings that came over me when I seemed to be thus addressed. It
produced an instantaneous change in the whole state of my mind.

From that moment, sorrow, on account of my loss, was gone forever. I no longer thought of my
wife as dead, but as alive, and in the midst of the glories of heaven.

The reason I like this story is that it vividly portrays all three of these elements: The hurt, the help, and the
hope.

Hebrews 4:15-16 says, For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but
was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Jesus suffered in every way we could ever
suffer, and He also is sympathetic with our weakness.

No matter how eloquent the words that are spoken today, no matter how beautiful the music is, no matter how
kind friends are in their expressions of care and concern, there is still a very genuine and valid sense of
sorrow and loss that is experienced when a loved one is no longer with us. Even when a person has faith, and
this family does, there is still a sadness that exists because someone we love is no longer with us we are no
longer able to enjoy their company, their friendship, and their fellowship.

We see, within the pages of the Bible, a compassionate God who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Jesus Himself faced great heartache when His own
cousin, John the Baptist, was taken from this earth in the prime of his life. When Jesus heard of Johns death,
the Bible says: When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. I
believe that Jesus was deeply saddened by this news, and he desired some solitude in which Im sure he was
drawing comfort from His Heavenly Father.

Many times people will hear a story, like the one I read about Charles Finney, and they get the impression that
Gods direction to anyone who is grieving is just to snap out of it and quit grieving.
But if you listened carefully to the wording, it is evident that there was a season of time involved before the
Lord spoke to Finney in the way that he did, and it was then that Finneys emotions were changed. Just like
there is a healing and recovery process that involves time when our body is wounded or injured, so there is a
period of time when we suffer loss. The reason we have the ability to grieve is because we have the ability to
give and receive love.

In John 14:18, Jesus said, I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Comfortless means orphans
one without help. It has been said that God never sees His children die; He only sees them come home.
The Word of God is so very clear, that we as believers have received the Holy Spirit; who is our Helper and our
comforter in every difficult place of life (John 14:16-18).

Psalm 46 tells us:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling
thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the most high. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help
her, and that right early.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN
VICTORY. O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

N. is not here. He/She stands in the presence of the Lord, the same Christ who said to the dying man on a
cross ...TODAY YOU SHALL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE. The body that lies before us is but the earthly
tabernacle, the house in which N. lived among us for a time. Tenderly and reverently, we commit that house to
the grave,to God who gave it, waiting for the day when both the spirit and the body shall again be united at the
coming of the Lord. As Paul says in First Thessalonians:

For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Lord Christ, we thank You this day for Your precious, eternal, and unchanging Word. We thank You that You
are the Rock of Ages and the great I AM. In the midst of our natural sorrow, we thank You for Your
supernatural comfort and grace. In the face of death, we thank You for Your gift of eternal life. In the face of
separation, we thank You for the eternal reunion we so eagerly anticipate.

We thank You for N.s life here on this earth, and we recognize that the body that lies before us is not N., but
rather the house in which he /she lived. We acknowledge that N. is rejoicing, even now, in Your very
presence, enjoying the blessings of Heaven.

Lord Christ, we commit his/her body to the earth, from which our bodies were originally created, and we rejoice
in the fact that his/her spirit is even now with You. We anticipate the day when spirit and body shall be united
again at Your coming, and we find great comfort in knowing that we shall forever be together with You, Lord
Christ.

We thank You Lord, that in the days, weeks, and months to come, these realities and the abiding presence of
Your Spirit will especially strengthen, sustain, and comfort N.s friends and family. And may the blessing of
Almighty God, the Father +, the Son, and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you forever.
Amen.