Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Luke 4:1 - 23 Jesus Overcomes the Devil

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord,
            God has put us in the middle of the world so that we’re exposed to opposites that can bring us inner conflict.  We know that life with Jesus is what we most need, while our secular environment encourages us to put worldly things in first place – possessions, money, status.  The TV and the papers, for example, always run ads that suggest that the pursuit of earthly well-being is the best activity we can take part in and the only thing that really counts.   We know that total concentration on material things is a sin against God, yet we ask how it’s possible to live with him in a materialistic climate.  A battle that we hardly ever talk about and never hear discussed in the news can rage in our hearts.
            Jesus fought a similar battle, though on a much bigger scale, and his victory over the devil means that we, too, can stick with God.  With Christ on our side, we ourselves may overcome the forces that tempt us to surrender our Christian values.  In fact, from the point of view of eternity, Jesus has already overcome them, and what we experience now is nothing more than the thrashings of the devil’s tale as he awaits his final defeat.  Jesus’ victory over the devil assures that we may walk along a satisfying, God-pleasing path, not undisturbed, but confident that righteous living won’t be taken away from us.  The devil may disrupt us, but he doesn’t prevent our walk with God.  He cannot bar the gates of heaven.
            Jesus puts in our hands the tools we need to defend ourselves against our spiritual enemy – faith in him, right worship, prayer, and the Bible.  We notice from this morning’s gospel that these are the same weapons our Lord used.  We are safe and sound when we adopt his ways and when we trust in his work on our behalf and lean on his promises and assurances.
            Let’s take an imaginary example.  A Christian has faith in his heart as he takes a new job and meets a woman he hopes to marry.  He attends church faithfully, says his prayers every day, and reads the Bible regularly.  His life is filled with blessings.  He copes successfully with routine and repetition; he has enough money to live on.  He trusts that Jesus will continue to provide for him and that the Savior is training him not to strive and struggle on his own but to receive all good things from heaven’s generous hand.  He learns by experience that the Heavenly Father will provide for him richly with family life, friends, leisure time, and intangibles like wisdom, hope, and love.  But then, as if God were testing him, rough days come and many of the good things God gave him slip from his grasp.  He worries and grows impatient.  He hears a voice saying to him: “If you really are a Christian, a faithful child of God, you can get out of your troubles by taking matters into your own hands.  Find shortcuts; forget the church; ignore the well-being of your family; you ought to think about money more than anything else.  Consider your earthly status.”
            This is the sort of thing the devil said to Jesus.  “You’re really and truly hungry.  Turn these stones into bread.”  Jesus could have done so if he’d wanted to, but then he would have obeyed the devil rather than his Heavenly Father, who is the source of all blessings.  He trusted the Father and the Father strengthened him.  He conquered Satan by, telling him that man doesn’t live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 
            What a wonderful promise.  The deadening pursuit of material things doesn’t conquer us.  We dream dreams and think big thoughts.  We don’t give up our faith or hand our souls over to the devil.  We cling to Christ, not to our own abilities, and claim his victory as ours.  He strengthens us so that we don’t sacrifice the spiritual dimension to gain a temporary earthly advantage.  We fail at times, of course, but Jesus is on our side.  His loving promises break through the cruel taunts of the devil to assure us of heaven’s forgiveness.  His mercy never stops flowing.  He picks us up and we start over again.
            A few words now about the second temptation, wherein Satan showed Jesus the whole world in the flick of an eye.  He offered him every known kingdom in exchange for an act of worship.  The devil had had so much success tempting every other specimen of humanity, starting with Adam and Eve, that his pride blinded him to the divine strength of Christ, who knew whom to worship and whom to serve.  Jesus held up to him the words of Moses, a reminder of the first commandment, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”  The devil had to step back and think again.
            Let’s return to our imaginary example.  The man weakened under the pressure of rough times.  He took risks; he gambled; he made shady real estate deals and got involved with a crime syndicate.  He made millions of dollars and lived a glamorous life for a while.  People were in awe of him; he saw no limit to his earthly good fortune.  Then everything came crashing down and he was in trouble with the law, worse off than when he began.  His family and old friends saw the hand of the devil in his rise and fall.  They knew Satan had deluded him into thinking that the whole world was his to conquer.  All he had to do was give his soul to the devil, who taught him how to take unacceptable risks and free himself from the restraints of God’s righteousness.  He surrendered to the devil, who brought him down to ruin.  Fortunately, God’s forgiveness and strengthening were available and in the troubled times that followed his collapse, the man returned to the paths of righteousness and faith.  He paid a high price for his follies, but he came to his senses and turned away from worship of material things.  Jesus welcomed him home, and the devil left him alone. 
