Good morning on this 18th day of October. This morning I conducted a funeral and afterwards had an interesting discussion with the funeral director. He mentioned that he is often shocked at many people's attitude about the death of a loved one, stating that many don't care about funerals or services or even the cremains if the loved one is cremated. Some seem to think that they are gone so who cares about any thing related to their death or body. How different that is from the many Biblical passages which discuss the resurrection of the body. I well understand that a body after death is merely the empty house they lived in while here and that it will return to the dust from which it came, but God compares that body to a seed which when planted produces a plant. Many verses in 1 Corinthians 15 address the relationship of the body sown to the glorified resurrection body. One funeral director told of a pastor who during a funeral service referred to the body before him as "just a body" as if it had no meaning or significance at all. Afterwards the funeral director told me that a member of the family approached the pastor and said, "What do you mean , just a body. It was that body which conceived me, carried me, and gave me life. This body of my mother has special significance to me and therefore is 'not just a body.'" I never forgot that fact and have never viewed the body of a loved one or friend the same again. Admittedly, when the soul leaves the body, the body is disposable, but to treat it with contempt or disdain is not the answer. When Jesus was buried they wrapped his body with cloth and anointed it with spices. The women who found the empty tomb were returning to the tomb to again anoint the body. It was that body which was changed into Christ's resurrection body; hence, the tomb was empty. It is wrong to place too much emphasis on a decedent's body, but it is also possible to go too far the other way.
Tomorrow's sermon is Steps to Spiritual Maturity - Part 2. I hope to see you there.
Mel Brown