Visitation Pt.2: Ministering to the Sick

This is a continuation of the blog post found here, thinking through the blessings and advantages attached to visiting the sick:

5. Visiting the sick provides unique ministry to those who are suffering: to come into a situation of illness is a profound privilege on the part of the Pastor. He has a unique role in the overall care needs of a patient, carrying as he does the expectation that the Bible will be brought to bear, and prayer will be offered at the bedside. This can be a daunting, if not impossible, task for family. For those close to the patient emotions and a sense of embarrassment can lead to a hesitancy to discuss spiritual things or to even read Scripture. The pastoral visitor is, however, expected to deal with these issues and read from Scripture. This can be a ministry to those anxiously waiting at their loved one's bedside as much as to the sufferer.

6. Visiting the sick provides unique contacts with other people: I once knew of a pastor who prayed so loudly and so long on the ward that people several bays away could hear, and doors had to be shut to keep the peace! This is not what I am thinking of here. Rather, a quiet presence at the bedside of a sick Christian, alongside sensitive reading from Scripture and prayer can open up opportunities to minister to others who are observing. This can be in the form of mere witness as they watch and secretly listen in to the conversation between pastor and patient, or at times can lead to an open request for prayer for themselves and a chat. The potential locked inside these kinds of opportunities is vast.

7. Visiting the sick can forge a lasting bond of friendship: it is a sacred trust to be allowed to be present with those who are weakened by illness. To spend time with someone in their time of need, to listen to concerns, to prayer over difficulties and read Scripture together forges a sense of fellowship between the pastor and the patient which can in some cases last a lifetime.

The foregoing are just some examples of the blessings of visiting the sick, and there are many more. In the near future I hope to review Brian Croft's excellent little book Visit the Sick which provides further impetus for going to those in need with the counsel, care and comfort of God.

Preaching is...

Today Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the two way transaction entailed in preaching:

"The whole man is involved in preaching; that is is where the difference between the sermon and the preaching lies. It is not merely what the man says, it is the way in which he says it - this total involvement of the man; his body is involved, every part of him, every faculty is involved if it is true preaching, the whole personality of the individual; and at the same time...the congregation is also making its contribution. Here are spiritually minded people, they have come prepared and they are under the influence of the Spirit, and so these two things are blended together. There is a unity between preacher and hearers and there is a transaction backwards and forwards. That, to me, is true preaching"

- in Knowing the Times, p.273

Visitation Pt.1: Ministering to the Sick

I love preaching, and spend a considerable part of my week thinking about, preparing for and engaging in the ministry of God's Word. It is a high calling and a deep privilege to handle Scripture, and to teach it to God's people.

A while back I might have been tempted to say that preaching had fallen on hard times, but thankfully that picture does appear to be changing somewhat. Whether it be the inspirational biographies of men like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the insistently practical work of organisations like Proclamation Trust and the Banner of Truth (to name but two) or the international ministry of men like John F. MacArthur or John Piper, preaching is held in high esteem and young men are still pursuing God's call into this work.

With all of this encouragement it is, however, vitally important to remember an important counterpart to Bible teaching in the life of a church eldership/pastorate: that of visitation. I hope in coming days to review some good books I've been reading on this theme, but I thought that I might write a few posts outlining some of the blessings and struggles of visitation, and why this work is so vital.

Today, I want to think about visiting the sick, and suggest some of the beneficial effects for pastor and people of hospital and home visitation to those who are ill or struggling:

1. Visitation is where Scriptural study and practical Christianity converge: pastoral work is not that of the dusty scholar, removed from the realities of the world. One is tempted to think of George Eliot's Casaubon in Middlemarch with his mole like devotion to the minutiae of theology and church history; and his pompous and removed air in social settings. This is not the portrait of a healthy pastor. The privilege afforded to those set apart to serve God through the local church is that they combine the hard work of serious study, with that of being with God's people and ministering His mercy and grace. Visitation of the sick earths Scriptural study, and Scriptural study informs how those with pastoral responsibility might counsel and help those whose health has failed. Many years before the Reformation Geoffrey Chaucer wrote movingly in the 'General Prologue' of The Canterbury Tales of a Parson's devotion to God's Word and God's people in the following words (modernised by yours truly):

'Wide was his parish, and houses far apart,

But he didn't fail, in rain or thunder

In sickness nor in adversity to visit

The farthest in his parish, great and small,

Upon his feet, with staff in hand.

