“…Behold, I am making all things new…” (Revelation 21:5, ESV).

How do you deliver a eulogy for a bad man? I have a friend whose life was broken, wasted and decadent. He died last week. He was estranged from his family and none wished to speak for him, so they handed me the responsibility of his funeral tribute.

He said he was a Christian. I pray he was.

In the eyes of the world, my friend was not a good man. What does that even mean, though? When each of us approaches the end of our lives, we, and those around us, are tempted to weigh the good in our lives against the bad and come up with an artificial rating.

That’s not the way God thinks of things. If we follow the gospel story, the way God thinks is two-fold:

1. None of us is good enough that our goodness will help us rise and live again.
2. None of us is bad enough that the blood of Christ can’t cover us and grant us eternal life with God and those we love.

There was some good in my friend’s life and some bad. At his funeral, I celebrated the moments of good, for throughout his life there were probably many. Whether the good moments outweighed the bad is not my business. God does not judge with a human measuring stick. His justice is wrapped in grace and mercy, and that’s the only way any of us will rise from our graves to be with Him and those we love.

So, regardless of the balance of good versus bad, I pray my friend will someday walk with me in heaven based on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

If I do see him in heaven, I know he will be different, just as I will be. Only his good will be there, not the bad, because God promises us that, on that day, we will be like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). All the bad will have been redeemed.

In the Lord of the Rings, near the end of the trilogy, the hero, Sam Gamgee, says to the wizard, Gandalf, “I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself!”

And then Sam adds, “Is everything sad going to come untrue?”

“Is everything sad going to come untrue?”

God’s answer is, “Yes!”

Dear Father,

Thank you for your grace and mercy, help me to be good in this life because of it.

Amen