The Doctor's In the House: Life Cut Short Series on St. Luke's Gospel - Luke 1: 1-4

Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.

INTRODUCTION

DOCTORS HAVE LONG BEEN SUBJECTS OF OUR ENTERTAINMENT AND INTEREST BECAUSE OF TELEVISION AND

MOVIES.......PAUSE FOR A MOMENT AND THINK ABOUT THE OBSERVATION RENDERED BY A

TELEVISION CRITIC, JOHNNY HUGHES WHO WROTE:

Doctors are terrific characters, as they must be

skilled, intelligent and heroic, but the stress of the

profession means that often we get to see another

side of them in the many TV shows that are centered

on the medical profession.

WHO SHALL FORGET THE DOCTOR PLAYED BY DENZEL WASHINGTON ON THE SHOW ST. ELSEWHERE, DR. PHILIP

CHANDLER OR THE LONG RUNNING SHOW “ER” WHERE WOMEN SWOONED FOR THE DOCTOR PLAYED BY ACTOR

GEORGE CLOONEY, DR. DOUGLAS ROSS AND IF DENZEL DIDN’T KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK FOR YOU BECAUSE

YOU MISSED THE SHOW, ST. ELSEWHERE, MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE COULD APPRECIATE HIS MOVIE

DIRECTORIAL DEBUT, THE MOVIE, ANTWOINE FISHER WHERE DENZEL PLAYED THE PSYCHIATRIST, DR. JEROME

DAVENPORT WHO CRACKED THE CODE THAT UNLOCKED THE JOURNEY ANTOINE HAD TO COMPLETE IN ORDER TO

KNOW HIMSELF BETTER.......EVEN AS IT REVEALED A RATHER COMPLICATED SIDE TO THE DOCTOR HIMSELF.....

IT WAS THE LONG RUNNING TV SHOW, BLACKISH, THAT INTRODUCED AMERICA TO THE WONDERFULLY

TALENTED TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, THE DAUGHTER OF, YES....THAT’S RIGHT, SUPREMES SINGER DIANNA ROSS

WHO WON 3 NAACP IMAGE AWARDS FOR HER PORTAYAL OF DR. RAINBOW JOHNSON, CAREER PROFESSIONAL,

STELLAR MOTHER AND WIFE......AS I BEGIN THIS 6-PART SERIES ON THE GOSPEL OF ST.

LUKE....WE TURN TO THE GOSPEL WRITER WHO WAS THE GENTILE, TRAINED DOCTOR OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.....

HE WAS A TRAVELING COMPANION TO THE APOSTLE PAUL......SOME REFER TO HIM AS A HISTORIAN, BECAUSE

OF THESE 1st 2 VERSES FROM THE GOSPEL ITSELF WHERE HE WROTE:

Luke 1:1–2 (NRSV)

Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just

as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,

IT IS THIS SO-CALLED SERVANT OF THE WORD WHO WILL BE OUR COMPANION AS SPRING GIVES WAY TO SUMMER

IN THIS CRITICAL TIME IN OUR LIVES COLLECTIVELY AND INDIVIDUALLY.....

OUR SERIES IS NAMED “LIFE CUT SHORT” BECAUSE THAT IS THE KIND OF THREAT THAT IS IMPLIED WHEN WE TAKE

SERIOUSLY THE PANDEMIC’S MOST DEVASTATING EFFECT WITH MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE....

WHEN WE PAUSE TO REFLECT ON WHY THESE SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ARE SO INCREDIBLY WORRISOME TO US,

ONE REASON MAY BE THAT WE ALL SHARE IN A DESIRE FOR OUR SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS, OUR

ADMINISTRATORS AND SCHOOL STAFFS TO BE ASSURED OF MAKING IT THROUGH THEIR DAY SAFELY, EVERY DAY

SAFELY..........TO THINK OF THEIR LIVES CUT SHORT TROUBLES US, IT TESTS US AND PUSHES US BACK DOWN

ON OUR KNEES PRAYING AGAIN AND AGAIN, “O LORD, WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO?”

WE DON’T HAVE TO THINK LONG ABOUT THE DEVASTATION HUMANITY IS DOING TO THE ENVIRONMENT TO THINK

OF MYRIAD WAYS LIVES, HUMAN LIVES ARE BEING CUT SHORT......FOR ALL OF US THERE IS ROOM TO BECOME

BETTER STEWARDS OF THIS BEAUTIFUL EARTH GOD HAS GIVEN US TO TAKE CARE OF......

