Visitation

CDi is no doubt that visitation, when properly

carried out, is closely related to a minister’s preaching.

It acts and reacts on what he says. Intercourse with his people will enrich his preaching, making it real, practical, sympathetic, and alive. ‘The life of the preacher in the week will either deepen or remove the impression of the sermon. His people will naturally want to see and know whether he is the same in and out of the pulpit. It is also in many cases more likely that they will come to hear a man whom they meet in the week. ‘There is a constant danger of a minister coming under the category of the Scottish pastor who was said to be on week-days ‘invisible,’ and on Sundays ‘incomprehensible.’ But this is not to deny the necessity of allowing exceptional men like Spurgeon, Beecher, and Talmage to exercise their great preaching gifts apart from pastoral work.

It must never be forgotten that the old adage, ‘a house-going parson makes a church-going people,’ is only a half-truth, and sometimes not that. ‘There are many parsons who are ‘house-going’ who do not thereby get hold of people for their church. ‘The other half of the truth is, ‘A preaching parson makes a church-keeping people.’ If it should be said that ‘a visiting parson makes a fat church,’ it is equally true that a ‘visiting pastor often makes a lean pulpit.’ If there is to be a choice, people will much more readily excuse poor visiting than poor preaching, and it is imperative that our pulpit work should not be allowed to suffer even from pastoral visitation.

The relation of preaching and visiting is of course a difficult gne in regard to the time and strength required. While what has been said about the value of visiting in enriching the pastor is perfectly true, there is another side which must not be forgotten. If a man spends his time in visiting to such an extent that his time in his study suffers, he will experience an intellectual and a spiritual deadness when he comes to prepare his sermon which will inevitably affect the reality of his preaching. A man who visits morning, noon, and night, will find himself at the end of the week physically fagged, and intellectually unfit to brace himself for the effort required to prepare a proper sermon. He will then have to fall back upon helps, hints, and scraps from other sources, which will inevitably do moral and spiritual harm to himself and his people. The man who is to preach acceptably must never allow anything, even pastoral visitation, to interfere with those hours which should be given religiously to the work of study. Some time ago the letters of the late Dr. Marcus Dods were published, in which it was seen that during an early pastorate he devoted himself specially to the work of visiting. And yet as an acute thinker, the Rev. Arthur Hoyle, in the Methodist Recorder, well pointed out, if Dods had continued that type of ministry he would never have written his important works. Mr. Hoyle also remarks that if a man feels called upon to give himself to the work of visiting he cannot be expected to do proper justice to his study work.

‘The love of his books will go from him, and at the end of ten or fifteen years he will be done for. We shall never have great teachers, great preachers, that way. Such an one may have a great experience of the people; he may be loved and honoured, he may have done more work than some others who have taken another line — on all that I say nothing at all; but it is as sure as anything can be, that if he has not his times of meditation, and of prayer, his lonely wrestlings with the truth, and his feeling after God, he will be nothing accounted of when he stands forth, and he will have nothing to say to the man who has a grave problem or a desolating burden.’

If we keep the New Testament proportion in view we shall find that the emphasis is laid upon preaching and teaching, and everything else must be regarded as secondary. ‘The proclamation of the Gospel to sinner and to saint is the supreme work of the ministry, and as it demands strenuous preparation of spirit, soul, mind, and body, it is obvious that nothing must be allowed to weaken it. But if visitation is kept strictly subordinated to preaching, it will prove one of the most unfailing opportunities of ministering to those who are familiar to the preacher, whose life he knows, whose interests he appreciates, whose joys and sorrows are his own, and whose life in Christ is his constant thought and prayer.

The primary aim of all our visitation must be spiritual and not merely social. Of course the social element must enter into it, but it certainly must not predominate. ‘The intercourse contemplated between a clergyman and his people is almost wholly spiritual, and is intended to be constantly directed towards definite spiritual objects. Mere social visiting can be very easily overdone. It is very easy to multiply visits, with no spiritual gain unless the clergy have a clear idea and a steady resolve. A clergyman once said that his people would do anything for him except come to church, and it is worth while remembering the words of a practical layman who remarked that, ‘If the parson spent less time in the houses and more time in the study, it would be better for the people.’ The character of our visiting is a real test of spirituality, and there is an almost constant risk of a clergyman losing his spiritual power by excessive social visitation. Our work is mainly and primarily that of teaching spiritual truths and ministering spiritual realities, and anything that tends to rob our life of spiritual force is to be guarded against and avoided. Of course this does not mean that we shall necessarily feel it incumbent to offer prayer or read the Scripture every time we visit, but our message and our work ought never to be far away. It is significant that the people soon notice if a clergyman comes again and again without speaking some spiritual word. Our visiting may fail either from being made too official, assuming the position of a priest or spiritual director, or else by being made too social, adopting the attitude of ‘a good fellow’ only. We need to blend the true elements of the pastor and the friend in all our social efforts on behalf of our flock.

