Let us pray: Gracious and eternal Father, as we begin this Lenten journey, we seek to focus our hearts and minds upon understanding the ways in which you work to heal us of our afflictions. Lord grant us wisdom in these moments. May the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
Sir Edmund Hillary is the explorer and humanitarian from New Zealand who was the first man to stand atop Mount Everest, the highest mountain on the face of the earth. In his autobiography, titled Nothing Venture, Nothing Win, Hillary speaks of scaling this mountain as "the ultimate in achievement; the supreme challenge for flesh and blood and spirit."1
I found it rather curious in this biography that Hillary did not really write very much about his personal feelings as he stood 29,028 feet high on Mount Everest, on what must have been one of the geat "mountaintop experiences" in human history.
All that Hillary says is that "It was a great moment." After hugging his companion, he took photographs for about 10 minutes. He left a crucifix in the snow for a friend. The two men then ate a mint cake, put their oxygen back on and began to worry about the time. After 15 minutes on the top, they turned back.
Now this account of one of humanity's greatest achievements seemed to me to be somewhat anticlimactic. One would think that in this moment, one would have had a mind-expanding experience, perhaps even an experience of God. What in the world could be greater than this achievement, the fulfillment of a mountain climber's greatest dream?
The explanation, I think, can be found on the final page of this inspiring book, as Hillary writes these words:
Each of us has to discover his own path - of that I am quite sure. Some paths will be spectacular and others peaceful and quiet - who is to say which is the most important? For me the most rewarding moments have not always been the great moments - for what can surpass a tear on your departure, joy on your return, or a trusting hand in yours?
Most of all I am thankful for the tasks still left to do - for the adventures still lying ahead. I can see a mighty river to challenge; a hospital to build; a peaceful mountain valley with an unknown path to cross; an untouched Himalayan summit and a shattered Southern glacier - yes, there is plenty left to do.2
That is it, isn't it? After one scales the mountain, after one achieves that which one has perhaps dreamed of and worked for all of his or her life, the time comes when one must come back down from the mountaintop. A man or woman must go on with everyday living. There is always another challenge ahead of us.
Our Scripture lesson for the day from the Gospel of Luke follows that great passage called the Transfiguration, that heavenly revelation by God that Jesus was the true Son of God. Jesus' face was changed as he was invested with a heavenly light and power. Our Lord dazzled his disciples as he stood in the presence of the great prophets of Israel, Moses and Elijah. The voice of God came out of the clouds and said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" Now that was some mountaintop experience!"
Yes, it was on this mountaintop, away from the crowds, away from the problems and pain of the world, that Jesus met God his Father face to face. It is important for us to note the context of the meeting between Jesus and his father in heaven. We are told that Jesus took the disciples Peter, John and James with him and "went up on the mountain to pray (9:28)."
It was when Jesus was praying that his face was changed, that he received the heavenly light and power which made his clothing a dazzling white. Therefore it is important to realize that it was in the experience of prayer that Jesus discovered the meaning of his mission; it was while he was at prayer that he received his divine power.
We, too, experience God's power and light in prayer. There are times when God reveals himself to individuals with great power and glory, inspiring reverence and a sense of wonder. When God appears in such a magnificent and wonderful way, the Holy Spirit inspires people to bow down in reverence before God Almighty.
This experience of what the scholar Rudolf Otto has called "the idea of the holy" inspires a deep change in the way an individual lives his or her life. It is the tremendous mystery of God's presence in which he makes himself present to his children. When a person has this direct encounter with God, he is overcome with a deep feeling of reverence, awe and fascination. The person also feels a great sense of energy all around. Those who work with the healing ministry of the church recognize that the contact point with God's healing power is the personal desire to tap into that omnipresent divine energy.
O how we treasure those quiet moments alone with God! It is in prayer that we find strength and peace, as our spirits are filled with the spirit of God. In those moments we know that God will take care of us, and that everything will be all right. Our hearts are lifted as we hand over all that troubles us to the loving God who created us in his image. If we are suffering, we sense God's spirit suffering with us in our pain. These moments on the mountain with God in prayer are absolutely necessary if we are to live happy and fulfilled lives in a world which is so full of pain and difficulty.
That is what it means to stand on the mountaintop with God. However, what our passage for the day teaches us is that we must come down from that mountaintop to live in a world which is full of sickness, pain and suffering.
