Grieving with Hope: Selected Aspects of Funeral Sermons

Here is a study of preaching at funerals which is timely and important. At a time when many have lost confidence in the proclamation of Christian hope at the time of death, this book offers a corrective to such hesitancy. It does so by careful theological and pastoral consideration of the task, and it offers practical guidance and suggestions to those who stand before a congregation to declare God’s word in the face of death. Dr Masarik has done us an invaluable service.

Rev Paul Sheppy, PhD

Former Research Fellow, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford, UK

Former Secretary, Joint Liturgical Group of Great Britain

This is a unique work of its kind. In both the Catholic and Protestant theological setting there are currently very few works like it. The author is responding to both the hearers’ receptiveness as well as the possibilities afforded by the church in its mission. It is apparent that it is inappropriate in a funeral setting to overwhelm the hearers with too much teaching on eschatological themes. It is important to recognize the hearers’ tendency to pose questions and to answer these in the light of the gospel. Thanks to the author having studied many foreign works, Dr Masarik has enriched Slovak theological literature with many insights.

Professor Anton Fabian, PhD

Professor, Catholic Theology, Ružomberok, Slovakia

In all sections of this work, Dr Masarik utilizes a broad selection of literature of both national and foreign (English and German) origin, which he uses to reinforce the assertions and opinions presented.

Above all, though, we should call attention to the author’s skill in combining all his study efforts in a synthetized work, including scholarship-funded trips and participation in academic projects. The clarity of the work and its line of reasoning are the best evidence of this.

The work may be also considered to be stimulating for expert discussion, offering direction for a presentation of views concerning the issue of funeral sermons. Thanks are due the author for his view from the end, which also opens up discussion on the level of all of society, for example, that it is our common task to look for the best model of life for all people and not Christians alone.

This book will certainly serve the wide community of clergy of all churches, students of theology, lay speakers at funeral ceremonies, and others. I found this book very enriching and was personally deeply touched by it. My sincere thanks to Dr Masarik for this work.

Professor Jozef Jarab, PhD

Head of the Catholic University in Ružomberok, Slovakia

Grieving with Hope is Dr Albín Masarik’s second work on the topic of funeral sermons. Like the first, it is rare in the publishing arena of Slovak theology and in my opinion, its research is highly relevant and needed for the area of theology.

I would like to call attention to the author’s originality, especially in sections treating the pastoral framework for homiletic activity, the possibilities for nonverbal communication of gospel attitudes, the increase of the message’s relevance and its potential impact, as well as reinforcement of the preacher’s authenticity. He presents the solutions on offer with an eye to lessening the stress not only of the bereaved, but also of the preachers themselves. The work is conceived in an ecumenical spirit with sensitivity for differing Christian traditions and their usual terminology. Dr Masarik has shown competence in systematic academic research. He wrote the work submitted here on the basis of results attained by processing reliable and empirically verified information, after thorough preparation and an appropriate selection of scientific findings. His method of interpreting the facts and of preparing the ensuing results for publication prompts me to consider the important work presented of great value and benefit.

Professor Pavel Procházka, PhD

Department of Theology and Christian Education,

Faculty of Education, Matej Bel University, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

This book is an excellent contribution to the question of funeral sermons. It is very rich, written at a high level, but also comprehensible. Dr Masarik has succeeded in integrating several important facets, like counselling, as well. Focused on the main issues, it will surely be very helpful for ministry!

Professor Birgit Weyel, PhD

Chair of Practical Theology,

Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät, Eberhard Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany

Grieving with Hope by Dr Albín Masarik is a welcome addition to our churches and will provide much enrichment for pastors. Generations of pastors will return to it as they prepare their funeral sermons. Particularly admirable is the analytical detail used in bringing out masterful aspects of the problems encountered in bereavement and the theological aspects of the problem.

I am convinced that this work will enrich libraries in many churches. Our Slovak theology has once again spoken!

