Way More Than Funerals
This Saturday I will preach my 5th funeral in just one month. Yes I’ve preached countless funerals in the past but this season is just totally different. You see, after my health took me down in 2015 I had to give up a lot of things. One of those things was saying no to a lot of funerals. For several years I had to preserve whatever strength and focus I had to just keep going.
I remember thinking the old me would just have to be a thing of the past. I did my best to be optimistic but also realistic. With my body’s degree of nerve damage you can’t just tell your body what to do. Instead, you’re just grateful to get out of the bed the next day.
In early 2015, I felt God leading me towards preaching funerals for those throughout the Lowcountry who don’t have a pastor. Finally, in 2023 God has given me enough health and peace to march forward with this passionate calling Lowcountry Memorials.
Since my surrender early January there has not been a week God has not given me a unique assignment to come alongside a grieving family. Most of them, I have never met alive.
My youngest son Asher asked “Daddy doesn’t all those funerals make you sad?” I said, “Yes it is sad seeing people have to say an earthly goodbye to their loved ones. It’s also a happy time for me because I always have hope to share with their family and friends.”
I can’t fully explain what God pours through my veins every time he gives me another funeral assignment. I’m not headed there to give them more reasons to cry. I’m headed there to give them the hope we all can find in Jesus Christ. That no matter what we face or lose in this life we have hope in Christ. In fact, we can stay connected forever through Christ.
Along the way, I get to do a lot of loving on the closest of their family members. I get to hear firsthand about treasured memories and life impact. By the time I get to the funeral I already feel part of their family. Plus, when I leave these funerals it drastically helps my perspective of this life and the life to come.
Now, I’m not looking to do everybody’s funeral. I am looking to do funerals for those who truly need me. They don’t need me to preach their funeral, but facilitate their life story. They don’t need me to put together a cute service, but to help their loved ones have a comforting and hopeful encounter with Jesus.
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)(NLT)
Pastor Craig Crosby 