Proper 24
20th Sunday after Pentecost
Ordinary Time 29
Year C
October 17, 2004
MERCY FOR THE SICK AND DYING
·
In our series, “Blessed Are the Merciful,” we
have: Defined mercy as lovingkindness, compassion, or
forbearance shown to one who offends. Remember that when you are
offended. We also learned about two works of mercy—corporal and
spiritual.
·
The works of mercy we are called to be Jesus
Christ are love in action as we come to the aide of our neighbor in
his bodily and spiritual necessities.
·
So far in our series, we have learned what it means to
feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and
visit the imprisoned, sheltering the homeless, and TODAY WE WILL
LOOK AT WHY MERCY CALLS US TO VISIT THE SICK AND BURY THE DEAD.
34"Then
the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed
by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and
you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I
needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after
me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we
see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to
drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you
in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see
you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for
me.'
--Matt. 25
14Is
any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray
over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And
the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord
will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. James 5
- VISITING THE SICK
DEMONSTRATES OUR THE GOSPEL AS WE SHOW THE WORLD THAT LOVE NOT
ONLY TAKES CARE OF OURSELF, BUT TAKES CARE OF OTHERS.
·
Visiting the sick is one of the most ready
opportunities to reach out and show the love to God to people. We
simply go to a person’s house or hospital room and be there for
them.
·
Some basic principles of visiting the sick are all we
need to begin caring for others in a time of uncertainty, fear,
vulnerability, and need:
A.
BE THERE
·
This is the easiest and yet most difficult thing to do
because we need to make the time and expend the energy to go where
the sick person is. That means changing our
schedule and routine.
·
Work, leisure activities, life’s distractions, our
favorite TV shows, other things we normally do must all be left
behind to go where the sick person is.
·
Visiting the sick is not as pleasurable as other
things we might choose to do in our free time, but it is a choice to
love.
·
Once there, we need to truly be there.
To be present mentally, and then we need to,
B.
BE QUIET AND LISTEN
·
Sometimes people wonder what to say when they walk
into a room where someone is sick.
·
Most people when sick are happy to just have people
come and be there to listen to them.
·
It doesn’t take much more than “Hi, how are you
feeling?” to draw a sick person into talking.
Then, we simply quit ourselves and let the sick person share their
lives and just carry on a normal conversation.
·
In extreme cases when the person is in a coma or near
death, it is often good to tell them that God loves them, read to
them, pray for them, and love them as if they were awake.
C.
ALWAYS REMEMBER VISITING THE SICK IS NOT ABOUT US, BUT
ABOUT THE SICK PERSON
·
The reason I bring this up is sometimes when visiting
the sick people some people end up talking more about themselves and
their own problems instead of what the sick person needs.
We usually do this out of being nervous and not
knowing what to say.
·
Remember, when we visit the sick we are there for
them, to listen, and to be a servant. If they
need us to run an errand, we can offer to do it.
If they need something, we can go to the store for them.
Just be careful to not violate the doctor’s orders—like going
to get someone McDonalds when the doctor has ordered a low salt
diet!
D.
AND THEN SOMETIMES WE ARE TO BE WITH THE SICK AS THEY
PASS FROM SICKNESS IN THIS LIFE TO HEALTH IN THE AFTERLIFE.
- WHAT IS OUR ROLE IN SHOWING
MERCY WHEN DEATH VISITS A PERSON OR FAMILY?
·
One of the facts of life is everyone must die.
·
In
America
, death has been removed from most people’s daily experience of
reality. Western culture intensely tried to deny
death. Today many will not connect with religion
or faith at death even denying it’s presence by not having any kind
of service or funeral.
·
Christian culture, on the other hand, deals with life
and death head on.
·
Time was, when someone died, the members of the
deceased one’s family prepared them for burial and friends and
family gathered in the living room with the living to mourn the
death and celebrate the life of the loved one gone into their
eternal rest.
·
Today, death is often the concern of professionals
more than family and friends.
·
Because the actual funeral arrangements are mostly
handled by professional morticians today, what is the role of the
Church in mercy for the dead and their family?
·
I want to suggest that death is more a process than an
event, and the presence of Jesus Christ is what can help we can
offer to people who are dying, as well as after death has occurred.
·
Of course, Mother Theresa is famous for this—just
being there and caring for people as the time of their lives
diminishes and ends.
·
IN many ways, Mother Theresa and her sisters do what
we now as Hospice care—providing comfort and support to families
when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented
treatments.
·
The goal of caring for the dying is to improve the
quality of the last days of their lives not only by pain management,
but by helping the dying and their families spiritually,
emotionally, and practically in this time of great need.
·
At the time of death, this is
where the Church often shines brightly as the beacon of hope that we
truly are. It is at times of death that people
finally look up from themselves and this world toward the presence
and comfort of God.
·
At the time of death, the priest in representing the
ministry of Christ’s Church on earth bows dow to wash the feet and
feed the Christ’ sheep in their last communion of the Holy
Eucharist, completing the Christian baptism and first communion.
·
One last time we anoint them with the sacrament of
healing for their total healing which is about to take place.
·
As we, or our loved one passes from this world, the
Church is gathered in prayer to send them off onto the journey, and
once they have gone into the life beyond we remain with the living
to give bereavement care and counseling.
·
Hospice care is not a place, but an approach to caring
for the dying. Hospice programs care for over
500,000 people each year in
America
. Many hospice programs are staffed by Christian
volunteers, and many Christian non-profit houses for the sick and
dying have come into existence over the past 20 years.
·
Beyond hospice, hospital chaplaincies and visitation
services are a place we can help people on their journey to
resurrection. Many people want to plan their
funeral service, the route their casket will take to the cemetery,
and so forth and we can help them do it.
·
Another traditional way of showing mercy to the dead
and dying is having a Church cemetery where people can find comfort
in knowing where their bodies will be laid to rest in the presence
of God and the company of the Church militant on earth as they leave
to join the Church victorious in heaven.
·
I think of church cemeteries as a gate for departing
flights on Spirit Air. Ministering at the time
of death is like seeing someone off at the airport for me… We go
there with them, and they get on a flight and disappear into the
horizon, and we immediately miss them and can’t wait to see them
again, and we then go home and back to our lives till the next time…
·
Cemeteries are also a great comfort to the living as
we are reminded that our departed loved ones whom we remember at
their grave are not dead, but alive and part of the company of
heaven who are forever praying, working, and praising with us in
worship.
·
From the perspective of Christian faith, ministering
in times of dying and death is a ministry of communicating the power
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In
everything we do, we are pointing to Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
·
As Christians, we live our lives to die well; to make
our personal death our final proclamation of our faith to those
around us.
Luke 23:50-24:9
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