            Satan tempts us to be discontented with modest situations.  We may imagine glamorous earthly existence, but we listen to the Bible’s teaching that glitter is fun for a time but in the long run it’s hollow and we can’t trust it.  We need a more stable, deeper way of life that God offers us through worship and prayer and by faith in Christ.  Perhaps you know these words of encouragement from Psalm 91: “You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.  Because you have made the Lord your refuge, no evils shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.”  It isn’t Christian to gloat when others stumble and fall, because we’re made of the same flesh, yet we’re right to draw lessons from the calamities that befall the overambitious – that our lowliness is a great blessing from God.  He gives us good lives, with a measure of comfort but not enough to imperil our spiritual well-being.  He keeps our faith secure.  If we happen to find our thoughts chasing after power and glitter and total freedom, we remember the blessings we receive from Jesus’ wise and generous hand and return to him with repentant joy.
            Jesus’ conquest of the devil emboldens us to trust that life is much more than material things.  Without God, we’d probably think of the world as full of meaningless struggle and ourselves as complicated machines with brains and feelings.  The good Lord affirms that we are much more – his children, with immortal souls and bodies, saints through our faith in Christ, kept safe by God for his eternal purposes.  We’re made in his image, redeemed by Christ.  We don’t live by bread alone.  We find fulfillment in worship and service of our maker.
            We move on to the third temptation now.  None of us would ever jump off the roof of the church to test God’s promise that he’ll look out for us.  Nor do we expect him to provide us with a stretch limousine or a TV set the size of our living room wall.  If trouble strikes, though we might think he’s not taking care of our needs the way he promised.  We might say, like some of the Old Testament Hebrews, “Is the Lord among us or not?” 
            Some Israelites of Old Testament times distrusted God’s intentions and they gave up.  Instead of praying to him and waiting for him to help in his own way, they scolded him and challenged him and tempted him.  Instead of worship, they offered him the bitter fruit of angry hearts. 
            The devil thought he’d find the same weakness in Jesus.  Our Lord was hungry and under pressure, just at the point where frustration will drive human flesh to make foolhardy gestures.  Satan hoped he could push Jesus into doing something thoughtless.  How easy it is to act rashly, to strike out, to do something foolish that we later regret.  It’s easy to tempt God with a desperate kind of false trust.  But Jesus resisted, and in his resistance we gain the victory.
            Trust in God and his ways leads to a good life.  The devil, however, wants to steer us into false trust.  “Cross the road against the light,” he says to us.  “Go ahead.  You’ll be safe.  You’re a Christian.”  “Push yourself beyond the point of good sense,” he says.  “You’ll be all right.  God is watching out for you.”  We pay a price if we listen to arguments like that.  Fortunately, the Spirit of God teaches us what it really means to trust in Him.
            Jesus stood in our place and fought the enemy for us.  The author of Hebrews wrote: “We have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us...draw near to the throne of grace, that we may find mercy and grace to help in time of need.”
            We deal with temptation by holding firmly on to Jesus who defeated the devil in the desert.  Satan vanishes as we fly to the Lord in faith – asking him for strength and courage and the grace to trust that he and his angels battle alongside us with a power that’s much greater than Satan’s.
            So, to review.  The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness at the start of his public ministry.  The devil tempted him in hopes of making it impossible for him to carry out his work.  The Lord turned the experience around.  He used it as a test to prove he was fully qualified to be the savior of mankind. 
            Similar situations occur in our own lives.  Satan tempts us to suppose that God won’t bless us, while the Lord uses these temptations as tests.  The Christian way to understand the materialism that works to draw us away from God like a magnet is that Jesus uses these temptations as tests he wants us to pass.  His power working on our behalf enables us to overcome the devil.  He comes to us with sturdy help – the strengthening power of his Word, the invitation to worship and prayer.  The same Word that helped the Lord in the wilderness helps us to overcome. Our part is to receive his gifts to us in faith.  AMEN.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus.  AMEN.    



