One Word
This winter on The Daily Pattern we’re in a series called One Word. Each day we take one word – a feeling or circumstance – and bring a word from God to it. Let the Word of God speak to your life.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) O Lord, I am lowly and humble. You alone are my inheritance. Amen.
Word: 1 Corinthians 15:54-56
“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’”
Meditation
Funeral by Grace Herzog
As a kid, I couldn’t grasp the concept of death. The closest I came to attending a funeral was when my fish (named Mr. Cutie-Patootie) died. We buried him in my backyard and my mom told me he was swimming up with all of the other goldfish in heaven. Death had very little meaning to me.
Even a few years ago, death seemed like something I never really had to confront or worry about.
Yet on November 29th, my perspective on death changed in a way I will never forget. Because on November 29, 2020, my 18 year old cousin, Trey, passed away. His death was untimely and unexpected, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.
A week later while I was sitting in a pew witnessing Trey’s funeral, for the first time in my life, death seemed absolute. Hearing Trey’s life laid out in obituaries made me question everything I had ever known about the world, about my life, about the goodness of God.
Funerals remind us of the one inevitable during our life and all life on earth: its end. It’s a scary and surreal and downright chilling thought. But I think acknowledging the reality of death is what makes our faith all the more astonishing.
Our faith in Jesus Christ enables us to have life after death. It allows us to spend eternity with the Lord in heaven. It’s this hope that helps us face funerals and death head first. We know where our final resting place lies.
So now, each time I’m reminded of Trey through the Easter eggs we used to dye together or the sweatshirt of his I own, although I feel initial sadness, his death does not sting as much as it used to. Trey’s death has been swallowed up in victory. And one day, when I too witness the Lord in all of his glory like Trey is now, I’ll see him and fully grasp how little power death has on Jesus Christ.
Lord, in my sorrow, lift me up. Remind me of how little death has on you and your goodness. Remind me of your ultimate power thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
O Lord and King, your Kingdom comes even without our prayer. But we pray that it would also come among us. We are desperate for your reign and rule, for all we see is rebellion. Come into my heart, my home, my family, my work, my church, my community. Rule with justice and with mercy. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.