The service should be simple in the ordinary funeral, especially so when the minister has never known the deceased. On these sad occasions I always try to bear in mind that I do not stand in the place of God, but as His minister to help the needy. What I can properly leave unsaid I do not refer to. What I should say I try to present in a manly way, yet kindly and appealingly. Following are three types of funeral service that I have had occasion to hold:
1. When the Deceased Is Unknown to the Minister.—On one occasion I was asked in an emergency to take charge of the funeral service of a woman I did not know, and had never even seen. A brief obituary was placed in my hands, but so late that I had no opportunity to gain further information. The obituary stated that the deceased was not a member of our church, but was studying the truth, and was an observer of the Sabbath, and a believer in Jesus and His soon return. At the funeral hall about thirty persons were present, including the bearers and necessary attendants.
After the first solo, I read the obituary, then spoke briefly of the sadness of death; how it came to be, contrary to God's will; and the wonderful provision of wisdom, power, and love in His plan of salvation that redeems, changes, and brings from darkness, despair, death, all those who will yield entirely to Him. With this brief talk were read various comforting scriptures, such as 2 Chronicles 16:9; John 3:16; Titus 2:14; a portion of 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; and Revelation 21:1-7; 22:1-6, 17, 20.
After a second solo, those present viewed the deceased, and all- but—the relatiVes and myself passed out, I remaining to speak, as opportunity offered, words of comfort to the sad of heart. The service came within a half hour. The committal at the cemetery, with the prayer and benediction, covered about five minutes. Then I shook hands with the mourners and wished them earnestly the rich blessing of God.
2. The Funeral of a Believer.—The funeral of one of our honored physicians was held in a large mortuary, well filled by our church people and citizens of the city, among whom we noticed a Baptist minister, a prominent lawyer, and the sheriff of the county. There were two solos by an excellent singer, a brief obituary, and a prayer.
I decided to tell the large audience in a sympathetic, simple way what the doctor believed; for he was an earnest believer. So I began where the Book begins, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," —His inscription over the temple of His noble handiwork, which Infinite Love asks us to enter and explore. The Master helped me as I traced briefly the story thus introduced of the wisdom, knowledge, power, and justice of the God of the Bible; the twofold love of the Father (John 3:16) and of the only-begotten Son (Titus 2:14), manifest in the regeneration and the changed lives of believers through the millenniums of the past. I told them of how the doctor believed in the second coming of his Saviour and King; that Christ's coming is near; and that He will speak again the creative word over a wrecked world, and it will come forth clothed in more than its pristine beauty, a home for the sinless and happy in Christ Jesus to all eternity. The talk was perhaps twenty to thirty minutes long, and hearts seemed greatly blessed. God blessed me, because I needed Him.
3. The Funeral of One Not of Our Faith.—I was asked to conduct the funeral of a prominent man—a professor and an editor and writer. He was not religious, yet he believed in God, and tried to be true and faithful in all duty. The funeral was held in the funeral parlor. A number of editors and prominent writers were present to be his pallbearers. I gave a sketch of his interesting years, of his character; mentioned the fact that he belonged to no church, but believed in God and held fast to his motto to do what was right and true; and stressed the fact that we could safely leave his future in the hands of Him who is "too wise to err, too good to prove unkind." Things I did not know, I did not pretend to know. In his illness he told his wife, "Seventh-day Adventists are different from other churches; they are different." I am comforted in cases of this kind by 2 Chronicles 16:9.
After the service some of the friends came to me to tell me how favorably they were impressed. They expected to listen to a long sermon, as they had wearily done on similar occasions, but they thought that the brief service covered the needs of the occasion adequately.