You’re sitting in your living room.  You hear some loud noises.  Music, singing, and someone crying, almost travailing.  It sounds like someone is so heartbroken they sound emotionally and physically exhausted.  You get up, pull the curtain back, and see a family carrying a coffin on the way to the cemetery.  What a contrast of emotions.  Some wailing in grief . . . others singing praises to God, celebrating the life a loved one who has just passed over and has obtained their crown of righteousness and eternal life with Christ.  These processions happen every day, somewhere, in Mexico City.

Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world.

Home to over 8.5 million people within it’s city limits and nearly 23 million people within it’s metroplex.  Serving as the capital to the country of Mexico it is the most populous city in North America.  It is located in a large valley in the high plateaus, in the center of Mexico.  It is at an altitude of 7,550 ft.  In comparison, Denver, Colorado, in the USA, known as The Mile-High City, is at an altitude of 5,280 ft.

Mexico City is the largest metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere and is the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world.

The economy of Mexico City plays a significant role among all Latin American countries.  Its economy is 5 times the size of the economy of Costa Rica and is about equal to the economy of the entire country of Peru.  Mexico City is the oldest capital city in the Americas.  It is one, of only two, founded by Native Americans, the other being Quito, Ecuador.

I lived and worked in Mexico City for abut 20 years.

I was serving as a missionary from the Assembly of God church.  My wife and I provided teaching and training to young ministers, preparing them to plant a new church.  We loved our work; the people; the culture; and the city.

As you can imagine, with millions of people living in Mexico City, hundreds of locals die every day.

Funerals/burials follow pre-established guidelines.  A Mexican funeral is very different.  The body usually stays at home after death.  (Only the wealthier classes embalm their loved ones and place them in a funeral home.) It is the responsibility of the family to buy or build a box to serve as a coffin.

It is truly just a box.

Totally different from the caskets that are typically used to bury loved ones in the USA.   Usually built from plain wood, and lined.  But the lining may be only a family blanket.  The box most often has a small glass on top, placed securely in the lid, but over the face of the deceased in order for the family and friends to see them and say goodbye.   It will usually be placed in the largest room of the home.  Because it can accommodate the most people, this is usually in the kitchen on the dining room table.

The next morning, when the cemetery is ready, family and friends carry their loved one to the grave site.                                                                       

The procession route is usually, relatively short.  During the process, believers sing and celebrate the life of their friends in Christ.  They know, in their hearts, that their loved one is now safe with God.   And they have received their eternal life, while the closest of family struggle with the overwhelming emotion of grief.

The only night that the family has their loved one’s body at home calls for a celebration.

The night is filled with eating, fellowship, and stories about the life that has now ended. There is lots of singing, teaching, Bible reading and preaching.  The grieving process is much the same as in most other cultures.  People are broken hearted, full of questions, and wish recent events were different.  The working together of family and friends helps make time pass quicker and is an uplifting encouragement to the immediate family.  To help in the grieving process extended family come and stay with the immediate family for several months.

But, perhaps, at the passing of family or friends who are believers, the clearest understanding of the message of Christ and eternal life comes into focus in the hearts and minds of those of us who remain.  This hope, of being reunited with those we love, aids us greatly in the grieving process.  It is succinctly found in Paul’s writings to the Thessalonians:

I Thessalonians 4: 13-18

13:  But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have not hope.

14:  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.

15:  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16:  For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18:  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Rejoice, as you celebrate the life of your loved one through great memories of fun times, sharing moments, and of the life you had with them.  Just remember, when feelings of loneliness, loss, despair or sadness try to creep into your heart, use these words of hope from the Apostle Paul and comfort one another.

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