What we bought in to was: as long as I have my health, I have everything.
And when health changes – when you no longer have your health – what then?
Who are you?
What do you have then?
I doubt if there is anyone in this room who has not been affected by times of trouble.
The collapse of so much of the economic system of this country has had overarching effect and has touched the lives of all of us –
some of much more than others.
Some saw the nest egg they had set aside for the retirement years severely decimated
– if not wiped out altogether.
Some have lost their jobs – and/or access to health care.
Some have lost their homes.
Credit card bills pile up while doctors and hospitals threaten.
Banks failed and readjusted,
wall street firms and automobile manufacturers collapsed,
and people all over the world experienced the economic difficulties.
The financial security we have been planning for no longer is.
Many of us are caring – or have been caring – for loved ones who are struggling with frailty of the body or demons of the mind.
And some of us are facing potentially devastating issues with our own health –
cancers, pulmonary disease, arthritis, macular degeneration, and the list goes on.
These are times of trouble for most folks.
It is in the midst of times of trouble that Jesus came and preached his gospel of God’s Kingdom –
that’s “God’s Kingdom” rather than Rome’s Kingdom or Persia’s Kingdom, or any other Kingdom of man.
The Christian gospel – and the Jewish faith – was birthed in times of trouble .
The gospel of Jesus survives – and even thrives – during times of trouble .
Our faith survives and even thrives during times of trouble.
Our faith needs to be proclaimed during times of trouble.
Our faith speaks to us during times of trouble.
And so, I am preaching this series on Getting Through times of trouble.
Our theme for this series of sermons comes from I John 5:4: It is our faith that enables us to get through times of trouble.
Pity those who have no faith.
So far we have looked at Getting Through Times of Trouble When There Is No Money,
Getting Through Times of Trouble When There Is No Work,
Getting Through Times of Trouble When No One Cares,
and today, we are looking at Getting Through Times of Trouble When Health Fails.
I dare say there is not a person in this room who has not had their life affected by changing health – yours or a loved one.
We all know the truth of this – this is a common experience.
We each can attest that things happen:
a loved one gets sick – or we get sick –
whether it’s a cancer,
or stroke,
or heart,
or disease,
or infection,
or parts wearing out;
Accidents happen –
car and/or motorcycle accidents,
gunfire,
lightening strikes,
golf course,
you just never know;
Even in church –
you never used to hear about things like this, but in recent months I am aware of at least four incidents –
including one where a guy pulled a gun during church and shot the preacher
(I guess he didn’t like what the preacher said!),
And another one where the preacher got shot because he got in the way of a man trying to shoot an usher!!!
Things happen, don’t they?
And, more often than not, when health changes we experience hard times.
There is a lesson we all have learned well.
We have been taught that “as long as I have my health, I have everything.”
Right?
This is a pretty pervasive feeling, I would say.
We’ve all heard it said.
We have felt it ourselves, if we haven’t actually said it out loud.
I have said it in the past, and I am sure nearly everyone here uses it often.
If we don’t actually say it, it permeates what we believe.
More often than not, we tend to use the phrase as a way of saying that nothing else really matters much.
I don’t need wealth or things or . . . .
As long as I have my health, I have everything.
But, since Suzanne became ill – since her health changed –
I became aware that that phrase,
that belief, is insidious ,
and actually negatively affects what we all need to know and especially need to know when health changes.
I think I initially became aware of this insidious belief several years ago when my uncle faced a situation where the doctors needed to amputate his arm.
And, although it would save his life, and add significant years to his life, he adamantly refused to let them amputate.
Why?
Because he felt that on rapture day, only those with whole bodies would get to go.
So, without an arm, he would be a nobody – something less than a real person.
You see, what we learned is, what we bought in to was:
as long as I have my health, I have everything.
And when health changes – when you no longer have your health – what then?
Who are you?
What do you have then?
No one in this room is confined to a wheel chair.
(We have pretty much excluded those folks from ever being welcome here.)
Again, life with Suzanne after her health changed, changed me –
and changed the way I see certain things.
When you are not confined to a wheel chair –
when you have your health,
therefore everything –
you don’t appreciate what the world looks like from the perspective of the one in the chair.
What do you do when you come upon a person in wheel chair in the store?
Or on the street?
Usually, in the first place, we avoid making eye contact at all, don’t we?
Perhaps we feel that we don’t want to ogle or stare, and by avoiding eye contact we let the person in the chair know that they are no different than anyone else we might meet up with.
But, that is not what is perceived by the person in the chair.
When I am pushing Suzanne in the chair and we come upon a mutual friend, that person may acknowledge and even converse with Suzanne, but soon the phenomenon shifts and the person is no longer making eye contact with Suzanne but is now conversing with me – because I am at their level.
Suzanne says she gets tired looking at belt buckles all the time.
And when you come upon a counter that has been placed to separate a clerk from all of us who are on the other side, the person in chair most often gets no recognition at all.
Very quickly when you are dependent upon medicines, and/or physical assistance, just to carry on the basics of living, something happens to the psyche.
Through my experience, I can understand why many people cannot stand it after so long and just stop taking their life-saving medicines –
because it stands in the face of our common belief system that good health is everything –
so when my health changes and I no longer have good health
I am less than what I should be,
I am nothing in the eyes in the world around me.
Of course, that’s not the way Jesus views things, is it?
Almost all of the stories in our Bible – in the Old Testament and in the New – share a common theme or understanding or belief:
that is that God is with you.
The Old Testament reading we shared a while ago is just a fragment of a larger story about God assuring his people that he is with them while they are living in a land with alien rulers.
The message was delivered to those who needed to hear it then,
and it still rings true for us today.
You are going to face times of trouble, God says.
Hard times are ahead.
And when you find yourself wading through rising waters,
when you feel like you are walking through fire,
I’ll be with you.
Don’t be afraid.
I love you dearly and I am with you – always – through thick and through thin.
You know, this is the message I would hope to remember if I were ever in situation like those folks caught in the twin towers in New York City on September 11, 2001 –
or those folks on the airplanes destined to crash into the buildings or the ground –
or any situation wherein they say your life passes by your eyes –
in those situations, I would hope I could remember God’s promise:
I love your dearly and I am with you – even now – especially now – in this situation.
You don’t need to be afraid.
This theme is carried over in almost every event in our New Testament don’t you think?
The early believers actually did believe it.
In nearly every story that has been passed on about Jesus, this theme is expressed and underlies the message.
So significant was this to many of them that they chose these words to be the very last in Matthew’s gospel:
I am with you always – forever and forever – no matter what.
Even when your health changes –
especially when your health changes –
you are no less of person,
no less of a being who is loved and valued by the Creator of the Universe and all there is,
the great Jehovah,
the great I Am,
the spirit that pervades the universe,
love personified.
When the health of a loved one changes, nothing changes about the value or worth of that person to you.
And, so often the most valuable actions any of us can take is to let that person know in no uncertain terms that although they may be incapacitated, although they may have physical limitations,
they are no less than who they were before –
no less than a child of the universe
of no less importance than kings and queens and princes and princesses.
The breath they share – even if from a nearby tank of oxygen –
is a breath shared by you –
and a breath shared with God –
the source of the breath of life itself.
It is our faith that helps us get through hard times.
It is our faith that affirms that the health of our physical body or mind is not the most important thing.
The most important thing is the assurance that our God is with us – no matter what.
Jesus is with us – forever and ever.
Amen.
This is from a sermon heard by the congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, on November 7, 2010.
