Preachers First Funeral

[Brad Tipton]

Early in my career as a young minister in Missouri, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a grave-side service for a homeless man, who had no family or friends.

The funeral was to be held at a new cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be buried there. I was not familiar with the backwoods area, and I soon became lost. Being a typical man, I did not stop to ask for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the back-hoe and the open grave, but the hearse was nowhere in sight. The digging crew was eating lunch. I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and I stepped to the side of the open grave. There I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, as I told them that this was the proper thing to do.

The workers gathered around the grave and stood silently, as I began to pour out my heart and soul. And as I preached about 'looking FORWARD to a BRIGHTER tomorrow!' and 'the GLORY that is to come!' the workers began to say 'AMEN,' 'PRAISE THE LORD!' and 'GLORY!' The fervor of these men truly inspired me. So, I preached and I preached AND I PREACHED like I had never preached before, all the way from Genesis to Revelation. I finally closed the lengthy service with a prayer, thanked the men, and walked to my car with a great sense of godly satisfaction and pride.

As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I heard one of the workers say to another, 'I ain't NEVER seen nothing like that before... and I've been puttin' in septic tanks for thirty years!'