As a young minister, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a graveside service for a homeless man, with no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there.
As I was not familiar with the backwoods area, I became lost; and being a typical man did not stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew, who was eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere in sight.
I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave, where I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, but this was the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. I poured out my heart and soul.
As I preached the workers began to say "Amen", "Praise the Lord", and "Glory"! I preached and preached, like I'd never preached before: from Genesis all the way to Revelations.
I closed the lengthy service with a prayer and walked to my car.
As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, "I ain't never seen anything like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for 20 years."
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The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. Zephaniah 1:14
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I'm not real sure if I am supposed to be laughing at that or not...... but I am, cause it's funny.... but if it is serious .... Oh Man kosherboy, what a way to begin your service to the Lord.
Even if it's not supposed to be funny and it was embarrasingI would guess that those workers got an awesome sermon and it stayed with them. That may be exactly what god intended. Did you ever find the man's grave to pay tribute?
Michael is just a funny story, this didn't happened to me ,this is the way it appeared in the Readers Digest Magazine, LOL
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The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. Zephaniah 1:14
פרץ
As I preached the workers began to say "Amen", "Praise the Lord", and "Glory"! I preached and preached, like I'd never preached before: from Genesis all the way to Revelations.
I closed the lengthy service with a prayer and walked to my car.
As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, "I ain't never seen anything like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for 20 years."
Well I now know why I get the answers I get from you .........
Good story
I heard that one in Sermon Central (sometimes I steal a sermon from there in a pinch)... The first time I heard it I fell for it! But it's a good story to start a sermon with. Breaks the ice, and gets people relaxed, but then again, it's my nature to use funny stories. I even throw them in at funerals. But I try to be sensitive about it.
The only time someone got a little ticked off was when I officiated a funeral of a lady that had been in a nursing home. This lady would steal towels from everyone and every room. One day her daughter came to visit her and found over a hundred towels in her closet her daughter asked her, "Mom, what are you doing with all these towels." The Mother replied, "Well, Pat you never know when you're going to need one." Most people enjoyed that story, however one of the daughters thought I was trying to say her Mom was a thief. I found that more humorous than the towel story.
Minister At The Funeral
