One of my favorite actors was Paul Newman. He played some of the best roles in motion picture history. Here is picture of Newman in one of his most famous roles, Cool Hand Luke. Cool Hand Luke is an important film with layers of meaning. Newman plays an unruly prisoner in a Southern chain gang during the 1930’s.
Some folks have suggested that Newman’s character is somewhat of a Christ figure. For example, Luke surrounds himself with a band of followers. He also performs miracles, like a death defying escape during a football game. He catches the football, scores a touchdown, and just keeps on running. Eventually, they do find him, however.
Perhaps what is most striking about Luke is his aching search for an absent God. One day he receives a letter in his prison cell informing him of the death of his mother. He tries to comfort himself by grabbing his guitar and singing the only religious song he knows: “I don’t care if it rains or freezes, long as I got my plastic Jesus, riding on the dashboard of my car. I can go a hundred miles an hour, long as I got the almighty power, tacked up there with my pair of fuzzy dice.”
At the end of the movie he makes his last escape. The state marshals catch up to him and discover that he has locked himself in a small chapel. He is so desperate he gets down on his knees at the altar and begins to pray. He prays and prays. Then he begins to laugh and as he laughs he goes to one of the windows of the chapel, flings it open and shouts into the void the theme of the movie, “What we have here is a failure to communicate!” The marshals hear Luke, and one of them fires. Luke falls dead.
Praying to a Plastic Jesus
Do you ever feel like Luke? Do you ever feel like you are praying to a plastic Jesus – an impersonal, unfeeling, uncaring, silent God who does not listen to you? Do you ever go through despair and hopelessness and feel like no one is listening to your fervent prayers? If you have, you are in good company. The Bible is filled with characters who were depressed, discouraged and angry with God. One of those characters was the writer of Lamentations.
We don’t know who the writer of Lamentations was – some have suggested the prophet Jeremiah. We are not sure. What we are sure of is that the writer of Lamentations was a traumatized Jewish person being held captive in Babylon. He writes some of the most depressing words in the entire Bible. You can’t blame him really. He is captured and held captive in a pagan city, hundreds of miles from his home. To make matters worse, his fellow Jews chastise him for having any faith in God!
Take a look at something the writer of Lamentations said. This is from then Contemporary English Version:
I cannot find peace or remember happiness. I tell myself, “I am finished! I can’t count on the Lord to do anything for me.” Just thinking of my troubles and my lonely wandering makes me miserable. That’s all I ever think about, and I am depressed. (Lamentations 3:17-20)
Depression
The writer of Lamentations suffered from what some call “situational depression.” Many experience this kind of depression. A lost job can trigger it. Losing a loved one can trigger it. Going through a divorce can trigger it. Sometimes life presents us with some hard blows and the only way we can process these difficulties is through depression.
Of course, sometimes depression hits us after being at the height of ecstasy and success. The immediate low after a glorious high can throw many into downward spiral. Take Elijah, for instance. He was on top of the world, literally! High atop Mount Carmel Elijah he had taken on 850 pagan priests and won. Clint Eastwood had nothing on him! He asked God to make known his supreme power over the god Baal, and God did with a big bolt of lightning. A crowd rose up and yelled, “God is Lord in Israel!” Immediately, Queen Jezebel, who worshipped Baal, ran after Elijah. The prophet ran and ran, and finally collapsed under a tree. And what did Elijah do? Did he celebrate? No. He curled up and screamed, “Oh God I want to die.”
Great highs can sometimes lead to great lows. I understand this. Being a local pastor is a wild roller coaster ride with lots of highs and lows. For example, I love Easter, but you don’t want to be anywhere near me on the Monday morning after Easter. There’s a reason why I take Mondays off! Many of us experience an “emotional hang over” after being at the peak of bliss. Many new mothers experience this. There is the great anticipation and joy of having a baby and then the baby comes and there is the post-partum blues.
Depression can hit us after experiencing the thrill of victory and depression can hit us when we experience the agony of defeat. There is also much evidence to suggest that depression can run in the family. There are many who believe that there are genes that predispose some of us to depression.
For others, depression can be a form of suppressed anger. Something happens to you that really “tees” you off, but you never deal with that anger, and so you get depressed. The late great Psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck, suggested in his book, “The Road Less Traveled” that much mental illness, including chronic depression, occurs as a result of our unwillingness to go through the necessary pain of facing the truth in our lives, the truth that will set us free.
Depression Can Hit Any of Us
Depression can hit any of us for a variety of reasons. It is a fact of life. If you are suffering from it right now, you are not alone! Also know that it is not a sign of spiritual weakness. It is not a sign that you are not praying enough or that you don’t have enough faith. And it is never a sign that God is punishing us.
The writer of Lamentations suffered from depression. So did Elijah, as did Martin Luther, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and the great preacher Charles Spurgeon.
If depression is so common and affects so many people, why is it considered an “Elephant in the Room?” One reason is because our church culture still has trouble being sensitive to this issue. How often have I heard well intended but misinformed people of faith demean others who suffer from depression? They say, “Snap out of it! If you really were a Christian you would not act like this!” This kind of insensitivity in the church must change.
Another reason why depression is an elephant in the room is because more and more people seem to be suffering from it. I see it all the time as a pastor. One of the ways I see it is in the form of the growing wave of teenage self cutting – teenagers cutting themselves because feeling physical pain is somehow a relief from the emotional pain of their depression. I also see it in people who have been through a major crisis or have experienced a great disappointment. And, of course, I know people who suffer from depression because there is a simply a chemical imbalance in their brain.
