Rev (Dr) Quek Suan Yew

Significance and Meaning of Vigil Services and Burial

Since the beginning of 2017, we have had quite a number of our members experiencing the loss of loved ones. These are heart breaking times. The deeper our love is for our loved ones, the deeper the sorrow when the time of departure arrives. The sad reality is that no one, not even believers, is able to escape times like these. It is part and parcel of daily living in this sin sick world. The Word of God summarises it well in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.”

This was not the case when God first created man. There was no sin, hence no death! Death is the evidence that man is a sinner, for God has declared that if man sins, then man will surely die. Genesis 2:16-17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Man sinned and therefore man will surely die! Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Man fears death. The reason is that man does not know where he will go after death. The Bible says that when we die in our sin, we will go to hell. However, when we die in Christ we will go to heaven. The loved ones who are left behind will mourn the loss of the departed. It is sorrowful and a biblical send-off is cathartic as well as God-honouring. Therefore, it is important that we understand the purpose and significance of vigil services as well as the biblical principles for burial.

From “wake” to “vigil service” for comfort and evangelism – The earth used to be a safe place for man to live in. God concluded His creation and declared it very good. God provided man with an absolutely safe home to live in. There was no danger, bacteria or virus, sickness or death. It was perfectly safe and conducive for the best life man could ever live. Man was naked and was not ashamed (there were no lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes in man yet), he did not suffer the ills of extreme heat or freezing cold. However, when man sinned against God, man plunged all of creation into a place of thorns and thistles bringing with it danger, sickness and death! The reason creation fell with man was because man was made to have dominion over God’s creation. This made Adam “the representative man” over God's creation. Genesis 1:26-31 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” [Emphasis added] When man fell, so did creation. Since that fateful day, life and death are intertwined and cannot be separated. The former is the beginning of life and the latter defines its end!

The only escape is in Christ Jesus who died for us. The person who accepts Christ as Lord and Saviour will never die. This is Christ’s promise and guarantee. John 11:24-27 “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” From the moment of salvation, the person’s death status is changed forever into sleep. This is God’s promise of eternal life to all who believe in Christ as their Lord and Saviour, according to Scriptures. That is why the “wake” is changed to vigil service for the Christian. The child of God is absent from the body and present with the Lord. He is forever safe in the arms of Jesus Christ the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Christ has defeated death on behalf of sinful man. Man need not fear death. The best time for man to realize this truth is when he attends a vigil service.

First and foremost, vigil services are for the comfort of the bereaved family members. The relevant passages of the Bible will be preached to comfort loved ones who are mourning. They will be reminded of the promises of God from His holy and precious Word so that even as they sorrow, they will do so with the hope of meeting their loved ones again. The life of the dearly departed in relation to Christ is emphasized as part of the eulogy. The purpose is to testify of God’s love in Christ in the departed Christian’s life. By this manner of comfort, the name of Christ is glorified, for the gospel is preached and the hope of the resurrection is emphasized to comfort.

Secondly, vigil services are for the blessing of those who are without Christ in their lives. This is the best time to hear the Gospel and believe in Christ as they would be confronted by the reality of life in the midst of death. Memories of the departed loved one would fill their minds and they would think of their own mortality. In this state of contemplation they need to know about the love of God for them in Christ. That is why the Bible says that it is better to be in the house of mourning than in the house of feasting! Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” All believers who die in the Lord must have a proper send off, i.e. through the vigil services. It would be their final moment of presenting the gospel to their loved ones who have gathered to send them off, thus fulfilling the Great Commission in life as well as in “sleep.” Vigil and home-going services are for the living and not those who have gone home to be with the Lord. They are meant to comfort the loved ones who are deeply saddened by their loss. If a believer does not want to have a service for his home-going, it would be sad and even careless. He does not understand what love is and how much he means to his loved ones who will miss him.