This was the good example he gave to his sheep:

That first he worked, and afterward he taught'*

2. Visiting the sick brings the issues of life and death into focus. Ours is an age of cosmetics and airbrushes, and of a collective denial of the realities of aging and death. It is easy to be fooled by the anti-aging adages of the advertising world into thinking that human life is in a steady state, and that sickness is an abstract concept. A quick trip to a hospital disarms the pastor of any such deception. People get sick, and people die. To be brought face to face with the effects of the Fall, with true human frailty, and the reality that all of our lives hang in the balance is a humbling and inspiring thing. We live on the edge of eternity, bounded by our own mortality and that of others, and being with the sick brings these realities into ever sharper focus. 

3. Visiting the sick is a service to our Saviour. Matthew 25 is usually enlisted as support for the concept of mercy ministries on the mission field (and rightly so), but how helpful to hear the challenge of our Saviour's words 'I was sick and you looked after me' (v36). Being present in prayer, quiet listening, and gentle counsel at the bedside of those who are ill conveys the mercy of Christ to His people, and is a ministry to Christ by proxy. What an inspiration!

4. Visiting the sick stretches us biblically and theologically. I believe firmly in the book by book expository preaching of God's Word, but visitation takes us beyond those bounds, making us apply Scripture practically, specifically and pastorally to real needs. Such an experience filters our truisms and our tendency to be trite - stretching our understanding and application of God's Word to people who are truly in need.

To be continued...

*This is the actual Middle English rendition of Chaucer's words:

'Wyd was his parisshe, and houses fer asonder,

But he ne lefte nat, for reyn ne thonder,

In siknesse nor in meschief to visite

The ferreste in his parisshe, muche and lite,

Upon his feet, and in his hand a staf.

This noble ensample to his sheep he yaf,

That first he wrogthe, and afterward he taughte'.

Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, 'The General Prologue', lines 491-497.

Doubt: peripheral problems and central truths

'I don't believe, and I'm not consoled, I lean closer to the fire but I'm cold". So opines singer-songwriter Paul Simon in a track from his Surprise album, released in  2006. The song, 'I Don't Believe', expresses Simon's response to seemingly providential events, and how these don't lead him to a belief in God - even though they are scattered like 'breadcrumbs in a fairy-tale forest'. The piece is beautiful, haunting, and tragically desolate - a man confronted with evidence of divine activity who chooses unbelief over faith, and who describes the word 'maybe' as 'the exit I'm looking for'.

In this series of posts we have been considering the issue of doubt and unbelief together, and today we can begin to look at the difficult area of intellectual doubt, of finding one's mind drawn to issues and questions which undermine faith, and cause uncertainty. An important statement needs to be made as this topic is introduced, and that is simply to credit its depth, reality and capacity to cripple devotion to, and service for, God. Unlike doubt which is centred around a lack of personal assurance, or doubt which can be directly linked back to an act of sin, intellectual doubt has an ability to bore through the foundations of one's principles and beliefs, leaving the whole edifice of faith and worship in a perilous condition.

One difficulty that anyone struggling with intellectual doubt will face is how to handle it without infecting others. An individual Christian who is a deep thinker, who ponders honestly, reflectively and incessantly on some of the big issues of belief and faith will have a well thought out and linear set of arguments which have brought them to the point of faltering where they have firmly trod. To present this kind of struggle to an unsuspecting Christian friend will expose the doubter to the risk of carrying the guilt of unsettling another believer's convictions. To speak with one's own minister is highly advisable, but may lead to feelings of embarrassment should the season of doubt subside and certainty return with force.

