Stephen
Terry, Director
Mission
to the Needy
Commentary
for the November 25, 2023, Sabbath School Lesson
"Look at the birds of the air; they do
not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them..."
Matthew 6:26, NIV.
What does love look like? I recently
saw a video about an unconscious bird that had been knocked out by flying into
a windowpane, believing there was nothing there to hinder its flight. Striking
the transparent glass with a loud bang, it fell to the ground below the window.
Had it died from a broken neck? It lies on its back motionless. But its mate
soon arrives. She began pecking at him and trying to turn him over. He
continued to be unresponsive, but she was determined to save his life. Had he
been conscious, the determined pecking would have been painful, but despite the
pain she may have been inflicting, she was not willing to lose that relationship
and was willing to do whatever was necessary, even if painful, to restore her
mate to health.
For what seemed like an eternity
but was only a few moments, there was no response and someone with less commitment
might have given the situation up as irredeemable. But then there was an ever
so slight twitch from the corpse. At that, she redoubled her efforts, and the
responsive movements slowly increased until the bird righted himself to stand
on his feet. As he looked groggily around, she continued to peck at him until
he flew off with her joyfully in pursuit. Her determined love restored what
might have been lost otherwise.
Had the wounded bird been more
alert, he might have protested the constant pecking. He might have wanted to be
left alone with his pain, depressed by what had happened to him. But depression
can be dangerous. We can become so despondent we see no way out. Our mental
state can be more deadly than any physical trauma we are struggling with. The
efforts of those working to save us can be seen by us as counterproductive. We
get to the point where we wish everyone would leave us alone and let us die in
peace. But like that little bird, what we really need is friends who are not willing
to give up on us. Perhaps the disabled man by the Pool of Bethesda felt like
that.[i] He
had struggled with his illness for thirty-eight years. Hearing of the possibility
of healing from the waters of the pool, he managed somehow to get to the pool
side. But he discovered that to be healed, one needed to be the first one into
the pool whenever the water moved, said to be stirred by an angel. Being an
invalid, it must have been a tremendous challenge just to get there. How could
he win a race into the pool against so many others who were waiting poolside
for healing as well? Despairing, he nonetheless waited. How many of us might
have given up long before almost four decades had gone by and simply drowned
ourselves in that same pool to end our seemingly hopeless struggle. Did others
encourage him to persevere? The Bible does not say.
He had no way of knowing how his
story would turn out. He may have been as oblivious to God's love for him as
our little bird was to the efforts of his mate. But God knew his situation and
was about to glorify himself through the man's suffering and deliverance.
Whatever kept the man going despite his infirmity made it possible for him to
be present when he caught the attention of Jesus. When Jesus asked him if he
wanted to be healed, he may have felt the irony in that question. Had he not
managed to get himself to this pool to seek healing? Had he not kept trying
despite how remote the possibility of his getting into the water before anyone
else seemed? Of course, he wanted to be healed. He had done everything he
possibly could, and still, it was not enough. Jesus responded, "Get up and
walk." The Bible doesn't tell us how the man felt upon hearing those words. Did
he initially think he was being insulted? Was there a sardonic look in his
eyes? Did they quickly pass when he realized that in thirty-eight years, he had
accepted his condition without challenging it? Did he respond by getting up in
submission to Jesus' determined authority or did he get up to prove to Jesus
how hopeless his situation truly was? Whatever his motives, he did get up and
found himself able to walk. Love had touched his life.
Sometimes we become so determined
that we know what our condition is and our needs better than anyone. After all,
we have lived with it for so long, how could anyone else possibly understand,
especially if they had not experienced the same suffering? But when we judge
others' ability to help, we can set ourselves up to be taken advantage of by
all manner of charlatans who claim to have suffered what we have suffered and found
a miracle cure, a cure that can also be ours if we send them the money they
request for their product that is not sold in stores and the medical establishment
is suppressing. It can be hard to wait for healing while years of prayers have
gone by without apparent result. Would we wait for thirty-eight years? What if
the amount of time were much less? Would that make a difference?
A woman had been bleeding for
twelve years.[ii] She spent all she had on
doctors in hope of a cure without relief. Instead, her condition continued to
deteriorate. If ever there was a reason to simply give up with her money gone
and her health failing, few would have blamed her if she simply succumbed to
her despair. But she did not. She heard of Jesus' miraculous healings and
sought him out, hoping to inconspicuously touch his robe and feel his healing power,
too ashamed to publicly declare her illness and ask for healing. Announcing it
would amount to declaring herself as unclean as any leper.[iii]
She tried to avoid that risk by approaching Jesus secretively. But God, who in
his love cares for every sparrow was not one to miss the opportunity to set
someone free from their shame and loss. Jesus felt the love flow out from him
to her in her need. Then to make public the joy of her healing brought her
forward to glorify God. Now that the healing had taken place, there was no more
danger of being ostracized as unclean. Jesus wanted to share with her all the
joy of that moment.
But Jesus no longer physically
walks among us. What are we to do if we can no longer wait for him poolside or
come seeking him out in a crowd? How do we keep faith alive? Another miraculous
healing may give us a clue. A paralytic who hoped for healing from Jesus
discovered that he could not get to Jesus, and Jesus could not get to him.[iv]
But he had friends who had brought him to where Jesus was, and they were not
about to give up. They opened the roof of the house where Jesus was and lowered
their paralyzed friend in front of the Savior. In response, Jesus healed the man,
and he left walking and carrying the bed he had been lowered through the roof
in.
Our friends who persist in
prayer and persevere on our behalf can be a vital element for our healing. But if
we despair over our situation, we not only face the danger of losing the
ability to persist in faith, but we may even attempt to drive away those who
love us most and would otherwise make great sacrifices for our wellbeing. Prayer
is an effective means of healing and salvation.[v] Reading
the Bible is like providing ourselves with a flashlight. The Holy Spirit is
like batteries that energize the light. Prayer is the switch that turns the light
on to light the pathway forward.
The Bible tells us of Daniel[vi]
who was faithful in prayer, praying three times a day even when it was made
illegal to do so. For violating the ban, he was tossed into a den of ravenous
lions where his enemies expected him to quickly perish. But they did not
understand the power of prayer. Daniel remained in that den for the entire
night and emerged unharmed, telling everyone that an angel had prevented the
lions from harming him. Some might point out that such prayers of deliverance
are not always answered. What about that?
Daniel had three friends, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego who experienced a miraculous deliverance from being
burned alive in a furnace. But before being tossed into that fire, not knowing
how things would turn out, they told the king that sentenced them to such a
horrendous death that God would deliver them. But if not, they still would remain
faithful to him.[vii] In the end, they were delivered
and did not even have the smell of smoke upon them.
We are challenged in this life
greatly. Pain and suffering seem to define our existence. As Jesus experienced with
the massive crowds drawn to him, he felt the tremendous need for hope and healing
in our wounded world. His love compelled him to respond to that need. Does our
love compel us as well? We are told to love others as we love ourselves. Do we
love ourselves to pray for our needs? If not, will we be able to love others enough
to pray for them? What if we did not like them? Would we still pray for them?
Would we love our enemies enough to do that? Jesus did.[viii]
"Why should the sons and
daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of
faith to unlock heaven's storehouse, where are treasured the boundless
resources of Omnipotence?"[ix]