Burial and Not Cremation – Cremation is a heathenistic practice and not taught in the Bible. When William Tyndale was captured and tried, he was strangled and burned at the stake. The Roman Catholic Church believed that he was a heretic and the way to demonstrate their hatred for what he had done with his life was to burn him to death. They did the same to John Wycliffe because they hated him. Both these men translated the Word of God into English so that their own people may have the Word of God. Wycliffe’s ashes were cast into the River Avon to signify that they would rather he never existed. They did not wish to have a tombstone for anyone on earth to remember this man by, for they wanted the world to know that his life was not worth remembering. Many more were burned including faithful men such as Jon Hus (burned in 1415). Is the life of a child of God that meaningless to his own brothers and sisters in Christ, that after death one would callously destroy it by fire?

Burning was God's way of signifying His displeasure of sinful men and this sin-filled world. Fire and brimstone were sent from heaven to destroy the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah and its surrounding region as evidenced today by the Dead Sea which was once green and fertile like the Garden of Eden and the Nile region. Genesis 13:10 “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.” But the sins of the people there were full in the eyes of God. God judged them and they perished. The Dead Sea region is the stark reminder to all who have eyes to see that sin brings only death. Nothing lives inside the Dead Sea! Genesis 18:20-21 “And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.” And Genesis 19:24-25 “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.” The sins of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are clearly stated in Jude 7 “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

Why would the believer whose life has been redeemed by the blood of Christ wish to go the way of heathenism and be cremated as if he has been punished by God? God has already reserved this world for destruction by fire. 2 Peter 3:4-7 “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” [Emphasis added] The book of Revelation reveals a detailed account of this fiery destruction where the sun, the moon and this earth will be burned up.

God’s people, including Christ, were buried and not cremated. The first biblical record of burial was in Genesis 23 when Abraham purchased the cave of Mach-pe’-lah from Ephron. Burial to the people of Israel signifies home. Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah were all buried in the same cave when they died. This was an act of faith on their part because they believed the promises of God, that the Land of Canaan would also be their Land of Promise. One day in the future their descendants would fill this Land. Purchasing the Land and being buried in that cave was their way of telling everyone on earth that they believed in the Promises of God. They did not ask to be burned and their ashes to be scattered! That would have been heathenistic. There was a line drawn clearly between who Abraham, Isaac and Jacob believed and what the rest of the Canaanites believed. The manner in which they buried their dead instead of cremation was the defining message of their faith.

The body of the believer is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” This is the body we are to witness for Christ in. It is to be offered to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God after receiving salvation in Christ (cf. Romans 12:1). It is to be kept holy which means putting off sins and every work of darkness and putting on the armour of light (Romans 13:11-14). This body has been chosen by God to witness in since birth. Burial is the noble and God honouring way of ending our life of service. It is dignified and peaceful. Since God created Adam by forming him out of the ground and breathed into him the life, then to earth this body must return. What is said at the grave site is, “And now unto the mercy of Almighty God, we commend the spirit of our departed brother/sister and commit his/her body to the ground: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; looking for the general resurrection at the last day when those who die in the Lord shall be raised to eternal glory and an endless life of joy and peace with God; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” [Jesse Jai McNeil, Minister’s Service Book: For Pulpit and Parish, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1961, page 63).] Then it is followed by the verse from Revelation 14:13 “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” It is a reminder of when God first created man, and because of sin man returns to dust. Genesis 3:19 “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” This is a very meaningful send off to the glory of God.

Conclusion – The basis and criteria for decision making in every believer's life is the Word of God, not the word of man. The word of man is based upon convenience and what is right in their own eyes. The Word of God has always been the believer’s light and lamp to direct his feet along God's pathway of holiness and righteousness. It makes no sense that in death he would go the way of man and do what is right in his own eyes. The teaching from the Word of God is clear that burial is the way for all believers when God calls them home. Cremation is for the heathen and not for the child of God.

The church’s position based upon the above understanding of the Word of God is burial only. Amen.