October 13
Mark 9:14-29; Matthew 17:14-21; Luke 9:37-43; Mark 9:30-32; Matthew 17:22-23; Luke 9:43-45; Matthew 17:24-27; Mark 9:33-37; Matthew 18:1-6; Luke 9:46-48; Mark 9:38-41; Luke 9:49-50; Mark 9:42-50; Matthew 18:7-35
The differences could not possibly be more staggering. In the past, a patient would be cared for by a physician for years, for decades, and when that patient became ill, that same patient would be cared for by that same doctor in the hospital, if needed with specialists, but never outside the loving eyes of that doctor who knew him/her all of those years. This personalized system has now been replaced by a hospitalist system. Under this new and "efficient", and what they call improved system (after all they get to control what is called evidence-based), the doctor who knows and loves that patient no longer cares for that patient in the hospital. Instead, a practitioner whom they have never met before now calls the shots. So, in the old system the physician might say, Susan in bed 102, has been a patient of mine for thirty years. She is a teacher, and her husband, Rick is an engineer. They have three kids and go to Evangel church, etc. This allows the staff to get to know them. In the new system, it goes more like S.B. is a 58 year old female, in severe heart failure, then goes on to list her vitals and labs, etc. In one system that person is a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter. In the other, she is a name, a number, and a diagnosis with a prognosis. No, our system is not improving, it has been and is getting increasingly colder with each new decision made by individuals who are far removed from the actual patient.
Consider the scene as Jesus approaches a crowd in Mark 9:14-15, " When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him." Okay, so Jesus' disciples and the religious leaders are arguing. But we read what they were arguing about in 9:16-18, " “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked. One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” Whatever form their argument took, they lost sight of the suffering child and the desperate father. It is no wonder that the father questioned and lost hope in the process, when it seemed they cared more about the argument and less about his son, as we read his interaction with Jesus in 9:23-24, " “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
Our opportunities are staggering, but we miss them, as we focus on the wrong things and allow ourselves to become less involved, less caring, a little colder. We need to abide, live in, surround ourselves so intimately with our Savior, that He naturally flows through us as we engage in every aspect of our lives. Yes, everything should be personal. It should not be about ourselves, but about Jesus and about others. We read in Mark 9:36-37, " Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.” That is how we must see our opportunities. In the "Parable of the Unforgiving Servant" (Matthew 18:21-35), the servant who was in a desperate position, and was the recipient of so much mercy from the king, quickly forgot, and extended no mercy to one who owed him so much less. When we consider just how much God has forgiven us for, how much He has given us that we don't deserve, if we only allow this reality to fill our hearts, His love and kindness will pour out of us onto others. With this realization, an impersonal approach to anyone and anything will no longer be an option.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: