SUNDAY SERMON: Preparing a Christian for death needs faith

Last week a Christian friend of mine, whom I have known for many years, collapsed while he was on his way to work.

When I saw him lying on the ground, he was conscious but in a lot of pain. By that time, a doctor was by his side and an ambulance was coming to take him to the hospital.

I asked him if he wanted me to give him "Anointing of the Sick". He said yes, so I took out the holy oils, which I had with me. I anointed him, reciting the usual prayers.

The prayers remind the person in danger of death to prepare to go and meet the Lord: “Go forth, Christian soul, from this world. Go forth in the name of God, the Almighty Father, who created you. Go forth, Christian faithful!”

If you’re not familiar with anointing, it comes from something Jesus incorporated into the message of the Gospel. When he sent his disciples out to announce the coming of God’s kingdom, he told them to anoint the sick.

St Mark says: “So they set off to proclaim repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.”

St James makes it clear that this practice became part of the ordinary life of the Church. At the end of his letter, he wrote: “Any one of you who is ill should send for the elders of the church, and they must anoint the sick person with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him. The prayer of faith will save the sick person and the Lord will raise him up again; and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.”

A Christian who is in danger of death because of sickness or old age shows faith by asking for this anointing. Why faith? It shows that the person really wants what every Christian should want: to go and be with the Lord.

This does not mean Christians have to be eager to die. But we should have enough faith to believe Jesus is waiting for us on the other side of death.

As our Lord once explained it, he has gone ahead of us to “prepare a place for us” in his “Father’s house” so that we can spend eternity with him in the Kingdom of Heaven.

St Paul expressed the idea this way: “Life to me is Christ, but then death would be a positive gain. On the other hand, again, if to be alive in the body gives me an opportunity for fruitful work, I do not know which I should choose. I am caught in this dilemma: I want to be gone and to be with Christ, and this is by far the stronger desire — and yet for your sake to stay alive in this body is a more urgent need.”