Unless the person being laid to rest was a comedian or the funeral was planned for as jovial time, most people would not crack jokes during the funeral. A funeral is generally a solemn time reflecting on the attributes of a person and the sum of the affect of their life on other people. That reflection often brings sadness and fond memories for those in attendance, otherwise those people would not be there.

Millions of people die each and every day. From womb to those that have lived passed a hundred years of age, all humans die at sooner or later. Not every human gets a funeral with loved ones honoring them though. Even so, there is still one that weeps for the ones that pass on from this life.

The one weeping is the Lord God. He finds nothing funny or entertaining about humans dying or being portrayed dying. Each death is a great sadness especially for those that did not know the Lord. Jesus’ weeping for Lazarus before He raised him from the dead should be enough evidence about how the Lord God feels about death.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "LORD, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, LORD," they replied. Jesus wept.

It is not just death that saddens the Lord. It is the steps throughout a person’s life that often lead a person away from the Lord that brings Him heartache and sorrow. It is that separation that causes majority of humans do not obtain eternal life. Hence the Lord’s pain.

Instead of horse play, joking, and kidding around we should be taking the Apostle James’ words to heart.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the LORD, and he will lift you up.

The tears of joy and laughter will come when we are with the Lord in Heaven and greet our loves ones that have gone before us and come after us. Sow the seeds in all that are within the reaches of your breath. Bring them to the party that has no equal on Earth. Until then know what lies ahead for those that do not turn to the Lord in repentance, sorrow, and supplication.