Friday, February 17, 2012

Peter 1:16 - 21 Our Lord's Tranfiguration

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
            One of the questions people often ask is this – what is the truth about God?  We sometimes ask where we can find the truth and what God will do for us.  We don’t always ask these questions out loud, but at some point in our lives, most of us wonder about God.  We crave an encounter with the Almighty.
            As we take up our search for answers, we learn that it’s easy to go astray.  Clever people take advantage of our need for the spiritual by offering teachings that please the ear and line the pockets of those who promote them.  We may come into contact with new age movements or with various deviations from the traditional Christian faith.  Somebody once told me about a store where you could buy trinkets associated with witchcraft.  There are many competing approaches to the supernatural.  How do we choose?
            Two of this morning’s readings bring us back in touch with the apostle Peter.  He was seeker, a pilgrim.  The Bible shows him at the beginning of his walk with Jesus, when he seemed to take baby steps and easily stumbled onto an unfruitful path.  The New Testament also gives us a glimpse of Peter near the end of his earthly life, where in his two brief letters he reveals a mature, stable faith in the Lord.  Christian tradition says that Peter became so devoted to Jesus that he accepted crucifixion himself rather than go back on what he believed.  For most of us, Peter is an attractive figure.  He knew the world.  He experienced ordinary human life.  He didn’t appear to have exceptional abilities, like Paul, or an outstandingly different way of life, like John the Baptist.  He struggled to find the truth.  He helps us to trust the Bible and to come to God’s truth ourselves.
            Peter was an eye-witness.  He traveled with Jesus through Galilee and Judea.  He witnessed Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He talked with the Risen Lord after the Resurrection.  He was present at the Ascension, when Christ rose to sit at the right hand of his Father.  If you accept Peter’s testimony, then it’s possible for us to believe that Scripture tells us the truth about God.
            Peter was also present at the Transfiguration, which occurred just after Jesus predicted his death and resurrection.  By the power of the Heavenly Father, the Savior took on the form he will have when he returns in glory on the Day of Judgment.  This was an important moment for Peter.  He may have acted at the time with his characteristic impulsiveness, but later he described in his second letter what the Transfiguration meant for him.  He found in this incident four things that clarified the truth about God for him.
            One insight has to do with God’s power.  Peter saw Jesus’ power over nature firsthand and his ability to heal.  He saw Jesus’ mastery of himself in very trying situations and also his wisdom.  He experienced God’s power over the grave and trusted by faith his power to pardon even the worst of sins.  For Peter, God was never distant or uncaring or weak.  He saw this himself when Jesus was transformed before his very eyes.
            Peter also came to trust that God has a plan.  The creation of the world, the birth of Christ, the calling of disciples – all were part of God’s plan.  He used Peter to spread the gospel, and so he uses our people today, to make sure the good news of salvation reaches the people around us.  God’s plan also includes our Lord’s return.  God alone knows when this glorious day will be, but Peter received a foretaste when he stood with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.  He was an eyewitness to a preview of the outcome of God’s plan.  Jesus will return in glory and majesty.  The dead will rise from their graves.  Jesus will draw his faithful people to blessedness in heaven, while the wicked will be cast into the outer darkness.  He will establish a righteous heavenly city, where there will be no more grief or crime or mourning.  Righteousness and peace will prevail.  Standing with our imagination beside Peter, we glimpse the fulfillment of God’s plan ourselves – the glorious future in store for folks who remain faithful to our Lord.
            In another part of his letter, Peter laid down guidelines for Christian living while we wait for the Lord’s second coming.  He wrote that God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.  We take part in Jesus’ divine nature through his great and precious promises to us.  We also escape the corruption of the world that evil desires cause.
            Peter goes on to list qualities that God’s people develop – faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, kindness and love.  God’s actions two thousand years ago in redeeming us through the death of his Son together with his promises – that he will keep on loving us, that nothing can separate us from him, and that so long as we keep faith with him now he will bring us to him when the trials of this life are ended – all inspire us to seek the holy lives he wants for us. 
            Peter also discovered that the Scriptures are the source of truth.  He wrote that because of the Transfiguration, in which Moses and Elijah stood beside the Lord, the teachings of the Old Testament prophets became more certain for him.  The same is true today.  Hurting men and women need the truth about what God does for us.  Scripture assures us that God sends comfort, hope, and salvation by way of his Word.  We learn from the Bible that God heals and restores and builds up.  He punishes evil-doers and those who run away from him, while his children receive his blessings day after day into eternity.
