Who Sinned?

 

I’ve always been fascinated with the story in John 9 when Jesus was presented with a man who had been blind since birth. The big question was “Who sinned – that this man was born blind?”  Did his parents sin? Are they being punished?

We ask similar questions when we fall ill or someone close to us falls ill. Or it may not be a sickness but a hardship – like a job loss or a big financial bill.  What did I do to deserve this?  What am I being punished for?

Jesus’s response was great “It’s not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed through him.

I’ve wrestled, as I’m sure you have, as to why God allows bad things to happen to good people.  But sometimes, may more often than we know, God just wants to display His works through us.

Now that may be hard to accept sometimes.  I mean who does God think he is to cause us to go through all this hardship just so He can be exalted?  But if you know the character of God, He is not like that at all.  All that He does is also meant for our good.

Remember the situation in Mark 2 (or Matthew 9) when a paralytic’s friends lifted the paralytic to the roof top and then lowered him through the roof so that he could be healed by Jesus?  And Jesus first words were “Your sins are forgiven”.    Wait…what?  That is not why we went through all this trouble.  We want healing!  And healing they got.  But Jesus wanted them to understand that their primary need was not physical, but spiritual.  Jesus came to save us from our sins.  Jesus is first and foremost concerned with our spiritual conditions.  God loved us so much He sent His Son (Jesus) to die for our sins.  He wants us to spend eternity with Him, not to just be comforted, happy, and healthy in this life.

So in John 9, Jesus heals the blind man – who now has a testimony.  “I was blind, but now can see!” More importantly – the works of God were displayed through him so that others were blind spiritually might also see.

So, I still wonder why I am going through what I’ve been going through.  What did I do to deserve a brain tumor? Why does healing take so long? What does God want to teach me or prepare me for? Or maybe how does He want to display His works through me?  In any case I need to yield to His will and trust in Him that He is doing a great work in and through me.  How about you?  Maybe what you are going through is simply because God wants to display His works in your life and help bring you and others closer to Him.

Update:  This week I have an MRI to make sure that the residual tumor that was left is behaving itself and not growing back.  I also have a “swallow test to see if my swallow function is in fact getting better and if I’ll be able to expand my diet (what I can eat by mouth).  I also see if my vocal cords are waking up or if I’ll need another injection so I can continue to be able to talk (and be understood and heard).

 

I was amazed by the reaction to two Facebook Posts this week.  I appreciated the response to me finally being able to eat a little bit of yogurt.  After more than 2 months of nothing but feeding through a nose tube it was great to actually taste something and I’ve been able to add to that by eating applesauce, pudding, ice cream and even mashed potatoes.  I still have a way to go but encouraged to finally have some progress.

 

The other post was Mark 13:31
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

33 likes and 6 comments is more than 3 times more than I normally get for a verse – so I know that this struck a chord.  

But what does it mean?

It is comforting to know that with all that is going on in the world today that one thing remains constant.  One thing remains that we can count on and that is the Word of God.  We have been through a global pandemic, political, social and racial unrest.  Some of us have faced sickness, either ourselves or loved ones. Others have faced job losses or other unexpected financial troubles.

Where is God in all this?

Where He has always been.  Ever present, always unchanging, never shaken.

If it were not so, what hope would we have? 

In Genesis 1-2 God created a world that was good.  When he added man and woman His creation was “very good”.   But sin came on the scene in Genesis 3 and we have been suffering the consequences ever since.  But God has never changed.  His desire for His creation has not changed and the Bible is His redemptive story to draw us back to Himself – culminated by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 I don’t know how I could have gone through the last few months without the certainty of God’s love for me. A brain tumor, like cancer, or a job loss, or something equally devastating that you might have gone through, is all part of a fallen world. Not part of God’s original design in Creation and not part of the end state – but we go through it now to (hopefully) realize our dependency on Him. Because ultimately His concern for us is not in the here and now, but in eternity.

No matter what you and I are going through, and no matter what is happening in the world – God’s love for us is unchanged. His desire for us is unchanged – that we will accept the fact that we are sinners and in need of His salvation – and realize that we are totally dependent on Him – whether things are going great right now or if we are struggling.

The context in Mark 13 puts it all into perspective.  Jesus is talking about the tribulation and His second coming. Despite all that will be happening during that time God’s words will not pass away.  After all the uncertainty, struggling, calamity, sickness, and disease – Jesus will come back and restore all things to the original creation design. That is where my hope is.  That is why we can go through what we are going through now, with Jesus’s help. Because we know what is waiting for us.