AND FOR ME, THIS LIVES CUT SHORT THEME ALSO APPLIES TO FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES WHO HAVE SEEN

DEVASTATING HEALTH CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT TAKING THEIR MEDICINE, OR FROM BEING SHAKEN FROM THEIR

DAILY ROUTINES BECAUSE OF ADDICTIONS OR FOR FOLKS WHO SIMPLY GIVE UP MANAGING THEIR OWN

CHRONIC DISEASE OR DISEASES.......

IN ALL THESE CASES AND MANY MORE THAT WE’LL LAY OUT AND REFLECT ON OVER THESE 6 SUNDAYS WE’LL

RELY ON THE FACT THAT GOD HAS PUT A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE......

IN THAT SPIRITUAL AND AUTHORITATIVE HOME WE KNOW AS HOLY SCRIPTURE......THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

STANDS OUT AS A RESOURCE........

-IT STANDS OUT FOR MANY REASONS....BUT NOW I’D LIKE TO SHARE A FEW REASONS WHY.......

Luke’s Gospel has been called “the Gospel of the

nations, full of mercy and hope, assured to the

world by the love of a suffering Saviour;” “the

Gospel of the saintly life;” “the Gospel for the

Greeks; the Gospel of the future; the Gospel of

progressive Christianity, of the universality and

gratuitousness of the gospel; the historic Gospel;

the Gospel of Jesus as the good Physician and the

Saviour of mankind;” the “Gospel of the Fatherhood

of God and the brotherhood of man;” “the Gospel of

womanhood;” “the Gospel of the outcast, of the

Samaritan, the publican, the harlot, and the

prodigal;” “the Gospel of tolerance.” The main

characteristic of this Gospel, as Farrar (Cambridge

Bible, Luke, Introd.) remarks, is fitly expressed in

the motto, “Who went about doing good, and

healing all that were oppressed of the devil” (Acts

10:38; comp. Luke 4:18). Luke wrote for the

“Hellenic world.” This Gospel is indeed “rich and

precious.”

FOR CATHOLICS Saint Luke the Evangelist IS THE

PATRON SAINT OF ARTISTS, PHYSICIANS, BACHELORS, SURGEONS, STUDENTS AND BUTCHERS.......

THIS DOCTOR’S PURPOSE IS HEALING

IN THESE DEVASTATING AND HURTFUL, DIFFICULT TIMES WE TURN TO ST. LUKE FOR HIS WONDERFUL WAY OF

POINTING US TO THE GREAT PHYSICIAN HIMSELF, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD......

DURING THIS 6-WEEK SERIES YOU’RE INVITED TO

ABSORB THE STORIES TOLD SO SUPERBLY BY ST. LUKE AS BALM TO HEARTS WHEN WE SEE THE FUTILITY OF

SYSTEMS THAT SEEM TO KEEP PRODUCING SHOOTING, AFTER SHOOTING, AFTER SHOOTING.....AS OUR

WEEPING FOR THOSE WHOSE LIVES ARE SO UNFAIRLY CUT SHORT CONTINUES DURING THESE LONG DAYS AND

NIGHTS OF OUR COLLECTIVE, COMMUNITY PAIN WHEN WE, LIKE THOSE FIRST HEARERS OF THE GOSPEL,

LOOK BACK TO THE PROMISES OF GOD RECORDED IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET.....WE TURN AGAIN

AND AGAIN TO THE PROPHET’S ORACLE WHERE THE LORD OUR GOD SAYS:

Isaiah 57:18–19 (NRSV)

I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;

I will lead them and repay them with comfort,

creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips.

Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord;

and I will heal them.

WHEN WE NEED HEALING IN OUR TIMES, HEALING IN OUR WORLD, HEALING FOR OUR HEARTS AND SOULS

BELOVEDS LET US TURN TO OUR CREATOR GOD FOR THE HEALING WE NEED WITHOUT SHAME AND WITHOUT

SUPPRESSING OUR NEEDS.....

2 DOCTORS WHO HELP US EMBRACE OUR HEALING WAYS TOO

SOMETIMES THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HAVING A GOOD DOCTOR IN OUR LIVES, DEDICATED DOCTORS WHO

ARE COMPASSIONATE, DILIGENT AND WISE.....AND NOT JUST FOR OUR ENTERTAINMENT IN THE MOVIES OR ON TV

BELOVEDS.....