            And so we’ve come to the fourth of Peter’s insights – the Christian way to think about the Bible.  Peter wrote that no prophesy of Scripture ever came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.  Prophecy doesn’t begin in the will of man.  It starts with God, who sent the Holy Spirit to carry the prophets along to the truth.
            We take this passage to heart because it helps to keep us from going too far.  Some folks go beyond Scripture and look to God to do things for them that he doesn’t promise in the Bible – a trip around the world, say, or more money than they can count, or life without any bad stretches.  When we find that God doesn’t surround them with material splendor and easy days, they may decide to turn away from the Lord in disappointment.  We think differently.  We trust that the Lord will provide for our physical needs now and strengthen us to endure and cope well as we look ahead to life with him in eternity.
            One of the ways the church builds up our lives with God now and our hope for life with him in heaven is to chip away at false ideas.  The church steers us away from delusions that obscure the truth about God. Compared with the lax ways of the world around us, the Bible is narrow, but it speaks the truth and it brings life.  It enables us by faith to share the experiences of the prophets and evangelists and apostles who bring to us the truth about God.
            To conclude, then – one of this morning’s themes is our encounters with God.  We each seek our own encounters.  We don’t rely on the faith of other people.  The way for us to meet God and learn the truth about him is to fix the eyes of our hearts on Jesus.  Peter, an eyewitness, draws a road map, so to speak, so that our meetings with God will be based on our knowledge of Christ.  Peter points our four things – that God is powerful, that his eternal plan includes us, that we find the truth about him in the Bible, and that we lose the truth if we let private interpretations guide our thinking. As we welcome the Bible’s testimony into our minds and hearts and live with it day by day, we find that faith and understanding grow and we know what Peter meant when he said, full of enthusiasm, “It’s good Lord to be here.”  In our Saviour’s name we rejoice and give thanks.  AMEN.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds  in the knowledge of Christ Jesus.  AMEN.                                                
                     

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Mark 1:40 - 45 -- God's Power to Heal and Strengthen

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from him who is and who was and who is to come,
            We don’t know the name of the leper Jesus healed in this morning’s gospel reading, so we’ll give him one for the time being.  We’ll call him Samuel – a good biblical name.  He lived in pain; he felt his body slowly withering away.  He lived on the margins of society.  He had to beg to meet his daily needs.  There were nights when he didn’t have a shelter.  No one would touch him for fear of catching his disease.  But Jesus touched him and healed him.  Samuel would grow old and fall sick again later on, but for several years at least he would be able to work, to care for himself, to take an active part in life.  How Samuel rejoiced at his healing.
            Mark tells us that he went overboard.  Jesus wanted him to keep silent and visit the priests in Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice and testify to people who didn’t yet believe in Jesus that God is powerful and gracious and present among them in human form.  But Samuel couldn’t restrain himself; he overstepped the bounds the Lord had set for him and talked openly about the healing God had brought him.  The rapidly-spreading news created inconvenience for the Lord, though we can be sure that in the long run he made good use of Samuel’s testimony. 
            Naaman is another leper whom God healed.  How he, too, must have rejoiced.  “I know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel,” he confessed right after he was cured.  He looked ahead to a new life in the company of the Heavenly Father.  Human nature played a part in his story, too.  The narrative shows us the formal way rulers acted toward one another, the irrational, crippling fears the king of Israel suffered from, for he thought the Syrians were setting a trap for him, and we see Naaman’s injured pride, when the Lord failed to take advantage of the chance for an impressive ceremony and chose the simplest means to cure his terrible disease.
            To digress, for a moment, we know that when he reveals himself to us, God loves to act simply.  He’s never pushy or showy.  He is direct and down to earth.  He uses the simplest of means, for example, such as ordinary water and a few special words in the sacrament of baptism.  Life can be pretty complicated.  We may think of the telecommunications system, the food chain, or the complex economic problems that are vexing North America right now.  We may also think of the complicated relationships folks sometimes get involved in.  Adult minds are trained to deal with difficulties.  But when God comes to us, he usually works very simply.  We may not understand his methods, as we do not understand how a tree develops or how a baby’s body and mind grow to maturity.  But we don’t have to know the how’s and why’s.  God invites us to open our eyes and our hearts and accept simple things from his hand.  How refreshing that he breaks through complexities and comes to us by simple, powerful, restful, and unchanging means.
