Snapshots of God's Image

The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Scripture (semicontinuous)

Old Testament: Hosea 11:1-11

Psalter: Psalm 107:1-9, 43

Epistle: Colossians 3:1-11

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

Scripture (complementary)

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

Psalter: Psalm 49:1-12

Epistle: Colossians 3:1-11

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

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Prayer

Generous Giver, you pour forth your extravagant bounty without measure upon your whole creation. Teach us such generosity, that the fruits of our spirits and the works of our hands may be used for the building of your commonwealth of blessing. Amen.

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Reflection

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal[e] there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, enslaved and free, but Christ is all and in all! (Colossians 3:5-11)

How can a life be summarized in a few brief moments? That, of course, is an impossible task, but it seems that is what the pastor or a layperson is called to do when delivering someone’s eulogy at a funeral service.

Eulogies are not meant to be exhaustive summaries, but are more like snapshots of a life that paints a picture of who someone was and what they were like. Eulogies tell stories because every life is a story or rather several stories coming together in one person.

The theological question I have learned to ask myself as I prepare for a funeral is “In what ways did this individual reflect the image of God in the world?”

In Genesis women and men are created in God's image:

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (1:27).

And then humanity is given its task in the world:

God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ (1:28).

In other words, because human beings are made in God’s image, they are to stamp that image in this world. They are to reflect the character, the image of God in creation. Of course, we are cracked images. We fail to cast the image of God in a pure and pristine fashion. We fall short as God imagers; but since all persons are created in God's image they have the potential to reflect God's character in some way.

It seems to me that the task of the eulogy is paint a portrait of the divine image in that person’s life. And in so doing, we can then get to the heart of what our life and witness are about—reflecting the character of Jesus Christ in this world, who is in the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

Let us so reflect the image of Jesus in our lives, that it will be easy for someone to deliver our eulogy.

PRAYER: Generous God, in abundance you give us things both spiritual and physical. Help us to hold lightly the fading things of this earth and grasp tightly the lasting things of your kingdom, so that what we are and do and say may be our gifts to you through Christ, who beckons all to seek the things above, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Check out my devotional commentary on Colossians and Philemon here.