| January 20/21, 2007 | Moving Toward Wholeness: Failing Health | Mark 10:46-52 |
Today I want to start off with a pop quiz. Are you ready? Great. How long have I been here as your pastor? That’s right, two years. During that time, have I ever mentioned football or my favorite team? Oh, that’s right, I have. Does anyone remember my favorite football team?
That’s right. The
I haven’t always been a Chicago Bear fan. I grew up in
When they lost their fourth Super Bowl, I was devastated. I was so hurt. I was so angry. I was angry because they had lost. They had lost and I was so sure they would win. I even bet money on them (which gave me an early lesson in betting). I lost more money than I had.
I was so angry with those Vikings that I decided I would never, NEVER, cheer for them again. But with that decision, I also wanted to pick a team that would play the Vikings twice each year.
I couldn’t pick the Packers at that point, because my Cousin cheered for the Vikings and, well, that would have been like conceding that he had been right all along and I had been wrong. I wasn’t going to do that. So I picked the Chicago Bears, who, back in those days were lousy. That was the Bobby Douglas years.
I was so hurt by the Vikings losing that it touched me and changed me forever. Now you may say, Scott, that is ridiculous. It is just a game. And you would be right. But honestly, the hurt was real. It was deep and it changed me. Has hurt ever touched you? Has it ever changed you?
Today we are continuing our sermon series called, Moving Toward Wholeness, overcoming life’s hurts. Our topic is failing health. There are many people hurting in our world, because their health is failing. There are many people distracted from living because of health concerns that have arisen. The ones that can be the most difficult are those that are life threatening. When failing health comes our way, what can we do? How can we carry on?
There are many options we can choose, in facing failing health. We can choose to get angry and to blame. How could this happen to me? How could God give me this? Unfortunately getting angry or blaming doesn’t really help us deal with the issues. Nor is it really good for our spirit.
We could choose to ignore it, hoping it will go away. We could ignore it, pretending like it doesn’t exist. We could ignore it and act like everything is going to be okay. But this doesn’t deal with the issues either. Ignoring the facts does not make them less real.
If you are here today and you are dealing with failing health, or if you know someone who is dealing with failing health, there is another way to deal with it. Our scripture for today offers us some clues.
Bartimaeus is the blind man in our story. He is hurting. His blindness gets in the way of his living a meaningful life in that society. In his world, blindness isn’t healed. It is a debilitating condition. When faced with a tough debilitating condition, he makes the best of it. He doesn’t have a job or job security. He simply begs beside the road leading out of town. It isn’t much. But he does what he can.
If you find yourself in failing health, begin to ask, what can I do? What can I accomplish? What can I work towards?
Almost four years ago now, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, Merkel Cell Carcinoma. It is a rare and deadly form of cancer. 85% of the people who are diagnosed with this cancer die within a year. His doctor in
After many phone calls, my mom and dad together decided that my dad would get treatment here at
At first I was worried that my dad would just give up. But like Bartimaeus, he chose to do what he could. He went through a series of tests. The diagnosis was confirmed. He had surgery to remove the cancer. He started radiation. He lost weight. He became weak. He struggled to not be edgy. He leaned on mom. He leaned on my sister and her family. He leaned on Debbie and me even as we were newly married.
I think more often than not while the rest of us were worried about Dad, he liked coming to our house because the dogs and Debbie kept him smiling. Then, after all the hard work, after months of therapy came the good news at the beginning of November. “Doug, I believe the cancer is gone.”
We all celebrated. Mom and Dad went home to
In December, my Dad was coughing severely and a rib broke. He told us it was nothing. We all remained thankful that Dad was doing better.
The first Friday of January, 2005 my dad had a follow-up appointment. I received a phone call that evening. “Scott, we just want you to know the cancer is back.”
I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. I said, “What? What are you talking about? How are we going to fight this now?” My dad said, “We aren’t. It is in my brain. It is in my vital organs. It is in my bones. It is in my lungs. There is nothing we can do.”
I was devastated. I said, “how long do you have?” “Oh, they don’t really know. Most likely a couple of weeks, certainly no more than a few months.” My Dad had done what he could.
When Bartimaeus heard a noise from the crowd he asked, “What is going on?” “Jesus is passing by,” They said. And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on me.” Bartimaeus reached out to God.
I asked my Dad, “What are you going to do now?” He said, “I am going to do what I have always tried to do. I am going to trust God.” And he did. He turned to God. He asked God to help him face this and move through this time. If you are facing failing health, have you done what you can? Have you invited God to be a part of the journey? To help you through the illness?
When Jesus heard Bartimaeus, he said, “Bring him here.” When Bartimaeus came before Jesus, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “I want to see,” Bartimaeus said. And in that moment of honesty, he created the space for healing to occur.
During the last weeks of my Dad’s life, he did something pretty remarkable. He had always been an honest man. He just didn’t always show his emotions or feelings. And in the last month of his life, he found a way to tell each of us children, how much we mattered to him. How much we were loved by him. How proud he was of us. And, he allowed us to tell him how much we loved him, how proud we were of him. How much he meant to us.
He gave us the gift of being honest and that honesty paved the way for healing. Even though it wasn’t the healing of the cancer. It created space for healing and closure to a very significant relationship.
If you have failing health, have you done what you can? Have you been able to turn to God? Have you been able to be honest with yourself? With God? With those you love?
Douglas Arthur Carlson died on January 27, 2004. He was a good man. I still miss him greatly. But by his dying well, he taught me and all who would care to see a few lessons. Do what you can in life. Invite God to be a part of your life. Be honest about what is happening. So that when health begins to fail, you can face that in the presence of God.
There are so many people hurting in this world. May we learn to lean on God, and trust that God will lead us through those moments of struggle.
Amen