Funeral - God's Invitation and Love

An Invitation with Open Arms

Family and friends,

For today’s sharing, I will be looking at only one verse, which is Revelation 3:20 which reads

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20, ESV)

You know friends,

I’m sure many of you are very familiar with this passage that I just read, and because you are familiar with this passage, you may find it strange to hear this passage being used at a funeral service…

This is a passage used so very often at evangelistic events, telling people the truth that our Lord Jesus Christ is standing at the doors of our hearts, giving us all an open invitation to receive God into our lives, asking us to acknowledge the fact that we have all been presented with a gift of a life better than we have right now, and there is so much more joy than we can have…

That we are being offered an abundant life…

But it is not a passage that you hear being preached at funeral services…

So why did I choose this passage to share today?

You see friends, this passage is about invitation, and hospitality…

It is a picture of someone standing at the door knocking,

And the owner of the house welcoming the guest at the door,

Eagerly welcoming the guest into the house,

And thereafter offering the guest a sumptuous meal…

And them having a great conversation filled with laughter and genuine smiles…

And friends, when I think of the Mr. Sng, I remember the first time I saw him…

And that was the time I went to his house to serve him the Holy Communion,

And that was exactly what happened…

I was then only in my first few months into my new role as a pastor,

Feeling like a fish out of water,

With everything being so unfamiliar and new…

But when I went to Mr. Sng’s house,

I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all…

I really felt like I had known him all my life and that we were long-time friends…

There was just so much joy flowing out of him and I think Mr. Sng epitomises what is written here in Rev 3:20 which talks about the restoration and reinforcing of relationships…

And of course, this relationship is not unique to between Mr. Sng and me…

But he lives it out in all areas in his lives…

On the various occasions when I have the chance to meet Mr. Sng,

He is always surrounded by people,

Such as his two lovely daughters, Julia and Judy would always talk about their father with great endearment…

And I remember once Pauline sharing with me about how Judy’s son would cook for Mr Sng…

These are all acts of love that reciprocate the love and joy shown by a great husband, a great father, a great grandfather and a great friend…

These are great memories we have of a great man…

And indeed there is much to celebrate today, because of how much this great man has influenced and impacted our lives…

A man who had internalised the principle behind Rev 3:20… on the acceptance of the invitation to restore and reinforce relationships…

And why is it possible that Mr Sng can show such great love and joy?

I believe it is because of the close relationship Mr Sng has with God…

And that is the second reason we can celebrate this afternoon…

Like I said earlier, Rev 3:20 is a passage is often used at evangelistic events because it tells us a principle about how God is ever so concerned with us…

And he is so concerned about us that even though we have a tendency to turn away from him and pursue our own ways,

Even though we are ever so bent to pursue things contrary to his ways,

Ever so often seeking ways that are detrimental to our well-being

Ever so often rejecting God and His ways…

Ever so bent on slamming the door into God’s face,

God is ever so patient to stand outside the door and knock,

Patiently waiting to come into our lives…

Patiently waiting to come and have a relationship with us…

And bringing us on a path that leads to life and not death…

Friends, that is the distinctive nature of Christian funerals…

it is that even though we are sad, we can find reason…

good reason to celebrate…

celebrate because we are not focused on death, but on life…

we acknowledge that death is an enemy and not a friend…

that will remain a fact whether you are a Christian or not…

death will always be something that is never welcomed here or anyway…

and it is an enemy because it is contrary to life and is contrary to what we stand for…

it is an enemy because it is contrary to the design of God for us, and it is the unfortunate consequence of the fall of mankind…

But we can celebrate because there is another reality that surpasses the reality of death…

Which is that our Lord Jesus Christ had overcome death and have given us the chance to enjoy an eternal life and an abundant life…

We are able to celebrate today because we are aware of the greater reality that the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us by saying in John 11:25 ““I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies”.

We can celebrate today because this invitation by God to all of us have been accepted by Mr. Sng…

He had heard the knocking of the door and the invitation of God to be restored to a perfect communion with God the creator

And because of that he has an eternal life and because of that today is not a permanent goodbye or farewell, but more of a see you later…

And in that we can take great comfort because we are looking forward to the day in which we will be reunited once again with Mr. Sng and enjoy his warm hospitality once again…

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And this leads me to my final reflection from Rev 3:20,

which is that we have great confidence today that…

as Mr Sng had heard the knocking of God at the door and opened the door,

God is at the door and had opened the door for Mr Sng,

Welcoming him to paradise, into his presence…

A place that is described in Rev 21:4 as a place in which had no more tears, no more death or mourning or crying or pain, and because of that we can rejoice with Mr. Sng…

And indeed, we can take comfort in that because Mr. Sng is no free from the constraints of a frail body…

No longer will he be plagued by a weak body or needing to make multiple trips to the hospitals anymore…

and because of that, even though we are sad, we can be comforted and celebrate…

So, friends, while we are sad because we miss such a giant of a person in our lives,

And it ok to be sad, because there will be a void in our lives,

But we can also celebrate that Mr. Sng…

Answered the knocking door and received God into his life, making him such a wonderful and pleasant person while he was with us,

And we can also celebrate that God had likewise received him into His presence, and we will see him one day, when we are likewise received into God’s presence…

And in the meantime, Mr Sng will continue to live on in our memories, and will continue to do so, until the day we are reunited on the other shore.

Amen.