Episode 74: Cremation, Burial, and the Christian Funeral

Cremation, Burial, and Planning for Death and Funeral

Strongly Recommended Reading: https://www.hope-aurora.org/docs/DeathCatechism.pdf

When discussing cremation or burial or any other action in a funeral, we are discussing ceremonies.

“Ceremonial is everything connected with the performance of a rite. It refers not only to bodily expressions, such as speaking, singing, kneeling, bowing, making the sign of the cross, and the outward observance of the church year, but also to the ornaments, symbols, and material objects employed in the church’s worship, for example, the church building, the altar, crucifixes, candles, and vestments. Ceremonies are solemn religious things and actions. All theses are, as stated, included in the term ceremonial.”

What do the Lutheran Confessions say about ceremonies?

Article XV

Church Ceremonies

[1] Our churches teach that ceremonies ought to be observed that may be observed without sin. Also, ceremonies and other practices that are profitable for tranquility and good order in the Church (in particular, holy days, festivals, and the like) ought to be observed.

[2] Yet, the people are taught that consciences are not to be burdened as though observing such things was necessary for salvation [Colossians 2:16–17]. [3] They are also taught that human traditions instituted to make atonement with God, to merit grace, and to make satisfaction for sins are opposed to the Gospel and the doctrine of faith. [4] So vows and traditions concerning meats and days, and so forth, instituted to merit grace and to make satisfaction for sins, are useless and contrary to the Gospel.

Source: https://bookofconcord.cph.org/en/augsburg-confession/chief_articles/article_xv/

[3] For ceremonies are needed for this reason alone, that the uneducated be taught ‹what they need to know about Christ›.

Source: https://bookofconcord.cph.org/en/augsburg-confession/abuses/article_xxiv/

What about cremation?

How did the saints in Scripture bury their dead?

Sarah: 23 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ²And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,^[a] ⁴“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” Genesis 23:1-4
Abraham ⁸Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, ¹⁰the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. Genesis 25:8-10
Isaac: ²⁹And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. Genesis 35:29
Jacob: ²⁹Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. ³¹There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— ³²the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” ³³When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. Genesis 49:29-33
Joseph:²⁴And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Genesis 50:24-26
- ³²As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph. Joshua 24:32
Moses: ⁵So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, ⁶and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Deuteronomy 34:6
Joshua: ²⁹After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. ³⁰And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. Joshua 24:29
Samuel: Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. 1 Samuel 25:1
David: ¹⁰Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. 1 Kings 2:10
John the Baptist: ¹⁰He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, ¹¹and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹²And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. Matthew 14:10-12
Lazarus: ¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. John 11:17
Ananias and Sapphira: ⁵When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. ⁶The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. … ¹⁰Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Acts 5:5-6, 10
Stephen: ²Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. Acts 8:2
Jesus:
- ⁵⁷When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud ⁶⁰and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. Matthew 27:57-61
- See also Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; and John 19:38-42

There are no accounts of cremation in the Bible, yet death by fire and the burning of bodies is used as a sign of curse or judgment.

Sodom and Gomorrah
- 24 Then out of the sky the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah burning sulfur from the Lord. 25 He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.27 Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. Genesis 19:24-28
²⁴About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” Genesis 38:24
¹⁴If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. Leviticus 20:14
³⁵And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense. Numbers 16:35
15 The one who is caught with the things set apart must be burned, along with everything he has, because he has violated the Lord’s covenant and committed an outrage in Israel.” Joshua 7:15
⁶Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. Judges 15:6
²²Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” Jeremiah 29:22
“For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,^[a]
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom Amos 2:1
Saul: the brave men of Jabesh-gilead did burn his body, but they did this presumably in an attempt to purify it from its defilement. They did not crush up his bones, but buried them.
- ¹¹When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all their brave men set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. ¹³Afterward, they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days. 1 Samuel 31:11-13
Jesus’ words about hell
- ²⁴“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” Isaiah 66:24; also Mark 9:48
- “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25:41
- ⁴⁰Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, ⁴²and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:40-42

Funeral as Confession

What does cremation confess?
- Hinduism: Hindus strongly prefer cremation because fire releases the soul for reincarnation[3][4]. The body no longer serves a purpose after death[3]. Exceptions exist for very young children and renunciants[3].
- Buddhism: Buddhists often choose cremation, especially because the Buddha himself was cremated [4][6]. Cremation aligns with the view that the body is impermanent[9]. No universal rule exists, so local customs guide many decisions[3].
  - https://unanswered.io/guide/cremation-practices-by-religion-and-culture

Religion	Position on Cremation
Catholic	Permitted since 1963, but burial is preferred. Remains must be interred, not scattered.
Protestant	Generally permissive. Most denominations leave the decision to families.
Judaism (Orthodox)	Prohibited. The body must be buried in the earth.
Judaism (Reform)	Permitted. Left to individual and family decision.
Islam	Prohibited across Sunni and Shia traditions.
Hinduism	Traditional and preferred practice. Central to funeral rites.
Buddhism	Traditional practice. No prohibition. Widely practiced.
LDS (Mormon)	Officially neutral. Burial historically preferred, but cremation allowed.

What does burying a body confess?
- For I know that my Redeemer lives,
  and at the last he will stand upon the earth.^[^b^]
  ²⁶And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
  yet in^[^c^] my flesh I shall see God, Job 19:25-26
- ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” John 11:23-24
P May God the Father, who created this body; may God the T Son, who by His blood redeemed this body; may God the Holy Spirit, who by Holy Baptism sanctified this body to be His temple, keep these remains to the day of the resurrection of all flesh.
C Amen. (from the committal service)

Modern innovations with funerals.

Celebration of life.
Eulogies
Scattering ashes.

How to prepare for your death and funeral?

Communicate with pastor
Commendation of dying
Receiving prayer and last Communion
Especially if your survivors do not share your convictions, make sure you leave your wishes in writing with the church and with the funeral home.
Meet with your pastor to discuss the funeral.