So, the progress in my swallowing is very welcome.  The renewed strength I have in my body is very welcome.  I do have a way to go and I look forward to being restored to greater health (and maybe running that half-marathon).  But in the meantime, I have comfort in God’s love and care for me.  I have comfort that He is preparing me for something far greater – and that even now He is using me to bring Him glory and maybe a few people closer to Him.

I hope that in whatever you are going through right now you will also find comfort and strength.  God's words will not pass away. We can count on that.

Time for some applesauce.

Thanks!

 

Having brain surgery and being held up in a hospital and rehab facility for 5 weeks there is so much I don’t remember (or possibly never knew).  But there is one thing I will never forget – and that is how blessed I and my family have been to have great friends and a great church. I mentioned earlier that I would not be surprised if I was one of the most prayed for individuals on the planet. 

My brain tumor came as a surprise, I’d been battling for answers to symptoms that kept me tired, sluggish, headache prone, and blurry-eyed. Finally, numbness in my right-ankle caused me to change direction in my searching.  A Thursday afternoon trip to the Air Force base hospital led to a CT scan and the discovery of a tumor. An MRI the next morning confirmed it and I was on my way to the University of Cincinnati hospital for treatment. 5 days later I was having it removed (at least most of it).

In the meantime, you all were springing into action. My sister-in-law (thanks Carol) headed over from Eastern Pennsylvania to help take care of the household activities so Karyn could be free to be near me. My church and small groups began to pray and a schedule to provide my family meals was set up and filled up quickly. For over a month my family did not lack in meals or gift cards, nor did I lack in cards of encouragement.  Your response was overwhelming.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:35

When people face trials in their lives they usually respond to God in one of two ways.  They get angry with God and believe God is punishing them or just picking on them – or they draw closer to God believing God is working in their lives and preparing them for something better.  I have chosen to do the latter and it is the support that that I’ve mentioned above that has helped maintain that decision.

I still don’t know all of Gods purposes in this, but I have learned to trust in Him more and rely on His provision to sustain me through it. You all have been a big part of His provision and for that I am profoundly grateful.

Update: Next Friday I undergo minor surgery to have a feeding tube placed in my stomach (peg tube). This will replace the ng tube in my nose and hopefully make feeding time easier – and alleviate the annoyance of a tube in my face and down my throat. I still long for the day when I can eat normally.  But this week I have been able to eat a little bit of yogurt and applesauce - so progress is happening!   Praise God I can be back at my work, walk every day, go to church, enjoy time with my family, and write. 

Have This Same Attitude

I’d love to say that I am taking this whole thing with an attitude of praise and complete, peaceful, confident trust in God.  But my wife would be the first to tell you that it is not so.  I want it to be so.  I want people to marvel in how well I am doing through all of this – not so much for my sake but to glorify God.  I want people to believe that God is doing a great work and that I am fully on board.  But that is not always the case. 

Case in point.  As many of you know I currently have to be fed through a nose tube – 6 boxes of Jevity 1.5 a day. 

I won’t complain about the taste because the feeding process bypasses my taste buds (thankfully).  But the feeding process is not fun.  I push about 550 ml of Jevity/water through a tiny tube 5 times a day. 

If all goes well this process takes about 15 minutes each time.  Occasionally the tube backs up and Jevity goes everywhere.  Then I get frustrated, smell the bacon that one of my kids just cooked or some other heavenly food scent coming from the kitchen and begin to wonder “why me?” or “when will I get to eat normal again?. I haven't had a real meal in 2 months.”  Or I’ll get into what seems like a never-ending coughing fit that disrupts whatever I was doing at the time.  

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 

 - Phl 2:14

Ouch.  Let’s back up a bit:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be galrasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

 - Phl 2:5-8

 

Key words – mind (or attitude), emptied, humbled, obedient. 

Jesus, God Himself, demonstrated the attitude I should have.  One that resulted in complete obedience to God by humbling himself.  He emptied Himself.  Of what?  I expect it was of everything that His position as the Son of God entailed.

for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

 - Phl 2:13

Because God has purpose in accomplishing something that will bring Him glory and advance His kingdom.  His purpose may not be clear to me at this time – but I have to trust that an all knowing all-wise God knows what He is doing.  I also don’t want to go through all this for no good reason.

holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 

Phl 2:16

So I’ll do my best to keep a positive God-centered attitude as I go though this. Your encouragement and prayers as always are appreciated. I will probably struggle – the meat loaf and potatoes smelled awfully good …

and I don’t know why I can’t just have that piece of apple pie. 

For God’s glory.