For visiting the men of our congregation the evening is of course absolutely essential, and three characteristics of dealing with them must be constantly kept in view. We must be manly, brotherly, and godly. This is only another way of saying once again that the key of our life must be ‘Be natural.’ A Professor of Pastoral Theology once asked a question of his class in an examination paper, How can clergy get the closest in touch with working men? As he invited the students to be frank in their replies, one of the men put on his paper, ‘By being less of the priest and more of the man.’ We must try to get into touch with the interests of our men. Dr. W. M. Taylor tells a fine story of Edward Irving and an infidel shoemaker. Patent leather had then been recently invented, and as Irving’s father was a tanner he himself knew all about this new product. When he called upon the shoe-~ maker and endeavoured to engage him in conversation, the first question was, ‘What do you know about leather?’ Then, as he discovered that Irving did know about leather, he remarked, ‘You are a decent sort of fellow, do you preach?’ ‘The very next Sunday the infidel was at Irving’s church, and when others present wondered at his being there and asked the reason, the shoemaker replied, “He is a sensible man, he kens aboot leather.’

Interest in the children will also prove fruitful in work among the men, and any kindness we can show to them will prove a sure way to the father’s heart. If at all possible, we ought to work up to a Men’s Meeting, or a Men’s Discussional Bible Class, to show them that the church and its gatherings are for them, and to let them see that their manhood will find its complete realization only in fellowship with Christ and His people. We ought to have an especial eye for young men, as we do our visiting, and we shall find that the work will prove infinitely more fruitful than a succession of meetings where perhaps we are only called upon to preside or to ‘make a few remarks.’

Then again, an occasional meeting for the men of the church or congregation after dinner at the parsonage will be found useful. An ordinary invitation card may be sent announcing a meeting, when some leading man, clerical or lay, might be asked to introduce some general topic of spiritual interest. This would be followed by discussion, and in due course the gathering would be closed with a brief word of prayer. This kind of meeting has proved on several occasions a useful opportunity for the men of the congregation to get to know one another, to come in contact with their pastor and also to obtain some spiritual influence from a meeting such as has been suggested. Of course there are obvious difficulties in the way of arrangement, but these are to be faced and met as effectively as possible.

In a public address, General Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, remarked that there are certain people who cannot be reached by a spiritual influence except through their circumstances, and he added that this is one of the reasons for the success of his Army. When a sick woman, unable to attend to her children and perform her household duties, receives practical help from a Salvation Army sister, she is the readier, on her recovery, to appear at the meetings and receive a spiritual message to her already touched heart. So, too, visitation by the minister at the homes of the bereaved is a rare opportunity. Hearts are then softened and will be further drawn out by the minister’s sympathy and prayer. Here, if anywhere, is the occasion for making a clear distinction between ‘pity’ and ‘sympathy.’ Pity is feeling for a person; sympathy is feeling with him. Moody tells the story of taking his little daughter with him when he went to visit a woman who had lost her own little child by drowning. Moody offered prayer and expressed his sympathy in a sincere way, and yet there did not seem to be much power in it. As he went back, and they were walking along the river-side where the accident had taken place, his little girl said, ‘Father, suppose it had been me.’ ‘This went like a dagger to Moody’s heart, and he turned back and went to the woman with sympathy this time, not with pity, and spoke and prayed with her, and then cried with her in her trouble. No one can estimate the value of loving, Christ-like visitation at the time of bereavement.

The aged will also call for and repay all the attention that we can give them. Let us make much of these Fathers and Mothers in Israel. ‘There are some clergy whose thought seems to be only for the young. Let us take care of the old as well. ‘They will repay us by their prayers, and our ministry will be all the more fruitful as we try to smooth their pathway and cheer them along with the assurance that ‘at evening time it shall be light.’

Every Church has its sick cases to be visited, and these give a wonderful opportunity not only of benefit to the ailing but often of use to the pastor, in enabling him to obtain a better knowledge of the family, its cares, sorrows, and joys. If the sick case is that of a man it will be found to be a rare opportunity of influencing him for Christ. If the children are sick let us make thepopportunity of taking them flowers, or pictures. In all this we must work as closely as possible with the doctor and the nurse, and we must not mind going again and again, if for any reason we cannot get in when we pay an ordinary call. For hospital visiting it will be found advisable to avoid going on visiting day. A clergyman can gain an entrance at any time, but the friends of the sick person can only visit on the proper days, and it is a pity to rob them of the only chance they have of getting their full time with their sick friend.

