1 Corinthians 15:35-58 (Christian Witness in Death)

Introduction

When you die, and all of us will die (sooner or later), how will your friends and family and the world around know that you were and are a Christian (not just an American or a Texan or a family man or a hard-worker or a sweet mother)?

Of course, the main witness we bear to those around us is the life we live.

We display our love for Christ in our love for other Christians.

We show our trust in Christ by daily confessing sin and humbly receiving forgiveness through the person and work of Christ.

We reveal our understanding of grace (the grace we’ve received from God) by giving grace to others – bearing with their faults, forgiving them when they sin against us, and welcoming repentant sinners into our lives.

We display our belief in Christ by aiming our whole lives toward trusting Him and obeying His commands.

We show our prioritization of Christian beliefs and practices by doing what Christians have done for centuries, despite all the temptations to live as non-Christians in a world that pushes us away from faithful Christian living, away from diligent Christian disciplines, and away from the traditions we’ve inherited from those Christians who’ve gone before.

Yes, the main witness we bear and the chief display of what we truly believe is the legacy or reputation of a life lived well for Christ and for His kingdom.

But I want to focus our attention today on that last opportunity we all have to bear witness of Christ in this world… that opportunity Christians collectively have to bear witness to Christ by the way we treat and talk about and commemorate our dead… in our funeral and burial practices.

Several years ago, I attended a funeral service in Daingerfield (where the school mascot is a tiger), and the loudest and most distinctive feature of the service came during the departing procession (when everyone filed out of the room). The speakers began to play the theme song of Rocky III, “Eye of the Tiger.” Apparently, the family of the deceased wanted everyone in attendance to know that Daingerfield High School was central to this person’s identity and legacy.

Many of us could probably describe various creative funeral and burial practices we’ve witnessed over the years, but I don’t think that would be edifying. Rather, I want to make an argument today for some customs or traditions that I think Christians would do well to recover when we’re thinking about funerals and burial.

This is my final installment in the topical series I’ve titled The Well-Ordered Life, and I hope that you’ll hear this sermon as part of that overall series.

I’m not saying that our funeral and burial practices are the most important feature of our Christian living.

Quite the contrary. If we trust in Christ, follow Him, and bear witness to our love for and hope in Jesus all the days of our lives, then our funeral and burial will be insignificant in comparison.

And I’m not saying that the end of our lives should be the place where we focus the bulk of our attention.

No. The bulk of our attention and effort should be placed on how we live, not on what happens in this world after we die.

Distinctly Christian funerals and burials are just one small piece of that overall order I’m urging us to strive toward as we aim to order our lives according to God’s design and instruction.

I should also note at the outset that a lot of what I’m arguing for today falls into the categories of tradition and prudence (or wisdom)… not sin and righteousness.

If your loved ones have not followed the pattern I’m laying out today, then I’m not saying that they have sinned.

If you or your family does not apply the practices I’m promoting today, then I’m not saying that you or they are sinning against Christ.

What I am arguing is that Christians have an opportunity to distinctly bear witness to Christ in their funeral and burial practices, and I want to encourage you to consider that this opportunity ought not be taken lightly.

I guess I might put it this way… If you choose not to follow the pattern I’m laying out today, then please arrive at that conclusion after deep consideration… Don’t just do whatever is cheapest… or whatever is most convenient… or whatever is most desirable for those in your family who aren’t even Christians.

Death is an occasion in every culture when the dead and those who love and honor them speak a kind of final word about what matters most. In our funeral and burial practices, we testify to the living… and I’m encouraging us all today to embrace a rich Christian heritage of testifying about the distinctly Christian hope – the hope of resurrection and full salvation yet to come for all who trust Christ for it.

Of course, bearing witness to the hope of resurrection and full salvation assumes that we possess such a hope… so more than anything else, I’m encouraging us all today to look to Christ – the One who has already conquered death – and trust that His resurrection shall be yours… if you are turning from your sin and believing and following Him.

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Main Idea:

The Christian hope is a salvation that culminates in a bodily resurrection, which shall most certainly be the experience of all who trust and follow Christ, and Christians may bear witness of this hope in their funeral and burial practices.