Professor Igor Kišš, ThDr

Former Dean, Evangelical Faculty of Theology,

Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

Grieving with Hope

Selected Aspects of Funeral Sermons

Albín Masarik

© 2017 Albín Masarik

Published 2017 by Langham Global Library

An imprint of Langham Publishing

www.langhampublishing.org

Langham Publishing and its imprints are a ministry of Langham Partnership

Langham Partnership

PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 9WZ, UK

www.langham.org

ISBNs:

978-1-78368-377-2 Print

978-1-78368-383-3 ePub

978-1-78368-384-0 Mobi

978-1-78368-385-7 PDF

Albín Masarik has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78368-377-2

Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com

Translation: Graham Peter Leeder

Translation of this book was carried out with the financial help of the PROMET SLOVAKIA, s.r.o., Radlinského 1730, 02601 Dolný Kubín, Slovakia.

Reviewers:

Mons. Prof. ThDr. JCDr. Anton Fabian, PhD.

Prof. ThDr. Jozef Jarab, PhD.

Prof. ThDr. Pavel Procházka, PhD

Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor can we guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

Converted to eBook by EasyEPUB

Contents

Cover

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Defining the Topic

Explanation of the Topic Choice

Referenced Literature

Aims

Methods

1 Definitions, Theological Justification, and Typological Specifics of Funeral Sermons

The Definition of a Funeral Sermon

Theological Justification of Funeral Sermons

Typological Specifications of Funeral Sermons

2 The Homiletical Situation of a Funeral

The Terms Differentiation and the Homiletical Situation

Questions and Stimuli for Determining the Homiletical Situation

Facets of the Homiletical Situation

3 The Purpose of Funeral Sermons

Purpose of Funeral Sermons as a Part of a Church Service

The Purpose of Funeral Sermons as a Part of the Funeral

The Funeral Sermon as a Proclamation of the Word in a Specific Homiletical Situation

4 The Homiletical Process

The Stages of Preparing a Funeral Sermon

Forms of Expression

Structure and Length of the Funeral Sermon

Non-Kerygmatic and Kerygmatic Components of Funeral Sermons

Details about the Deceased Person

Conclusion

Bibliography

Recommended Literature

About Langham Partnership

Endnotes

Index

Preface

Funeral preaching maintains a special place among the tasks of a minister for at least two reasons:

1. It is one of the broadest forms of contact that the church has with the general public. Friends, neighbours, and colleagues of the deceased or the bereaved will attend a church funeral regardless of their differing religious attitudes. Therefore, a church funeral can be an opportunity for the church to communicate with the non-church public as well as with believers from different Christian traditions.

2. It remains a marginal theoretical interest of theologians. This is true both in relation to the production of theoretical publications as well as to the creation of university textbooks for the subject of situational homiletics in the Slovak Republic. Published collections of funeral sermons are a valuable aide to the minister, but they do not address theoretical questions. An uncritical use of these collections may even create a further independent set of problems.

The interrelationship between these two contradictory facts is noteworthy and seems difficult to explain. Ministers find themselves in a significant and demanding part of their ministry without direct theological support. Such support ought to be based on a true picture of how the gospel is currently preached at funerals and its analysis from a theological and wider interdisciplinary perspective. In this book, I am attempting to contribute to the development of the theoretical basis for situational homiletics in two areas:

1. In the theoretical field – to open a wider theological (and preferably also interdisciplinary) discussion which will help to identify the current strengths and weaknesses in this area of our ministry.

2. In the practical field – an attempt to find a way that would realistically raise ministers’ expectations about the significance of their ministry and that they would attempt to undertake the tasks of situational homiletics with a broader perspective.[1]

This work cannot claim to be a comprehensive treatment of the whole topic, but it does theology to the benefit of the Christian ministry of proclaiming the gospel. If it in some way contributes to more contemporary funeral sermons achieving their aims, then my efforts were not in vain.

Acknowledgements

First of all, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to God that I can work on this topic which I believe is deeply meaningful. I started out my research with the theological expectations of obtaining new homiletical findings and with the Christian faith that both preaching the Word of God and the community of faith have a real impact when dealing with a serious loss, as is the case in the death of a loved one. This approach stems from the nature of the gospel and from the creative impact of God’s Word in the life of a Christian.

