I have never been a pastor who enjoyed leading funerals. I love officiating weddings, but I have found funerals to be a challenge. Lately, I have realized one reason this is true.

As a pastor, I was hired from outside of the community and brought in to preach and lead. Take me, for example; I have been in my current location for about ten and a half years. While that might seem like a long time, it is not the same as many people in my congregations. Some of them have 50-plus years in this community.

The result is that my knowledge of this person only comes from the final few years of their life. Often, my perspective is quite different than that of those who have known the deceased for a lifetime.

I can think of numerous examples of people telling me that their family member was an active Christian, serving selflessly in the name of Jesus in the local Church and community. Meanwhile, for various reasons, in my 10 years of knowing them, I have experienced them doing very little for the Lord.

The family will seem very confused when I ask them to share stories of this person’s service that I could include in my funeral message. They usually have a frustrated reaction to my questions and say something like, “Just share a story about some time you served with them.” I have to be honest and say, “I really don’t have any stories, ” which usually makes them upset and disappointed with me.

So, let me end this with two applicable thoughts. When you are planning a funeral, try to find someone to do the eulogy who has known that person for a lifetime. Ask someone with a lifelong connection to share their thoughts about this one who passed. 

My second thought is more Biblical. I encourage you to finish your journey of faith strong. The Apostle Paul tells the elders from the Church at Ephesus that his only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus gave him (Acts 20:24). Paul was trying to actively serve Jesus to the very end, and we should do the same.

Believe me, as a pastor, it is easy to do a funeral for someone who served Jesus till their final breath and did not give up a few years short of the finish line. But most people do not live like that, and that is what makes preaching funerals so complicated.