Sermon

1. Expecting Resurrection

The Christian hope is a salvation that culminates in a bodily resurrection, which shall most certainly be the experience of all who trust and follow Christ.

The Christian hope of salvation.

Death is the consequence of sin (Rom. 5:12).

Sin is why we deserve God’s curse – including physical death and eternal judgment (Rom. 5:16).

Christ died physically, and He rose bodily from the grave, demonstrating God’s purpose to save sinners by completely overcoming His curse with His gracious blessing and favor (Rom. 6:5-11, 8:18-23).

Spiritual life now is promised to all who believe (Rom. 8:9-11).

Physical/bodily resurrection (i.e., glorification) is the culmination of the salvation God has promised all those in Christ (Rom. 8:28-30).

Friends, if you want to know what Christianity is fundamentally about, then here it is.

The Christian gospel answers the deepest and most pressing questions we have in this life…

Why has it all gone wrong?

Why can’t I seem to make it right?

Who can make it right?

Where is it all going in the end?

And how can I become a partaker or participant in anything better than what this world has to offer?

Christ’s death and resurrection are central to the Christian gospel.

1 Corinthians 15 begins with a summary of essential gospel elements.

Paul says, “I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you now stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:1-2).

Then Paul lists various elements of “first importance” of “the gospel” which he “delivered” or “preached” (1 Cor. 15:3).

“that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3).

“that [Christ] was buried, [and] that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4).

“that [Christ] appeared to Cephas [or Peter], then to the twelve [disciples]… [and] then… to more than five hundred brothers at one time” (1 Cor. 15:5-6).

We see then at least a few fundamental or essential elements of the Christian gospel:

Jesus was a real man who truly did die.

Jesus died as a sacrifice for sinners.

Jesus was bodily resurrected from the grave.

All of this was according to what God had revealed already in the Scriptures.

Brothers and sisters, we do believe (as Christians) a whole lot more than this, but everything the Bible teaches points toward… the whole storyline of Scripture is marching toward… and all Christian belief finds its apex in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Friends, if we want to know God, if we want to understand and experience God’s grace, and if we want to bask in God’s glory, then we must look Jesus Christ… His death and resurrection… and especially His resurrection.

Christ’s resurrection is especially central to the Christian hope of salvation.

Paul says, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (v14)… “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (v17)… and “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (v19).

Thus, apart from Christ’s resurrection, the Christian gospel is empty.

“But,” Paul says, “in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (v20).

And this gives believers verification that all God has promised in Christ is sure and reliable.

Furthermore, Christ’s own resurrection is what Paul calls “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v20).

Paul explains what he means when he says, “as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (v22-23).

In other words, Christ’s resurrection was the first of a whole bunch of resurrections, and all who belong to Christ will be raised (as He was raised) when Christ returns on the last day.

As Paul says (in v49), “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust [namely Adam], we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven [namely Jesus Christ].”

On the last day, our “perishable” bodies will “put on the imperishable,” our “mortal” bodies will “put on immortality” (v53-54).

On that day, the “sting” and “victory” of “death” will be eradicated and overturned by the resurrection power of the One who has already conquered death (v54-55).

Brothers and sisters, do you believe Christ has been raised from the dead?

Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth was truly the Savior who died for sinners and who conquered death by walking out of the grave 2,000 years ago… never to die again?

Do you believe this is a historical fact as true and real as the fact that you woke up this morning?

If you do, then do you believe that Christ will raise you on the last day?

Do you believe that your physical body will be transformed and reunited with your spirit, and that you will live on forever?

Are you sure that whatever becomes of your decaying corpse, Christ Himself will call out on the last day with the full weight of His divine authority and say, “Marc, come out!” or “Janice, come out!” or “David, come out!” or “Sandra, come out!”

If you do, then how might that belief affect the way we treat our funerals and our burials?

2. Early Christian Witness

Early Christians did distinctly bear witness of their resurrection hope in their burial practices.

As I’ve already said, there are many factors to consider on this subject. And I’m not arguing that Christians must follow traditional practices here. But what I’d like to do now is provide a quick survey of Christian history… and maybe put a little weight on the side of upholding tradition, rather than tossing it aside.

