Pastor's Message

August 2005

Anointing is an ancient rite of the church and in fact predates the Christian Church. In Exodus, the sons of Aaron were anointed into the priesthood, so we can understand that anointing was a part of what we would today call ordination. In first Samuel we read that Samuel anointed Saul to become king of Israel, and then later anointed David to be king, a sign that they were chosen by God to be the king.

As the Israelite people went through warfare and captivity they looked forward to the coming of another “anointed one” – a Messiah sent from God. This Messiah would be both priest and king, combining the understandings of anointing as we read about it in Exodus and Samuel.

But the 23rd Psalm provides a third perspective. In between “you prepare a table before me” and “my cup overflows” we have the phrase, “you anoint my head with oil.” Although this Psalm is attributed to David, all the people of Israel joined in the Psalm. In this context it did not mean that every person was a priest (that was still a much honored position in the temple) or that they would become king, but it was a sign of God’s favor. Just as God’s love assured the believer of daily bread and a full cup, so God’s anointing with oil was an assurance of God’s love and God’s blessings, even in hard times, such as walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

The early church practiced anointing but the purpose seemed to have shifted somewhat from the Old Testament practice. James writes in his letter, “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.  Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.” In time, anointing became one of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church and was usually practiced as the sacrament for one who was close to death, also called “Last Rites.” Anointing was then understood as an outward sign of God’s love that conferred special graces on the one who was sick or dying.

During the Reformation, the definition of sacrament was examined by the reformers and in almost all Protestant Churches we now only recognize two sacraments – Baptism and Holy Communion. However the reformers did not abandon the other 5 sacraments, they were now considered “rites,” such as the Rites of Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, etc. Anointing was practiced less and less frequently until today, in many main line congregations, most members never heard of the practice of anointing the sick. It is still practiced in most Roman Catholic Churches and some congregations of other denominations have recently been “rediscovering” this practice. In the United Church of Christ there is an open attitude to the practice of anointing but we still have not brought this into our Book of Worship.

Seeing Hannah Good lying in bed with wires and tubes attached to every part of her body, unable to communicate in any of the usual ways, some friends and family began to think about anointing Hannah. I cautioned the family that anointing was not a healing, but an assurance of God’s love and grace. We should not expect miracles just because we anoint a person, although a miracle may occur, but we also remembered the Scriptural teaching that “if any are sick, they should call for anointing with oil in the name of the Lord.” After a few weeks, when plans were being made to move Hannah from Intensive Care to the Rehabilitation floor, we felt this would be a good time to anoint her. Before I touched the oil to her head I placed my hands on her head and pronounced a blessing. As soon as I touched her, her eyes opened wide. She had opened them before this time, but not in my presence, and not this wide. She kept her eyes open during the anointing and we had a sense that she participated spiritually in this rite. I then anointed Deb, praying for strength for her as Hannah would be starting therapy. For all of us in the room, it was a deeply moving, spirit-filled experience.

I don’t know if anointing should be regularly practiced by St. Paul's UCC. I would want us all to be reminded that this is not done for healing but as blessing, as assurance of God’s love. But if anyone is interested, please contact me, remembering the words of James, “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.”