So it is significant for us to consider what Jesus did when he came down from the mountaintop. Jesus encounters a great crowd. A father of a boy who is troubled with epilepsy cries to Jesus to heal his beloved only child of this cursed affliction. Jesus then is immediately confronted with the problems and challenges of the real world. He must shift gears quickly - after communing with God in peace and glory, our Lord must now deal with what the biblical writer conceived of as a demon.
There is then much more to this passage than simply the healing of a boy with epilepsy. This dramatic confrontation between Jesus and what is called an "unclean spirit" enables us to become aware of the deep and pervasive power of evil which permeates the world we live in. We find that evil, which is contrary to the will of God, in the daily struggles of our lives.
Just read the newspaper. Eighty-seven people are burned to death in a New York City fire, allegedly because one man got angry with his girlfriend. We read that a 13-year-old boy does not want to see his father who has been released from prison early on his good behavior. Why? Because his father had poured kerosene around the bed where his six-year-old son lay, and set it on fire. The boy survived, but with third degree burns.
The reality of evil. It is there among us almost everywhere we look. Humanity's inhumanity to individuals and groups of people has a long and sordid history. Ever since Cain murdered Abel, we have experienced evil spirits working deep within the human soul as people destroy one another. We may not understand the violence which is the result of hatred and bitterness, but we feel at the very least that we can explain crimes which philosophers categorize as moral evil, that is, evil that is caused by one person's cruelty towards another human being.
But what can we say of the evil that manifests itself as undeserved illness in the lives of so many people whom we know and love? In most cases, disease cannot be categorized as moral evil, that is, evil that is caused by one person's sin towards another human being. What do we say, what do we do, when, as in our Scripture lesson today, a child is afflicted with an incurable disease? The more difficult question is, what does God think, and what does God do in the midst of such terrible and senseless suffering?
Theologians and philosophers speak of this issue as the problem of evil. It is for pastors the most difficult question that must be faced in the ministry. As a pastor, I cannot explain to you why some suffer more than others, or why some are healed of their afflictions and others are not.
I do not believe that people are punished by God for their sins by their illness; I do not think that we feel pain because God is trying to teach us some sort of painful lesson that will bring us into line. As the Bible reminds us, the rain falls upon the just and the unjust in God's world (Matthew 5:45).
What we can be sure of is that our God is a God who loves us all the time. In the end, God will be victorious over evil, and all things will work together for good. Furthermore, I believe that our God is a God who suffers with us, that God feels our pain as we feel it. This is how he strengthens us. So together, with the spirit of God in our hearts and in our souls, we can make ready to do battle with the evil which plagues our lives and thwarts God's good intentions for us in this world.
William Sloane Coffin, pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, wrote these words down upon the untimely death of his son Alex in an automobile accident:
Nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn't go around in this world with his finger on triggers, his fist around knives, his hands on steering wheels. God is dead set against all unnatural deaths. And Christ spent an inordinate amount of time delivering people from paralysis, insanity, leprosy and muteness.... The one thing that should never be said when someone dies is, "It is the will of God." Never do we know enough to say that. My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God's heart was the first of all our hearts to break.3
My friends in Christ, God is always there with us, no matter what may happen. Somehow, some way, God will help us in our greatest hours of need. Yes, Jesus healed the boy with epilepsy. His power is so great that he can heal us of our afflictions as well.
But in those instances where the healing we want is not the healing we receive, we need to remember that through our prayers, in our times on the mountaintop, we will receive the strength to confront the power of evil in this world. God is always victorious and God always suffers with us when we are in pain and despair. God may not be able to defeat all evil on earth, but in the end, in the life to come, God will heal us of every sorrow.
May our prayer this day be that we may find Christ in prayer. May we be healed of all that from which we suffer.
Benediction: Gracious and eternal God, we have worshiped and prayed together. We have felt the presence of your Spirit which heals us. As we go from this place, may we share that power with others.
Now may the love of God, the peace of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you always. Amen.
1. Sir Edmund Hillary, Nothing Venture, Nothing Win (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1975), p. 130.
2. Ibid, p. 308. Quoted with permission.
3. William Sloane Coffin, "Alex's Death." In Sermons from Riverside, a sermon preached at Riverside Church, New York City on January 23, 1983, p. 2. Quoted by Kent D. Richmond in Preaching to Sufferers (Nashville: Abingdon, 1988), p. 69.