5 Lessons from an Old Saint
CATHEDRAL NEWSLETTER - 3 July 2025
Stuart being helped into church
St Michael’s Cathedral Wollongong, 2019
Friends in Christ, here are five things I learned five years ago at the hospital bedside of a 95 year old Christian man, who was a long-time member of the church I was then serving as pastor. Three things he told me himself…
1. How good biblical tradition can be! He told me how glad he was to belong to a church with an unchanged tradition. Knowing he liked our early morning service, I suspected he was referring to our use of the Prayer Book.
But actually he explained he meant the unchanging commitment to biblical preaching he’d experienced at the parish since he arrived in the 1960s! Stewart knew he could expect the Bible to be read and preached at his church. And that predictability was welcome!
2. Go to church wherever you are! Stuart and his late wife, Norma, had some lovely opportunities to travel quite widely. He volunteered that wherever they found themselves, they always made sure they went to church on Sundays, even when the only service they could find was not in English.
I think it is an excellent discipline for spiritual health to never miss a Sunday at church, unless illness makes it impossible. Even if it’s not what you are used to, you should be able to use the time to focus on Christ and to read along in the Bible.
3. How important a card or letter can be! Stuart was a pretty self-contained gentleman, and stoic, as well. So I was a surprised to hear just how valuable it had been for him to receive cards encouraging him, while most people had been unable to visit, due to COVID restrictions at the time. He was visibly moved as he mentioned the impact of such kindness.
Please write to each other. Sometimes the old way (you know, with a stamp…)!
And two extra things I observed…
4. The value of liturgy. ‘Liturgy’ particularly refers to shared parts of a church gathering: creeds, confessions, thanksgivings, the Lord’s Prayer etc. There’s value in sharing such statements, even learning them off by heart. Of course, there is a danger of ‘vain repetition’ (just as true with our songs)! But Stuart was by then severely deaf. It was hard to hold a conversation with him, unless you almost shouted, which is awkward. The one point in our time together we could both know what was going on was when we shared the liturgy bedside from the Holy Communion service. It was printed in large font, but Stuart didn’t need it. And I could adjust my pace to his. Crucial truths were warmly shared.
5. Scripture sustains! Stuart confessed he did not feel like reading his Bible in hospital as much as usual. But guess what? The two nurses who came in while we were talking said, “You know he reads his Bible in French!” And sure enough underneath his large print English version was a French New Testament with Psalms. He was still reading it. And he knew where to tell me to go when he didn’t feel like reading. “Romans 8, please, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.”
Stuart is now with the Lord. But his lessons are still valuable.
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney