The Gospel in Human Decline
In several of his books, Henri Nouwen recounts how the severely physically and mentally disabled residents of Daybreak, a L’Arche community became his spiritual mentors. Nouwen saw, with the eyes of faith, what many could not: the Spirit is not hindered by human frailty. He believed that great saints who are in continual, hidden converse with God may also be bedridden and need their diapers changed.
How can we understand this? Baptism, as usual, is the place to start.
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Baptism
When the church baptizes an infant, we acknowledge that a relationship with God doesn’t depend on the state of one’s body or mind. Baptism is an outward and visible sign, in word and water, of an inward and spiritual grace. An infant can only have the most basic bodily functions and lacks the language necessary for complex mental processing. From the moment of baptism, the new child of God is in an intimate relationship with the Father. This happens through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, even though that relationship may not be experienced by the body or perceived by the mind.
Ideally, the body and mind grow to participate more fully in this relationship throughout life, but not always. Developmental difficulties, accidents, or illnesses may limit physical and mental participation. These do not hinder the essential spiritual relationship, which is hidden and ongoing, and which transcends both body and mind.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:2-4
This sacramental understanding has important pastoral implications not just for infant baptism. It also matters for those in advanced states of physical or mental decline and for their families. It offers a way forward into and through the difficult questions that face every pastoral caregiver in every nursing home, rehab unit, Alzheimer’s facility, and hospice room. This understanding offers the gospel in decline, good news not just for the world to come but for the world here and now.
The Outer Self vs. the Renewed Self
When the outer self is wasting away, the good news concerns the inner self, which God renews daily. When the human mind diminishes too much to engage the world, the Christian hope is that our spirit prays—and the Holy Spirit prays—though the mind is unfruitful. We can see only the body, which injury might functionally disable, which disease has ravaged, or which lies comatose. We falsely equate the person with the mind, a mind that might be cognitively idle or perhaps wandering in long forgotten or even imagined pathways.
Amid impaired bodies and minds, our sacramental faith assures us that the spirit is alive and engaged with God. It is alive in mysterious and holy ways to which we are not privy. Though often hidden from external witnesses, Spirit ministers to spirit, prayer ascends, worship proceeds, and inner renewal is a reality. Even this state of diminished physical and mental life is holy and precious. All of life, from conception to natural death, is holy and precious. This is because the Spirit is at work in ways we cannot always perceive and, at best, can only dimly imagine.
Rich Mullins used to whisper his prayers to Madeline, a severely disabled child. The doctors repeatedly told Madeline’s parents that Madeline wouldn’t survive the next day, the next week, or the next month. Rich firmly believed that Madeline took his prayers to God and that God gladly bent low to hear Madeline when she prayed. It’s there in one of his classics, Madeline’s Song. The flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing and able.
The Gospel is Everywhere
The gospel can be present in every nursing home, rehab unit, Alzheimer’s facility, and hospice room. Pastoral caregivers must address this issue proactively, ideally before it arises. This should happen through ongoing spiritual formation, including worship, instruction, and spiritual direction. Even in difficult times, there is always a message of hope for the child of God and those who care for him.
I once knew a great and ordinary saint, advanced in age and bodily decline. For years, she had helped clean the church to supplement her meager retirement income. Now she could no longer lift a vacuum cleaner. “I can’t do much anymore,” she confided to me. “But I’m not complaining; I don’t mind. That gives me more time to pray for you.” Her outer self was wasting away, but her inner self was being renewed day by day. She was living ever more fully into her baptismal identity, not despite her bodily decline, but precisely because of it. This is the gospel, the good news of hope, in decline.
Communicating the Gospel in Decline
How do we as pastors communicate this good news? Early and often is best, starting with catechesis. As we prepare candidates and sponsors for baptism and as we receive new members, we explore fully the sacramental, theological, and pastoral implications of baptism for the whole of human life. We emphasize ongoing spiritual formation through worship, prayer, study, and spiritual direction. The spiritual renewal intentionally fostered by these disciplines now continues when body or mind declines. All this is essential preparatory pastoral care.
What about pastoral care in decline? We treat the saint in decline as a saint. They are someone who is in a deep and ongoing spiritual relationship with God, regardless of the outward state of mind or body. We respect what God is doing at every stage in life, and we do what we can, too. Furthermore, we pray for and with our brothers and sisters.
We sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, or we read scripture aloud. This happens even if others assure us that our brother cannot hear us or no longer understands speech. We share Christ’s body and blood with our brother or sister if they can receive them. As much as anything, we simply show up to marvel at and honor the glorious work of God in the lives of his saints. The ministry of presence is a powerful witness to the gospel.
Brussels Sprouts & The Fall
Brussels sprouts are a sure sign of the fall, I think. Yet, when I (am forced to) eat them, I am inwardly nourished and physically renewed in hidden ways. Likewise, physical and mental decline or injury are truly signs of the fall. Even amid such decline, the one baptized in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is inwardly nourished and spiritually renewed. This renewal happens in hidden and holy ways. This is the gospel—the good news – in decline.
Learning to Preach from Martin Luther (Preachers of the Past, pt. 2)
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