Funeral Sermon for Dorothy McClendon
It was an honor to deliver this sermon at Dorothy McClendon's funeral. She was 89 years old. She was preceded in death by her daughter Cherrie, and survived by Jack, her husband of 67 years, daughter Michele Kilpatrick, son-in-law Jim Kilpatrick, and grandchildren Adrianne and Jason Kilpatrick. Funeral Sermon for Dorothy McClendon Reflections on 1 Corinthians 15 “I remind you of the gospel.” This is how Paul begins an expansive discussion about the topic of resurrection—the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also the resurrection of those who belong to Jesus Christ. “I hand over to you as of first importance what I also received…[Christ] was buried…[and] he was raised on the third day” (1 Cor 15.1, 3-4). This is the ground on which the message of the gospel stands: if there is no resurrection from the dead, then death wins (death, which Paul reminds us elsewhere [Romans 5] came into the world through sin, our rejection of God’s gift of life). Death reig...