LUKE 7:11-17
IT WAS DURING THE FIRST
YEAR OF MY FELLOWSHIP IN CANCER MEDICINE THAT I REALIZED THAT I WAS
GOING TO DIE. WE ALL KNOW THIS INTELLECTUALLY – EVEN LITTLE KIDS
CAN SAY THE WORDS. BUT FOR ALL OF US, THERE IS MOMENT WHEN IT JUST
HITS YOU IN THE HEART. MY MOMENT DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE
PATIENTS I WAS TAKING CARE OF – RELATIVELY YOUNG PEOPLE, MANY MY
OWN AGE, WITH LEUKEMIA. IT HAD TO DO WITH A CALL IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE NIGHT FROM MY MOTHER, TELLING ME MY FATHER HAD DIED SUDDENLY. HE
WOKE UP AND TOLD HER TO TAKE HIM TO THE HOSPITAL, WHERE HE SUFFERED A
CARDIAC ARREST AND COULD NOT BE RESUSCITATED. HE WAS 57. FOR MANY
WEEKS AFTERWARD I WOULD WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, FEELING
AS THOUGH I COULDN'T BREATHE, AND IN THOSE DARK MOMENTS DEATH WAS
REAL, DEATH WAS INEVITABLE. GRADUALLY THOSE MOMENTS FADED AWAY.
NOW, OF COURSE, AS I GET CLOSER TO THE END OF MY LIFE, I THINK ABOUT
DEATH A LOT, BUT MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT ACCOMPANIED BY THAT SENSE OF
PANIC.
THE STORY OF THE YOUNG
MAN THAT JESUS BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD IS ONLY FOUND IN THE GOSPEL
OF LUKE. OUR CHURCH PUTS THIS GOSPEL TOGETHER WITH THE STORY OF
ELIJAH RAISING THE SON OF THE WOMAN WHO WAS SHELTERING HIM WHEN HE
WAS EXILED FROM ISRAEL. I THINK THE CHURCH WANTS US TO SEE THE
CONTRAST – ELIJAH IS FIRST OF ALL BLAMED FOR THE DEATH OF THE BOY;
HE IN TURN BLAMES GOD. THEN HE TAKES THE BOY UP TO HIS ROOM AND
PRAYS TO GOD WITH ALL HIS HEART – HOLDING THE BOY CLOSE, HOPING TO
GIVE THE CHILD SOME OF HIS OWN LIFE. AND GOD ANSWERS HIS PRAYERS.
JESUS, ON THE OTHER HAND, SEES A WIDOW WEEPING BESIDE A COFFIN; FEELS
HER PAIN, AND SIMPLY STOPS THE PROCESSION AND TELLS THE YOUNG MAN TO
GET UP, AND HE DOES. NO PRAYING, NO BLAMING. ELIJAH IS A PROPHET,
BUT JESUS IS GOD.
MOTIVE IS IS DIFFERENT AS
WELL. ELIJAH SEES THE DEATH OF THE BOY AS STILL ANOTHER BAD THING
HAPPENING – HE'S BEEN DRIVEN OUT OF HIS COUNTRY, THERE IS A PRICE
ON HIS HEAD, HE'S LIVING IN A HOVEL WITH A WIDOW WHO WAS ABOUT TO
STARVE TO DEATH BEFORE ELIJAH CAME. ELIJAH THOUGHT HE COULDN'T SINK
ANY LOWER, BUT HERE HE WAS, BLAMED FOR THE DEATH OF THE BOY. HIS
SORROW IS FOR HIMSELF, AND THAT IS WHY HE CRIES OUT TO GOD. JESUS
SEES A WIDOW WEEPING; FEELS HER PAIN, TELLS HER NOT TO CRY, AND
RAISES THE BOY – NOT FOR ANY REASON OTHER THAN HIS PITY FOR HER.
SURE, THE CROWDS PAID ATTENTION; BUT JESUS ISN'T PLAYING TO THE
CROWDS. NOBODY IN THAT CROWD EXPECTED HIM TO RAISE SOMEONE WHO WAS
DEAD, EVEN THE ONES WHO HAD SEEN HIM HEAL.
THE TWO BOYS WE HEAR
ABOUT TODAY, AND THEIR MOTHERS, AND THE CROWD THAT FORMED THE FUNERAL
PROCESSION, AND ELIJAH, AND EVEN JESUS ALL DIED. SO DID THE LITTLE
GIRL WHO WAS THE DAUGHTER OF THE TEMPLE OFFICIAL. SO DID LAZARUS,
EVENTUALLY. ONLY JESUS CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD AND STAYED ALIVE,
EVEN TILL TODAY.
