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REFLECTION
The theme for our reflection is keeping faith beyond death. To keep faith means to continue to support or remain committed to someone. To keep faith beyond death means to remain committed and supportive towards a person after he or she is deceased. We shall reflect on the fact that keeping faith beyond death ensures that our departed friends and family members are well-preserved or interred with dignity and honour.

Before we go to the main lesson of today’s reflection, it is important to consider the historical antecedent leading to seven of King Saul’s descendants having to be killed by the Gibionites to atone for the sin of King Saul during the reign of King David. In Josuah 9, Joshua led Israel to make a treaty on an oath never to harm the Gibionites in exchange for their services as servants of Israel. Although the Gibionites made the said treaty under a false representation, the oath was effective. The leaders of Israel led by Joshua failed to consult God before ratifying the treaty with an oath. When the deception of the Gibionites was discovered by the Israelites, “The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, ¹⁹ but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. ²⁰ This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.” ²¹ They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept. ²² Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way from you,’ while actually you live near us? ²³ You are now under a curse: You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God. (Joshua 9:18-23) In other words, the Israelites, since the time of their invasion and occupation of the land of Canaan and its territories under the leadership of Joshua, took an oath never to harm the Gibionites but King Saul did the forbidden and went against the oath made by his forefathers. It is for this reason, “During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” ² The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) (2 Samuel 21:1-2). To stop the negative impact of King Saul’s action on the Israelites, King David asked them, “…what do you want me to do for you?”…⁵ They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, ⁶ let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul—the LORD’s chosen one.” (2 Samuel 21:4-6). Their request was granted! David, “the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. ⁹ He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the LORD. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.” (2 Samuel 21:8-9)

Beloved in the Lord, Rizpah, the mother of two of the men who were sons of King Saul kept faith beyond the death of her children and the other five men who were the grandsons of King Saul, to ensure that their bodies were well-preserved, dignified and honoured. Even though they were not the offenders, they had to pay for the sins of their father and grandfather, King Saul. We are told “Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest, till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. ¹¹ (2 Samuel 21:10-11). The persistence of Rizpah compelled King David to give King Saul and all his descendants a befitting burial. ” When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, ¹² he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) ¹³ David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up. ¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer on behalf of the land. (2 Samuel 21:11-14). We also realised that after the death of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus kept faith beyond Jesus’ death when they ensured that He was given a dignified and befitting burial. (John 19:38-42)

Beloved in the Lord, the last and most honourable thing to do for our family members and friends is to give them a befitting and dignified burial. The funeral and burial must not be extravagant but it must be dignifying. It helps the living, especially the bereaved family members to have a proper closure and a sense of fulfilment and pride that their cherished departed family member has been given the needed respect as a person worthy of honour and acknowledgement for the years and precious times shared together. Indeed, a dignified and befitting burial is part of the mourning and healing process. To deny a bereaved family this honour and desire is to leave a deep and unforgettable scar in their hearts. It is for this reason King David did the needful for Rizpah and all those connected with King Saul and his deceased descendants to mourn well and have a proper closure.

African for that matter Ghanaian funeral and burial rites are elaborate for a purpose. Funeral and burial are communal activities in Africa and may be observed in a week or more depending on the social status of the bereaved. It is a fusion of tradition and religion. They are interspersed with an elaborate exchange of pleasantries, singing, dancing, prayers, fashion and art display with regards to the mode of dressing to even the type of coffin which may be associated with the profession of the deceased and social class of the person. All this point to the fact that the African community through funeral and burial rites, expresses tradition and cultural values, assures the bereaved family of communal support and also give the deceased a befitting and dignified burial. The Church also plays an integral part in the process by ensuring that believers are given befitting and elaborate burial services. In this service, a great deal of time is given to the bereaved family to mourn and express their grief through singing, dancing and reading of tributes after which the pastor consoles the community with the Word of God. It is all part of the mourning and healing process and also to give people a dignified burial. In many communities in Africa, the family and the church observe forty days of post-funeral rites, one-year anniversary and other ceremonies even as the years go by in memory of the beloved departed soul. Africans truly understand the notion of keeping faith beyond death!

In summary, we have deliberated on the theme “Keeping faith beyond death. ” We have discovered that keeping faith beyond death ensures that our departed friends and family members are well-preserved or interred with dignity and honour. Shalom.

PRAYER
Thank you, God, for the gift of family and friends. Help us to console those who mourn and grant us the strength in times of bereavement to honour and give a dignified burial to those who have been a blessing in our lives. Amen.