November 2022 - LPNI

Here in the United Kingdom, I still am finding that the State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen isn’t too far from general conversation.  People speak well of Her Majesty and the pageantry of the day, and my experience of these conversations is that people viewed and remember the occasion as ‘very fitting’.  While it is often unspoken, my sense is that there is also a warmth and a comfort in the hymns, readings, liturgies, and the sermon which all spoke of the sure hope of the resurrection because of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who died and was raised to new life for us all – as Her Majesty believed.  No one really wants death to be the end.

My mother-in-law who was 100 years old died in Australia just after The Queen’s death and her funeral was after Her Majesty’s funeral.  Our family here in the UK watched the funeral online and it was good to see and hear what happened.  The hymns, readings, liturgy, tribute, and sermon also rested in the sure hope of the resurrection from the dead because death is not the end with Jesus – which is what Mother believed.

At funerals we expect to talk about death.  However, at most other times, it is very hard to talk about death.  I think death is still the taboo subject of our modern society largely because we have taken death out of the home into some sort of clinical setting and thus we have removed death from our ‘everyday’ – especially for younger generations.

Both Her Majesty’s funeral and Mother’s funeral were helped because the deceased had spoken about their funeral – hymns and readings and other things – and, more importantly, also about what life and death meant for them.  As hard as it can be to face, dying is part of living and to live well involves dying well – yes, surrounded by loved ones and in as good a situation as possible is our desire – but this really begins with talking and listening – hopefully a long time before death is ‘nearby’.

It is my experience – and I sense the tension in myself – that to raise the topic of dying or death is to be thought of as ‘defeatist’, ‘fatalist’, even ‘a traitor to life’, especially when our families want to us to live and keep living and fight to live (should we become ill).  Of course, we all want to live and we want our loved ones to live but what do we do when death is no longer beyond the horizon and out of sight but visible and getting closer?  Too often people simply deny death is approaching.  I think that is sad and unnecessary.

For Christians, death is not the end with Jesus.  Death’s sting of eternal separation from life and love has been swallowed up in the victory of Jesus over death (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). In Christian baptism, we are joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 6:1-11) and that means death’s power to silence us in fear is also broken and we can talk to each other about each other, about what is important to us, about our wishes as we die and for the funeral. Dying and death are part of living and life, and the message each Sunday – a weekly reminder of the resurrection – is that in Christ we can live each day and not be afraid.  So let’s talk about death!

George Samiec (The Rt Rev.)

Chairman, The Evangelical Lutheran Church of England

chairman@lutheranchurch.org.uk