There is some ancient wisdom that states, it’s better to go to the house where there is mourning than to the house where there is feasting. The reason given is those who are still alive will take it to heart. Parties on the other hand have their place but typically don’t offer up important life lessons.
The idea is being amidst death and those grieving over it, will be sobering and cause us to consider our own mortality.
But when we attend a funeral, we are not just living in a painful moment of the present, we’re also getting a view of the future. This whole dying thing happens to everyone so inevitably there will be a funeral… for you. So, when Solomon wrote that in Ecclesiastes, he was saying that it is essential for people to live looking forward, because we too are on a collision course with death.
Well THAT is really depressing. So, what are we to consider exactly? Just how sad and hopeless our limited time is? Actually, quite the opposite.
The apostle Paul wrote that God has revealed His grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel
So those that are in Christ have hope and peace. Not that death becomes unsad – it’s still tragic. But the death we experience is likened to a sleep, which is only temporary.
This is what Jesus spoke of when He said, "If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death".
In life we do look forward when we prepare for education, careers, vacations, retirement. While good they are ultimately… short-sighted. Fix your eyes on that appointment we are all destined to keep.