ST. LUKE WILL GUIDE US THROUGH OUR NEXT 6-SUNDAYS TOGETHER AND HIS WISDOM WILL BE EVIDENT, HE’LL

POINT US TO JESUS CHRIST, THE GREAT PHYSICIAN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN......ST LUKE WILL HELP US

NAVIGATE OUR STORMS, OVERCOME OUR WOES, THANK GOD FOR OUR SUPREME TREASURES AND FIND OUR WAY

THROUGH PERILOUS TIMES....

AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE, SEEKING TO LIVE OUT WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE US DO.....THERE ARE 2 OTHER DOCTORS I

WANT TO WELCOME INTO OUR HOUSE, OUR SPIRITUAL HOME TODAY.......

DR GERALD EPSTEIN TOLD THIS STORY IN HIS BOOK, HEALING INTO IMMORTALITY:

A MODEL OF THE SPIRITUAL PHYSICIAN CAN BE FOUND IN AN OLD ARABIAN STORY ABOUT A SHEIKH WHO

DIES AND LEAVES HIS 3 SONS 17 CAMELS. HE HAS STIPULATED THAT THE OLDEST SON SHOULD GET HALF

THE CAMELS, THE 2nd SON A THIRD, THE YOUNGEST SON ONE NINTH. THE 3 SONS WERE IN A QUANDARY, AS

THEY CANNOT POSSIBLY FULFILL THEIR FATHER’S WISH WITH 17 CAMELS. THEY FINALLY GO TO A WISE

ELDER IN THEIR COMMUNITY FOR HELP. THE ELDER LISTENS TO THEIR STORY, PONDERS IT FOR A MOMENT

THEN TELLS THEM HE WILL LEND THEM HIS CAMEL TO HELP THEM SOLVE THEIR DILEMMA. HE ASKS THAT

THEY RETURN THE CAMEL IF AND WHEN THEY HAVE NO FURTHER NEED FOR IT. THEY GO HOME WITH THE

CAMEL AND NOW THEY HAVE 18.

THE ELDEST SON TAKES HIS HALF, OR 9 CAMELS, THE SECOND SON TAKES HIS THIRD OR 6 CAMELS AND THE

YOUNGEST SON TAKES HIS ONE NINTH OR 2. 9 PLUS 6 PLUS 2 EQUALS 17. THEY THEN RETURN THE 18TH

CAMEL TO THE WISE ELDER.

THE STORY BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATES THE HEALER’S ROLE. THE SON’S WERE IN SOME DISTRESS,

EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS FOR WHICH THEY COULD FIND NO READY SOLUTION. THE WISE ELDER DID NOT

INVESTIGATE THEIR PAST OR MAKE ANY INTERPRETATION. HE DID NOT PRESUME TO BECOME AND

AUTHORITY OR DICTATE TO THEM AN ANSWER THAT HE REGARDED AS THE ONLY TRUE ONE. HE MADE NO

JUDGMENTS ABOUT THEM, NOR OFFERED ANY UNNECESSARY PROGNOSIS. HE SIMPLY LENT A HAND.

TODAY, CONSIDER HOW YOU CAN BE A HEALER LIKE THE WISE ELDER IN THE STORY......TODAY, DR EPSTEIN IS

CLAIMING NO EXPERTISE BUT HE SHOWS US A WAY TO BE HEALERS IN THIS WORLD, IN OUR TIMES.....

THE WORLD NEEDS MORE HEALERS TODAY....GOD CAN USE YOUR HANDS.....THE WORLD NEEDS MORE HEALERS

TODAY.....GOD CAN USE YOUR HEARTS.......

THE 2nd DOCTOR, DR. EDWARD HAPONIK, IS PART OF A BIOGRAPHY OF DR. MAYA ANGELOU, CALLED THE POETRY

OF LIVING....HE WAS DEEPLY MOVED BY HIS INTERACTIONS WITH HER AND HE SHARED THIS WONDERFUL

INSPIRATION THAT EVERYONE SHOULD REMEMBER, THAT EVERYONE SHOULD SHARE....HE WROTE:

THROUGH MAYA I LEARNED THE UNIVERSAL GIFT OF

HEALING — WHO IS HEALING WHOM. GOD HAS

BLESSED EACH PERSONS WITH THE POWER TO HEAL

NO MATTER HOW GRIEVOUS THE CONDITION AS

LONG AS EACH OF US HAS THE COURAGE TO LOVE

UNCONDITIONALLY. YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO TO

MEDICAL SCHOOL TO PUT BALM ON AN INJURY OR

TO ASSUAGE ANY PAIN.

