End-of-Life Issues
Lutherans for Life seeks to educate and equip Lutherans in Australia and NZ with resources that enable them to defend the dignity of every human life from conception until natural death; and foster community responsibility for the defence of God's gift of human life.
Why does end-of-life ethics matter?
Because individuals make moral choices, ethics or morality may seem like an individual matter. Indeed, people seem to set their own standards of morality. But even before morality becomes individual, it has its basis in community.
We are born into communities. Our communities have their own standards and expectations that shape our individual understanding of right and wrong. Learning morality starts with our parents. They, in turn, are part of other communities that shape their identity and moral choices. That's what morality is all about: learning to hold to common convictions and standards that provide order for our communities and for society as a whole. Morality is the glue that holds society together in a state of reasonable harmony.
Unfortunately, society's morality often fails to maintain order in a way that is good or fair for all. In those cases, commonly accepted morality may have to be challenged and changed. The church as a moral community is clearly concerned about the quality of moral life in society.
Dying well
When it comes to dying, all of us hope to die well. The question is, what does this mean and what does this look like?
The Christian tradition has a very unique understanding of what it is to die well. A good death is not one on our own terms, but one which submits itself to God's will. More specifically, to die well for the Christian is to die with faith in Christ, and thus to die in the grace of God.
The Bible speaks of the ‘fear of death which subjects us to a lifelong slavery’ (Hebrews 2:15). It is this fear which leads us to try to assert ourselves in the face of death by taking matters into our own hands. However, as Christ has taken on our flesh and blood and has died in our place to give us eternal life, we need not fear death and we can die well as we trust in him.
Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide
Sometimes people feel like giving up on life. We can endure terrible suffering in this life and sometimes see little hope for the future.
Healthy people have no need for legal options to end their life. But what about people whose suffering feels intolerable? Some people in Western societies have begun advocating for the legal taking of life in these circumstances through euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide.
Christians are called to show mercy and compassion to those who are suffering. However, true mercy and compassion means suffering alongside someone in their greatest hour of need, loving and serving them in every practical way and assuring them that life is still worth living, even when all seems lost. Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan provides us with a beautiful example of this mercy. True mercy costs us something (Luke 10: 25-37).
Terminal illness
There are fewer more heartbreaking things than to hear a diagnosis of a terminal disease – whether for one's self or a loved one. As well as the emotional impact of this, terminal illness can also raise difficult ethical issues for Christians to consider.
The issue of euthanasia has already been discussed in another section. For a Christian, this is never an option, even when faced with a terminal illness. Our lives are always in God's hands (Psalm 31:15). This is not to deny the immense suffering many people face during a prolonged terminal illness.
For this reason, good quality palliative care – where a person is cared for in body, mind and soul – should be our focus. Palliative care is discussed in more detail in another section of this site.
Dementia
Sharing in the burden of a loved one is far from easy. This can be especially so with dementia as the personality of our loved one seems to fade away along with their memory. How do we walk with someone when their memory of the history we share evaporates, and we grieve the loss of the person even as they live?
Many times, those caring for loved ones with dementia feel as if the person they once knew is no longer there. We can find peace in the knowledge that even in dementia our loves ones are persons created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Their value is not determined by how they think or remember, and what they can or cannot do, but rather by who they are, and as Christians, whose they are. They are created, loved and redeemed by God.
Palliative care
Palliative care is care of the dying. Medically speaking the focus is relieving pain and improving quality of life. But palliative care also refers to a broad range of practices which attend to the social, psychological and spiritual needs of a person facing death. In many ways, good palliative care is the alternative to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, and it is this alternative that many Christians choose to promote.
Rather than offer the possibility for people to end their life prematurely, palliative care focuses on caring for the person as best as they can in the lead up to death, or when managing an ongoing illness. Whereas some want to divert time, energy and resources toward making euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide available, many Christians argue that these would be better used in improving our ability in palliative care.
The funeral
The funeral is very much for mourners. It comforts them in their grief with God’s own word, it and sustains them in their separation from their loved one and their various feelings of sorrow, depression, anger, guilt, bewilderment and numbness. It helps them remember their loved one with thankfulness for his/her life. The rite progresses from depths of anguish to heights of hope and assurance, helping mourners to resume life without the loved one.
The funeral rite is also for those who come to pay their last respects and give support to grieving friends. The rite prepares them for their own dying.
The funeral is also for the church. The rite is anchored to the crucified and risen Lord and proclaims him and his work of redemption. It publicises the faith and message of the church.
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