A Time to be the Church

“As we journey home, may your presence be known: precious river, ever-flowing, now carry us home.” (ELW 453)

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 22:1-5)

My first call was served in a small rural parish in the beautiful hills of JoDaviess County. When there was a death in the congregation, the church bell was tolled to announce the news to the community. When the day of the funeral arrived, without fail, the people of St. John’s came to worship, tell stories, laugh and cry, and to share a meal. As a young pastor I came to expect that a congregation would show up for a funeral. When a member died, the church gathered.

In the past two weeks I have attended two funerals. One was for Pastor Al Zenker, former bishop of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod. Al was serving as an assistant to the bishop of the Illinois District (ALC) when I started out, so I had known him a long time. I had the privilege of representing Bishop Wollersheim and our synod at his funeral. The second funeral was for a woman I barely knew. She was a member of the congregation for which my wife is organist. I attended this funeral to support my wife in her role and because I know the family.

At each of these funerals I looked around at the people who had gathered. There were lots of pastors gathered for Pastor Zenker’s funeral. Of course, family, friends, former parishioners and members of the parish were also there. At the other funeral, family, friends and many from the congregation were present. I am glad that I was there too.

I believe that we need to be reminded of God’s promises that we hear most clearly at funerals. We need to be together to support each other in the hard times. As the church, we need to boldly sing the hymns of our faith. We need to pray. We need to tell stories. We need to laugh and cry. We need to be the church.

I believe a congregation should place a high value on funeral worship. Does yours? Do you think it should?