So how can intellectual doubt be handled? Are those who ask big questions on big issues in deep ways condemned to an isolated and duplicitous struggle which can never be resolved? Perhaps the least helpful approach in this post would be to highlight particular areas of intellectual doubt and seek to give a biblical band aid to each one. It would be impossible (and potentially damaging) to make a makeshift 'Top 20 Areas that Doubters Doubt About' list and then tick each one off. The net benefit would be minimal. 

Instead, a simple principle can be established which may be of use to some who intellectually struggle with faith - namely the need to work from the central to the peripheral, and not the other way round. Often doubt will focus its attention on one particular issue or area of thought and so masticate on it mentally that no room is left to contemplate the broader spectrum of belief and faith. This one issue so dominates the intellectual skyline that daylight can't get in, so draws in creedal oxygen that meditation on other areas of devotion and faith suffocate. What is needed is a conscious mind-shift, a determination to think away from this one issue of concern and towards some bigger areas which can be more readily accepted. This is to work from the central to the peripheral, and find that the one area of doubt which is wreaking such havoc might lose some of its ominous proportions when viewed in the light of bigger truths. 

Speaking practically and personally the most liberating example of central truth that I have encountered is that of the resurrection of Jesus. In 1Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul makes this one area of dogma the crucible for all other beliefs, showing that faith is in vain if Christ did not rise from the dead. His own arguments are compelling as he cites eyewitness testimony etc, and this is merely a keynote which resonates right through the New Testament and church history. To lift a book like N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God and encounter the overwhelming evidence for a risen Jesus is, in my opinion, an incomparable tonic for faith. To work from the resurrection of Jesus outwards to some other area of controversy or questioning provides a framework and a safety net for exploring, answering or simply entrusting the finer details of a complex issue to God. Unanswered questions may persist, and it may take time to fully determine the gravity and dimensions of the intellectual issue being faced, but to do so with faith in the fact that Christ has risen (with all of the related assertions which such a truth makes about his person and teachings) is a tremendous basis on which to move forward.

The preceding is merely an example of how to move from the central to the peripheral, and individuals struggling with the stress of doubt may find that another central truth of Christian faith might serve as the impetus and means for re-assessing particular areas of uncertainty. But the principle stands, and at least allows the person dealing with doubt to have some concrete things that they can actually do while they are waiting for a season of struggle to pass.

Christian belief does (inevitably) require faith, but not unthinking faith, nor non-critiquing faith, nor intellectually dishonest faith. To find one's mind foundered on a single (or multiple) issue or truth is a frightening experience, but it need not be a final or fatal blow to Christian walk, work or witness. Drawing (and at times dragging) one's mind back to the central tenets of what Christians believe may just stop a peripheral problem becoming poisonous or even perennial to those who find themselves in a position of doubt. 

God has given us breadcrumbs to follow out of the forest, but they lead not to fairy-tale, but to firmness and faith in the light of, not in the face of, the evidence around us.

Preaching is...

I've recently been convicted deeply by John Owen's great statement on the need for prayer in preparation for preaching:

'For a man solemnly to undertake the interpretation of any portion of Scripture without invocation of God, to be taught and instructed by His Spirit, is a high provocation of Him; nor shall I expect the discovery of truth from any one who thus proudly engages in a work so much above his ability'

To Hell with Radio 4

If the above title doesn't grab your attention, then I'm pretty sure nothing will! And, no, I haven't taken a sudden notion to add my name to the list of 'cussing' Pastors who have become so prominent in evangelical circles. Instead, I wanted to reflect on two pieces of programming I listened to on Friday morning on Radio 4, both relating to the subject of hell.

The first was part of Sue McGregor's superb series The Reunion, which last week brought together some people who were caught up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. A number of features in the programme were worthy of note, but the most compelling parts were when eyewitnesses described the devastation of their city when the levies broke. One word was repeatedly used: 'hell'. Pastor William Walker, of Noah's Ark Baptist Church (!), was one of the few people who made his way into New Orleans while many people were making an exodus. He brought relief and help to those in need, but his description of the moral breakdown of The Big Easy made sickening listening. It was a picture of what happens when authority and society break down, and when mankind is left to itself. And the word 'hell' was used in a fitting, frightening and personally convicting way.

