Preaching After Long-term Suffering With Cancer

Preaching After Long-Term Suffering With Cancer

We are considering some of the toughest sermons you’ll ever have to deliver.  The first post in this series is here.  In this post we’ll consider how the funeral of someone who dies after a struggle with cancer can be impactful.  Preaching after long-term suffering with cancer is an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel.

Background

One of my close friends died after his second bout with cancer.  He was healthy when we met, and we found that we had a common interest in racquetball.  We began meeting on Fridays to play a couple of games during the lunch hour, and then spend some time talking after that.

After a routine physical, the doctor highlighted a suspicious spot.  He was sent to a specialist for testing.  After the tests, the diagnosis came that he had a melanoma growth.  It was removed by a surgeon, and then came the interferon treatments and other medical interventions that were supposed to kill the cancer cells in his body.  It was brutal, but successful.  He was declared cancer free.

Five years later, he and his wife invited friends for a celebration.  It had been five years, and so, the medical community figured that the chance was small that the cancer would return.  We celebrated.  What a gift!

One year later, the cancer was back.  In spite of all interventions and experimental treatments available, it became clear that he was going to die.  Over months, his body began to weaken and shrink as the cancer destroyed one organ after another.

Planning the Funeral of a Cancer Sufferer

I visited him on Fridays, during what would have been our regular racquetball times.  When it became obvious that none of the treatments applied were going to work, his thoughts turned to eternity, as well as  the funeral that would mark the transition.  What should we do there?  What should I say about my his life.

He had concern, of course, for his wife and their three children.  We talked and prayed about that.   The message at the funeral would have to bring some comfort to them.

But he also had concern about the salvation of his neighbors.  When the cancer returned, he realized that he had never talked with his neighbors about his faith.  That was, he decided, a wrong that he had to right.  As an extravert, he knew his neighbors well, and they were showing great love for him in the battle with cancer.   The message at the funeral would need to give the gospel.

This is one of the toughest sermons you’ll ever write.  Preaching after long-term suffering with cancer is  not easy.  So, what do you say?

Preaching About A Cancer Death

Once again, I refer you to Bryan Chapell’s choice of Scripture and approach.  In the book,  The Hardest Sermons You’ll Ever Write, he chose Romans 5:1-9.  I chose a different passage.

When preaching after long-term suffering with cancer, a good passage is 2 Corinthians 4:16 through 5;5.   Here are several points to make:

• In 4:16 Paul says that “Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”  He also calls the challenges light and momentary afflictions when compared to what we will receive.
• In 5:1 he says, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God.”  This is a great verse to focus on.  Our bodies, Paul says, are tents.  Paul was a tentmaker, and he knew that even if you used the best materials and best techniques, tents would eventually wear out.  Our bodies are the same.  The older people in the audience will identify with this.  But the promise is that we will have a building from God.
• “While we are in this tent we are burdened.”  (5:4). I related this to my friend.  There wrecked many things that burdened him as the reality of his death approached.  I shared that he had a burden for people who did not know Christ, who had no expectation of being raised from the dead.  I also shared his burden for this wife and children.

Preaching After Long-Term Cancer Suffering Can Be Redemptive

It was a sad funeral.  But it was triumphant as well.  Two of his neighbors came to me afterward to share that they had become Christians because of the way my friend died.

Preach the gospel boldly at such moments, but with the promise of grace and strength for those whose lives will be changed entirely with the loss.   And God will use it.