What About a Cure?

In 1996 a movie called Spitfire Grill came along. Its setting was Gilead, Maine so I purchased the video and still have it. The main character is a young woman who gets released from prison in Southern Maine and comes to Gilead for work in answer to an advertisement. She meets folk who are broken in some way and discovers a secret that impacts the little town and links to Viet Nam. A key moment in the story has two characters looking out over the beauty of Maine and the music is an old hymn based on Jeremiah 8:22 “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?” The words of the chorus:

                                    There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;

                                    There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.

Now in Jeremiah’s day there was a national pandemic of behavior that denied their spiritual heritage and redefined the ways of God according to their own desires and wishes. The use and moments of plague in the OT interrupts all illusion of being in charge, for as we know, in the time of plague there seems to be no cure. During these times the sovereign God calls people back to himself, to the place of healing for their sin sick soul. I cannot help but wonder, and pray that this might be a time calling us individually and nationally to a time of healing and redemption with God.

Our lives have been interrupted. Patterns of politics, exercise of authority, business life, financial desperation, marital pain, kids without school and their friends, where abuse was present it intensified, death that could not be met in normal ways, all these things have been our reality. As we cautiously begin to come out of the grip of our pandemic, we are not able to do things quite the same way. In fact we may never do some things in the same way. We are praying for no resurgence and for a cure to come.  Before us lies the possibility of new ways, to consider the balm of Gilead – the reality of God to not only change our ways but to change our heart.

Herein is the sticking point. As evidenced by our stay at home order, state of emergency order, social pressure for masking and distancing, with enough pressure, we can change behavior as long as there seems a pay off. Religion is often thought of as just another pressure point to make us to change behavior. Popular opinion considers the pay off of religion to be shallow and of little value. And in some cases it may be true. But where a healthy church lives in relationship to the living God, there is spiritual transformation, courage, community, faith, connected friendship, emotional wisdom, all the things we need to do life and continue on even through pandemics. With proper obedience to the wisdom of those who deal with disease, our denied one hour per week might have been one of the most needed sources of strength for people. It still happened by going online but it required the church has to flex and change and not just do business as usual. To our surprise we found we often doubled our listeners. Many churches will continue to be online and never look back. Encouraging, mentoring, teaching and more can be done at odd times and in one on one connection with online capability. The tendency to do what we always did only to get only what we always got is very strong. In these new days God is leading us to build new flexibility upon a solid thought, through biblical truth that brings light to the ways of living into all who seek after the truth and life in Christ.

Let me speak to this religious devaluation. I am the grandson of a pastor, the son of a pastor, the nephew of pastors on both sides of the family, the 1^st and 2^nd cousin of pastors on both sides and I am a pastor. I know about the real and alleged complaints about Christians. Truth: In the world of people of faith and not faith there are people who live as judgmental legalists. The following statement cuts two ways: Judge not lest ye be judged for the judgment you use will be the judgment used against you. Simply put: It takes one to know one. In our immaturity, a journey for which there are no shortcuts, we have the process of growing in favor and wisdom and stature with God and man. How did Jesus grow? He surrendered his heart and will to the Father and followed him with deep reverence and learned obedience through suffering. Where do you see an exit door for you based on the behavior of others? Is it not just evidence that God is not more important than your judgment?  Isn’t the truth of your struggle with faith that it often operates when you cannot see the evidence of your faith? Some politicians have the same problem. We need to hunger for our growing knowledge of God to develop emotional wisdom. The cost is a deep surrender and to walk with God. Consider the following coming out of and being used within your relationship with God and people:

1.       The ability to accept people as they are, not as you would have them to be

2.       The capacity to approach relationships and problems in terms of the present rather than in the past

3.       The ability to treat those who are close to you with the same courteous attention that you extend to strangers and casual acquaintances

4.       The ability to trust others, even if the risk seems great

5.       The ability to do without constant approval and recognition of others

So the goal of faith is not just more followers, but growing understanding of how Jesus functioned at every level. Remember Jesus did not come to abolish moral standards but to exceed them by living to their intent. Living by the letter of the law alone only makes us a crank! Theology and biblical understanding requires us to be in partnership with God transforming us. Not only are we forgiven of our sin and have a born again experience, but we are engaged in the journey of becoming more like Jesus. We are a people of grace, drawing others. By our words and life we say, “Come meet the one who has changed and is changing me.”

One day Jesus came by my house. I was glad to see him. I had just purchased a tandem bike and with the stay at home order lifted, his timing was perfect. I invited him to go with me on this beautiful day of freedom and he agreed. We laughed and talked and enjoyed the beauty of newly minted green and bright colored flowers peeking out. We stopped by a water fall and explored the trail and jumped the rocks looking at the pools. I learned of him and I learned about me, to my surprise. After that he was always around for our trips and supplied power and commentary on our daily trips. There were places I did not want to go and conditions under which I didn’t want ride and occasionally I grew lost and afraid. After all I was driving and had control of the steering and brakes.

One day the trail turned steep and rocky and I was unsure of our balance and our way. It occurred to me this happened in our travels more than I realized and that day I thought to ask Jesus to take the front seat. I would pedal from the back. As soon as that happened I discovered a peace and joy that I had not known even though I had Jesus as my companion on my tandem bike. But when I became his companion, everything changed. We went on paths I would not have traveled. Sometimes the steepness or roughness or even wildness of his ways intimidated me. But along the journey we would stop and find places of incredible beauty and rest that I never would have discovered on my own. I began to discover the way of considering the adventure in life rather than the struggle of life. I began to know my companion, myself and others at a depth I had not known. My new way of viewing life’s travels came from my deep surrender and obedience to Jesus. Oh and we became a part of a band of bikers. Life has never been the same and I’ll never look back.

Has Jesus stopped by your house and offered to go riding with you? Take him up on it. You’ll never see life the same again.