Who Would Jesus Visit?

Someone recently asked me whether I like to visit people as a part of my role as a pastor. The answer is a definite yes. Through those visits relationships deepen. I don’t just teach – I learn. I don’t just encourage – I’m encouraged.

Allow me to reminisce a bit. Out of respect for people’s privacy, most of these names will be changed.

Jeff didn’t leave the house much. In order to leave the house he had to overcome more fear and anxiety than most of us can imagine. I counted it an honor to get to go to him. I got to pray for him, talk with him, and get to know him. Eventually we even went out riding together – him on his motorcycle and me on my Vespa-like scooter. I believe it was largely because of those visits that Jeff started coming to church.

For some time I worshipped on Tuesday and Thursday evenings with a small black congregation (well, there was that one white lady…and me). Those services were wonderful. The people were filled with the love of God. And the music was incredible (all a capella). They lined hymns like "A Charge to Keep I Have" (sounded a lot like that too) “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?” And then they would sing happy choruses like “Joy Bells” or this one. During that time one of the deacons, an octogenarian, fell ill and was hospitalized. So I figured I’d go visit. He was a sick man. But that man was so full of the Joy of the Lord that I left that hospital greatly encouraged. I think 

I got more out of that visit than he did!

Then there was Jim. Jim had never been visited by his pastor before the first time I came to visit. He’d been in church for about 40 years. At the time he was roughly 70 years old. Somehow, I was the first pastor to visit this godly man at his home. I was encouraged through those visits. And I got to meet more of his family. I counted it an honor to be welcomed into their lives.

Sean finally got clean. He had been an alcoholic for years. Then he moved on to crack cocaine. But Jesus got a hold of him. He started coming to church and turning his back on those old ways. That didn’t mean that life suddenly became a bed of roses. He went through some dark and discouraged days. Time and again I’d come over to find him depressed. But then, after a short time of Christian fellowship, he would begin to brighten up. Life, energy, and hope would return to his spirit. And, of course, I too left a bit happier than when I came.

Grandma Moses was the sweetest old lady. She lived on her own. She had no family nearby. As far as I know she didn’t really have any visitors. But week after week our visits left me encouraged. It was always a delight to hear that lady pray. She had a faith that had stood the test of time.

I’m tempted to tell about others. But I won’t.

Would Jesus Visit?

It so happened that the day before I was asked that question about visiting, the Lord had been reminding me of just how important pastoral visitation is. I had been reading a book about ministry by Thomas Oden in which he emphasizes the centrality of the ancient tradition of pastoral visitation. Good shepherds have visited the poor, sick, lonely, suffering, and dying from the beginning.

Some of the earliest Christian writings came from the pen of a pastor named Ignatius. Around 105 A.D. Ignatius exhorted Christians:

Labor together with one another, strive together, run together, suffer together, rest together, rise up together – as God’s stewards and assistants and servants.

It seems that Pastor Ignatius did not think that it was good to live the Christian life alone. It sounds like he thought we should visit.

Likewise, the Didache, which many early Christians considered to be Scripture, encouraged regular visitation:

Wherever the Lord’s attributes are the subject of discourse, there the Lord is present. Frequent the company of the saints daily, so as to be edified by their conversation.

A good shepherd does not stay at home waiting for the lost sheep to come home. The Apostolic Constitutions (another book that was considered Scripture by many), urges:

Like a compassionate shepherd, be a diligent feeder of the flock. Search out, and keep an account of the flock. Seek out the one that has need, just as the Lord God our gracious Father sent His own Son, the good Shepherd and Saviour, to seek us. Our Master Jesus said: “if one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the missing one until he has found it? How delighted he is then! He lifts it on his shoulders, and home he goes to call his friends and neighbours together, and says, ‘I have found my lost sheep.’”

How many times has a Christian slipped out of the church without a visit from anyone? This should never be!

Go Visit!

True religion is about staying pure and visiting orphans and widows (James 1:27). Visiting is not just for pastors. It’s also not just about visiting your friends. It’s not about visiting people who are like you. God sends us to the poor, lonely, jailed, hospitalized, shut-in, weird, and uncool. Jesus taught us to invite people over for dinner who can’t afford to invite us over in return.

But don’t worry. Like all the other duties of the Christian life, visiting is a blessing. Do you want to be happy? Fulfilled? Go visit in the name of the Lord! After all, in everyone you visit you’ll be visiting the Lord (Mat 25:34-40).