On Being Ready
Preaching
Life Everlasting
The Essential Book of Funeral Resources
Object:
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
We so often hear this text used in regard to the rapture that we forget that its primary purpose is to remind us to be prepared; to live our lives in such a way that we are ready to be received by the Lord when our time comes. This passage would be useful in preaching at a funeral for one who lived such a life. If the person who has died lived a life of readiness, we might rejoice that he or she has gone home to the place they longed to go, and we might use their lives as a challenge to others to live in the same manner. People are rarely more open to the challenges of the gospel than they are when a death has occurred. They are thinking about ultimate issues. They are wondering if their lives have amounted to anything of value. They are asking themselves what changes they might need to make in their own lives. So, using a text like this one, we can offer them both the comfort and the challenge of the good news.
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
We so often hear this text used in regard to the rapture that we forget that its primary purpose is to remind us to be prepared; to live our lives in such a way that we are ready to be received by the Lord when our time comes. This passage would be useful in preaching at a funeral for one who lived such a life. If the person who has died lived a life of readiness, we might rejoice that he or she has gone home to the place they longed to go, and we might use their lives as a challenge to others to live in the same manner. People are rarely more open to the challenges of the gospel than they are when a death has occurred. They are thinking about ultimate issues. They are wondering if their lives have amounted to anything of value. They are asking themselves what changes they might need to make in their own lives. So, using a text like this one, we can offer them both the comfort and the challenge of the good news.
