cremation

Several have asked about this....I hope to touch on it on Sunday, but in case you can't wait, or won't be there:

Cremation………….in ancient times, pagan cultures burned their dead. Picture the Viking ship, set on fire, pushed out to sea with the deceased ascending to Valhalla. Or the native American funeral pyre.

Since Christianity teaches a resurrection, and since the early Christians needed to be different than the pagans, many early Christians shunned cremation. They believed that God simply needed our bodies for the resurrection. Hence the rise of grave yards and the collection of bodies in catacombs. This theory was conveniently ignored when there were too many people to bury, like after a big battle or during the times of plague.

Early Christians wanted to help God out by making sure that he could find the bodies of their loved ones. Good thing, what would God do without our help in such matters?

Fact of the matter is, that given enough time, even bones return to the elements. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Somehow God is going to be able to raise us to new life, whether we were buried in the ground, cremated or what about the poor folks who were burned to death in the World Trade Center. What about people that are devoured by sharks. Do they not get to go to heaven because God can't find their bodies?

The point is, to be against cremation is to say, “oh, God really needs a physical body, or he can’t raise us.” Kind of silly. Limits God to the abilities of a human. Brings him down to a level that humans can understand and control. Makes the almighty manageable.

I would remind us that the soul is the part that lives on. The old body is shed at death, and to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Don't worry about your loved ones that were cremated. If God can make us from a 2 cell beginning, then he will certainly be able to reconstitute us if he needs to when the time is right.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.