WHEN I HEARD MY FATHER
HAD DIED, I KNEW THAT MY MOTHER HAD PROBABLY BEEN PRAYING NON-STOP
FROM THE MOMENT SHE WOKE UP UNTIL THE DOCTOR TOLD HER THERE WAS
NOTHING MORE THAT COULD BE DONE. WHY DIDN'T JESUS LISTEN TO HER? AND
WHY DOESN'T HE SEEM TO LISTEN TO ALL THE PLEAS FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE IN
THE PROCESS OF LOSING THEIR LOVED ONES?
JESUS IS MOVED BY PITY TO
RAISE THE WIDOW'S SON FROM DEATH, BUT IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS,
HE DIED ANYWAY. AND THE WIDOW HAD A FEW MORE YEARS WITH HER SON; AND
I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE A FEW MORE YEARS WITH MY FATHER. BUT WE
ARE ALL BORN TO DIE, AND IT WILL ALWAYS SEEM LIKE THE WRONG TIME.
THAT CAN WORK BOTH WAYS, YOU KNOW. HOW MANY OF US HAVE KNOWN PEOPLE
WHO WOULD HAVE AVOIDED A GREAT DEAL OF SUFFERING IF ONLY THEY'D DIED
SOONER? HOW MANY OF US HAVE WATCHED A RELATIVE OR FRIEND GO THROUGH
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DECLINE UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF THE SELF
WE KNEW?
SO WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
ELIJAH WAS GOD'S FAVORITE PROPHET; GOD WAS ALWAYS WORKING MIRACLES
THROUGH HIM. JESUS WAS THE SON OF GOD. YOU AND I CAN'T RAISE THE
DEAD, WE CAN'T CURE PEOPLE WITH A TOUCH; BUT WE CAN SEE IN JESUS A
MODEL FOR OUR OWN APPROACH TO THOSE WHO ARE CRYING OUT IN PAIN.
FIRST, WE NEED TO NOTICE.
WE NEED TO BE SENSITIVE TO THE PAIN IN THE HEARTS OF OTHER PEOPLE.
SECOND, WE NEED TO CARE
ENOUGH TO DO SOMETHING. BUT DOING SOMETHING ISN'T ENOUGH.
THIRD, WE HAVE TO HAVE
COMPASSION. COMPASSION MEANS THAT WE FEEL WHAT THE OTHER PERSON
FEELS. OF COURSE WE CAN'T FEEL WHAT THEY ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW; BUT
WE CAN REMEMBER OUR OWN PAIN WHEN WE'VE FELT ABANDONED BY GOD, WHEN
WE'VE LOST A DEAR ONE.
AND WHAT JESUS DID FOR
THE WIDOW, WE CAN DO FOR PEOPLE IN PAIN. WHEN THE BOY WAS RAISED
FROM THE DEAD, HER PAIN WAS GONE. THAT WAS A MIRACLE AS WELL. WE
MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE AWAY SOMEONE'S PAIN QUICKLY AND COMPLETELY,
BUT IF WE NOTICE, IF WE CARE ENOUGH TO DO SOMETHING, IF WE HAVE
COMPASSION, SO THAT WE TAKE ON PART OF THAT PERSON'S SUFFERING,
HEALING WILL TAKE PLACE, MAYBE NOT SO COMPLETELY OR QUICKLY, BUT IT
WILL.
WHEN MY FATHER DIED, THE
DOCTOR WHO RAN OUR FELLOWSHIP IMMEDIATELY REARRANGED THE SCHEDULE SO
I COULD LEAVE FOR A WEEK. MY COLLEAGUES IN THE FELLOWSHIP GLADLY
TOOK ON EXTRA NIGHT CALL TO HELP ME OUT. WHEN I ARRIVED IN MONTANA
FOR THE FUNERAL MY MOTHER AND SISTERS AND I WERE CONSOLED BY THE
FRIENDS OF MY FATHER, WHO HELPED US REMEMBER HIS OWN KINDNESS AND
COMPASSION FOR OTHERS. THE FUNERAL ITSELF WAS CONSOLING, AS THE
PRIEST PREACHED ABOUT THE DESTINY OF CHRISTIANS, THAT DEATH WAS NOT
THE END. AND WHEN I WOULD WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WITH
THOUGHTS OF DEATH AND PANIC IN MY HEART, MY DEAR WIFE WOULD WAKE UP
WITH ME, REMINDING ME WITH HER PRESENCE THAT LOVE CONQUERS DEATH.
AND GRADUALLY I WAS HEALED, AND MY PAIN WAS GONE, AND SINCE THEN I'VE
EXPERIENCED MANY DEATHS – PATIENTS, BELOVED RELATIVES, AND THAT OF
MY OWN MOTHER – AND I GUESS THERE IS ONLY ONE TIME IN LIFE WHEN YOU
REALIZE DEEP IN HOUR HEART THAT YOU WILL DIE, AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU
CAN DO ABOUT IT. JESUS WAS THERE IN THE PEOPLE WHO CONSOLED ME WHEN
MY FATHER DIED, AND HE IS STILL HERE, REMINDING ME THAT HE IS LIFE
ITSELF.
