...I want to encourage you that everyone in the body of Christ qualifies to be an expert assistant to the suffering. You do not have to be brilliant, persuasive, articulate, or experienced. You can be involved in what I will call, "The Ministry of Presence." Through the ministry of presence, you can bring comfort to the hurting—without ever being ordained or certified. You do not have to be anything but available to be a wonderful tool in the hand of God.This ministry happened in the life of Job when he was surrounded by sorrow. Three of Job’s friends heard the news, which took some time to reach them, and contacted one another, which took even more time in order to correspond back and forth, and they agreed to come together to encourage Job. One author said that if you had one friend who would drop everything and come running that would be wonderful, but to have three friends like that is truly amazing.
THE WISDOM OF JOB'S FRIENDS
Later in the book, Job’s friends make some foolish statements, but in this scene, they demonstrate remarkable wisdom.
They Identified With His Sorrow
Job’s friends thought, "If Job’s hair and clothing is dirty, we’ll get ours dirty too. If he’s sitting in the ash heap of the town dump, we’ll sit here with him. We won’t worry about the stares or who comes to watch."
They Joined In His Grief
We are told that these friends came to "sympathize" with Job. The word in Hebrew means much more than a quick hug. "To sympathize or console," in this text, means literally, "to shake the head or to rock the body back and forth as a sign of shared grief." It was no longer Job crying alone—it was now four men crying together at the city dump.
This is true religion. False religion says, "Be warmed and filled." True religion puts on overalls, swings a hammer, writes a check, and cooks a meal. True religion is seen in three friends sitting down at the dump, in the ashes, surrounded by rotting garbage, with Job!
They Showed Respect For His Grief
Job’s friends are mourning the death of his children and servants with Job. They showed up, and they showed respect for his grief. Have you ever noticed that no one is ever invited to a funeral? Invitations are never mailed out. Friends do everything they can to simply come—and if they cannot come, they send flowers, notes or cards to communicate to the sufferer, "Listen—count me in. I want to show my respect and awareness of your grief."
They Allowed Him To Speak First
Do not miss this; underline it in your mind. "The best way to help people who are hurting is to just show up. Say little or nothing . . . do not try to explain everything; explanations never heal a broken heart.
They Earned the Right To Speak
To exercise the ministry of presence, you do not have to have anything figured out. You can be positively inspiring in your silence, but you might err when you speak. You may have heard the anonymous quote, "I have often regretted my speech, but never my silence."...
The above comments are only part of a brief but compelling devotional sermon called "The Ministry Of Presence" which can be found at oneplace.com Ministries. It comes from Dr. Stephen Davey, the senior pastor of Colonial Baptist Church and president of Shepherds Theological Seminary in Raleigh, North Carolina. I think you'll find it most worthwhile to read the whole article and, after doing so, you may well do what I did; namely read through Dr. Davey's other commentaries on the Book of Job. You can even listen to them if you prefer. Very good stuff.
Pam Yaksich, our good friend and long time pro-life colleague, was the person who called my attention to this great site. Thanks, Pam.
(The accompanying picture is by Gustav Dore'.)
