Suffering

Why does God allow suffering? Everyone knows firsthand that people suffer, but do they have to suffer to be “good” Christians? What’s so wrong with trying to avoid suffering? Why not strive for a life without suffering? While everyone experiences suffering, nobody enjoys it, but God blesses it especially when we endure it patiently with faith and prayer. With the story of the healing of the woman with the flow of blood and the raising of Jairus’ daughter as our “backdrop”, this week’s episode of Be Transfigured will look at suffering and why God allows it and but rarely allows miracles.

The Touch of Christ Heals All

So many times we struggle with whether or not we should attend Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. I’ve heard so many explanations in the past twenty years about why people don’t need to be in Church to pray and experience God. The Gospel offers us a different answer with the story of the raising of the widow’s son in Nain. (Luke 7.11-17) In this story it was the physical touch of Christ, along with His command, that healed the young man. He touched the open coffin when He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” (Luke 7.14)

St Cyril of Alexandria said, “Why then did He not work the miracle by only a word but also touched the bier? It was, my beloved, that you might learn that the holy Body of Christ is productive for the salvation of man. The flesh of the Almighty Word is the body of life and was clothed with might.” Don’t you see? God could have called out from heaven and healed not only this young man, but all humanity. But He didn’t. He came and lived among us – in a real body, touching and blessing us.

THIS is why we must attend Divine Liturgy if we wish to be saved from death. Christ commanded that His Body and Blood be offered in the Eucharist, as life for the salvation of the world. You can’t receive Holy Communion on the golf course. If you can’t receive Holy Communion, then you cannot touch Christ. And the touch of Christ is life and heals all.

Don't Allow Pain and Suffering to Distract You from God

Sometimes the pain of life can seem unbearable. Sometimes you are tempted to dwell upon your pain and suffering rather than the promise of God that you will live forever. The reality is, despite all the pain and suffering in this life, God promised that so long as you keep your focus on Him, you will not only be healed, but will live forever. Are you ready to trust God enough to not allow your pain and suffering to distract you from His promise?

You Can’t See Heaven if You Stare at the Earth

Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3.12) When Christ speaks about earthly things, He is speaking about the things that give us pleasure, in other words our passions. For example: if we focus upon our material wealth, we are focusing upon earthly things rather than heavenly things. Jesus said, we can’t successful accomplish both. So......we have to make a choice.

Jesus also said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” (John 3.15) When the Jews were bitten by the serpent, they had to believe in the power of God enough to stare UP at the golden serpent and all it represented, and they would be healed. If we want to have everlasting life, despite the biting pain of life’s struggles, we have to believe in the power of God enough to stare UP at the Cross of Christ and all it represents. So.....we have to make a choice.

Jesus again said, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3.17) When we spend our time staring down rather than UP toward God, we can’t see His Cross. When we spend our time staring at the wounds of life rather than UP at the Cross of Christ, we can’t see Christ calling us to heaven. So....we have a choice to make.

Which way will YOU look?

Are You Blind to God’s Blessings?

In the Gospel of John heard on the sixth Sunday of Pascha, we hear of a “man born blind” who received his sight as a gift from God. Despite several attempts to convince those around him that he had been healed by God, those who had witnessed his new sight refused to accept God’s role in his healing. They chose instead to say, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” (John 9.16) And again they said, “We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from?” (John 9.29) These witnesses to healing who refused to accept God’s blessings were none other than the Jewish “elite”, the Pharisees.

It should come as no surprise that the Pharisees couldn’t bring themselves to accept God had healed the “man born blind,” since WE regularly cannot see God’s blessings WE have received. The Pharisees, although they could see with their physical eyes, couldn’t see the blessings of God with their spiritual eyes, their hearts. There is an expression “can’t see the forest through the trees” which I believe illustrates this common human failure.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our immediate, close-up reality that we cannot see how God has His blessing hand on our path. Sometimes we are so focused upon our actions, that we cannot see how God has placed good things within our reach. Sometimes we are convinced that our fortune is of our own making, that we cannot see how God has given us the means through which to succeed. Sometimes we are blind to God’s blessings, even though we can see the results. Isn’t it about time we stop being blind, and start seeing God’s blessings?

I Have No Man

On this week's episode of Be Transfigured - Live a New Life in Christ! we discuss the healing of the paralytic who had been waiting for Christ thirty-eight years. When Jesus asked, "Do you want to be made well," his response was poignant when he said, “I have no man to put me into the water.” Jesus is the man we all need, the only true authentic human being who has come to save us from the paid and brokenness of this world. Whatever we need, He is willing to give us for our salvation. 

What do You Want from God?

Early in Jesus' earthly ministry, He came across man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years, who was lying by the pool of Bethesda. At certain times during the year, an angel of the Lord would come down from heaven, stir the water, and the one who entered the water first after the angel, would be healed. This man whom Jesus met, time after time, was too slow dragging himself into the pool. Though he failed to be healed after so many years, he never gave up hope. He never stopped waiting for God's mercy. Then one day, God arrived.

Jesus asked this man, "Do you want to be made well?" (John 5.6) This was a common dialogue between Jesus and those who would be healed, and the Gospel shares this with us for our inspiration? We should hear the question as if Jesus is asking US, "Do WE want to be healed?" Once we can open our hearts to Him, then He can heal us. This paralyzed man shared his need, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool," and Jesus met his need.

What DO you need from Jesus? Do you need peace? He will give it to you. Do you need faith? He will give it to you. Do you need salvation? He will give it to you. Jesus Christ, who was born, crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, has the power to accomplish your every NEED. Your part in this relationship is to share your inner most needs with Him, and let Him do the healing.

Severe Illness and Death

I had the honor of praying with three different families this week following the death of loved ones who had suffered from serious illnesses. In each case, while there was grief, there was also a sense of relief at the lack of pain and suffering their loved ones FINALLY were enjoying.

I also lost my mother almost three years ago following a serious illness, so I have personal experience with this hand-in-hand concept of relief-grief. I think is must be similar to a salve that a skilled doctor smears on a wound in order to help it heal. Sometimes the salve burns before it sooths. I believe serious illness sometimes sooths and acts like a salve for our grief. In fact, I think illness and death, taken in this context help each other.

What do I mean? When my mother was suffering from cancer, the pain of seeing her with no treatment possibilities was soothed by the death process as I knew she was finally comfortable. The pain I experienced in my mother’s death was soothed by knowing the illness had finally been healed. You might think one would have been easier without the other. But, in living the experience, I can say that each gave a deeper meaning to the other. Without the other, there would have only been pain without the soothing salve.

I think God gives us many gifts we don’t recognize in the midst of our pain and suffering. At the very least, serious illness allows us the opportunity to share the last days in love and peace, leaving nothing unsaid, while we say our goodbyes. It allows the chance for forgiveness and reconciliation. It allows us to see clearer than before, just how much God’s grace fills our lives. And all these soothe our aching hearts. For that, I am thankful.

Tomorrow is the Saturday of Souls, a day which the Church commemorates ALL the faithful who have died since the establishment of the Church. It is a day for us to remember, and pray for, our loved ones who are face-to-face with God praying for us. It is a day we can be soothed by God’s loving embrace.

May their memories be eternal.