“We’re Throwing Granny a Party!”

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones." (Psalm 116:15, NASB)

She died last week—a sweet Christian woman. She was known by her family and by those close to  her, as simply, "Granny." She was not rich in this world's goods; she never wrote a book; she was not famous. She knew the grief of burying her husband and two of her sons (one son by suicide). Through all of this, she was faithful to her Lord. One of the preachers at the funeral poignantly  described how she would drive to worship services early—even in her latter years when she, because of memory loss, went on days other than those scheduled. However, that mourning was mingled with joy on account of her being a Christian and the fact that she was released from the grip of dementia (she did not even recognize her daughter at the last).

In the midst of the preparations for Granny's funeral, a three-year-old great-granddaughter was introduced to death. She was puzzled by all the  events   associated with Granny's funeral. She knew Granny was gone, but she then saw the bustle of activity and preparations for a “big event.” She also saw the family laughing and  enjoying meals among themselves as well as with friends. So when she finally had it all figured out, she pronounced, "Oh! We're throwing Granny a party!"

Interesting, isn't it—how children  innocently  state  the  truth? Even though there  are  aspects of death that sadden us, we often end up celebrating the life of the person who has passed on. For the faithful Christian,  this  is  altogether appropriate. We mourn the loss upon this earth; we grieve for ourselves. However, for Christians, the loss of contact with our loved ones is only temporary. In that sense we understand Paul's desire that Christians "not grieve as do the rest who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We see things differently than the world—we look “by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:17) to the “things which are not seen” (2 Corinthians 4:18).  We have a different view of death because, we are  indeed, different (Titus 2:14).

Around A.D. 125, a Greek by the name of Aristeides tried to explain the Christians of his day to a friend. In a letter he wrote, “If any righteous man among the  Christians  passes  from  this world, they  rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.” (Quoted by J.G.  Gilkey  in Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations). We should do the same.  —Lance Cordle