Sermon(Ps 38): Christian disease

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025286510

 

>> 1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thy anger, nor chasten me in thy wrath! 2 For thy arrows have sunk into me, and thy hand has come down on me. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me. .... 9 Lord, all my longing is known to thee, my sighing is not hidden from thee. .... 13 But I am like a deaf man, I do not hear, like a dumb man who does not open his mouth. .... 16 For I pray, “Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!” ... 18 I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin. .... 22 Make hast to help me, O Lord, my salvation! (Ps 38) <<

 

There was a man named Baruch. He was the secretary of the prophet Jeremiah. In the past as well as now, it was not common for a prophet of God who spoke the right words to live with a full stomach in a comfortable abode. The world is so fair. Those who preach the word of truth face many trials inside and outside. If you enjoy the glory of proclaiming the word of truth, you have to suffer thanks to the truth. Jeremiah often prophesied against governmental policy, so was out of favor with the king, and he was not a priest working in the temple of God, so was not paid as a servant of God. How great Baruch's suffering must have been, who served Jeremiah, a servant of God outside the cleric circle! Perhaps he might not have frankly complained to Jeremiah over his tough life, but he might have been so embittered and shed a lot of tears with sigh inwardly.

 

God, knowing Baruch's heart well, said to him through Jeremiah. "You said, 'Woe is me! for the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.' ... Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up ㅡ that is, the whole land. And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not; for behold, I am bringing evil upon all flesh. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go. (Jer 45:3-5)" In other words, there seems to be a behind story. Israel committed sins against God. The nation fell into confusion while God was trying to destroy Israel. Baruch suffered a lot in the national disaster, so he prayed to God in distress and agony, "My God, I've served you honestly. Why should I suffer such difficulty in my life?" And God said to him, "Baruch, are you saying you want me to cancel what I have planned, in order to take care of you only? Even if you suffer a lot while Israel is punished, be patient. Instead, I'll protect your life to the end."

 

My brethren, who is meek and humble? Truly humble is he who thanks God even if he is not especially treated by God. A humble man is he who does not grumble at God even if he loses his children by the seismic waves, even if he loses his children by a collapsed building in an earthquake, even if he loses his children due to the flood, even if he loses his children in the fire, even if he loses a lot of his children in the war, even if he loses a lot of his children due to an epidemic, and even if he loses his child by a car accident. Truly a humble man is he who, meeting such calamities, does not think, 'It is clear that God hated me and gave me these miseries.' Why? Because God is the One who can take his children to heaven at any time even if he does not hate his children. God took Enoch the righteous man to heaven at the age of 365, even in those days when a man could live to 900 years. God so ordains that Christians and non-Christians have the same average life span. God gives the sunlight both to the fields of the righteous and to those of the wicked. God allows the Christians and non-Christians to get cancer at the same rate. When we are still thankful to God for everything despite the same misfortune others meet, our faith is confirmed as a genuine faith, and our prize in heaven becomes greater. What kind of faith, on earth, do you have, a man who want to be treated especially? Know this: a privileged particular treatment will be granted to you only in heaven. God is telling Baruch that, even if his life is tough, he should not doubt God's concern and love for him. My brethren, is God saying that to Baruch only? God who even knows the number of all hairs of your head knows all your circumstances. So don't whine, saying, "God is so indifferent to me." Of course, God deals with his children especially, sometimes they notice it, sometimes they don't. Nevertheless, sometimes God can't grant you special treatment, therefore you should trust and thank him also then.

 

Today's Bible text is David's prayer of repentance to God. He wrote it while he was seriously ill after committing crimes against God and man and after being punished by God. The law that a man shall be punished by God if he sins applies equally to Christians and non-Christians. What we should pay attention to is that, if even such a man like David who was loved by God is guilty of sin, he is punished by God as severely as he can hardly bear. "There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. (v. 3)" By the way, I saw that parents sinned against God, but their children met terrible calamities. How can we explain this? Three families (three couples) in a village attended a church. And a dissension broke out in the church, so that the pastor was driven out. Years later, when it was almost forgotten by all, the eldest son of one family went to the woman who had betrayed him, poured gasoline on himself and burned himself to death, the two grandsons of another family were drowned, a son of another family got mentally ill and killed himself by drinking pesticide. Think of David also. Four of his sons died miserably after he had defiled Bathsheba and killed her husband. Why do descendants suffer disaster when their parents have sinned? Because some people are encouraged to commit sins boldly by the thought that the punishment of their crimes may be mitigated if they commit sins for the sake of their sons and daughters. (Of course, the misfortune of the descendants itself is the punishment to the parents who committed any kind of sin.) For example, some people commit theft to support their children. God says to them, "Hey, stupid man! You can never beat (or outwit) me!" And people may commit sins boldly if it does not harm their children. But they hesitate to sin if the sin incurs misfortune to their children. Therefore God, anyhow in order to reduce the crimes of humans, sends disaster to the children of those who commit crimes. That they may not commit sins rashly and irresponsibly when they think of it. And since they hurt someone else's family, isn't it right that their own families should suffer disaster, too? It is one side of God's justice that the children of the evildoers should suffer disaster. In addition, if the children of the wicked ate much and grew up well with the money their fathers stole, it is reasonable that the children also should suffer the punishment. If any of the children of the wicked were righteous ones and met disaster thanks to their fathers' sins, the disaster is a punishment for the wicked fathers, but for the righteous children not a punishment but a mere accident. Then their sufferings belong to the sufferings of the righteous. How many righteous people in the world suffer because of the wicked? But the suffering of the righteous is the suffering that will bring them good reward later in heaven. So the wicked hurt not only others' families but also their own families. If you love your children, you must not commit any sins. In particular, if you in your old age have fun, buying sex of a woman, who is as young as your own daughter, you are seriously guilty of destroying another's daughter, so you are ruining the future of your own children also.