As Pastor Walker said, the best of humanity and the worst of humanity came out in the wake of the disaster. Such statements (from Christians and non-Christians alike) affirms the contradiction which we see in our society and in our selves time and again - fallen image bearers, bad people who are capable of so much good, and good people who are capable of so much bad. The whole concept of hell takes definition when we think in these terms, and when we project the possibility, or inevitability really, of a time in eternity when people are left to their own depraved, deviant, God-denying devices. How we need a Gospel of grace and regeneration!

The second excursion to hell offered by Radio 4 was in the format of the comedy programme Old Harry's Game (not recommended listening) which aired around 1130am during my return journey from hospital visitation. This 'comedy' centred around the activity of Satan (in the part I heard before having to tune out due to Jesus being dragged into the gutter) and his torture of those consigned to hell. Aside from the theological vapidity on show the comedy was low level, and fairly conventional, playing on infernal and perreniel metaphors of horns and tails. The disturbing part of the programme was the casual approach to what was once considered a taboo or conversely sacred subject. It appears that society at large, and the world of broadcasting specifically has decided that we can be so confident of there being no afterlife that it is culturally acceptable to ridicule it with no fear of reaction (human or divine).

In my own Christian life hell has simultanaeously served as a point of struggle and motivation, as the unthinkably logical conclusion of a fair reading of Scripture, and as a great driving force for telling others about Jesus and the reality of His wrath bearing work on the cross. To hear the subject handled so glibly and gladly on a daytime slot on BBC radio grieved me deeply.

But perhaps that grief is not entirely devoid of guilt. As evangelical Christians we have perhaps handed over the reins on the subject of God's judgement, preferring to hedge and harbour our views in fear of offence. This could, perhaps, give the impression to a watching (and listening) world, that we don't really believe in God's eternal wrath either - and maybe that is part of the reason why it is 'open season' on the fearful subject of an angry God.

On Friday morning, Radio 4 went to hell - both in metaphor and mirth. One snapshot was frighteningly close to life, the other terrifyingly far from the truth - but both have brought my mind back to the reality and relevance of the subject of damnation to a world without God.

Tag Cloud of 1Peter (NIV)

I'm currently preaching through 1Peter on Sunday mornings. Below is a tag cloud of the epistle from the NIV text, highlighting the most used words in the book. It's not a perfect representation, but it does give a bit of an idea of what Peter is most preoccupied with.

[Note to reader]: Clicking the small image below will open the image in a larger format. The biggest words are those which are used most in 1Peter.

Newsround (without John Craven) No.1

Friday seems like a good day to round up some of the blogs and websites which have challenged and blessed me through the week. This kind of post may not appear every Friday, but I'll try to post these kinds of links as regularly as possible:

Paul Ritchie's blog is well worth a read, especially when it comes to issues around ministry and pastoral work. I've been enjoying his articles for some time, and he has two excellent summaries of the book 'Pastor's Summit: Sustaining Fruitful Ministry' here.

Iain D. Campbell has some appreciative and heartwarming posts here, here, and here about the Puritan Reformed Conference in Grand Rapids - with some pretty self-deprecating remarks about his role in it!

Tim Challies posts a helpful link here to an interview between Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan and Josh McDowell regarding Chan's recent decision to step down from the pastorate of a large church and 'follow God in faith'. Salutary stuff.

I've also started enjoying Zack Eswine's blog, and while I'm new to much of his material I found his article here to be an important piece of council about tone, manner and attitude in expository preaching.

And this one is a little bit further back than this week, but Gary Boal has some challenging thoughts here about gossip, and how we make excuses for it.

Preaching is...

I love reading about preaching, and finding my conscience stirred by men of God who have thought through the implications and responsibilities of teaching the Word of God to the people of God. I thought that I'd post some of my favourite quotes on this theme over the next few weeks:

'In expository preaching the biblical text is neither a conventional introduction to a sermon on a largely different theme, nor a convenient peg on which to hang a ragbag of miscellaneous thoughts, but a master which dictates and controls what is said'.

-John Stott, Between Two Worlds, pp. 125-26