A Rare Event
What we allow to be said at our memorial / thankgiving service says it all.
Those who read this blog will know that I have little time for the celebrities of the evangelical world. The apostle Paul, who was unimpressed by external appearance put it like this: "As for those who seemed to be important - whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance..." (Galatians 2:6)
Timothy Keller, I believe, was different. And his memorial service, which you can watch here demonstrated why.
My wife and I watched it, Tuesday 15th August, 2023, from start to finish (we have never watched the memorial service of a well-known believer before). And this is what we noticed:
Those who spoke admitted Tim was an ordinary flawed Christian man.
Those who spoke did not mention his human achievements. This no doubt was at Tim's request, and because no-one knows how God, the only Judge who matters, will see our work.
Those who spoke mentioned his character as a godly encourager instead of any gifts or acheivements.
The 90 minutes was called "A Worship Service of Praise to God for the Life of Tim Keller." Not an hour of worshipping Tim Keller.
Except in one slip, Tim was called Tim, without any of those foolish human titles we are so used to out there in the world (Dr, Prof, Sir, etc.)
No-one listed his educational background, books, etc.
The whole emphasis was on the God Keller knew, loved and served, and the Gospel Tim preached. Tim chose the songs and even wrote out the introductions for the hymns, all of which you can read here.
Lessons
The biggest lesson from Tim's memorial service for me was this: don't let others determine your memorial service (should you choose to have one) but write it out yourself. The natural tendency of relatives will be to big up their loved one instead of glorifying Jesus.
You and I are always and only sinners saved by the grace of God.
When you do write out your service, say nothing about yourself or your supposed achievements. Why? Because you have no idea what God - the only One whose opinion matters - thinks of them: leave judgement to God. "Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes." (1 Corinthians 4:5)
Make sure God is exalted, not you.
Make sure the Gospel is preached because that may be the only time someone in the congregation hears it.
I have been to many funerals in my work as a pastor, and all too often the eulogies have been filled with FaceBook "lies" where only the strengths and little or nothing of the weaknesses are mentioned: which means, of course, that the person is exalted, not the oustanding grace which saved them.
By instructing that nothing be said about us in advance, we better glorify the One who loved us.
We'll say nothing more of Tim, because that's the way it should be. But I am thankful that both in life and death, he set a much-needed example in our Celebrity-Culture-Obesssed evangelical world.
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