25 Aug SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2024

“This teaching is hard,” is exactly what the woman thought as tears began to spill from her eyes and roll down her cheeks. What the hospital pharmacist was saying out loud and the stack of papers she’d been handed reinforced were too much to bear and too hard to take. As were Jesus’ words. 

Whether one suddenly receives a new medical diagnosis as this woman did or hears a strange teaching from a religious authority figure, the result is the same. No one wants to hear that they must do things entirely differently, starting now. You must absorb many things at once, and all are unfamiliar: new knowledge and new skills, new ways of thinking, new ways of doing.  

Changes deemed necessary to survive affront our personhood. They upset our sensibilities. What do you mean that before eating a meal, I must check my blood sugar and give myself a shot of insulin? And you also want me to completely change what I eat? Seriously, Jesus. “Eat your flesh and blood, which you refer to as bread that came down from heaven. At the very least, everything you say sounds unappealing. And taken to the extreme, I may prefer death over doing what you say to the exact letter.” 

But indeed, it must be done. At this point, there’s no other solution, Jesus and the doctors say. Your pancreas isn’t working. Your blood is full of sugar that can’t get into your cells and glucose will do you no good unless your cells are able to make use of it. In other words, the law and Ten Commandments aren’t working. The world is full of sin and the bread your ancestors ate could not save them from death.

If you want to live forever, you must do as I say. The living Father sent me to deliver the word, to give you instructions at your bedside before you leave the hospital or take any further steps toward home. It’s imperative that you listen and follow my advice, that you change your ways and accept the plan. 

Otherwise, you will suffer and die. Trust what’s being put forward by the experts. Every aspect of your care has been carefully studied and put into practice. What I recommend has benefited thousands of people like you, people in your exact situation, over many years of time. Jesus and the pharmacist are doing their best to convince the listening audience knowing that their desire is to flee, to resist hearing any more about what changes are necessary and how their cooperation is required. 

“But Jesus,” there it is. But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you?” Which means, “I know this does offend you, but believe me, it’s necessary that you face the truth. This is just the beginning. Soon you will see me ascend to where the Son of Man was before.”

Soon you will come to understand how everything works together for good. With regard to your physical, mental and spiritual well-being: When you take care of small details it will result in big overall benefits. 

Like Jesus, you could tell that the pharmacist meant to be helpful, that she was very knowledgeable and thorough, dedicated to her patients and experienced in her field. But, like Jesus, she was also somewhat taken aback when the patient before her took to crying. 

Like Jesus, she was used to people resisting change and denying that everything she said could be true. They half expected complaints, but were unprepared for such an emotional response, for when his disciples turned away and refused to follow him any longer or to wait for further instruction.

So he had to ask the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Think of the spirit and our heavenly Father this way. The spirit that gives life is insulin and our heavenly Father is the pancreas. Without involvement from them both, the most basic and major source of energy for our body’s cells, glucose, is useless. 

In the same way a person can consume carbohydrates and not benefit from them, a person in church can listen to the words that Jesus speaks, but never take them into the cells that can make use of them. The words accumulate in the bloodstream, but do not result in belief. The words themselves are not lifegiving unless the spirit granted by the Father facilitates the desired end result: to means to accomplish all things. 

Once the pharmacist was done teaching the woman how to dial up her dose of insulin and to administer the shot to her belly, she said, “Now I’d like to also go over your new heart medications.” By this time, my head was spinning from hearing all what had been discussed thus far and also witnessing the patient’s ever increasing anxiety. I could only imagine what was going on in her head and in her world. She was supposed to quit smoking from now on, too. What else could possibly be asked of her at this point? She was lucky to survive a STEMI alert. They put stents in. Wouldn’t that take care of things?  

Does this offend you?

Sin is very much like an ST-elevated myocardial infarction. It’s a type of attack that occurs when an artery supplying blood to the heart is blocked. Sin builds up and causes an ever-increasing blockage between us and the divine. Ignorance and denial are the two most dangerous precursors to the deadliest forms of spiritual sickness and disease. 

When I first entered the patient’s room and asked why she was in the hospital, she told me that she’d had “a little heart attack.” She failed to mention being diagnosed with diabetes years ago, or smoking, or being sedentary. What I did learn before our visit was over was just how broken her spirit was.

She had lost both parents recently and cared for them through extended illnesses. She was grieving having no contact with her brothers, gaining weight, losing mobility, losing motivation and the drive to do anything but the bare minimum. Now the minimum she must do has become complicated. How would it be possible to adapt and cope without falling into despair?

Simon Peter knew the answer. “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” But, the patient was not interested in prayer. She recognized and appreciated the patience and kindness I had shown, but could not say that she had come to believe and know Jesus as the Holy One of God. But that was okay at the moment. 

A part of her understood that she had nowhere else to turn but to the One/ones who had saved her life: the doctors, nurses and pharmacists, her significant other who loved her, the chaplain who showed that she cared. She may not have been ready to acknowledge God, but she would have to change and cooperate or risk losing everything, even life itself and the things she cherished most about it. 

This is Jesus’ argument to those listening. Will you refuse to do exactly as I say even if it’s not what you want to hear? Even if it sounds offensive to your senses or bizarre by everyone’s standards? Will you not believe that I have your best interest at heart, that what I’m telling you is absolutely necessary? That you couldn’t possibly know all that is at stake or how long and hard every detail of your care plan has been devised by your heavenly Father, myself and the Holy Spirit?

What are the essentials of this care kit: the spiritual equivalent of glucose testing, alcohol wipes, fresh needles, properly stored and dosaged insulin kept on hand, and some way to dispose of used needles? Paul would say that the kit amounts to the whole armor of God. 

The belt of truth around the waist, the breastplate of righteousness. Shoes that proclaim the gospel of peace. A shield of faith, a helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. With all of these we will be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. We may stand firmly against the wiles of the devil, against enemies of blood and flesh, against spiritual forces of evil. 

The young woman did not recognize the flaming arrows of the evil one as disbelief or understand that prayer and supplication might help her stay alert and persevere with her current medical challenges. That prayer might help her to be bold, understand mysteries about life and death, or reveal the gospel which Jesus and Paul proclaimed for her sake. 

It’s true. Our struggle is not against enemies of the flesh, against whatever clogs our arteries or pollutes our blood. It is a struggle to believe that every word that comes from the mouth of God is true, that what Jesus says is true. 

Finally, listen to the words of the psalmist. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and God’s ears are open to their cry so that the Lord hears and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those whose spirits are crushed. How could the woman not realize that the very ones who fixed her broken heart could also save her whose spirit is crushed, who had kept safe all her bones safe. 

It is not God who brings death to the wicked, but evil. Those who hate the righteous will be punished by consequences of their own deeds. O Lord, you redeem the life of your servants, and those who put their trust in you will not be punished. 

Let us pray. Dearest Lord Jesus, to taste and see that you are good means to experience your goodness personally and to know that we can trust in the means with which you administer grace, forgiveness, steadfast love and tender mercies. 

Through your provision of bread and wine, flesh and blood, we receive and believe in you. Also, we wait for the day when all mysteries surrounding life, death and your heavenly kingdom are fully revealed and make sense according to your perfect will, absolute wisdom and unsurpassed divinity. In your holy name we pray, Amen.