Divine Appointments: Are memorial services biblical?

THE Bible in Genesis 23 speaks about the death and burial of Sarah and how Abraham mourned and buried her, Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old.

Although Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans advise that we rejoice with those who rejoice, he also says that we “mourn with those who mourn.” The death of Sarah, the mother of nations, however, shows that this was strictly a family affair – Abraham’s affair.

I bring the issue about Sarah’s death because in the March 8 instalment, I wrote about the time I was away attending my mother ’s memorial service (held on February 28). She was translated to glory on November 7 2014, and Fr Canaan Dumbura, priest-in-charge at Uganda Martyrs Catholic Church was one of the ministers who celebrated mass during our time of mourning.

I went on to say that memorial services are topical with some churches performing them while others claim that they are pagan ceremonies. Questions abound on what memorial services are. It is the same with tombstone unveiling. Are they biblical or syncretic platforms used to perform traditional rituals such as ancestral worship, with church services used as a cover?

Why do they also become an issue when they are held in rural areas? If they are biblical, what format should they take? I attended my mother’s memorial service at a Catholic Church and we celebrated the woman she was to us. l did not attend because I was coerced or threatened to, l attended because l wanted to.

For this writer, this was the last time to meet with people who had walked with one of our parents for 78 years. When I attended my father’s memorial service in 1988, I learnt a lot about him and I would be poorer if I had not.

Thus I wanted to hear my mother’s friends and relatives speak about her in order for me to build on the information that I already had. Responses on such a controversial issue were minimal but some people orally told me that there is nothing wrong with memorial services, while others outrightly remarked that memorial services are unbiblical, therefore Christians should not participate in them. Others were surprised that as a Christian family, we were actually doing this.

However, my gratitude goes to Marshia Chidodo who gave her viewpoint and she did not mince words when she stated, “I want to answer on memorial services. They are not biblical. They arise from what your beliefs are or what you know about the state of the dead since some say if a person dies, they know everything. That is why we are afraid to say bad things about the dead.

“That fear makes people have memorial services and “magadziro/kurova guva”, where they say that they are bringing back the spirit of the dead person into the family. This is what the world does.

“But what does the Bible say? In the book of Ecclesiastes 12:7 it says: ‘Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.’ Which means that if a person dies, his spirit will go to God who gave it, but the world says the spirit will be on earth, which is wrong.

“Some people may say if a person dies, he will go to heaven but consider Apostle Peter in Acts 2:29, 34-35. He says, ‘Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact . . . For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’

“So, if a person dies, his body is buried but the spirit goes to God as indicated in both Genesis 2:7 and 3:19.”

She also made reference to a number of scriptures regarding the dead: Ecclesiastes 3:19-20, Job 14:10-14 and Job 27:3; James 2:26.

Marshia argued that Psalms 146:3-4 gives an important caution: ‘Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.’

“So, those who are claiming that they are bringing back the spirit of the dead person are performing a futile exercise because the dead die with their plans, and as Ecclesiastes 9:5-10 says, the dead know nothing and they are not remembered.

She reiterated: “Memorial services are not biblical. The issue is not recorded anywhere in the Bible. It is just the devil’s plan.”

While I fully agree with some of the issues Marshia raised, my focus was also on what the word of God says about the dead and how the living should treat them, including death.

I came across a number of thought-provoking scriptures, which I thought could help us come to a common position on whether those who perform memorial services are right or wrong: (Ecclesiastes 9:4-6, 9:10, Job 14:21, Job 21:21, Psalms 115:17, Psalms 88:10-12, Psalms 146:3-4, Psalms 118:9, 60:11, 108:12, Isaiah 2:22, Leviticus 19:31, 1 Samuel 28:7-20, Leviticus 20:6, Isaiah 8:19, 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Apostle Nat Opare Yeboah of Ghana whom we featured last week gave sound advice: “The interesting thing is that when God is doing something, He doesn’t consult anybody. If you do not agree, don’t talk against it.”