Pagan Roman Practices

First-century pagan Romans commonly burned the bodies of their dead, collected the ashes in an urn, and placed them in a tomb or monument.

However, this was mostly reserved for the wealthy.

Funeral rituals were largely based upon social/economic/political class.

Wealthy and important Romans often displayed their significance in the rituals and materials of their burial.

A common inscription on a monument or grave-marker included:

the name of the deceased, his or her social/economic/political status or titles, and an epitaph like, “I was not, I was, I am not, I care not.”

First-century Christians

Early Christians followed some of the traditional Jewish customs (like burying their dead bodies)… and they also shared some kind of memorial meal (like the pagan Romans often did)… but they also added some distinctly Christian practices.

First, they made an effort to ensure that bodily burial was available to all classes of Christian (rich or poor).

They often pooled their money, so that even slaves and destitute Christians could bury their dead (whenever possible).

Second, they avoided elaborate tombs (even for the wealthy), marking their graves with simple decorations or monuments.

This was because Christians believed they all were equal before the Lord, not separated by class or wealth.

Third, they often inscribed a burial marker with Christian symbols (like the Christian fish [ιχθύς], an anchor, or “Χρ” short for Χριστός).

These spoke of Christian hope in Christ and of resurrection.

Fourth, there is some evidence that Christians began burying their dead with their feet facing East.

A few Bible passages can be interpreted to say that Christ’s return will be from the “east,” and it probably became a Christian tradition to bury their dead so that the corpse would face eastward to welcome Christ’s second coming.

Summary: Bodily burial, simplicity, and distinct Christian symbolism that pointed to resurrection.

3. Protestant Christian Witness

Protestant Christians recovered the early Christian priorities of simplicity and resurrection hope… and they added an emphasis on a funeral service.

Let’s fast forward a bit in our survey of history, this time the medieval period and the Protestant Reformation (circa 1200 to 1600).

Medieval Roman Catholic

Over time, there arose many traditions and unbiblical teachings.

By the 1200s, the Roman Catholic Church practiced ceremonial rituals that centered on their doctrine of the Mass and their belief in purgatory.

When death seemed near, a priest would administer “Last Rites.”

A final confession and priestly forgiveness, anointing with oil, and a final Eucharist (or Lord’s Supper).

Immediately after death, the body was prepared and laid out for a “vigil” or “wake.”

Family members or nuns would wash and dress the body (clothes would signify wealth or poverty, noble or common).

The “vigil” or “wake” was as much for the dead as for the living, since Catholics believed that prayers and gifts could reduce one’s time in purgatory.

The funeral service was highly ritualistic and continued an emphasis on intercession for the dead.

Clergy performed Scripture readings and religious chants.

The Mass was offered for the soul of the dead, again based upon a belief that this would reduce time in purgatory.

Sometimes “holy water” was sprinkled on the coffin for a kind of religious purification.

The burial or interment of the body included more of the same.

Commoners were buried in the churchyard, and important and wealthy church members often purchased tombs within the church building itself.

If you go to old church buildings, you will see markers of tombs in the floor and sometimes in the walls.

After the burial, religious activities continued in an effort to further reduce time in purgatory… or add to the merit of the deceased.

Masses were offered for the deceased, charity was given on behalf of the dead or from their own wealth left behind, and family and fraternities would continue acts of charity and religious rituals on behalf of the dead.

Protestants returned to earlier practices and added an emphasis.

Protestants returned to a basic simplicity and an emphasis on resurrection.

Protestants rejected the concept of purgatory and the idea that Christians needed religious rituals to prepare them for death.

Protestant burial or interment of the body was simple.

The minister would say a few words about the brevity of life.

He would cast some dirt upon the grave.

The Book of Common Prayer (used by Protestants in England) included these words of committal:

“I commend thy soul to God the Father Almighty, and thy body to the ground: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like to his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.”

And then the minsiter would finish in a brief prayer of thanks and an explicit hope in the promise of resurrection.

Protestants added an emphasis on a funeral service, focusing on the living.

The funeral service was sometimes before and sometimes after the burial, but it became a larger emphasis than the burial itself.

They tended to treat the funeral service much like their normal weekly gathering on the Lord’s day.