            Anyway, the healings in this morning’s readings are samples of God’s power and his determination to do good.  Jesus came to earth to conquer evil, and leprosy is one feature of a fallen world that is no stranger to evil.  Nothing could prevent Jesus from carrying out his mission of healing, not even the peculiarities  of human nature or our propensity for sin.  He cured Naaman despite his pride; he healed the leper Samuel even though he knew that Samuel would create inconvenience for him. 
            God’s grace never fails.  It works for us, too.  We sin.  We run from God.  We underestimate his gifts to us.  We are rude to him and think mostly of ourselves.  Even so, Jesus doesn’t withdraw his offer of help, salvation, and pardon.  He remains our friend and invites us to turn to him for restoration.  His love for us inspires us to do our best, and if we slip, God does not.  He is faithful and true.  He doesn’t take back his promises.  Our salvation and our daily walk with him depend on him, not our own feelings, which change many times in the course of a day, or on our own good works.  God says to us, “I declare that you are righteous for the sake of my son and the faith the Holy Spirit plants in your hearts.”  Our debt is paid.  We are free and whole in God’s eyes and in the eyes of the church.
            Now, a Lutheran thinker I consulted helped me understand a little better this morning’s Gospel text.  The leper I’m calling Samuel submitted himself in an act of great faith to the Lord’s wishes.  “If you are willing,” he said, “you can make me clean.”  Samuel made a distinction between God’s earthly gifts and his spiritual ones.  He knew he was asking for an earthly blessing, which God in his wisdom and his love might withhold, as he frequently does.  He doesn’t usually provide riches at our request.  He finds ways for us to receive our livelihoods bit by bit.  He doesn’t move us to a land where there is no snow and cold, but helps us to cope with the conditions we find ourselves in.  The same goes for our physical health.  Miracles can occur, but as a general rule, the Lord teaches us good sense and wise practices; he provides health care professionals and medications to help us.  He sends ways to reduce pain.  He strengthens us to cope with illness and other physical hardships.  He doesn’t take us away from the reality of daily life.  His beloved people experience what everyone experiences.  Physical suffering can refine us and bring us closer to the Lord.  We take on a portion of what he suffered for us.  Illness doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us. It means that he trusts that we can cope.  Samuel, whose soul the Lord filled with faith, understood this.
            Samuel also understood that spiritual blessings are a different matter altogether.  Heaven always freely grants gifts like pardon and peace, strength and consolation to the soul, since it is his will that these blessings be available to us at all times.  We don’t know how Samuel came to such great faith, but his case shows how Jesus’ teaching produces the most wonderful spiritual blessings.
            We also know that the same faith can be ours – endurance, hope for eternal life, trust that the Lord intends good for us.  God is gracious and powerful.  It’s a wonderful thing to know that our sins are forgiven and that no evil can crush our souls or shatter our faith.  No matter how bad the world can be, the Bible assures us, or how close illness is to us or how great our sins, these things do not prevail.  The victory belongs to God, who is good; he passes his goodness on to us.  Life is good and much good comes our way.  We trust, like the healed leper I’ve given the name Samuel, that if we listen to heaven’s will, this goodness will continue.  God will even make good of our missteps, in his own way and in his own time.
            My reading about this morning’s text brought another familiar Christian theme to mind: never give up on something worthwhile.  We want good things to come to us – health, friends, faith.  We want to do good with the talents God has given us.  We hope to be useful, to help others, to be joyful of heart.  It’s almost a rule of life, though, that opposition raises its head as soon as we reach for the good.  Obstacles appear out of nowhere.  Human nature gets in the way, either our own or somebody else’s.  We can get discouraged or settle for less than the best.  We can say that to make an extra effort is to strive in vain.  But God uses Na’aman and the leper Samuel to remind us that a lot of good comes from submission to God.  He is the source of everything; the source is good and it’s on our side.  The Lord will help us create the good things we hope for and even better things than we now imagine – for our families, for our work and leisure.  God plants in our hearts a desire for improvement and for his leadership.  We won’t give up on what’s good if we focus on Christ.  So often we want to do things on our own, for this is part of the secular way of life that surrounds us.  We can go part way by ourselves, but not nearly so far as the Lord wants to take us.  Every good gift comes from him.
