“It is Finished” & Pastoral Visits

January 15, 2008 at 5:24 pm · Filed under grace, Pastor, worship and tagged: grace, Jesus, John 19, pastoral ministry, prayer

Friends,

I have been working on my 90 Days with Jesus series at my other blog. I have 5 more to go. I have been thinking about Jesus’ words: “It is Finished!” in John 19.

It seems that our life goes from one ache to the next. My brother in law has a brain tumor and we have no idea what will be the outcome of that. He’s taking treatments, but who knows how those will end. Strangely enough, he called us last night to see how we were doing. Doesn’t make sense to me; but it does. You see, the Lord Jesus got a hold of Bob the first time around with brain tumors. I remember baptizing Bob and his wife and later conducting their wedding. Bob realizes that Jesus has finished the work, begun something new, and that He will not fail to bring to completion that which he began in us. Bob can call us (my wife and me) for precisely that reason. 

And I complain about my aches and pains! The weather in NE Ohio changed again: We went from walking around with no coats in the 60’s to full blown blizzard the last two days. So of course my sinuses are clogged, draining, clogged, draining. And all the while I am complaining! Bobby called us to see how we were doing.

I went to visit a member last week. Her son was there. We were talking and having a nice conversation. He said he had a beef with me. He came to church one Sunday last year or the year before and it happened to be a day when I was asking my congregation to pray for me because I had been having some difficulties with my health. He launched into a rant about how I ‘don’t know what pain is’ how he’s ‘on morphine.’ I didn’t disagree, but I did tell him it wasn’t a contest. I thought of several other things I would like to have said–I did say, “Well, if you had been in worship on the other 51 Sundays you wouldn’t have heard a word from me about my pain.” He was quiet afterwards. I left 2 minutes later. I somewhat regretted the conversation.

A member of the Church recently had surgery to replace a hip. She’s already turning summer-saults and kart-wheels down main street! She hasn’t complained a bit and was happy to see me when I went to visit her. She didn’t accuse me of not knowing pain. She and her husband were glad to see me after her surgery too and when I went to their house: You guessed it, tea and donuts. They served me!

I’m not very good at the pastoral aspect of my work. Sometimes it is so frustrating I don’t even try. But I know that in the midst of all this complaining about sermons we don’t listen to, and all this surgery, and all this cancer there is work being done–not at all by me. No I see in all these things the different ways that people respond to the grace of God. I hear all the ways that people accept the words of Jesus, “It is finished.” I think this strong sense of completion is exactly what makes Christians different. We know what does and does not matter. We not only can serve when we are dying, but we will serve even though we are hobbled by this life’s pains and aches.

For Bobby–done deal! For the member with hip surgery–done deal! For others, Christ hasn’t suffered enough yet; his work is not yet done because theyare not satisfied. Those who understand, serve. Those who don’t, complain. I have found this to be true in nearly every visit I have ever made pastorally. Some people really understand what Jesus meant when he said: “It is finished!” and they live their lives accordingly. They are joyful servants. There is a profound difference between Christians who understand that ‘it is finished,’ and those who do not.

I told the story this past Sunday about a woman who belonged to the last church I served. I’ll never forget this woman, dying of cancer. Couldn’t even get out of bed and had to be cared for around the clock. I’ll never forget the day that she, for all intents and purposes dead already, had her husband and son roll her into the church building so she could worship the Lord before she died. I’ll never forget it.

She got it. She understood, “It is finished.”

Lord, I thank you for finishing the work on the Cross. I’m glad that I don’t need to perform to the end that I add something to your work. I’m glad that you have accomplished all that needs to be done. I’m thankful for your grace. I’m thankful that even though our bodies and lives fall apart, yet because of your work we are being renewed day by day. I pray that more and more and more will understand that the end was merely the beginning. Lord I pray you have mercy on us all as we learn to live, as we learn to accept that “It is Finished!”

jerry

PS–I just started reading Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness by Brian Vickers. I can’t believe I read this not two hours after making this post. He wrote of his father who had been diagnosed with cancer: “Yet he did not fight in desperation, even though the prognosis never got better than a hope of a slight prolonging of weeks, perhaps months. After the initial shock, he faced cancer with confidence–not confidence that he would ‘beat it,’ but confidence that came from resting, as he put it, ‘only in Jesus and all he has done for me.’ My dad was resting in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness in the face of a disease that was quickly ending his life…I was working on the topic that sustained him and gave him hope and confidence in the face of the last enemy; the defeated enemy.” (14) That’s exactly what I am talking about in this post.

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