It was for the whole community, chiefly all church members.

Scripture readings assured family and friends of the Christian hope of forgiveness in Christ and resurrection on the last day.

Hymns were sung by all, rather than chants by religious clergy, and these too focused on thanksgiving, assurance, and hope.

Funeral sermons also became a major feature of the service, and (not surprisingly) 1 Corinthians 15 was a common text.

Notable features of distinctly Christian practices throughout history.

Christians have always placed a higher emphasis on the resurrection than the intermediate state.

It is right and good to celebrate the ceasing of pain and sorrow for Christians who die in faith, and our Christian loved ones are with Christ even now, but the joy of glory is still future for all of us.

Christians have always considered death, funerals, and burial as part of their communal and religious life together.

Funerals and burial are especially churchy experiences, not merely occasions for blood-family reunions.

With the exception of the Roman Catholic ritualism that arose during the Medieval period, Christians have usually emphasized simplicity.

Christians have always (whenever possible) testified to their hope in the resurrection by burying their dead (rather than burning them).

Again, my purpose today is not to condemn other practices, but to highlight some distinctly Christian ways that we might testify to our faith in Christ and our hope in the resurrection by embracing Christian tradition in our funerals and burial.

4. Witnessing with Funerals

Christians may bear witness of their resurrection hope in their funeral practices. I think Christians would do well to have funeral services (whenever possible), and we would do well to order funeral services (whenever possible) in a churchy way.

Christians may use funeral services as an opportunity to teach.

Historically, many Christians have thought of funeral services as part of their normal church gatherings.

What if most every church member attended funeral services?

What would that teach about our love for one another?

How would this affect our understanding of the shape and substance of our relationships together as a church?

What if we all viewed funeral services as less about our particular family or friends, and as more about our church-life together?

More on this in a bit, but how might this affect the way we plan and structure our funeral services?

What elements or features of the service might we prioritize differently if we think of it as a church gathering and not just a personal affair?

Teaching Christians during funeral services

Brothers and sisters, some of the most unbiblical and non-Christian things I’ve heard about death and life after death have come out of the mouths of people who think of themselves as Christians.

“Memaw is dancing with Jesus.”

“Pawpaw is looking down on us right now.”

“This is a day to celebrate, not a day to mourn or grieve.”

When we are first converted, there’s so much that we do not know.

Funerals give us an opportunity to teach and learn what Christians believe about death, about grieving, about life after death, and about what Christians should expect on the last day.

Think about the lengthy teaching we have in 1 Corinthians 15 on the resurrection and what this says about our need to be instructed on the subject.

If nothing else, funeral services compel us to remember that death is something we will all face one day… and this is a good thing to regularly remember.

Teaching non-Christians during funeral services

Family and friends are likely to attend funerals, even if they aren’t Christians and don’t regularly attend church.

Funeral services give us an opportunity to share the gospel with our loved ones at a time when they may be most willing to hear a word about life, death, judgment, and salvation.

And if we’re going to teach during funeral services, then…

Christian funeral services (if we have them) ought to be churchy.

Just a moment ago I said that, historically, many Christians have thought of funeral services as part of their normal church gatherings.

And I asked how our planning of funeral services might be different if we thought of them as a church service and not merely as a family reunion or merely as a commemoration of the deceased.

Thinking of funeral services as an extension of our regular church services can also be a real and practical help if you find yourself stuck with the responsibility of being the family funeral planner.

How many of us have experienced the anxiety of talking with various family members who each have different ideas about an order of service, a songlist, what else to include, or who’s going to do what?

If we will treat funeral services as part of our normal church gatherings, then you can let pastors lead, and you can let church members serve you during a time when you’re in significant need of both leadership and service.

Here are some of the ways this could play out:

Funeral services can normally be scheduled on Saturday afternoons, and church members can serve you and your family and friends by providing lunch at noon.

Funeral services would follow a traditional order (led by pastors), and in this way your pastors can provide structure and stability without you having to negotiate with family to plan something from scratch.

Funeral services would include Scripture readings, a sermon, and familiar Christian hymns that everyone may sing together (rather than sentimental or pagan songs that offer a superficial or false message).

