Pastoral Tenderness and the End of Life
Learning to Ready Ourselves For the Difficulties and Trials of Sickness and Death
Good Morning,
The next section of the DPW is titled On the Visitation of the Sick. While most of the comments to come focus on the duties and responsibilities of the minister there are certainly applications which can be made both to elders and deacons as well as all the members of the local church. It is an interesting insight into what life was like in the Seventeenth Century. Sickness and death were far less sanitized than they are today. A pastor then could expect to spend most of his time nurturing souls nearing the end of life rather than brainstorming for the next outreach vision statement or coming up with a new, fresh marketing scheme. Existence was far more serious back in those days. Hence why we read almost a positive take on the place of illness in the life of the Christian, and have a whole portion of a Directory for Public Worship, which testifies to how the man of God is to use it for the blessing of the covenant community. There is much we can learn for our own life in the advice given in the below. Read it slow, meditate on its richness.
Here are the opening paragraphs:
IT is the duty of the minister not only to teach the people committed to his charge in publick, but privately; and particularly to admonish, exhort, reprove, and comfort them, upon all seasonable occasions, so far as his time, strength, and personal safety will permit.
He is to admonish them, in time of health, to prepare for death; and, for that purpose, they are often to confer with their minister about the estate of their souls; and, in times of sickness, to desire his advice and help, timely and seasonably, before their strength and understanding fail them.
Times of sickness and affliction are special opportunities put into his hand by God to minister a word in season to weary souls: because then the consciences of men are or should be more awakened to bethink themselves of their spiritual estate for eternity; and Satan also takes advantage then to load them more with sore and heavy temptations: therefore the minister, being sent for, and repairing to the sick, is to apply himself, with all tenderness and love, to administer some spiritual good to his soul, to this effect.
As with the other parts of the DPW there is much more going on than meets the eye. God in His grace brings various trials into our lives in order to teach, prepare, and make ready the soul for eternal life. We would be wise to remember that our home is not here and therefore our hope is not bound on the circumstances of our time on the earth. We certainly do not discount the truth of pain and the way it affects us as it waves over our hearts and minds. However, the Lord’s purpose in allowing us to suffer is neither capricious nor pointless. It teaches us much of faith.
As the duties of the pastor are laid out in taking care of the souls of the sheep under his care there is an open dialogue which needs to be already in existence. The level of trust where a congregant feels welcome to speak to their minister of the deepest parts of our mind is not something born overnight. There is a slow and steady encouragement towards this when life is good, though there are times when conditions and events force the spot welding of a relationship. Friends are proven in adversity. Yet, there is also a sense in which God in His grace is building us up in the ordinary times of life so that when trouble is at our door we know the well from which we can draw for strength and peace as things unravel with physical health. It would be good for us who do live in a day and age where health capabilities are so much greater than they were in earlier centuries to first of all give thanks to the Lord for His common mercy to us in allowing that kind of knowledge to become ours, but also to seek to put grain in the barn before famine comes.
Another aspect of the DPW worth noting is the countenance of the minister. We have a quite false conception of the Puritan and Scottish pastor. Hollywood would tell you that these men were dour, hateful, scouring, cold-hearted, scolds who hate fun. Yet, see how the directory encourages the pastor to. . . apply himself, with all tenderness and love. There is no way a man called by God to shepherd His sheep can do anything other than in visiting the sick and weary but to show compassion as their own savior has witnessed compassion to them. A hard-souled minister is a contradiction in terms and if you read the contemporary biographies of the men who wrote the DPW there is a consistent message which speaks to their joy of spirit and their deep concern for the needs of the people under their care.
On the flipside of this concern is the tenderness and the love of the person who is themselves going through the sickness or is near death. I can say as someone who has been near those at death’s door that those who have been preparing for that moment all their lives are at peace in the presence of the Holy Spirit as they walk by faith. It is those who have faithfully been taking their hearts to the means of grace, to Sabbath School, to morning and evening worship, daily in God’s word, and who have cultivated a spirit of hope that are most ready, and receptive to Scripture’s balm in the last moments of life. The little things we do matter most when the trials are big.
In closing, the phrase from the section above, . . . Satan also takes advantage then to load them more with sore and heavy temptations is good place to stop because it is a reminder that our greatest enemy will attack when we are at our weakest. It is why we must maintain seek the help of our pastor in these dark moments, for we do believe that the words of hope found in prayer and the Scriptures are sufficient to ward off the attempts of the evil one to snatch us from the sun and it’s light shining on our souls. The minister does not have magical powers in these moments, but he is called to keenly point us to one who does, and is able to give us all that we need in trial.
Here's a last word:
https://sb.rfpa.org/a-pastors-heart-1/
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church