Judgment Belongs To The Lord

A prominent businessman approached the pastor to discuss his brother’s funeral. The deceased was widely known in the community as a scoundrel. The man told the pastor, “I’ll give you $500 if you’ll call my brother a ‘saint’ in your funeral sermon.”

The pastor thought long and hard. On the day of the funeral he stood to say, “John was a bad man, a bully and a thief, but compared to his brother, he was a saint!”

Delivering funeral orations is among the most demanding pastoral tasks. I’ve conducted some 400 funerals and each one has a backstory.

A common question from the grieving is whether their loved one is in heaven or hell.

Distraught people at these times seek comfort, so I always try to offer it. Of course, we commit to the truth of scripture. David wrote, “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned,” (Psalm 34:22) But sometimes we don’t know the backstory and we mustn’t revert to speculation beyond what we know.

It was shortly after the death of Elvis Presley that an Oklahoma evangelist spoke to a denominational conference in our state. In a tirade he said he’d heard people insist Elvis was in heaven. Televangelist Rex Humbard conducted the Memphis funeral, so perhaps he said this. But our guest speaker thundered, “Balderdash! He’s burning in hell right now!”

This was cruel and unkind. The reaction was immediate and swift, and I think this man’s ministry never regained traction.

We evangelicals believe in redemption and talk about a crucified thief who repented after a sinful life and, while dying, was promised paradise. Thus, it’s pointless to believe we know what happens in the hearts of those who face the death angel in final moments.

We don’t know about Elvis.

The aforementioned Rex Humbard later told of being invited to talk and pray with Elvis. He said Presley had a fascination with the return of Christ and told the preacher he believed it would be soon. Maybe he also had a premonition of his own death.

Elvis loved God and gospel music and cared for hurting people. He also had a prescription drug dependency that we seem to better understand today. I’m not a psychologist so I cannot explain these things. But as a theologian, I don’t think our job is to speculate beyond what we know.

Jesus taught that there will be surprises on the Day of Judgment when some are assigned to the joy of the Lord and others to eternal punishment (Matthew 25). If there are surprises then, it makes sense that there are mysteries now.

Judgment belongs to the Lord.

“Reflections” is a weekly faith column written by Michael J. Brooks, pastor of the Siluria Baptist Church, Alabaster, Alabama. The church’s website is siluriabaptist.com.