Obama to skip Scalia's funeral
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/obama-no-scalia-funeral-219384
This frankly does not bother me in the least. President Obama will pay his respects at the Court on Friday. At the funeral mass, the president would have been a distraction. Because of security concerns (even higher than with other public officials), president are always distractions at events they attend. But in this case, there's more to it. Justice Scalia and President Obama had no personal relationship. Their professional interactions -- almost all indirect -- were less than warm. I think that it makes sense for the president to permit Justice Scalia's family, his colleagues, and his friends to mourn (and as Christians, to celebrate) in peace.
I agree...except for the "celebrate" part. What's that about?
Celebrate his life on earth, God's gifts to others through him, and his eternal home with Christ. Aren't all Christian funerals at least in part celebrations?
No, they're funerals.
"As a not-as-young pastor now in the early years of the twenty-first
century, I still hear at funerals things said about the dead Christian that
are not true. The problem is that I hear them said by the pastor, as part of
his sermon. These are things which, strictly speaking, are not true. More
importantly, these are things which, theologically speaking, are not true.
And so we ought not to say them. Because ultimately, statements such as
the ones highlighted below downplay the real meaning of death, and they
diminish the great hope of resurrection that is God’s answer in Christ to
the reality of death. The following are things that should not be said at
funerals...
Third: “John has gone to his eternal home.” This utterance contains
an echo of a Biblical way of speaking, but it is terribly misleading. In 2
Corinthians 5:1-10, Paul is dealing with the prospect of death, the hope of
the resurrection body, and how these matters interrelate. His primary
hope concerns the resurrection body that will be given to him and to all
believers “so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Cor. 5:4;
cf. 1 Cor. 15:53f.). Until he puts on that dwelling, Paul and all believers
groan, along with the whole creation (2 Cor. 5:4; cf. Rom. 8:22-23). The gift
of the Holy Spirit, however, is the “bridge” between this mortal existence
and that immortal, resurrection life–the Spirit is the “guarantee” of final
inheritance and life (2 Cor. 5:5).
So, life is lived in this tension. Until the gift of the resurrection body,
one must be “home” somewhere and “away” from something. Currently,
Paul is “home in the body” and “away from the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6). If he had
to choose, he would rather be “away from the body” and “home with the
Lord,” something that he elsewhere describes as an existence that is “far
better” (Phil. 1:23). But this does not mean that the bodiless existence of
the soul is “our eternal home.” If one were going to specify the location of
our “eternal home,” the closest approximation would be where we are
now—in God’s creation! As creatures, this creation is rightly our home.
Spoiled by sin, however, the creation awaits renewal—our eternal home is
in need of renovation, purging, restoration. A Christian who dies most
certainly is, in some important sense, “at home with the Lord.” But at
death, the believer does not go to his or her eternal home—not yet...
Fifth: “This is not a funeral—it’s Craig’s victory celebration!” This is
perhaps the most objectionable of all—and it is patently false, as even
many unbelievers instinctively know. It is true, of course, that when a
Christian dies, he is now “out of danger”—he can no longer be tempted. In
addition, when tragic and prolonged physical or mental suffering precede
the death of a Christian, there can be great relief and release for both the
deceased and for those who loved him and have cared for him.
But who could even imagine saying that a funeral is a “victory” when
it’s the funeral of a child, or of a young mother, or of a colleague and friend
struck down in the midst of a vigorous and productive life? As a matter of
fact, the death even of a Christian is always and only a sign that sin has
not yet fully been abolished by the Lord Jesus Christ; the last enemy has
not yet gone under His feet. As a matter of fact, death (which does not
separate the deceased from the love of God in Christ) does separate the
deceased from those who love him. Funerals are not victory celebrations.
They are funerals. The grief is, in light of the Gospel, never grief without
hope (1 Thess. 4:13). But it is still, ever and rightly—grief. For only on the
Last Day will death be swallowed up in...victory (1 Cor. 15:54)."
Jeffrey A. Gibbs
Five Things You Should
Not Say at Funerals
CONCORDIA JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2003 (vol 29, number 4)
http://www.csl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/October-2003.pdf