Page 87 - Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2011
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For the Christian, life’s decisions must always be determined from the spiritual perspective, not from a
worldly view such as opting for cremation simply because it “saves money.” If a Christian is making a
decision to cremate solely on the basis of saving money, then I must painfully suggest that these words
of Scripture might be applicable for corrective meditation:
“FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS A ROOT OF ALL KINDS OF EVIL,
FOR WHICH SOME HAVE STRAYED FROM THE FAITH IN THEIR GREEDINESS,
AND PIERCED THEMSELVES THROUGH WITH MANY SORROWS.
BUT YOU O MAN OF GOD, FLEE THESE THINGS…”
1 Tim. 6:10-11
To BURY THE BODY… OR To BURN THE BODY…
Funerals rank among the most expensive • The body is cremated shortly after death,
purchases many consumers will ever make. without embalming. The cremains are
A sudden on-demand traditional funeral, placed in an urn or other container. No
including a casket and vault, costs about viewing or visitation is involved, although a
$6,000, although "extras" like flowers, memorial service may be held, with or
obituary notices, acknowledgment cards or without the cremains present. The remains
limousines can add thousands of dollars to can be kept in the home, buried or placed
the bottom line. Many funerals can run well in a crypt or niche in a cemetery, or buried
over $10,000 if your emotions are not under or scattered in a favorite spot. Direct
check. The need to purchase a cemetery cremation usually costs significantly less
plot ($ 3,500) can add significantly to the (nearly two-thirds) than the "traditional,"
overall cost to bury a loved one. full-service funeral and burial.
It is quite easy to make the case for cremation being cheaper than burial. If the financial factor is the
only consideration, there is no conflict in making a decision. However, for a Christian it must not be a
decision based on how much money it will cost. God’s Word has much to say about burning a body vs.
burial. We will consider that comparison next. First however, I would like to share with you how my wife
and I were taught by our parents to deal with the expense of burial.
My wife and I have been married for over 43 years. We have been Christians for 35 of those years. At
the time of the death of my wife’s mother, along with the death of my parents sometime afterward, we
learned a valuable lesson that impacted our view about our own responsibility to prepare in advance
for our date with death. Both Lucette’s mother and my parents had prepared long before for their day of
departure by pre-planning and pre-paying for the entirety of their burial, every phase and facet, every
detail that could have required painful and emotional decisions to be made by surviving family were
already decided. No purchase of coffin to choose, no cost of headstone or burial, all was preplanned
and pre-paid by our parents.
We were relieved and thankful that we were not faced with such emotional-packed decisions in our
time of grief. They did it all for us. What an act of love. We determined that we would do the same
ourselves. Those plans have been carried out even down to the choosing of our headstone which
already sits atop our two burial plots. We have spelled out our wish to be buried and not cremated, our
desire not to be embalmed (a practice for viewing purposes). We selected a modest coffin and paid for
it as well. Our plots are paid for, we can be buried without any outlay of cash by our survivors. We pray
that they, too, will see our actions as an act of love.