The Anointing

¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up... ~ James 5:14,15 NIV

On Sunday afternoon we had an anointing service for Steve's dad. Steve's parents' pastor, Kerry, had asked Dad if he wanted to be anointed and even though Dad is very accepting of his probable death and is at peace with it, he said that he would welcome a prayer and anointing service. It was held in Steve's parents' home. Along with Kerry, some from their small group came and all of Steve's siblings and spouses were in attendance.

When I first heard that Dad was going to be anointed, I was a little uncertain if it was a good idea. I have been to several anointing services and usually they were for younger people dealing with cancer or suffering pain from some accident. I believe the oldest person to request an anointing service that I attended would have been when my then 68-year-old mother asked for anointing after her stroke. I certainly believe in the power of healing through anointing and the Bible definitely instructs us to do so. My question was this: "Should we pray for an eighty year old to be physically healed?"

Don't get me wrong. I love my father-in-law and it would be wonderful if he could continue as he was before his seizure. But realistically, he is eighty years old and if this cancer doesn't take him, the odds are that he will die within the next five to ten years of something else--maybe just old age. He has had eighty good years and that is more than a lot of people. Is it right to pray that we never die, when heaven is so much better?

I appreciated the way Kerry handled the service. Although he did pray for physical healing for Dad, he was very attune to the fact that Dad is not a young man and that death would be healing for his body as well. I felt that the service was meaningful for us as a family too. It allowed us to release Dad to the Lord and know that however the rest of Dad's life is played out, Jesus is walking with us on this journey. I believe that Dad and Mom were strengthened by the prayers and family and friends that surrounded them. I believe it comforted them and reinforced for them that they are not facing the future alone. God's love and peace encircled all of us.

In the end, I was glad we had the anointing service. We do not know how many days Dad has left on this earth, but we do know that God is faithful and our prayers were heard. Dad will either be physically healed or he will be healed through death. Either way, I believe our prayers will have made "the sick person well" and I know that the Lord will raise Dad up either to minister here on earth for a while longer or to rejoice with Him in glory.