There were two brothers in a small town who were the richest men in town. They were also the meanest and most immoral men in town. When one of them died, the other went to the preacher of the local church and asked him to do the funeral. He said that he would give the church $25,000 if the preacher would say that his brother was a saint. “But I can’t do that!” said the preacher, “Everyone knows what kind of man your brother was.” But the more he thought about it, he realized that the church really needed that money. So the day of the funeral he got up and said, “This man was a lying, cheating, stealing, wicked old man. But next to his brother, he was a saint.”

Someday, when we’re gone, somebody is going to have to stand up and say a few words about us and about our lives. When they stand up to talk about us, will it be an easy task or a hard one? Will they struggle to find something good to say or will they struggle to choose between all of the uplifting stories told of your life?

I remember when I was a student at Abilene Christian University, there was a preacher who preached a funeral sermon that became famous. It was in all the papers across the nation. Jim Dotson was the preacher at Brookwood Way Church of Christ in Mansfield, Ohio. His sermon was videotaped and can still be viewed at the ACU library. Dotson’s sermon did not become famous because of its content nor because of the outstanding delivery (although, given the circumstances, the delivery was remarkable). Dotson’s funeral sermon became famous because he preached his own funeral. Dying of cancer, he videotaped the sermon that would be presented at his own funeral. He spoke about the Christian’s victory over death.

It’s a remarkable thing to preach your own funeral. Well, it is and it isn’t. It’s remarkable to videotape yourself speaking so that everyone hears the exact words that you wanted them to hear. But the fact is, we all preach our own funeral sermons. We preach them by the way we live. No matter what the preacher says at the service itself, our lives will leave behind their own testimony, for good or for bad.

So what does your sermon sound like so far? Is it full of jokes and stories, but little substance? Is it a shining example of what everyone would like their life to be? Or, to borrow a phrase from a calendar I saw, is the main purpose of your life to serve as a warning for others?

Make someone’s job a little easier. Don’t make then hunt and scrounge for something good to say when the end comes. Don’t make it hard for them to find words of comfort for those left behind. Live such a life that your funeral will be a celebration of triumph, a joyous remembrance of a life well lived.

 Start working on your sermon today…