I’m a pastoral worker among the elderly in Melbourne. It’s my job to help all types of people finish life well. There’s too much to do, so part of my role is to facilitate the involvement of local Christians and churches around our aged care facility. It hasn’t been easy!
Hesitancies
There are some common reasons for hesitancy. People either don’t want to get sick or don’t want to be the cause of others getting sick, especially those who are already vulnerable.
People feel they don’t have the time or energy required. They are uncertain about what or how much of themselves this ministry requires. Likewise church calendars are full and, post-COVID, churches are preoccupied with meeting their own volunteering requirements. Further, some churches don’t want to invest resources into a people group that are not likely to numerically grow their church.
Caring for the elderly is seen as admirable, but only for a select group who are made for it. Spending time with those who are nearer to death is a little too close to home for most. This is especially true for retirees who have the time to spend, but are themselves also approaching the later stages of life.
Many churches are predominately made up of older people whose declining health or other commitments can making it difficult for them to set aside regular time to visit elderly friends or invest in congregational ministry to the aged.
Biblical Motivations
The elderly are to be treated with respect. In Leviticus 19:32 we are told to ‘rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.’ Respect for the elderly is a reflection and extension of our reverence for God. This respect finds practical expression in various ways in the Scriptures: to rise in their presence (Lev 19:32), listen to their advice (1 Ki 12:8), wait for them to speak (Job 32:4–6), not look down on them (Prov 23:22), exhort them with gentleness (1 Tim 5:1–2), step aside (Job 29:8). In Deuteronomy 28:50, a ruthless godless nation is characterised by its lack of regard for the elderly.
Our God cares for the vulnerable, including the elderly, and expects his people to also. As a pastor, Timothy is instructed by Paul to care for needy widows (1 Tim 5:3). Paul also instructs him that Christians ought to care for their elderly family members (1 Tim 5:4, 8). This practical support is an integral and essential expression of their faith, it is considered as repayment by children and grandchildren for the care they themselves received in the past. Though not specifically mentioned in the parable, elderly brothers and sisters could also be counted among ‘the least of these’, our treatment of whom is a mirror image of our treatment of Jesus, the king, and a basis for judging the sincerity of our faith in the final judgment (Matt 25:31–46).
All people, old and young, are equally made to reflect God’s image, all people are equally sinners and all people have been equally loved by God when he sent his Son to pay the punishment for their rebellion.
Further Encouragements
In Australia, ministry among the elderly presents a growing opportunity for doing good. Our population is ageing and that means lots of older people staying at home needing practical help and company, lots of older people engaging in community services to keep them active and social, and lots of older people living in aged care facilities requiring all sorts of support to enable them to finish life well.
Ministry among the elderly is not only a growing opportunity, but a ripe one. Older people are increasingly aware of their frailty and the fleeting nature of life. A decline in health and an increased consciousness of mortality often fosters a renewed openness to explore spirituality—particularly for those who were influenced by church or Sunday school earlier in life. Increased free time and declining physical health and mobility means less doing and more thinking, reading and talking. This creates fertile ground for the sowing of gospel seed in visits, small groups, singing and formal services.
It’s no fun getting old, I assure you. However, believe it or not, time spent caring for and ministering to the elderly is enlivening for both the cared for and the carer. Bringing joy to the hearts of those who are often depressed, lonely and anxious is a very tangible good.
Lastly, listening to the life stories of those who came before us (the good, the bad and the ugly) is a wonderful teaching tool for growing in wisdom.
Adjustments
Effective ministry among the elderly demands us to slow down. I have to slow down when I read the Bible and pray, how fast I talk, how long I expect to wait for a reply and the speed at which I walk. I need to adjust my expectations for how long a visit or service will take. Just as importantly, I need to slow down on the inside with a calm trusting spirit so that I have the time to do the good works God has prepared for me. Listening well and reflecting thoughtfully with good questions or appropriate Bible verses takes care and attention.
Ministry among older adults regularly brings home the reality of the brevity of life—something we’d rather ignore. The preacher of Ecclesiastes says that it is a good thing for the living to take these things to heart (Eccles 7:2). Our world reinforces a message that this life, what you see and taste and touch, is all there is and that death should be avoided as much as possible. Time spent with the elderly is good for us even though it can painfully re-kindle past grief or future dread.
How does one measure success in one’s ministry with older adults? Attendance at services? Growth in maturity? Baptisms? Perseverance in faithfulness? Christian funerals? On what basis do we decide a ministry among the elderly is worth investing in as individuals or a church? By what we get out of it? By what we think others get out of it? The viability of some ministries is hard to justify by our usual categories.
Challenges
If you’ve spent some time ministering to the sick, those with hearing and speaking difficulties, the cognitively impaired, the dying, or their loved ones, you’d know it’s time-and-energy-expensive. A short visit to someone whose circumstances are guaranteed to get worse can significantly deplete your reserves and darken your outlook for days to come. Why would someone subject themselves each week to a ministry that costs so much when other ministries are more likely to invigorate?
I hear it day after day on the lips of older people, “It’s no fun getting old!” Older people are often depressed. As J. C. Ryle says about the pleasures of life, ‘either we leave them or they leave us.’ Ecclesiastes 12 says the same thing in poetry. There is a deep grief that comes with living longer (or dying slowly) as we watch our loves slipping through our fingers.
Older people are lonely too. Consider this: the 102-year-old I visit has not only watched her parents, siblings and friends pass away, but now her children and in some cases grandchildren. Born in the 1920s, she is, generationally speaking, all alone. And this loneliness is deepened by a reduced capacity to engage the diminishing pool of visitors.
Lastly, older people feel anxious. Accompanying cognitive decline is an increase in confusion and disorientation that leaves older adults worried about who they are, where they are, how long they’ve been there, who you are, what happened to their families and their homes, what will happen in the future and does God still remember them. Ministry among the aged will often leave you feeling sad—because it is sad.
Yet ministry among the aged frequently reminds me that Jesus came to conquer death. Living amidst such prosperity, I need regular reminding of the dreadfulness of the sting of sin. Thanks be to God, that death could not hold Jesus down! An empty tomb reminds us that death has no sting for those who hope in Jesus: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’ (Is 25:8, see 1 Cor 15:54–57).
Probably looking out across a Samaritan town, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Open your eyes, and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest’ (Jn 4:35). Aged care ministry might look like a barren wasteland with the gloomy cloud of death hanging overhead. So easy to conclude that gospel efforts are better placed elsewhere, with the up-and-coming. Yet just as Jesus saw what the disciples missed in Samaria, I suspect he sees the same thing here: souls that need saving, hearts that are receptive to good news and people who are beginning to know that they are hopeless and in need of a saviour.