In every parish some chronic cases will be found, and it is imperative that a list of these should be kept in order that a regular visit may be made, whether weekly or monthly. We must never forget that these invalids are shut off from Church privileges, and will be only too glad of a visit from the clergyman. It goes without saying that we must be cheery and look on the bright side of things. Who can ever forget the story of that ‘Great-heart’ Phillips Brooks nursing the baby in the tenement house while he sent the poor tired mother for a little change and breath of fresh air? ‘We may not all be able to do this, but the principle is obvious. Scripture and prayer are quite easy with the ‘shut ins’ for they will naturally expect us to minister to them in things spiritual. Very often we may pass on some thoughts or the outlines of a Sunday serman, and if we can possibly do so, it will be found of immense help to sing some hymn. I have the most vivid recollection of visiting during the early days of my ministry a poor, crippled, helpless young fellow who was able to play the concertina, and the hymns we sang together were as great a joy to me as they were to him. Of course with such cases we shall offer prayer. Chronic sickness is a golden opportunity not to be let slip, and we must either set apart one afternoon for this work, or else in some way take great care that our visits are paid with regularity and fair frequency. We shall find among these poor constant sufferers some of our warmest supporters who are ‘helping together by prayer.’

Sudden calls to death-beds are occasions that test very severely a young minister’s spiritual life. He may often find himself at the bedside of one of whom he knows nothing. What is he to do? It will never do harm, and it will always do good, to make the Atonement as prominent as possible. He must be faithful at all costs, and, as far as he can, he must probe the conscience and find out any sin. But if for any reason all this is impossible, he may rest assured that the quiet, simple, clear, positive statement of the Atoning Sacrifice for personal acceptance by faith will do its own work, and God’s Word will not return to Him void.

If the dying man or woman is a Christian it will be found useful to emphasize the promises of God. Physical weakness often leads to spiritual depression and fear, and the earnest Christian may be tempted by Satan to question and doubt his own acceptance of Christ. This is the time for dwelling upon the positive Divine aspects of truth, and especially upon the ‘everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure.’ ‘The teaching of such passages as Romans 8: 28-30 and Hebrews 6: 13-20 will come as balm to the soul, as we lovingly and earnestly show them that ‘God is faithful.’

Sometimes a request is made for a little handbook suited to the needs of parochial visitors, and it is difficult to suggest anything of the kind. A useful little compilation was available some years ago, called The Visitor’s Book of Texts, by Dr. Andrew A. Bonar, but now this is only to be had second-hand. It is far more satisfactory, however, for every visitor gradually to make his own list of suitable Scripture passages, for there is nothing like the school of experience to learn what is needed for particular cases. He will certainly need such Psalms as 23; 27; 46; 65; 103; and 130; such chapters of Isaiah as 12; 53; and 55; such chapters of the Fourth Gospel as 3; 4; 14; 15; 16; such chapters of the Epistles as Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 15; 1 ‘Thessalonians 4; with the last two chapters of the Revelation. It will be surprising if these are not used pretty freely and frequently. “Then again, the use of hymns in visiting will be found of great value, especially by reason of the power of old associations. Familiar hymns, like ‘Jesus, Lover of my soul,’ ‘Rock of Ages,’ ‘How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds,’ ‘Abide with me,’ and others, will be most welcome at sick beds and for use with the dying. Very, very often the old words will recall thoughts and places which will enable the clergyman to send home his message. A clergyman was summoned to a tenement house in New York some years ago to the death-bed of a Scotswoman. After trying several methods in vain without obtaining the slightest response, at last he thought of the Scottish version of the twenty-third Psalm, and repeated, —

The Lord’s my Shepherd, PI not want,
He makes me down to lie

In pastures green; He leadeth me,
The quiet waters by.

At once the woman opened her eyes, and said ‘I learned that as a bairn in Scotland’; and it proved the channel of spiritual blessing to her soul.

‘In the course of reading I came across a prayer appropriate to pastoral visitation, and it seemed so spiritually suggestive [ ventured to get it printed on a card for distribution among theological students and younger clergy. I subjoin the prayer in the hope that it may thereby find a still wider field of usetulness: —

Grant, Lord, I pray, that this day I may be made the messenger of Thy mercy to many. Open in my nature deep springs of love and sympathy and understanding, that when I meet with those who are in deep waters, deep may answer unto deep. Bring me into the divine peace, and let me walk this day in the light of Thy countenance, that all the influences of my person and presence may make for helpfulness. Give me Thy comfort for the sorrowful, Thy cheer for the glad, Thy love for the lonely, Thy riches for the poor, Thy peace for the anxious. May children find me childlike, and the stren-ZZ MINISTERIAL LIFE AND WorK

uous find me courageous, and the aged find me trustful. So use me, I pray, as to quicken life with the sense of its spiritual complement,

where every valley is exalted and every mountain brought low. In Christ, Amen,