Walking Saints Home

The renewed call to gospel-centered discipleship in the last two decades has been extremely helpful in clarifying the purpose of ministry. It has helped center the church on Jesus and the commission he gave us to advance his kingdom. It has helped us return to our basic ministry to make disciples of all nations. Within this discussion, however, we often forget to emphasize important aspects of pastoral ministry: we miss the calling to walk with men and women to the end of their earthly lives.

Much of the writing and teaching on discipleship seems to focus on those who are younger and healthier. When this is the case, we overlook the great privilege of shepherding those who are almost home. When we enter into a church and seek to disciple those in our care, we must think about discipling every generation.

We put an emphasis on children’s ministry, on youth and young adults, and on multiplying disciples through small groups or other ministries. But we must not forget those who have helped build our churches.

REMEMBERING OUR ELDERS

In many established churches, there is a generation of men and women who have given their lives to show the love of Jesus. They have given generously to reach their community, they have been faithful throughout the years. They need pastors who will love them well and point them to their Savior. Our discipleship of older saints must reach into homes, hospital rooms, nursing facilities, and hospice care.

To be the church God has called us to be, we should not ignore the needs of older disciples in favor of making new disciples. Gospel-centered discipleship does both, and honors those who have made it possible for us to reach our community for Christ. There is a great need for pastors to disciple all who are in our care. We must disciple our people through every stage of their lives, and this includes the end.

How do we disciple men and women in their last days—or even moments—on earth? God gives pastors three specific ministries to help his people finish well.

PRESENCE: THE MINISTRY OF SHOWING UP

There is so much we cannot do for those who are suffering and dying, but we can be there. We can show up. This sounds simplistic, but it is essential to being the pastor God has called us to be and loving those he has entrusted to our care.

We represent the God of all comfort when we enter into the hospital or hospice room. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 1:4, tells us God “comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Simply being there in the room, holding their hand, sitting in silence and lament, and rejoicing in the hope of eternal life can be a great comfort for those who are near the end. Our wider culture wants to ignore and hide the dying, but the church cannot do this.

God has called us to shepherd his people in these last moments. Our presence reminds those we visit of God’s presence. It reminds them he is always there and will never leave nor forsake them.

God doesn’t call us to have all the answers. He calls us to be present. God doesn’t call us to have the right thing to say. He calls us to show up and to show his love.

PRAYER: OUR GREATEST HELP

The work of discipleship can never be separated from the work of prayer. There is no more important work we can undertake. Again, in 2 Corinthians 1, Paul says in verse 11, “You must also help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”

Prayer is the greatest help we can give. It is the beginning of the pastor’s work. Prayer is where we fight for and with our people. It is where we remember they belong to God. And it is where discipleship must begin and end.

As we pray with and for those walking through the valley of the shadow of death, we remind them of the presence and power of God.

Prayer centers hearts back on the will of God and the glory of God even in the midst of great suffering, despair, and confusion. Prayer reminds us of the sovereignty of God and the goodness of God to hear the cries of his people. Prayer can help the hearts of those we pastor remember the one who knows all of their days, and who will be with them through the end of their life here and into their new life forever in his presence.

Sometimes we act as if praying is something we do when we run out of every other option. The truth is, prayer is the most important thing we do to help those we pastor finish well.

PROCLAMATION: SHARING HOPE

It is not our responsibility as pastors to know every plan and purpose of God. It is not our job to know exactly why God allows men and women to suffer through their afflictions and trials. But it is our job to proclaim the hope of the Gospel.

As we pastor men and women towards the end of their lives, we must proclaim the hope of Jesus, the promises of God, and the good news of eternal redemption and restoration.

Read elderly and dying saints passages of Scripture like Psalm 23, Romans 8, John 10, 2 Corinthians 4, and Revelation 21. When you don’t have the words, read the Word.

Remind them of God’s faithfulness, care, and love. Remind them “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Phil. 1:6).

Our people need more than our opinions. They need the strong foundation of gospel hope that sustains us until glory. Proclaim the hope of faith in Jesus. Proclaim the light of the gospel of God.

WALKING SAINTS INTO GLORY

It is a privilege to walk with saints to the end of their life. There has been no greater honor in my nine years as a pastor than to be present in these last moments, to pray with and for these precious men and women, and to proclaim the only hope that sustains and lasts through the end of their earthly life.

Discipleship is not just for those who are young. Our calling is not just for those who can physically come to church. We are called to shepherd and to disciple all God has entrusted to us.

Pastors, we must think more clearly and compassionately about how we will love those who are near the end, and how we can help disciple them up to the moment they see Jesus. There is so much outside of our control in those moments, but what we can do—what we must do—is be present, pray, and proclaim the hope of the Gospel.

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Zac Harrel is pastor of First Baptist Church in Gustine, TX. He is husband to Shandra and daddy to Evahlyn and Jameson. You can find him on Twitter @ZHarrel.

Start Planning Your Own Funeral

Editor’s note: This month at GCD you will be seeing articles from our team of Staff Writers and other contributors on a handful of topics that Jonathan Edwards introduced in his own Resolutions. The aim of this series is to help you see how a gospel-formed resolution can help you flourish in your love for Christ and for others next year. Click here to see all articles in this series.

Marilyn Johnson starts every morning the same way. She arranges her cup of tea, props up her slippers, shakes out the pages of The New York Times, and reads the obituaries.

Why the obituaries? “Obituaries, as anyone who reads or writes obituaries will tell you, are really not about death,” she says.

While obituaries explain the circumstances of a person’s death, they spend much more time explaining how they lived, making them a fantastic way to learn about life.

