The Funeral of An Elder
I was recently asked to speak at a funeral service for a man who served as an elder in a congregation where I had formerly served as the minister. About a month or so before he passed into eternity, I received a telephone call from this brother. He knew that his time was short. He had called to ask me to speak at his service. Since my family and I had left that community and that church about 28½ years ago, I was somewhat surprised by his request, but I told him that I was willing to do whatever I could to help.
In 1985, there were three elders in this particular church who asked me to work with them. I have now spoken at funerals for two of them and, for a number of years now, the third elder is among those who have asked me to speak at his service if I outlive him.
Since Donna and I have been back home, I’ve done quite a bit of thinking about funerals for elders. There are a lot of reasons for that, but there is one that may serve as a foundation for all of the rest. I am an elder. Unless the Lord returns before I pass from this life, somebody will be asked to try to come up with something appropriate to say at my funeral.
All of that has led me to think about some things that I pray would be appropriate to say about any man who serves a local congregation as an elder. Hopefully, they could be said both while he is serving and as his life is remembered.
I started by making a list of things that might be said about an elder. However, as the list got longer, I thought of another idea. I tried to come up with something that summarizes at least most of what I’m thinking. I would be interested to know your thoughts about what I’ve come up with (at least so far):
Elders, individually and collectively, are imperfect men. Not one of these men is perfect in attempting to honor and serve the One whose name he wears.
That same thing can be said about any and all of the congregations of God’s people. Each congregation is composed of imperfect people.
Along with that, there may be an imperfect or at least unbalanced understanding of who elders are supposed to be and what they are supposed to do. While it is true that these men are referred to as “overseers” (Acts 20:28), this does not mean that their responsibilities are limited to being a person of some authority on an organizational chart.
That same verse also lets us know that these men are to “…feed/shepherd the church of God…” As we read about the One who referred to Himself as “…the good shepherd…” (John 10:11) and His discussion about what He does for His sheep, we should be impressed with the fact that the role of a shepherd involves such things as love, concern, sacrifice, relationship, nourishing, protecting, and so much more.
Balancing the God-given roles of both supervising and shepherding is quite a challenge. In some conversations that took place before his death, the elder whose funeral was held recently let people know that he realized that he did not balance all of that perfectly. I can also tell you that the elder who spoke at his service will never try to deceive myself or others by claiming that I “have it all together.”
For those reasons, and many others, I have a suggestion. The suggestion is not limited to elders, nor is it about how others relate to elders. I’m thinking that it would be a really good goal for all who wear the name Christian:
Whether we are speaking at a funeral or dealing with one another on a daily basis, let’s try to magnify and glorify the perfection of Jesus. At the same time, it might help if we seek to minimize perceived imperfections of other people and stop trying to rationalize our own real imperfections.
I can’t help but think that this world would be a much better place if all of us could join Paul in saying this:
…I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die (Phil. 1:20, NLT).
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn