Dying Well

Dear Pastors

With the End of Life Choice Bill having won the vote at the 3rd reading last week Wednesday I thought I would reflect on death and dying in this week’s blog. Dying for Christians 101 if you like. I agree it’s not a particularly pleasant topic to talk about but neither should we regard it as so morbid to the degree that we don’t discuss it. Death is part of life as my wife (Spiritual Director and former nurse) will frequently say. And of course, she’s right.

As Pastors we have all been up close to dying and death. We have sat with families as elderly mothers and fathers have been dying and at times we have had the solemn task to guide the family about life support machines and if and when to turn them off¹. I was present when a good friend at 50 years of age fell from a scaffold at work and the Doctors informed his wife and two adult children that he was severely brain damaged and probably wouldn’t pull through. Sadly, they were right and my friend and water skiing buddy died. We were devastated but rejoiced that he knew Jesus. But we still miss him.

Life is good and the will to live for most of us is very strong. And rightly so. To live a full and healthy life is a gift from God. To hang out with a clutch of grand children is the sweetest thing when you are a bit older. But what about when life is no longer ‘full and healthy?’ What about when life is tough and challenging and we are sick, sometimes very sick. What about when we are in our senior years and we are frail, in pain and perhaps terminally ill?

Let me clear. I am against the current Bill…….(dead) against it.

But when life literally ‘hangs in the balance’ Christians have a truth to hang onto that is unique to all other religions and provides the believer with yes, ‘good news’. It’s called Heaven. It’s called Eternity. And about now we should rejoice in our salvation.

Over the years in our pastoral work Jeanette and I have been troubled at the tendency for very sick (and usually but not always very elderly) Christian folks to hold onto life as if they are people with no hope. And if it isn’t the elderly person holding on it is a son or daughter or harder still all the children and they too are Christians. It’s puzzling to me.

I maintain that a really important pastoral ministry to our Evergreens or Golden Oldies or Seniors groups is to help prepare them to die well. To remind them that along with the Apostle Paul, ‘to live is Christ but to die is gain’ (Phil.1:21). That Heaven is our home and that the ‘sting of death’ is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor.15:54-55) because of the resurrected Jesus. That in Heaven there will be NO MORE sickness, pills, injections, medicines and machines. In Heaven we will have new bodies with not a care in the world….I mean not a care in Heaven.

As I write this I remember the words of my dear friend Jim Hurn when he heard the diagnosis that he had pancreatic cancer and it was terminal. He said to me later that day. “Alan, I am putting my dying days in the hands of a living God”. And that is exactly what Jim did for the next 18 months, and he did it every single day. To be honest, it was an incredible thing to watch and be near. My faith was strengthened.

I know some of you may be thinking, ‘that’s easy for him to say’. And that is probably true. Afterall I am still a young and a fit fella but that shouldn’t detract from the truth of the matter. I just hope that I will be able to live up to my own words when my time comes.

Finally. Jeanette on ‘proof reading’ this letter immediately recommended a superb book. It’s called, ‘Finishing Well to the Glory of God’, strategies from a Christian Physician, by Dr John Dunlop. Crossway Publication.

Blessings

Alan

¹ Turning a life support machine off is NOT euthanasia and has been allowed in NZ a very long time now.

Christmas Inspiration

Quote: “So God throws open the door of this world—and enters as a baby. As the most vulnerable imaginable. Because He wants unimaginable intimacy with you. What religion ever had a god that wanted such intimacy with us that He came with such vulnerability to us? What God ever came so tender we could touch Him? So fragile that we could break Him? So vulnerable that His bare, beating heart could be hurt? Only the One who loves you to death.” -Ann Voskamp

Song: Taya Smith singing ‘O Holy Night’ at Hillsong’s Christmas Production last year. The best version I have ever heard. Check out the choreography.

Announcement

Kathryn Berkett will be speaking tonight on Raising Resilient Kids in Hamilton and tomorrow night in Cambridge. It’s not to late to register here or come along on the night and register at the door. Everyone is welcome.

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.