Just like those who suffer from diabetes because their body does not produce enough insulin, some folks suffer from depression because their brain does not produce or produces too much of a chemical.
Once again if you are or someone you know suffers from depression you are not alone. Take a look at these statistics:
- The World Health Organization estimates that about 350 million people suffer from depression
- Untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-44 year-olds.
- Over 800,000 people die due to suicide every year. Close to 43,000 thousand people in America died to suicide in 2014.
- We lose about as many people to suicide each year as we do to breast cancer
- Depression is the leading cause of alcoholism, drug abuse, and other addictions
- 1 in 5 adults will experience some form of mental illness
Get Help!
The good news is that depression can be successfully treated. In fact, 80 percent of those treated show an improvement in the first 4 to 6 weeks of treatment. Unfortunately, 2/3rds of those who suffer from depression do not receive treatment.
Some depressions just need to take their course. A time of grief, stress, or illness has come and the brain has released chemicals that serve to numb the mind and body. It is like a shock absorber. Eventually it will wear off.
For others it doesn’t wear off. In some people the brain and its chemicals get so out of balance that clinical depression may occur. If you or someone you know is showing even the slightest signs of chronic or clinical depression, please seek help as soon as possible. Call our church and we will refer you to the right counselor who can help lead you back to wholeness and joy. Do not wait to get help.
Lessons from Depression
I want to say something very important, so please listen closely. God meets us in the great depths of our depression. If we allow him, God can teach us profound truths and use our time of depression for good. I know because he did it for me.
Some time after my Dad passed away when I was 19 I went through experienced depression. It was delayed because right after my dad died I was appointed to my first church. I wanted to be God’s man of power and glory! I did not have time to deal with emotions. Well, what I would later learn is that God created emotions for a reason and if you do not allow them to take their course and teach you the things they need to teach you they will haunt you until you relent. Well, in my first semester of seminary I finally relented and began to grieve and process my emotions.
It was a dark time for me. However within that dark time, I found God right there with me. I discovered that we can never go so low that God is not there. I experienced the depths of God’s love and realized once again that God’s grace and mercy is wider and stronger than any of us can fathom. I also felt that God suffered with me (which is a side to the cross that many of us miss – God suffering with us). Soon, God’s peace came over me and he pulled me out of the darkness. I learned that we can never go so low that God cannot pick us up. When God had wiped away my tears I noticed that he had enlarged my heart so that I could help others who experience the death of a loved one. My ministry was enriched. Believe me, God is there to help when you are depressed.
My Friend’s Story
Recently I was speaking to a colleague and friend of mine about depression and today’s sermon. He said, “Why don’t you share my story?” His name is Bill Barnes and he is a United Methodist minister. He also grew up in this church. He was confirmed in this sanctuary. He also loved listening to J. Wallace Hamilton.
What you might find even more interesting about Bill is that it’s a miracle he is still alive. You see, when Bill was a college student at Emory he went into a deep depression. In February of 1970 on a dark, cold, rainy afternoon Bill decided he could not take his depression anymore. He wanted to take his own life.
At first he thought about driving down the highway and crashing into something, but he didn’t want to hurt anyone else. Then he went to the school’s library and proceeded to the balcony door. He was going to jump from the balcony but when he reached the door to the balcony it was locked. He could have gotten a key from the volunteer who was monitoring the balcony, but he did not want her to see him jump.
So Bill went back to his dorm. He lied on the black and white tile floor and thought about this church and his faith. He thought about the sermons that he heard from J. Wallace Hamilton. He closed his eyes and prayed, “Lord, I release everything to you. I surrender to you. Whatever you want me to do with my life I will do it.” Bill told me that it was the first time he truly surrendered to God. At that moment in his dorm, he went from the pit to the pinnacle of God’s love and peace. He couldn’t explain that transformation except by calling it a miracle.
Bill felt called by God to enter the ministry. And that’s what he did. He never looked back. However, when Bill was 50 the pressures of life and ministry caused him to go into another deep depression. He would come home from the church and cry for two hours. He was with his wife at a restaurant and when their salads came he broke down and cried. It wasn’t because he ordered Caesar and they gave him a house salad. He was severely depressed. His wife told him to go see a doctor.
Bill went to his doctor and he put him on an anti-depressant. It completely changed his life. He felt human again. He said, “Charley, I remember thinking, ‘Can life really be this good?’” Bill went on to be one of the most successful ministers not only in our conference but in the United Methodist Church. Bill is one of the most gifted and courageous people I know.
So what is the lesson? It often takes more than faith and prayer to get over depression. Yes, God works in miraculous ways but God also works in other creative ways, through doctors, counseling and medication. And sometimes we have to allow God to guide us to use those different means of healing. Just like a diabetic needs insulin or a heart patient needs blood pressure medication, some people need medication to balance the chemicals in their brains. Our God has guided people to create medication to help bring physical and mental healing.
Someone once said, “Be kind to everyone because everyone is fighting some kind of battle.” If you or someone you know is struggling with depression, know that you are not alone. God is right there with you. He will give you the strength to overcome and use it for good. And if you are open, God will guide you to find healing if you let him. You don’t have to suffer. God will provide a way out of the valley. I promise.
The writer of Lamentations promises us as well. Take a look at how he ended his complaint and lament:
Then I remember something that fills me with hope. The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. Deep in my heart I say, “The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!” (Lamentations 3:21-24)
No matter where you are in life, you can depend on God.
I thank Dr. Vic Pentz, former Senior Pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Ga, for his insights as I prepared this message.