            So we stick with our Lord and Savior, trusting that he will carry us along the way not just today but always.  What hopes he will pour into our hearts.  What strength he will give us.  What courage to keep on with good things and never to quit.  In his name we rejoice and give thanks.  AMEN.
The peace God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus.  AMEN.
                    

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Mark 1:29 -39 Healing

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
            Jesus’ miracles in this morning’s gospel text give us a chance us to think about the subject of health.  I’m sure we’ll all agree that health is a big concern.  We often have someone’s physical well-being on our minds, either our own or somebody close to us.  The Bible assures us that God knows about our frailty, that he will strengthen us to bear up, and that he performs wonderful acts of healing.
            Jesus’ healing miracles in the four gospels give glory to God and show us the nature of the Savior’s power.  He is the Lord of both our spirits and our bodies.  His acts of healing also show us that God is on the side of good health. Illness is part of life.  It’s one of the effects of sin that come with being alive on the earth.  Everyone gets sick from time to time; we know what illness is.   Children and seniors are both susceptible to sickness.  We get sick if we don’t take care of ourselves.  If we adopt certain unwholesome practices, illness comes to us.  We don’t say, though, that every disease is the result of a specific act of sin, for germs and bacteria don’t follow a moral code, nor do we say that our illnesses are signs that God is angry with us, for disease is like rain: it strikes the just as well as the unjust.  Illness goes along with life on earth: we can’t do anything about it.  God can, though, and he does.  He is a healer.  Jesus defeated the devil, who is the ultimate cause of illness; Jesus heals and restores. 
            We know something about how God’s healing works.  Miraculous cures do occur in today’s world, and we are thankful to God if he has worked a miracle on our behalf.  As a general rule, though, God works by intermediaries.  He uses doctors and nurses and other health care workers to provide for us.  He sees to it that they are well-trained and wise about the body.  They are often compassionate, especially after they get to know us, even in today’s hectic environment with lots of cutbacks.  It’s God’s will for us that we listen to our doctors and follow their advice.  I once heard a man who I’m sure never crossed the threshold of a church door say that he hated his doctor.  Doctors are human and busy; they have a lot on their minds; they make mistakes.  But they are servants of God, whether they know it or not, and on the side of life.  If we do not like or trust our doctor, we ought to forgive and find another one.  Whatever the case, the Lord sends doctors to help us; he blesses us as we follow their guidance.
            The Lord also gives us the privilege and power of prayer.  He hears our prayers for our own healing and for others who are sick.  The letter of James advises us to pray for one another, that we may be healed.  “The prayer of a righteous person,” he says, “has great power in its effects.”  We pray for the sick of St. Peter’s every Sunday and we pray in private at home.  Prayers work and sometimes surprising healings do take place. Jesus invites us to keep on bringing our concerns to him. 
            Another sign that God is on the side of healing is that he blesses our use of the common sense he gives us.  We live moderate, balanced, orderly lives, with proper attention to diet, exercise, and the need for rest.  We don’t push ourselves beyond our limits.  We older folks don’t give way to the notion that we are 20 years younger than we actually are and push ourselves like someone in his or her twenties.  Younger people thank God for the good years he’s given them, while they remember that they are flesh and bone, not steel, and that all flesh is grass, destined to perish.  Heaven blesses sensible living.  This has always been the case and always will be.  One of Solomon’s proverbs says, “Good sense wins favor...a prudent man acts with knowledge...wisdom dwells in prudence.” 
            Now, along with gospel stories of healing, our readings include an excerpt from the book of Job, who at one time in his life was greatly afflicted with diseases and other losses.  His case encourages us to look at the question of health from a more spiritual point of view.  What do we do if the gift of good health is taken away from us or from someone we love?  We notice from the story of Job that the Bible doesn’t tell us that we ought to give up and suffer in silence.
            Job was a unique case. The devil afflicted him, you remember, in hopes of winning a bet with God.  Satan claimed that Job was faithful only because he had every good thing life could offer.  But if he took away family, riches, and health, the devil argued, then Job’s faith would evaporate.  God allowed Job to suffer as a test of his faith and to win the bet with Satan.  Job railed and sputtered, but he held onto his belief in God’s goodness toward him.  “I know that my Redeemer lives,” he affirmed.  The Lord gave him the gift of steadfastness. He believed that no matter how unfortunate he was at a certain point in his life, he would eventually see God face to face.  His trust received its reward.  God appeared to him at the end of the story and blessed the last days of his earthly life even more than his beginning.
