I believe that hospice workers bring the Kingdom of God. Not because they employ chaplains, but because of the sacred calling of nurses, aides, community-relations reps, social workers, and administrators.
Before we dive in, what is the Kingdom of God? The Kingdom of God is a paradoxical truth. Simply, it’s the rule and reign of Jesus right now, but also yet to come. God’s Kingdom started in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, and God’s kingdom will manifest itself completely when he returns.
So, those who bring the Kingdom of God are people who participate in Christ’s reign by living by his rule. His rule is that we “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). Those who believe in this started, but not yet here kingdom, live out their calling with loving words and deeds for the stranger, the sick, and the suffering. Finally, Scriptures tell us that when Christ returns, everything we have done will be caught up into his cosmic renewal of heaven and earth. By some miracle, every act of love and mercy that we do for others will be absorbed, expounded, and renewed in his finalized kingdom. So, how we treat others will bring a small part of his kingdom and usher in a bit of God’s love.
Knowing this, first, hospice workers bring the Kingdom of God because they provide holistic care. As stated, the Kingdom of God is a renewal project of the entire universe. Every part of the cosmos, including our bodies, is on a journey of renewal and re-creation. Our bodies were created as good and the curse of evil has brought death and sickness. Nurses and aides who care for, wash, and bandage our patients are mirroring this kingdom principle of bodily renewal. Social workers and chaplains who care for the social, psychological, and spiritual needs of patients also reveal the completeness of kingdom care. Administrators and community-relations representatives facilitate this care for the whole person through their gifts of organization and hospitality. We know that ultimate healing won’t happen until Christ returns, but now we wait, ministering as best we can by taking care of the whole person.
Secondly, hospice workers bring the kingdom by serving the ‘least of these.’ People who are dying are often the outcasts of our society. Unfortunately, they tend of occupy lonely spaces at the margins of community life. Many people in the western world can’t handle the idea, let alone reality, of death and dying. Hospice workers not only sit with the dying, but resource them with proper medical, mental, and spiritual care.
Thirdly, we bring the kingdom of God through our tears, mourning, and waiting. The Kingdom has started but it hasn’t fully arrived. So, we live in the tension of a kingdom that is here, but not yet. Hospice workers bravely confront suffering and death. To be kingdom-minded, then, is not to ignore this reality, but to mourn over it, and cry out ‘come quickly, Lord Jesus!’ Hospice workers recognize the reality of the ‘not yet-ness’ of the kingdom and they mourn with those who mourn. A hospice calling helps us work for the good and comfort of others while waiting with tears for the final consummation of the Kingdom of God.
Fourthly, hospice is a foretaste of Kingdom diversity. Like the Kingdom of God, hospice is for everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, race, or social and economic status. The final consummation of the Kingdom will be filled with people from all tribes and tongues. In Christ’s Kingdom he cares for all people and calls his followers to embody his love and care. Hospice work not only provides a window into the diversity of the kingdom, but the workers embody His care by providing comfort, support, and healing to all peoples.
Finally, to sum up, hospice workers bring the kingdom of God through acts of love that reflect the sacredness of their calling. Hospice workers see Jesus in others. Christ tells us that if you care for the sick and suffering, you have cared for him. We see our shared humanity, as well as the face of God, in the face of our dying brother or sister, and we love them.
How do we bring the kingdom of God? I want to answer with Christ’s own words found in Matthew 25. But if you will allow me, I’d like to change a few words, in order to highlight the application of Christ’s ideas to our hospice care context.
“Then the King (Jesus) will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father…the kingdom [is] prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I needed a bath, and you gave it to me, I needed respite care, and you organized it, I was a stranger, and you prayed for me, I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was lonely, and you stayed and talked with me.’
Then the righteous will answer, him, ‘Lord, when did we see you needing a bath and bathe you? Or needing respite care and organize it? When did we see you and pray for you, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or lonely and visit you?’
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me.’”
So, hospice workers bring the Kingdom of God by their acts of love.