For those of us who believe in heaven and hell, there is a tremendous temptation to speculate as to the final resting place of a deceased friend or acquaintance.  People try to make all kinds of authoritative judgments based on the deceased’s life style, goodness, and religious faith or practices. 

The story goes that a mean and abusive husband lay dying.  “Wife,” he said, “Look behind the fireplace and you will find a box of money that I’ve been hiding from you.  When I die I plan to take it with me.  Just put it on the window ledge in the attic and I’ll get it on my way up. 

The lady did as she was told.  That evening, the old man died.  His wife went up to the attic the next morning and found the box still on the window ledge.  “Well, I should have known,” she said to herself.  “I should have put it in the basement instead.” 

But the Bible teaches that we are to leave judgments as to another person’s final resting place in the hands of God.  Acts 10:42 says that Jesus is the one “whom God has appointed as the judge of the living and the dead.”  St. Paul warns us, “Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes.”  (2nd Corinthians 4:5 NIV) 

One reason that we are not to judge is that we judge by the wrong criteria.  “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  (2nd Samuel 16:7).  People can fool us.  They can hide their true motives.  They can live one life in public and another in private.  But God knows all.  He alone will not be fooled.  He knows our hearts. 

Another reason that we are not to judge is that we could never be completely impartial.  We tend to justify things that our loved ones do, and to condemn the very same things in others.  We jump to pre-drawn conclusions based on how similar persons have treated us in the past.  In our humanness we cannot always be fair, but God “will judge the peoples with equality.”  (Psalm 96:10) 

A final reason that we are not to judge is that we might judge too harshly.  If we had the power to destroy those who do evil, could we really offer everyone a second chance as God does to all of us?  Would we always be willing to forgive no matter how great the offence may be?  Probably not.  But God is patient, “Not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  (2nd Peter 3:9). 

Memorial Day is not a time for judging the dead. It is a time instead to reflect on their good, to remember that we will all follow them someday, and to release them into the hands of a God who loves them even more than we do.