Tim Keller’s Memorial Service A time to ‘thank god for his life’
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(OPINION) Ask the average person what comes to mind when they think of a funeral or memorial service, and I doubt they would use words like “encouraging” or “joyful.”
Yet the memorial service for the Rev. Tim Keller in New York on Tuesday was could easily be called just that. Keller’s memorial was referred to as a “worship service to God for Tim Keller’s life and ministry.”
The service, held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and also streamed live on Keller’s website, was never one of pure grief. Rather, it was one of hope and joy. The service was rooted in thanksgiving, selflessness, joyful confidence and, yes, celebration.
Exactly the way Keller himself intended it.
Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, died on May 19 at age 72 following a bout with pancreatic cancer.
The Rev. Michael Keller didn’t shy away from using the service as a celebration of his father’s life.
“What are we here to do this afternoon? After the death of Christian, we unite to do two things always,” he said. “First, we thank God for his life, for God’s goodness in lending him to us for the years that we had with him. Secondly, we seek God for our life, for his comfort and presence. … We need to get what we need from his Lord, so that we can continue to live our lives in this world with confidence and with joy.”
Keller noted that his father had meticulously planned out his own memorial service. He had handpicked each hymn, and the sequence of the hymns was likewise intentional. The late Keller had also provided a short, written commentary for each hymn.
In all, the service consisted of five hymns, five Scripture readings and even readings from C.S. Lewis’ “Weight of Glory” and “Mere Christianity.” It also included words from Kathy Keller and her sons, along with a homily delivered by the Rev. Sam Allberry.
“I chose each hymn, and there’s an order to them,” Timothy Keller wrote as part of the program. “So the first one, ‘Immortal invisible God Only Wise,’ is a tremendous depiction of who God is and his attributes. It’s really all about God. Who is he? And what’s really interesting is some of the lines in here summarizing the most important Christian ideas. I’ve never seen it summarized better.”
When Keller planned his memorial service, it also appeared that he wanted to include as little of himself as possible in the proceedings. This shows how the service reflected the person of Timothy Keller.
Chris Whiftord and her husband, Tom, were part of Redeemer’s second-ever member class. She said Keller “didn’t draw attention himself.”
“He was profoundly uncomfortable talking about himself,” Chris Whitford told Religion Unplugged. “He consistently avoided answering personal questions. He never talked about himself, and he never referenced himself. He only ever referenced cultural touch points that were common to everyone. He never set himself up as an example. He did not draw attention to himself, ever.”
The memorial was about more than closure and had a certain celebratory mood — just as Christian service should. After all, the Bible is replete with images of death being something that is conquered and done away with. Towards the end of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he explicitly illustrates this point. The verses of Chapter 15, recited during the service, are rife with words of victory.
“But we will all be changed,” Paul writes, “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
Later, in the same passage, Paul quotes the Hebrew prophet Hosea: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?”
If the Christian man or woman takes these words to be true, then is there any reason why a Christian memorial service like Keller’s should not have a joyful element? Further, is there a reason why God should also not be the main focus of such a memorial?
Kathy Keller, the late pastor’s wife, seemed to think that the answer to both questions is a resounding no!
“You may have noticed that this isn’t the usual sort of memorial service,” she told those in attendance. “That’s because Tim wrote it himself, just the way he liked to do funerals for other people. You mention the dead person, obviously, but then talk about the God that person is facing.”
For the Keller family, it seemed as if the best way to honor him was to honor the God he served — and do so while simultaneously grieving and rejoicing.
“You know those scenes at the end of movies, like at the end of ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ where someone has a heart to heart talk standing at the headstone of the deceased person?” Kathy Keller added. “Tim and I were always uncomfortable with those because the person isn’t actually there. … Tim is with Jesus, healed, loved, more alive and happier than he has ever been. He’s not here.”
Indeed, according to Christian doctrine, Keller is somewhere unimaginably better than here. Hence, the Christian has plenty of reasons to feel encouraged, hopeful and joyful even (perhaps especially so) at a memorial service. Funerals and memorial services are terribly tangible examples of where a Christian may exercise faith and find reason for comfort.
“As this service has indicated, we grieve, but we grieve with hope,” Michael Keller added, echoing his mother.
“The reason why we have great hope is that dad is more alive now than he ever was when he was with us. And we take that to heart, to let that sustain us and comfort us.”
Should Christians dare to celebrate at a funeral or memorial service? I believe the answer to be a resounding yes!
Rafa Oliveira is an intern with ReligionUnplugged.com covering technology and religion. He is a recent graduate of The King’s College in New York City with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics. He speaks Portuguese, English and Spanish and is an ardent Manchester United Supporter.