This work builds on my own previous homiletical research conducted on the funeral sermons of Prof ThDr Igor Kišš. I owe him a great debt of gratitude that he was prepared to take a risk and allow me to analyze certain features of his funeral sermons. Through a critical approach to his collection, I obtained my first set of real attributes of contemporary (evangelical) funeral sermons in Slovakia and identified significant points and questions that could aid the development and improvement of current practice.

I am also grateful to all those who read and reacted to my analysis, be they the reviewers of academic publications (Mgr Jozef Benka, PhD; Prof ThDr Imre Peres, PhD; and Prof ThDr Pavel Procházka, PhD) or the commendations on the book cover (Prof ThDr Jozef Jarab, PhD and Prof ThDr ICDr Anton Fabián, PhD). Without their insights, I would have probably overlooked a number of problems.

I would also like to thank my colleagues at the Department of Theology and Christian Education, Pedagogical Faculty, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, as they create a stimulating environment which has facilitated many conversations that were for me like valuable consultations. I would like to thank by name my colleague, who is currently the moderator of the ministry board of the Brethren Church of Slovakia, ThDr Ing Ján Henžel, PhD, who for the purpose of my research provided me with a collection of over forty of his funeral sermons.

I also wish to show my appreciation to the aforementioned Professor Pavel Procházka, not only for his help in processing the preliminary study to this work but also that from his position as the head of department, during the summer semester 2007/08, he offered me the opportunity of a four-month study scholarship at Belfast Bible College (part of Queen’s University) in Belfast. The time in Northern Ireland was implemented and funded using scholarship funds of that college, for which I also wish to express my gratitude. During my participation in the training program for theology teachers, I had the conditions that enabled me to write this work. Viewed from the perspective of the topic, my conversations with their teacher of homiletics, Ian Dickson PhD, were of great benefit. His research focuses on Irish church sermons from the nineteenth century, and he has made a number of observations about how the proclamation of the Word influences society. As I was studying his subject, he also helped me by allowing me to lecture about parts of my research and respond to the thoughts of his students.

In the process of writing this work, I also wrote to a number of institutes and individuals. An example is Paul Sheppy from Reading, UK. As for the purposes of this study I had taken into account his publications which deal with the question of the liturgical and pastoral context of a funeral. I would like to thank him for the valuable advice he provided in his letter.

With regard to those who work with the bereaved and organize funerals, I would like to thank Jim Clark. He grew up in a family who owned a funeral home in Bangor, Northern Ireland, and so that he would be able to develop their funeral services, he studied theology at university. He allowed me to visit him which enabled me to view this rather unique combination of business activity and pastoral ministry. During my visit, he met with a client whom he served not only as the owner of a funeral home but also as a qualified Christian pastoral worker. Therefore, from this visit to his funeral home, I left with the hope that there is significance in paying attention to the question of improving the quality of Christian ministry to the grieving.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the head of the crematorium in Banská Bystrica, Pavol Bielik, who agreed to my request to carry out field observations, which consisted of attending one hundred funerals, making a sound recording, and communicating with the person who conducted the funeral. I also cannot fail to mention Mgr Halaj, a civil funeral celebrant, who valiantly endured my presence at his funerals and was willing to discuss all the points I raised in connection with his work.

Thanks also belong to the civic organization Človek človeku (Person to Person), which directs the methodological aspect of civil funerals in Slovakia. I formed a friendly relationship with their general secretary, Ján Milkáš, and we exchanged the results of our work. This enabled me to study authentic methodological material which this organization publishes to support groups organizing civil affairs in Slovak towns and villages. While doing this, certain questions sprung to mind which a funeral must come to terms with, regardless of whether its starting point is religious or non-religious.