Another daily obit reader, artist Maira Kalman, muses, “[When I read obituaries,] I’m trying to figure out two very simple things: how to live, and how to die.”

These artists, as well as many others throughout history, have stumbled on one of the most ancient practices of obtaining wisdom for life—thinking about death.

TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS

Moses, the towering Old Testament figure, is perhaps most famous for the Exodus—the episode recording his faithful obedience to God, who commissioned Moses to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt.

Moses’ 120 years of life (see Deut. 34:7) included an unbelievable range of experiences: being raised in Pharaoh’s house, killing a man, running away from his people and living in hiding, coming back to lead God’s people out of slavery, seeing the Red Sea part before his eyes, almost making it to the Promised Land, being forced to wander around the desert for 40 years, then being prevented from entering that Promised Land.

People who have lived long lives are worth learning from, if for no other reason than they have simply experienced more than we have. In Moses’ case, his faithful example and leadership make him even more interesting to study, which is why we should take seriously his prayer for wisdom recorded in Psalm 90 (we should pay even closer attention when considering his words were inspired by the Spirit of God).

In verse 12, Moses voices a collective prayer for the people of God, saying, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

According to Moses, the key to a heart of wisdom is in learning to number our days. Put another way, the key to wisdom for life is thinking about death. As we consider how few our days are, we begin to develop a heart of wisdom.

GO TO THE HOUSE OF MOURNING

Moses is really saying the same thing as the rest of Scripture. In some of the oddest-sounding sections of the Bible, Solomon writes, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart" (Eccles. 7:2).

Yes, Solomon said it is better to go to a funeral than a wedding. Why? Because the house of mourning is the end of all mankind—it’s where each of us is headed—and those who recognize this fact will reflect on how they spend their days. Funerals aren’t better than weddings in general; Solomon is saying that funerals are better than weddings for obtaining wisdom.

He then clarifies, saying, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth” (Eccles. 7:4). Solomon—the wisest man to ever live (see 1 Kings 3:12)—tells us that wisdom for life is found in pondering death.

We shouldn’t move on from death too quickly, going from the house of mourning to the house of mirth, either, because thinking about the brevity of life is the key to finding wisdom. Most of us are ready to go parties or receptions after someone’s funeral, but perhaps we would be better off to sit at the graveside a bit longer.

OUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED

How exactly does thinking about death make us better at living? Let’s turn to David, another psalmist worth learning from.

David struggled with how to live a life that honored God while being surrounded by those who denounced and demeaned him. How could he live for God when the wicked seemed to receive nothing but good fortune for their evil? How could he make sense of it all?

By thinking about the brevity of life.

Out of his turmoil, David wrote, “O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!” (Ps. 39:4).

The way out of his thinking about the futility of life was in seeing his life in light of eternity. To live each day well, he had to reflect on how few of those days he had left.

David, Solomon, and Moses all realized that thinking about death helps us make better decisions for life. Similarly, Francis Chan writes:

“[We] make wiser decisions after our hearts spend time in the house of mourning. I tend to make good decisions at funerals and poor ones in restaurants. I have made wise financial decisions while surrounded by starving children, and poor decisions from the suburbs. We need to keep our hearts close to the house of mourning to avoid decisions we will regret. As difficult as it is, we need to be mindful of death. We must make decisions with our day of death in mind.”

START PLANNING YOUR FUNERAL

Jonathan Edwards is known for his famous resolutions—short promises he made to help keep himself on the path of righteousness. His ninth resolution reads, “Resolved, To think much, on all occasions, of my dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.”

He was resolved to think about his death and the normal circumstances it would bring. That means Edwards was resolved to plan his own funeral in his mind.

His example is one we can follow. Try this short exercise: for 10 minutes today, think through the reality that you will die. Reflect on all that thought brings, from death certificates to funeral plans and coffin choices.

Remind yourself that in Christ “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28); that your next breath comes only if he allows it. Imagine you will die tomorrow, next week, or next year.

Then, ask yourself questions like, “If I were about to die…”

• “What would I do differently? What would I start doing? What would I stop doing?”

• “Would I keep living the way I am—living where I live, doing the things I do, working the job I have?”

• “What would I be ashamed of not attempting for God?”

• “Who would I spend more time with?”

Surely, God will bring some things into focus, namely that we should live today like we’ll die tomorrow.

Resolve to think about your death more often. Resolve to plan your own funeral every now and then, at least in your mind.

WHY THINKING ABOUT DEATH SHOULDN’T SCARE YOU

Thinking about your own death sounds a bit morbid, at first (certainly, planning your own funeral does!). But what Edwards and others have seen is that in ruminating over our death we obtain wisdom for our life.

Are men and women who think about death more emotionally robust than the rest of us? Are they of some strange, macabre mold?

Perhaps, but I doubt it. Instead, they seem to understand what Paul put so memorably, that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). As believers, we have the opportunity to live for Christ today.

We get to love his church, love his people, and tell others the greatest news ever heard. Our eternal, heavenly life informs our ephemeral, worldly life. That heavenly life is an eternal one alongside Christ himself!

Death might frighten us because it’s unknown—but it doesn’t have to. If we think about death often, and realize that to live is Christ and to die truly is gain, then we can live lives full of wisdom and godliness. We get to live for Christ today, and we gain him even more if we die tomorrow.

Each of us will stand before God one day to give an account of our lives (2 Cor. 5:10). Don’t let that day be the first you’ve thought about death.

Grayson Pope is a husband and father of three, as well the Managing Web Editor at GCD. He serves as a writer and editor with Prison Fellowship and has earneda MACS at The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. For more of his writing check out his website, or follow him on Twitter.