18 Feb SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2024

Today’s gospel reading reminds me of a major current dilemma facing many members of our society, a dilemma affecting nearly every family as well as the entire healthcare system. The dilemma is this: Men and women as young as their mid-fifties upwards of ninety years of age are being driven out, like Jesus, into the wilderness. What do I mean by that? 

I mean that men and women of middle age and older are suffering new extremes of mental decline. Such mental decline is pronounced upon the backdrop of multiple successful medical interventions on their behalf. 

Patient’s charts prove that after decades of medical care and a long list of diagnoses, a history of having multiple parts replaced or the functionality of a failing body system enhanced by a medical device or pharmaceutical, there tends to be a major collapse in executive function.

Cognition is essential to well-being. Without it we can’t remain healthy, safe, or secure. Through thought, experience and our senses, we must continually acquire knowledge and understanding.  I fell into this milieu a couple of weeks ago upon having my first annual physical covered by Medicare. 

Never before have I felt my privacy more invaded. The questionnaire mandated by the government extended the reach of the doctor’s office into my personal life. Medicare in cooperation with the healthcare system now claims the right to inspect our home environments under the guise of personal safety. 

Suddenly, it seemed as though I was not only at the doctor’s office to be checked out physically, but to have my head examined. My ability to operate a motor vehicle, purchase adequate food, manage personal finances, maintain healthy relationships, and care for myself was questioned. I was asked the same questions every patient is asked upon admission. In addition, I was required to perform baseline mental exercises unexpectedly besides what I was used to, the taking of vital signs. I guess when you get older, you must prove other ways of being vital. 

Oh, well. Let’s get back to those patients in the hospital I mentioned, who happened to survive numerous medical threats only to end up with Jesus in the wilderness. Years earlier, perhaps only five, maybe ten or fifteen years ago, these persons and their families were celebrating. They breathed a sigh of relief that the big scare was just that, a big scare. 

Like Jesus when he first came up out of the water after being baptized, one major thing had been accomplished. His personal identity was secure. Whatever season of worry led up to it, once on the other side, still lucky enough to survive, the once unknown uncertainty becomes just a thing of the past. 

On that day of victory, the heavens tear apart and the Spirit descends like a dove. I know. I escaped the threat of invasive cancer once myself. We humans love to cheat death and celebrate. Most of us jump at the chance to ward off our pending demise, to survive in spite of a life threatening illness or disease like cancer, stroke or a heart attack.

What we can never know is this: whether or not, if farther down the line, we, too, will be driven out into the wilderness. That’s why it is so important to preserve our identity, to know who we once were and maintain an accurate awareness of our surroundings. 

Today is an example of how our church desires to not lose contact with you, our friends and loved ones, for once you were, without a doubt, a familiar face and a frequent part of our everyday life. 

What we hope to ward off is what many people suffer as their final years approach, they tend to turn inward and become isolated. Once they no longer function at capacity, they may become no more than a storehouse of memories that eventually becomes empty. Worst case scenario, the very thing that used to guide and help them figure things out, like the human brain, becomes a source of lies, confusion, suspicion, even nightmarish fear.

In order to ward off foreshortening a church’s life cycle and maintain the quality of what once was, we must recognize the parallels between  mind and spirit. Both point to the importance of participation within a religious community. 

What happens in the mind may completely change the spirit. Loss of identity can drive a person or a church to act out of character. And in an effort to preserve itself and remain intact, a person or church may regress to earlier times and take pleasure recalling what would be called history rather than contemplate who they are in the present or may become in the future. 

In my experience, patients and churches in this latter or end phase of life seem tortured, not that that is how I see our church. But I see men and women suffer like Jesus did. They are tempted to give into sensations. They weaken as powers overtake their bodies and their will to thrive. They want angels to care for them and God does provide a way for them not to succumb to external pressures, not to cave to forces that don’t allow them to function as they once did, as healthy life-giving individuals or congregations. 

You’re probably thinking. Wow. What a downer. When’s that German brunch? Why in the world would a pastor preach about this on a day the congregation chose to begin celebrating its 175th anniversary? 

Well…No one wants to envision the debilitating end of life while in the midst of celebrating a long period of survival. Especially not a Lutheran church which has survived much, which was established and has been maintained in Fisherville for 175 years while honoring the name, Messiah? 

But, more than an anniversary, today marks the start of a yearlong birthday celebration. I want us to be mindful of the parallels between churches and people of certain ages. I want us to realize that it won’t pay off in the long run to just fix things as they break, to purchase long-term insurance, try and save up a bunch of money, or merely expand our family. 

All throughout the lives we share together, we must practice living fully in the present. We must take care to remain as healthy and active as possible. We have a responsibility to remember that the future holds no guarantees. As the main character on the TV show The Irrational reflects on the fact that he survived a bombing and endured the aftermath of severe burns over a majority of his body, he says, “Perhaps we should try to live more rather than longer.” 

Now is the time to consider how we shall live going forward. Whether we will wrap ourselves in the past, fix things as they need repair or aim to maintain the very best health our efforts might produce. I wish to return to Halifax years from now to participate in another anniversary celebration as a former retired pastor to Messiah and St. Peter myself and I don’t want to see either of our two churches close. 

Like Jesus, I pray that today we are affirmed, that we are able to take stock of who we are, that we as a church can live fully into the identity to which we are called, that we will hear from above, and by gathering here today be better prepared for what trials await. That makes today’s gospel reading perfect for today’s anniversary celebration. 

It serves to remind us that it was the Holy Spirit who immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And why then? Because in that moment, Jesus was in tip top shape, at peak vitality and spiritually full after being immersed in water and blessed by God. If you look around at others gathered here today and think about the history we share together, at 175 years of age, this church is doing pretty well.

I pray that today we are affirmed, that we are able to take stock of who we are, that we as a church can live fully into the identity to which we are called, that we will hear from above, and by gathering here today be better prepared for what trials await.

The patients I see remind me that small rural churches need every member to take responsibility for its health. Regardless of individual capacity, each must accept the challenge. The challenge is the same as being part of any family large or small. Everyone needs to pitch in, everyone needs to do their part and support all other members since we’re all we have. We are it.

You might as well say, to paraphrase our gospel reading, that God has been pleased to dwell with this church for 175 years. In the future, should we become tempted by Satan, however that might look, we should look to God for angels to wait upon us. 

If we ever find ourselves among wild beasts, we should recognize the danger of our surroundings and sense the importance of proclaiming the good news. When we realize that upon Jesus’ arrival to Galilee, the time was fulfilled and the kingdom of God had come near, it is time to repent and believe the good news, to reflect upon the past and realize that we’ve got good reason to celebrate our present and future. 

To quote myself, “In God’s amazing grace, this church was founded and established. It grew in size and stature, endured and thrived in spite of setbacks and difficulties among its parts, branches and members, Today, we proclaim a sense of gratitude for this church’s longevity, for its partnership in community, for the love it’s shown its neighbors, and for its ongoing strength of commitment.

Let us pray. We commit to remain an upstanding presence of God in this place and claim that anything that benefits us will benefit others as well. We ask God’s blessing upon Messiah Lutheran Church, its members and friends, past participants, present and future guests. We pray to be known for love and generosity, for open heartedness and willingness to acknowledge our need for grace and our desire to live into the future through God’s amazing provisions.” In your holy name we pray, Amen.