Now long ago I attended a funeral of a three year old boy who was fighting cancer. His parents and grandparents had just recently started coming to our church after leaving a church that they were very involved in. Their previous church had some different beliefs than ours.
Their old pastor did the service, so we simply attended the funeral. It would of been a gut wrenching funeral anyhow, but what took place made it even worse. To cut to the chase, a line of red duct tape was put a few feet out from the casket, and it was said that by crossing this duct tape you can make the statement that you believe “God can do this”. The story of Lazarus was the primary and only text used. Before the service the grandfather came up to me and said that he had a vision the night before, and it was his grandson asking for juice. He then reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a juice box and said “I’m ready.”
Not all who attended had these beliefs. Not all the extended family had these beliefs. Those who did not, were robbed of their greving. And the family was being set up for a “crash”, that did not have to be.
I had a range of emotions. Anger at the pastor creating such a road. Brokeness for a family robbed of a child. And a longing for a God to set everything right.
After a long and drawn out service, the child did not rise, did not drink the juice. I have to wonder what God thought of the whole thing???