 

Naturally, God's punishment also falls on the criminal himself. The typical punishment is a severe illness. If the cause of the illness is not the sins of the patient or his parents, God's unlimited comfort fills all his heart even during such hardships. For those who are loved by God, there will be God's comfort even if they become sick because of the sins of their parents. But in the case of a disease which necessarily has befallen the grave sinner, or which is the result of a grave sin, the patient will feel God's wrath instead of his comfort. "O Lord, rebuke me not in thy anger, nor chasten me in thy wrath! For thy arrows have sunk into me, and thy hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. (v. 1-3)" But in fact, sicknesses caused by our crimes are not so common. If you commit such grave sins as murder, adultery, theft, robbery, or expelling of pastor, you may get the corresponding serious diseases. However, most Christian sins are not so grave, and such sins are simply forgiven by the prayer of repentance. So most of severe and trivial illnesses that come upon us Christians are the objects of God's comfort. Nevertheless, when we get sick, the Devil puts in us the thought that we’ve got the disease because God was angry with us when we sinned. So the thought makes us suffer more. No, my brethren! Don't be fooled by the Devil. The wrath of God that David feels is not just the result of his thoughts or imaginations but rather an overwhelming oppressive threat of God that is coming from outside. "Thy arrows have sunk into me, and thy hand has come down on me. (v. 2)" If God has given you sickness because of your sin, he will surely let you know what that sin was. Because God used the disease to make you repent your sins. David also clearly knew what his sins were. "My iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me. (v. 4)"

 

If you feel the strong wrath of God spiritually and the Holy Spirit helps you realize what your sins are, you should confess your sins honestly and grieve for your past deeds. "I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin. (v. 18)" "I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. (v. 6)" But there are also wicked people in the world who have been abandoned by God. They stumble, but do not know what they stumbled on. They are walking in the dark. But the faithful God gives his children sufferings for their sins, makes them convicted of their sins through the sufferings, which causes them never to commit the same sin again and to be mature Christians. The wicked are punished to perish, but the punishment of God's children is a process of healing, because through punishment the spiritual tumor of cancer is removed, and the soul recovers health. Therefore we believers do not lose hope even during the disciplinary punishment. "Lord, all my longing is known to thee. (v. 9)" "But for thee, O Lord, do I wait; it is thou, O Lord my God, who wilt answer. (v. 15)" We can count on God's mercy in any pain and any difficulty. In particular, since Jesus Christ has already suffered for all our sins, we can rely on God's mercy the more. David was forgiven sins, recovered his health, and lived a long life after all, when he looked to God's mercy, not giving up his hope.

 

Regarding Christian disease, we should also consider the case of Paul the apostle. Paul received a lot of revelations and power from God, but he himself had a disease that he himself could not deal with. "And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. (2 Cor 12:7)" Three times Paul besought God that the disease might leave him, but God said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9)" And Paul didn't pray any more to God to be freed from the disease, in order that the power of Christ might rest upon him; instead he boasted of his weakness to others. Paul's suffering due to his disease is similar to that of Jesus. Just as Jesus was revered as the Savior of all by suffering the pain on the cross, so Paul was praised as the shepherd of the saints by suffering a part of affliction that the saints should suffer for their sins. How much respect is paid to him who has healed others' diseases! It would be somewhat fair that the (healing) pastor bears even a little part of the sins of the saints in return for that respect, and thus as a pastor shows his love for the saints. Paul preached the gospel around the world, bound the force of Devil, and healed many, casting out demons that caused the diseases. God allowed Satan to cause sickness to such a man Paul. He did so to give Paul the qualification to be a true shepherd of the saints. Paul himself, in the pain from Satan, made intercessory prayers to God on behalf of the saints, and God heard his prayers and delivered them from the hand of Satan. Jesus can bind the power of Satan through Paul, a righteous man suffering illness from Satan, but Satan can't protest, saying, "Who is Paul that he can cast me out?" Because Satan has given Paul, a sinless man, the disease. From a deep thought, we can understand why Paul, who exercised the great power to heal the diseases, had a disease from Satan. In addition, if Paul could have been able to heal himself as well, he might have become arrogant, but he could heal not himself but only others, so that it naturally turned out that the ability to heal diseases was not in himself. Therefore he had to be humble and had to acknowledge that his ability to cure diseases had come from Jesus. And through him who has become humble even that way, Jesus works miracles. Paul's illness belongs to the suffering of the righteous. In the days of Old Testament, king Saul was possessed by evil spirits and got a mental disease; however, Paul had a thorn from Satan in the flesh, yet it did not affect his mind and spirit. Rather, those who are suffering righteous sufferings like Paul are in the strong influence and presence of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, evil spirits may come upon Christians loved by God and give a thorn in the flesh. It can be an allowed invasion for our humility and full exertion of our spiritual power. So we should not be afraid but greatly pleased then.

 

I pray that God may forgive all your sins and heal all your sicknesses.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                             - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -