Last Wednesday, Prophet Makandiwa consoled mourners following the death of Mr Samson Mudzanire, father to his close companion – Prophet Ueb...
Last Wednesday, Prophet Makandiwa consoled mourners following the death of Mr Samson Mudzanire, father to his close companion – Prophet Uebert Angel.
Mr Mudzanire died on Monday and was buried last Thursday in Zaka.
Prophet Makandiwa addressed mourners during a memorial service at a funeral parlour in Harare.
Below are excerpts of Prophet Makandiwa’s message, originally delivered in Shona.
We have relatives and friends here, we are in pain as the servant of God has mentioned that no one can get used to death.
Even if it happens on a daily basis it remains painful. There is nowhere we can get words of comfort except from the word of God so that we understand what is happening amongst us.
I will read 1 Thessalonians 4v 13 and explain in our mother language.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
This is a letter I believe was written by Paul to a church he had ministered to when people experienced sickness, death, meeting and burying their relatives. But Paul seemed to feel pity concerning the way some of these people would mourn.
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| Prophet Makandiwa consoles Prophet Uebert Angel |
Paul is saying when relatives die, even though its painful, people should mourn with hope.
He then writes a letter saying he believed their way of mourning emanated from their ignorance in what was prevailing at that moment.
He then writes a letter saying he believed their way of mourning emanated from their ignorance in what was prevailing at that moment.
He then wrote that letter stating that he didn’t want ignorance to prevail concerning those who have died.
I am happy because the writer gives us knowledge about our relatives who have died. He chooses words that he knows will help those still living that they begin to understand the difference when someone loses their relative through death. That is if you also have a relative who dies especially like our grandfather whom we know believed in God. Grandfather’s life was always about God everytime. There is no one who can say anything to the contrary.
When that person dies, we say he has rested – what we call death.
Paul says when such a person dies, it’s not death, they are sleeping.
He (Paul) says I don’t want you to mourn like those with no hope. He has not forbidden mourning but he says the way you mourn should demonstrate knowledge. If a person goes to sleep after having a meal in the evening you don’t see children crying. Because they have the hope that the night will pass and in the morning, they will be together with their father again.
Now when the father is asleep, it shouldn’t make children mourn, that is if the children know that he will wake up in the morning. But if it’s understood as death, the children will mourn.
A person cannot go to sleep with their work suit, overalls or helmets on. They remove those clothes just as our grandfather has done. But children will not mourn and fight over their father’s jacket because they know that he is around, asleep.
Our grandfather is not dead, he is just asleep. This is just a jacket he has left us. Now we are wondering how to fold it, where to hide it while he has gone somewhere. Tomorrow morning we will be with him again.
So we should mourn knowing that this body troubling us is the work suit he was given to use during his lifetime. If he fell sick, that’s the role of a work suit – to be soiled with grease. The work suit gets dirty then when you are done with work you remove it. That is why we fall sick, we were given these bodies to use them on this earth but the inner man has no body that feels pain.
Wherever he is right now, he can see us. What he cannot do is speak. We should mourn knowing that when a person who fears God is said to have died by those who are ignorant, he is asleep and will wake up again.
Also we don’t mourn as if we don’t know where he has gone to because the world he has gone to – we have relations with its immigration and customs procedures, we know where they have gone.
If tomorrow we have a similar issue, we shouldn’t mourn like those without hope. But as Paul said, mourn like people with hope who know that if God raised Jesus from the dead, those who die in Him will be resurrected.
Let us celebrate knowing that this is a graduation, those with degrees of life have passed, maybe we should mourn the living.
Let us console each other with these words, remembering and thanking God for the time that we spent with our grandfather.
To our grandmother, be consoled, all relatives be consoled, all friends here, those from different churches and all people of God be consoled. Grandfather had come of age, tomorrow we will be with him when he will ask why we were mourning when we follow him.
May God bless you.
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