Thoughts Beside a Deathbed

What follows is a journal entry from a few years ago written after I returned home from my first hospital visit where I sat with a family at a deathbed. I had never met this dying woman before I walked into her room that day. Her family had requested that I come. Nevertheless, in her final moments she made a lasting impact on my life. I hope what follows honors her faith, her life, and her death. To respect the family, I have changed the names of the individuals.

“Today I had such a humbling and joyful experience as I went on my first hospital visit alone. It was for Michelle’s mother, Janice, who was not a member of the church. Initially, Michelle asked for a member of the prayer team to come and pray over her, but we don’t technically have a prayer team. Therefore, our lead pastor asked me to go. The night before, I flipped through my grandfather’s old Book of Common Worship from his days as a Presbyterian Minister in the 40’s and 50’s. There were some scripture references for “visitation of the sick” but nothing that I ultimately went with. Honestly, I was nervous of what scripture to use. I was caught up thinking about not wanting to say the wrong thing. The next morning I chose, by the Spirit’s guiding, Psalm 23 and Philippians 4:4–7. They both spoke to the nearness of God’s pressence. At all times, you are close at hand. In addition to the scripture I grabbed my copy of The Valley of Vision in hopes of finding a prayer in there that had comforting language. However, in the end I prayed the Lord’s will be done and that He would bring comfort to the hearts of this family by his Spirit. I truly cherished this moment and wanted to capture some reflecting thoughts.

It was a great privilege to be in that room: To be invited into a space full of intimate emotions and memories was truly an honor. I had never met Janice before today, but my voice will be one of the last she hears. It was humanizing to be welcomed into such a vulnerable environment. I never want to take that for granted.

The gospel turned that room upside down: The deathbed is to be a place of deep mourning according to the world. Yet in that room today there was an unshakable joy. Janice knew the Lord. Michelle, her daughter, was a child when she shared the gospel with her mom. Now, Michelle was standing by her mother’s deathbed crying tears of sorrow mixed with joy as the family sang hymns of heaven. There was only hope in that room. As they sang, I cried.

The deathbed is a thin place: I cried because God gave me eyes to look through the rise and fall of Janice’s chest to see

His glory. As songs were sung and tears were shed all I could think about was how soon Janice would be in God’s presence. In but a moment, her greatest suffering would turn into an unimaginable joy. Soon, Janice would not be in a hospital, she would be in God’s arms. The gates of heaven felt tangible. You could feel the mist of that not-so-distant shore. The space between that moment and eternity truly felt thin.

A good pastor helps people die well: I was not Janice’s pastor so this thought is in no way a reference to me. I did nothing but show up, ask some questions, and pray. However, I truly see how the hope of heaven and the promises of God have taken away the sting of death for this family. Death has no victory for God’s people. This family knew that. A pastor must labor to preach the gospel in light of death. We are all headed that direction. A good pastor prepares the sheep to die.

Death keeps our eyes on eternity: Today I was reminded that I am laboring with eternity in mind. In all my teaching, counseling, and preaching I must keep our eyes on the kingdom that is to come. More accurately, the King that is to come. Today reminded me that we are a pilgrim people on our way to dwell in God’s country. Death stares us in the face and tells us the hard truth that this life will end. The gospel will tell us that the end of this life is only the beginning of joy.

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25–26

This article was originally published at A Practical Theology and was shared with permission by Brad here. Visit his church website.