And, of course, funeral services may include a eulogy or good word about the deceased that highlights more than just where they were born, when they died, and some hobbies and personality traits.

But all of this requires us to think about funeral services as a church activity (not as a personal affair)… led by pastors (not by funeral directors or a family member)… and attended by fellow church members (not just family and friends).

Brothers and sisters, when you die, do you want your funeral service to focus on you (your life and hobbies and favorite songs)? Or do you want your funeral service to focus on the gospel of Christ, Christian fellowship, and the hope of resurrection? Do you want your funeral to prioritize creativity and sentimentality? Or do you want your funeral to be a rich echo of the Christian traditions and beliefs that have shaped Christian funerals for centuries?

5. Witnessing in Burial

Christians may bear witness of their resurrection hope in their burial practices – specifically by preserving the corpses of their dead (when possible) and by burying their dead in a way that speaks of an eager expectation of the resurrection.

Christians can bear witness to their resurrection hope by burying their dead.

The rise in popularity of cremation.

The first crematorium in America was built in 1876 by Francis LaMoyne in Washington, PA.

The Washington public cemetery trustees would not allow him to build on their land, however, so he had to use his own.

During the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, less than 4% of Americans chose cremation.

That number began to increase in the 1970s, and it really jumped in the 1990s and early 2000s.

By the end of this decade, it will be likely that 7 of every 10 people will be cremated.

I’d like to make a brief appeal to you… to buck that trend.

A few caveats:

Preserving our dead does not eliminate physical decay.

Christ is able to raise from the dead every one of His people, regardless of their physical state.

The way a person is buried has nothing to do with whether he/she will be saved, forgiven, and resurrected in the end.

But burial (like funerals) is for the living, not for the dead.

The cost of burial is just one of many ways Christians spend money and time on something the world does not value.

Cemeteries are a constant testimony to the living – a testimony that death will come for all of us, and a testimony that those who have lived and died in faith before us are still awaiting the resurrection.

In fact, I’m not aware of any greater opportunity to speak a word of distinctly Christian belief at a more visceral moment than at the burial of a loved one who has died in faith.

At the graveside of his friend, an old Baptist pastor in the 1700s spoke powerful words that I think uniquely express Christian grief and Christian hope (like what we read in our main passage for today).

He said, “Farewell, dear friend! We leave you in possession of death till the resurrection day.

But we will bear witness against this grave… this king of terrors… even as we stand at the mouth of this dungeon. Oh, grave, you will not always have possession of this dead body; but it shall be demanded of you by the great Conqueror… and at that very moment you will release your prisoner.”

Then he said, “Oh servants of Christ, you people of God, and all surrounding spectators… Prepare, prepare to meet this servant of Christ, at that day, at that hour, when this whole world as it is shall be all nothing… and life and death shall be swallowed up in victory.”

Friends, how can Christians be so confident?! How can we be so sure that the corpse we lay in the ground – that of our loved ones or even our own one day – how can we be so sure that this corpse will revivify?

We can be confident because we know the Lord Jesus Christ has already snatched life from the jaws of death, and He has promised to do the same for us.

Conclusion

A couple of years ago, a newspaper did a story on a tech billionaire who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each month to have plasma from his teenaged son pumped into his own body in an effort to stop his aging. About a year ago, that same billionaire posted on social media, “Conquering death would be humanity’s greatest achievement.”

Brothers and sisters, we all know (Christian or not) that death is not the way things ought to be… and many of us are likely to feel a sense of helplessness and inevitability when it comes to death and dying. This is a fundamental reality of life in a post-Genesis-3 world.

But, have I got good news for you today! There is one who has already conquered death, and He has promised that all who look to Him with repentance and faith shall join Him in His victory.

As the Scripture says it in v56-57 of our passage this morning, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:56-57).

Friends, the Christian hope is a salvation that culminates in bodily resurrection, which shall most certainly be the experience of all who trust and follow Christ, and we (Christians) may bear witness of this hope in the way we treat our dead.

May God help us believe His promises in the gospel… may He grant us the gifts of repentance and faith so that we can have this fundamental Christian hope… and may God help us bear witness to our hope of resurrection with our whole lives.