Citations bibliques au cimetière

Or, less poetically in English, Bible quotes in the graveyard.
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Yes, at the moment, I have not yet either left Sydney or worked out where I will be - though I'd prefer to be outside it in the long run, now that my College studies are completed. (The gospel-poverty of anywhere outside this city means I'm not really very interested in staying here long-term). After nearly ten years, my heart remains with French-speaking Europe, although it has proven a hard door to walk through...

That said, whilst I remain in this generally gospel-rich city, God has mercifully given me many opportunities to witness to gospel-poor individuals and families - churched and unchurched peoples, Buddhists, Muslims, atheists, ex-believers.

One recent opportunity was helping out some friends at an Anglican church in Sydney's affluent eastern suburbs, in their running of a 5 day holiday program on their church grounds.

Would we like a cemetery with that?
Well, even if we'd said no, the cemetery was there over 150 years before my friends started ministry at the church.
And so, during the afternoons, we took the children (grades Kindergarten to Year 5) to play in the cemetery.

As you do.
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The gospel in the graveyard...

Whilst it sounds weird (if not possibly also a bit creepy!), walking and talking with the children amongst the gravestones and memorials during afternoon playtime was my favourite part of the week. Being on this church day camp gave us (myself, my friends and other camp leaders) constant open doors, all day long, to share with kids about the Lord Jesus and the salvation He achieved through His death and resurrection.

I had the youngest children - mainly Kindergarteners and Year Ones whose exploration of the crumbling, overgrown burial plots involved great curiosity about the personal details, epitaphs and Bible verses carved on the gravestones or accompanying mounted plates.

As emergent readers, they would walk around asking for help in reading the words they saw - many of which were Bible quotes. One tombstone, for example, cited ROMANS 8:18,
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us".

Reading out the Bible verses quote led to conversations about why people buried there (or their families who organised the memorials) would have wanted citations from God's Word carved or etched over their graves.

Naturally this progressed to talking about Jesus, His words, His life, death and rising from the dead, His ultimate victory over death, and the hope not only of salvation but of eternal life to be found through trusting in Him as Lord and Saviour.

I loved it. I loved the freedom of sharing the good news of life in Christ - especially in the midst of the dead. I loved being able to talk about Jesus with the children there. Why His words were so important. Why people might have wanted His words quoted over them, or their loved ones, in their final earthly resting place. The living hope, sure and certain, that all Christians can have in Him as our Saviour.

For me, the Bible passage that summed up my numbered days in that eastern suburbs cemetery was ACTS 20:24:
"I consider my life worth nothing to me;
my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me
– the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."

I’d aspire to have that on my gravestone.
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L/T.