Salvation Before The Fact

The funeral service was conducted for a sixty-five year old woman. Barbara Dale Price passed away as a result of an aneurysm. She was survived by her husband, her mother, sons, and several other members of an extended family. Unable to find the church, I wandered long enough to arrive late, but that was a good thing because the service did not begin on time. Almost everyone was already seated. The coffin at the front of the church was covered with flowers.

Barbara Dale Price was not only a church member but also a personal friend of the pastor. During a bowling tournament a few years before her illness and subsequent death, she had requested that the pastor preside over her funeral. At the time, he laughed and pointed out that he was twelve years older than she and would probably be the first one to go. He used this story to point out that she having died first was a reminder that none of us “know the time or the hour.”

Barbara Dale Price wanted there to be a particular emphasis on the need for salvation by being born again to avoid the eternal punishment of hell. In this connection, the pastor was emphatic in explaining the present condition of the essence of Barbara Dale Price. With ongoing verbal affirmation from the mourners, the pastor expressed the belief that when Barbara Dale Price's body died – “her soul was only a container” – her consciousness was directly transferred to the presence of Jesus Christ. He said, “We do not believe that the soul sleeps waiting for a future resurrection.” The deceased’s separation was only of the spirit or soul from the body. Her transition was movement from the mortal to the immortal, and incorporation was her acceptance into the heavenly kingdom with Jesus Christ.

In keeping with her personal request to evangelize all who attended her funeral, the pastor pointedly advised those present to make a decision for Jesus Christ right then and there. If they did not, those not saved might as well “ . . . just say Goodbye! You will never see Barbara again. She is in heaven. But you will not be going there.” He told the story of Lazarus in Hell who asked for water to quench his thirst. He said that Lazarus was still asking for water that he will never receive, and would be asking for water a billion years from now – forever. He then invited participation in a prayer that would grant salvation. To those already saved, he promised that they would see the deceased again, and they need only say, “So long. We’ll see you again.”

After the in situ-altar call, the pastor asked if any members of the family wished to speak. The son who was the first to speak spoke of his mother's suffering and how he perceived this suffering to contribute to an evolving “greatness” in his mother. He shared that whenever he had a problem, she would remind him to “Ask Jesus.”

A nephew laughed at his aunt’s aversion to being called ‘aunt,’ and how she threatened him if he ever used the term. “Don’t call me ‘aunt’ or I’ll kick your tail.”

A grandson shared that the first summer he spent with his grandmother, he was at first afraid of her. By the end of that summer, he realized that he had changed. She had convinced him that he was handsome. He called her Wonder Woman® because she was courageous and confident and by the end of that summer so was he. After that visit and for the rest of his life, he worked harder to live up to her expectation that he would do his best. He credited her with his life’s success. He was the soccer coach at a local high school. “Grandmother was in the hospital and they did not expect her to live much longer. I wanted to go, but I had a game. I called her and explained. She said she could wait, but I better win that game! Afterwards, the first thing she yelled at me when I walked into the hospital room was ‘YOU BETTER HAVE WON THAT GAME!’ Thank God, I could say yes.”

The rest of the service consisted of the youth pastor beautifully singing “In the Garden©,” a second grandson reading a poem, and the entire congregation singing “Mansion over the Hilltop©.” Many of those present spoke affirmations throughout the service: “Yes, pastor; Praise, God . . ., etc.” which gave life to the service.