I would like to express my gratitude to all the bereaved who were open to speaking about their loss and about their perceptions of the funeral. We talked about what was significant for them and about what bothered or stressed them. As a part of this group, I would also like to mention the students from the Social and Missionary Workers with the Roma Community course during the winter semester of 2007/08 at the external campus of the Education Faculty of the University of Matej Bel in Rimavská Sobota. After I had lectured about the issue of pastoral care for the dying and bereaved, a number of them evaluated in their seminar work, experiences from their families of dying, and coming to terms with the loss. This allowed me to view a wide range of experiences of loss and the various ways which the bereaved created to process it. Some of these approaches revealed the significance their Christian faith in God has for them, while other approaches were theologically questionable. But the bereaved do not always experience their loss in ways the minister expects them to. They process it on the basis of their cultural, religious, and social assumptions. The occurrence of problematic Christian approaches in a Christian context can be connected to a lack of church support for the bereaved. Due to the constraints of this work, I will not be able to analyze them here, but situational homiletics as a discipline cannot afford to overlook them.

Finally, I would like to express my thankfulness to Graham Peter Leeder, my translator, and to Promet Slovakia, Ltd., for their financial support of this translation. Very special thanks belongs also to Pieter Kwant, director of Langham Literature, for his help and encouragement, and to Vivian Doub, who gave me many suggestions and support. Cooperation with her was a very unique experience on the way to the English version of this book. Many thanks.

Introduction

Defining the Topic

The subtitle of this book, Selected Aspects of Funeral Sermons, states the subject and field of research. It expresses that this work belongs to the field of homiletics which is part of practical theology. The field can be even more narrowly defined as part of situational homiletics,[1] and from this it is limited to one topical area – funeral sermons. This means that this work does not cover all the issues of homiletics, not even the whole field of situational homiletics, but it is focused on one specific field – funeral sermons. It is based on my own observations and their analysis taking into account academic discourse. As I am analyzing my subject in the form of a study that is based on observations (theory – from the Greek verb theōrein – observe), it defines the problems and their opportunities and risks and offers a broader analysis of the theoretical questions connected to funeral sermons from different perspectives along with their specific problems. At the same time, it means that this work does not take the form of a guide that enables instant preparation of a funeral sermon.

Explanation of the Topic Choice

Funeral preaching is one of the most difficult parts of a minister’s work. This statement is supported by a large collection of authors,[2] and I have yet to find one source which would cast doubt on this stance. On the contrary, ministers from a range of churches in Slovakia have in conversation indicated that they regard ministering at funerals as a burden, and some of those would rather avoid it. I have also come across the case of a theology graduate who tried to find out if it is possible to be ordained to the ministry with the exception that he wouldn’t have to conduct funerals.

On the other hand, there are ministers who state that they do not have a problem with funerals and that they are able to handle them competently. While reflecting on this group of ministers, I asked the question, does competently handling mean that they take into consideration all the theological implications and relevantly present them in that specific homiletic situation, or does it just mean that the minister does not feel any need to come to terms with any problems in regard to funeral sermons? Only very rarely do I encounter a minister who regards this part of his work as a privilege and a significant part of his ministry. An example of such an exception is C. Stebler who states, It is increasingly becoming clear to me how privileged I am. It is a privilege to be able to accompany people of all ages in grieving, through periods of life that are extremely intense and where a lot is at stake.[3]

If my observations are objective, then these experiences could indicate that ministers are as yet not fully aware of the ministry possibilities that open up for them at funerals and in funeral sermons. It could also indicate other problems of a more personal nature (e.g. not having come to terms with the reality of their own mortality or an inability to empathetically process impressions from the funeral context), or of a theological-professional nature (e.g. an inadequate anchoring in biblical eschatology, soteriology, etc.). Therefore, it is necessary to pay considerably more attention to this topic as a part of internal church life and during theological education, before beginning ministry but also as a part of a lifelong programme of learning. At the same time, I believe that it is not enough to just pay more attention to this problem. It also requires the courage to take a deep, critical look – both from the perspective of practical theology as well as part of broader interdisciplinary discussions. Without a critical evaluation of current practice and