The Gift of Grief
Posted on October 7, 2007
Genesis 23:1-20
ONE GREAT TRUTH: Just as we live life by faith, we face death by faith as well, grieving our loss, but believing that God will honor His promise of a reunion someday.
THE ATTITUDES THAT SHOULD SURROUND DEATH…
I. The Attitude of Grief.
Abraham mourned and wept. This is the first mention of the shedding of tears in Scripture and it demonstrates to us the importance of weeping over our losses. At the death of a saint, life ought to be happily celebrated. Nevertheless we were created to grieve and it’s a healthy and necessary process.
II. The Attitude of Compassion.
This lesson is learned from a negative standpoint. Ephron got Abraham to agree to buy not just the cave, but the whole field. Further, he got him to agree to buy it at whatever price Ephron would name, so he took full advantage of the situation. I believe that compassion and dignity are the debt of those of us on the outside of a situation where someone has died.
III. The Attitude of Honor.
Abraham was not willing to spare any expense but wanted to honor Sarah and provide a place for all of his potential descendants to be buried. Indeed the patriarchs were all buried there. Joseph’s bones were kept in a coffin in Egypt until Moses led the people out of slavery. Then, 400 years after his death, Joseph’s bones were buried here too. Sarah was honored by the price Abraham paid. (Note that it’s not the money we spend, it’s the ways we choose to remember our loved ones who have died, the way we live in light of their deaths.)
IV. The Attitude of Hope.
1 Corinthians 15:42-58
This chapter ends in a tomb, as does the book of Genesis and the entire Old Testament itself. But the gospels end with an empty tomb and the New Testament ends with a resurrection and eternity. We have a reason to hope for eternity and it is the resurrection of Christ from the dead!
Do you face death with hope today?
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