            We can apply the story of Job to ourselves.  For one thing, Job never knew about the dispute between God and Satan.  He didn’t know that he was playing a part in a cosmic drama with supernatural dimensions.  From this point of view, we know more than Job did.  Life has its mysteries that our Heavenly Father instructs us to trust will turn out well.  Somebody said that the life we see now is like the back side of a tapestry.  Scripture tells us a lot, but we see knots and colored threads, a few dim patterns, not the whole design.  The big picture will become clear to us in the next life. Life is fragile; health can be uncertain.  We don’t know why.  But everything serves a good purpose that God understands in full.  We ourselves play a part in a cosmic drama.  The point is to hang on.  Meaning will come to us in God’s good time.
            Take the question of Job’s friends.  They came to him with lots of advice and conversation, but they didn’t really understand.  People believed in those days that illness was the punishment for sin.  If he suffered so much, Job must have done something terribly wrong.  Not so. He was a righteous man.  The faith of his neighbors must have become stronger, they must have had a profounder understanding of God’s love, after they witnessed the conclusion of this phase of Job’s life.  God’s blessings returned as mysteriously as they were taken away.  Since they loved to ponder and talk things over, Job’s recovery must have given them plenty of food for thought and conversation.  The Lord uses our faith, too, as a testimony to our neighbors and our families, even to doctors and nurses and healthcare workers, when dark and painful moments come and we hold onto the Lord's promises to us. We Christians trust that God doesn’t use our illnesses to punish us, but that they come as a necessary feature of a sinful world.  We accept them as a test he will help us pass.  He comforts us and promises better days ahead.  As Paul wrote, we pass the comfort we receive on to others.  This happens automatically.  God’s light shines through us for others to marvel at.
            The book of Job also gives us an indirect lesson about Christian care for people who suffer from ill health.  Job’s friends were pious men.  They meant well and didn’t speak from malice of heart.  They spent time with him, but they brought him little comfort.  They lacked a deep understanding of God’s love, which we ourselves see at work in Christ, so they spoke platitudes that didn’t help.  The Lord took note of this when he said to one of them near the end of the book: “My wrath is kindled against you and your friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
            This is not the case with us.  We spend time with friends and loved ones who are sick.  We pray with them. We may read passages from the Bible or comfort them with Christian words from our well-stocked memories.  Sometimes it’s best just to be silent or listen with understanding.  We are practical people, so we don’t try to interpret, especially things that we don’t really understand.  But we do understand that the God who came to heal is present everywhere in the world.  He promises not to let eternal harm come to those who trust him.  We know these words from Psalm 91: “When he calls to me, I will answer him; will be with him in trouble, I will rescue and honor him.  With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
            Yes, it’s true.  The world is full of difficult things, and very little is guaranteed.  Job experienced this firsthand.  “Has not man hard service upon the earth?  Are not his days like those of a hireling?”  He speaks from the extremity of pain, but even we ourselves hear of people whose burden is as heavy as his.  Earthly misfortune is not the last word for believers.  God is different from the world.  He is powerful; he is good and full of love.  The prophet Malachi wrote that for those who fear his name, he comes with healing in his wings.  “You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall,” he says.  The Lord may make us wait.  He may test our spirits.  But healing comes.  God promises in Christ that the conditions of this life are temporary and that perfect bodies and minds will be his gift to us in the everlasting kingdom that awaits.
            We need to remember, though, that Jesus is much more to us than a miracle worker.  Health and healing are never for us ends in themselves.  Jesus is the end and goal of our lives.  He calls us not to fix our hearts on any earthly blessing, but on him.  Jesus is our savior, whether we are well or ill.  He holds us in his embrace no matter what the state of our health.  We thank him for his wonderful healing powers.  We especially thank him for the forgiving of our sins that is the doorway to salvation.  We ask him to keep us focused on what is most important.  Health is rightly a big concern, but health is not our God.  Jesus is.  All our concerns are resolved in the one who died for us on the cross.  Our hope comes from him.  We ask him for healing.  We also ask him to keep us in the faith that saves.  In his name we rejoice.  AMEN.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus.  AMEN.