More Than Medicine
Notes
Transcript
I am a hypochondriac.
That means that if I visited you in the hospital, I walked out of the room thinking I had what you had.
So if I was visiting you in the hospital and you noticed I seemed nervous, that the visit was short, that I said something awkward, and rushed out - it's because your gall stones were killing me.
Early in my ministry, I was visiting an elderly lady in the hospital, and here came the nurses - with needles - and a cart - putting on blue gloves as they walked into the room. I'm not sure what they were about to do to her, but they weren't about to do it to me.
So I said something like, "OK, so here are the people you really need to see . . . so, I'm going to get out of their way and let them do their job so that you can get better."
And as I said it, I was shuffling away from her bed towards the door.
But she grabbed my hand.
And she pulled me back to her bedside. She looked me in the eye and with the voice of sage, godly, wisdom and said to her young, foolish, hypochondriac pastor, "They give me medicine. But you pray for me."
The third epistle of John articulates what this dear saint of God taught me. It takes more than medicine to be healed.
The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
What does it mean to be healthy?
What does it mean to be healthy?
John sends word to Gaius that he is praying for him to be in good health.
The Greek word here translated health is akin to the word we also use for hygiene. It means that everything is in proper balance. There are no excesses and deficits. Everything is at the right level.
When we go to the doctor or check in to a hospital they take your vitals. They may draw blood. They may hook you up to a machine to check your levels. They are looking for excesses - heart rate is too high, blood-pressure is high, sugar is high, enzymes are high. They are also looking for deficits - potassium is low, certain hormones are low, or kidney function is low.
All of that stuff is right for the body, but that’s not all John is talking about. Because he says that he prays for his good health so it would go well with his soul.
That word soul is interesting because it makes a profound statement about what a human is. Humans are not just bodies, but living souls.
The Bible says:
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
My opinion is that the ESV choice to translate the word that describes what man became as “creature” is an unfortunate choice. The word creature is used numerous times in Gen. 1 as God creates all sorts of creatures. But the word translated creature here is not the same. It’s the word soul.
It’s the same word used in Deuteronomy 6
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
It speaks to the uniqueness of what man is as being the image of God that possesses the breath of God.
Humans have a body. Humans have a spirit. Humans are living souls. They are spiritual and biological creatures made in the image of God.
That means that for a human, health is more than just the vitals that we measure with our bodies. There is a spiritual level to health as well.
If we were able to to measure your spiritual vitals like we can your physical vitals, how would they read?
There are numerous articles in health journals about the connections between the physical self and the spiritual self.
In an article published by Baylor University Medical, Dr. Christina Puchalski writes:
“Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist who wrote of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, wrote: “Man is not destroyed by suffering; he is destroyed by suffering without meaning” (2). One of the challenges physicians face is to help people find meaning and acceptance in the midst of suffering and chronic illness. Medical ethicists have reminded us that religion and spirituality form the basis of meaning and purpose for many people (3). At the same time, while patients struggle with the physical aspects of their disease, they have other pain as well: pain related to mental and spiritual suffering, to an inability to engage the deepest questions of life. Patients may be asking questions such as the following: Why is this happening to me now? What will happen to me after I die? Will my family survive my loss? Will I be missed? Will I be remembered? Is there a God?”
“Cure is not possible for many illnesses, but I firmly believe that there is always room for healing. Healing can be experienced as acceptance of illness and peace with one's life. This healing, I believe, is at its core spiritual.”
So health is not just a biological thing. It’s a spiritual thing. It’s a matter of proper balance of soul.
The Place of Prayer in Health
The Place of Prayer in Health
So John makes his friend’s health not just a matter of medical care, but a matter of prayer. But again, notice that he’s not just praying for him to be healthy physically, but that it go well for his soul.
That means:
We can’t reduce prayer for the sick to a well wish. I think that we’ve made “praying for you” something we put thoughtlessly on social media to communicate that we care about a person, but the real question is are we really praying for them? If we are not praying we are lying. This world is filled with suffering. Our God is a healer. He hears and answers prayer.
That we can’t just pray for a person’s physical healing, but that the Lord would do a spiritual work in them as well.
What if our church became our prayer list?
It appears then that we would have a lot of extremely physically healthy people who got out of the hospital - but I’m afraid we are just praying for their bodies and we are neglecting to pray for them as human souls.
We should also pray that their relationship with Christ would deepen in their suffering. They the Lord would encourage them in their suffering. We should pray for their faith as well as for their surgery.
Truth
Truth
John mentions in his prayer about Gaius’ health his joy to see him walking in the truth.
In this past year it was not just COVID that made many of us sick, it was also deception.
I count this past year as the most disappointing in my ministry. Why? Because I saw it as an incredible opportunity for revival, but instead it became something that almost ripped us apart.
Why - our levels were off. Our levels of tribalism and politics were way too high. Too much passion for things that don’t matter. Our levels of Scripture, prayer, fasting, seeking the Lord were way too low.
It wasn’t healthy physically or spiritually.
We need to thank God that we are in a better place when it comes to the pandemic, but I’m afraid that we are still not well.
Our bodies may be better, but what of our souls?
The truth is that you have a body that will one day die. There is no amount of medical care that can release a person from the penalty of sin. We will all pass away. But you are an eternal soul. There is life after death. If you repent of your sin and trust in Jesus as Savior you will be one day resurrected to live in the New Heaven and the New Earth. But if not, you will eternally perish, separated forever from your Creator in a place called Hell.
And you may be the most physically healthy person in the world, but if you do not know Jesus as Savior, you are terribly sick of soul.
Conclusion:
When you release a patient from the hospital, could you also please prescribe that they get back in church?
We may need a better diet but we may also need a better Bible study plan.
When your doctor prescribes some medications for your heart, could we also be reminded that a human heart is more than just something that pumps blood - but that Jesus reminds us that where our treasure is, there will our heart be also.
Medicine helps, but we must also know the healer. He gave us a body that responds to treatment. But He gave us a spirit that responds and longs for Him.