CONCLUSION

DURING THIS TEACHING SERIES ON LUKE THE PHYSICIAN AND EVANGELIST LISTEN FOR AND LEAN INTO NOT JUST

THE HEALING YOU NEED FOR YOUR HURTING HEART.....LEAN INTO HOW YOU CAN BECOME A MORE EFFECTIVE AND

FAITHFUL HEALER YOURSELF LIKE THE WISE ELDER WHO HELP THE SONS OF THE SHIEK....

2ndly, LEAN INTO THE SUGGESTION OFFERED BY DR. HAPONIK THAT YOU CAN HEAL, WITH YOUR

COURAGE.....SURELY WE NEED COURAGE TODAY, COURAGE TO FACE OUR TODAYS AND TOMORROWS.....DR.

HAPONIK FOUND IN DR MAYA ANGELOU THE COURAGE HE NEEDED TO LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY AND IN SO DOING

FINDING WAYS TO HEAL THAT DIDN’T INVOLVE HIS MEDICAL SCHOOL TRAINING......

THIRDLY AND FINALLY, DURING THIS SERIES LEAN INTO ALL THE WAYS GOOD

DOCTORS YOU’VE ENCOUNTERED EXHIBITED SIMILAR TRAITS......AND SEE WHERE THOSE TRAITS ARE FOUND WHEN

FOLKS ENCOUNTER YOU.......

WHEN WE HAVE A GOOD DOCTOR THEY’RE SOMEONE WE CAN TRUST, SOMEONE WHO IS PATIENT, SOMEONE WHO

USES THEIR WISDOM FOR OUR VERY BEST OUTCOMES, FOR A CHILD GROWING UP ON THE SOUTHSIDE OF

CHICAGO, MY FIRST RELATIONSHIP WITH A DOCTOR WAS WITH MY PEDIATRICIAN....DR. KIRKPATRICK, WHOSE

OFFICE WAS A STONE’S THROW FROM ANGELLE’S HOUSE ON COTTAGE GROVE BLVD. IN CHICAGO.......

SO THAT DOCTOR WASN’T JUST THE CAT WHO PUT THE COLD STETHESCOPE ON MY CHEST AND TOLD ME TO

BREATHE DEEP AND COUGH......HE WASN’T JUST THE ONE WHO GUIDED US TO OTHER SPECIALISTS AS I NEEDED

THEM OR THE GUY WITH THE WARM SMILE AND KIND WAY ABOUT HIM WHEN I PEPPERED HIM WITH QUESTIONS...

HE WAS ALSO A FELLOW CHRISTIAN, WHO PASTOR WAS MY PASTOR AND WHOSE CHURCH WAS MY CHURCH

TOO....I’D SEE HIM ON SUNDAYS, FOR EASTER AND CHRISTMAS AND TIMES OF GREAT CELEBRATIONS FOR OUR

CHURCH.......I CAME TO TRUST HIM MORE BECAUSE OF ALL THAT, BECAUSE ABOVE ALL WE ALSO SHARED JESUS,

GREAT PHYSICIAN.... AND I CAN SEE A THROUGH LINE TO EVERY DOCTOR I’VE WELCOMED INTO MY LIFE SINCE, EACH

ONE WITH SIMILAR PERSONALITY TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS......

TODAY, WE PRAISE GOD FOR THE DOCTOR GOSPEL WRITER, ST. LUKE....WHO IS ALSO THE WRITER OF THE SECOND

VOLUME WE KNOW AS THE BOOK OF ACTS......HE IS OUR GUIDE AND HE HAS MORE BLESSINGS FOR YOU TO

RECEIVED AND USE AS YOU PRACTICE YOUR FAITH DAY BY DAY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES......

WE CLOSE THIS MORNING WITH THE PRAYER OF ST. LUKE.......SO, LET US PRAY:

Almighty God, you inspired Your servant St. Luke the Evangelist and Physician to set forth in the gospel the

love and the healing power of your Son. In faithfully detailing the humanity of Jesus, he also showed the

divinity of Jesus and His genuine compassion for all human beings.

May St. Luke intercede for us that we may deepen our understanding of the gospel and grow in compassion of

Jesus. May his intercession enable our new parish to follow Your way and plan for us.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever