Death, Funerals, and a New Year

Occasionally unrelated events from different parts of the globe come together to teach a larger lesson. I think this happened in the end of 2006 when singer James Brown, President Gerald Ford, and Saddam Hussein all died within days of one another.

James Brown was a popular singer for decades and a voice for many African Americans who have felt alienated by society. His was a life of many ups and downs, but the impact his life had on others was reflected in the thousands who mourned his passing. His funeral became a time to honor his life. But with several "costume" changes, a gold casket, and huge musical productions his funeral might have gone a little over-the-top. Like the Egyptian pharaohs ready to rule in the afterlife, he was buried with his riches.

President Ford was never elected president or vice-president, but his nearly 900 days as President of the United States have been remembered in a positive light. Chances are that a hundred years from now history will not remember a whole lot about President Ford. He was neither a bad nor a great president. But we admire the way he handled himself and led this nation during a difficult time. His funeral was treated with all the pomp and regalia that would be expected of the greatest of history's leaders. I believe the events of Ford's funerals are more a reflection of us than of him. For some reason we need to lift presidents as greater than life. Chances are that from now on all presidential funerals we see in our lifetime will be much like what we saw last week. Before President Reagan's funeral in 2005 presidential funerals were much less grandiose. But all of that has changed. Even Chris Matthews on MSNBC wanted to see more horse drawn caissons, and less "ordinary" hearses for such events. Again, this is a refection our need to make these presidents bigger than life.

Saddam Hussein tried to lift himself up as greater than life. He had more palaces than Herod the Great, and more statues of himself around Iraq than Lenin had in Moscow. But in the end, because he placed himself in such high esteem at expense of the people he ruled, he invited his own downfall. His final moments were spent with a noose around his neck and political opponents taunting him in a ugly execution scene.

Humans are not gods. James Brown's riches will not matter in the Kingdom of Heaven. Pomp, bands, salutes, horses, lying-in-state, and funeral after funeral does not make President Ford our greatest president. Yes we admire and respect the job he did, but he is not god. Saddam Hussein's years as a tyrannical dictator ended much like Adolf Hitler's... with his country in ruins and his life coming to a violent end.

Praise be to God who gives us the promise of new life through Jesus. Also, praise God for the great cloud of witnesses who have served faithfully and inspire us through the way they served. But as we remember great, and not-so-great, people who have died, let's not forget Christ who gives us all the victory through his sacrifice on the cross. People are people, but Jesus is Lord.