Lent as Surgical Repair
(This message is also available at: http://pastorjimdorton.blogspot.com/)
Patient: “My neck hurts.” Surgeon: “You have two completely ruptured discs.”
Patient: “My side hurts.” Surgeon: “You have appendicitis.”
Patient: “My elbow hurts.” Surgeon: “You have a nerve that’s exposed.”
Patient: “My wrist hurts.” Surgeon: “You have an entrapped nerve.”
Patient: “My shoulder hurts.” Surgeon: “You have some torn cartilage.”
Et cetera…
We have pain. Sometimes we know what is wrong, sometimes we don’t. We go see a doc, who through x-rays and MRIs, ultrasounds and the like, comes back with a picture of the problem, a diagnoses, and, hopefully, a plan for repair.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
Paul was not disregarding the pain and suffering in this world, in our bodies. He was just saying how much better life will be in Glory. But what about now? What about the aches and pains and suffering we have right now? Sometimes we know the cause, but other times we don’t. We just know it hurts.
Let it go. Turn it over. Cry out to God.
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
Can you imagine? When you cry out, the very Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit who hovered over the waters of creation, the Spirit who freed Christ from the tomb, listens to you! Listens to me! The Spirit who, as a mother knows a baby, knows us better than we know ourselves, then carries our wants, needs, pains, and desires to the throne room of Heaven.
Let it go. Turn it over. Cry out to God.
God willing, see you tomorrow. Pastor Jim
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