ADVENT 2025 – DAY ELEVEN

There is no health in my flesh,
because of your indignation;
there is no soundness in my body, because of my sin.

For my iniquities overwhelm me;
like a heavy burden they are too much for me to bear.

[PSALM 38:3-4]

ADVENT DAILY OFFICE READINGS
AM Psalm 38; PM Psalm 119:25-48 Amos 8:1-14; Rev. 1:17-2:7; Matt. 23:1-12

In biblical times, illness was thought to be a punishment for sin.

In the Gospel according to John, for example, Jesus heals a man born blind. (John 9:1-12).

The disciples ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus quickly puts that myth to rest.

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus replies. “He was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

When I visit with hospital patients, some have asked me if their illness was the result of some transgression they committed against God.

Those questions usually lead to some interesting discussions.

My response is generally one of assurance that their illness and whatever sin they feel they committed are not related.

The God that I serve does not punish sin with sickness.

But there are times when the patient – or the penitent – needs a much more sophisticated answer that cannot be resolved in a simple cause-and-effect conversation.

I am very careful in these instances to avoid broad-brush blanket statements, and I give thanks to God for healthcare professionals who can give more detail than I am capable of giving.

One thing I am sure of is that we will never fully understand the ways of God. We will go to our graves with the word, “why” on our lips.

All of us have had to deal with medical adversity at one time or another in our lives, and we will never be able to explain why anyone is struck down by a debilitating illness, or a loved one dies at an early age.

Wrestling with those questions is anything but helpful.

In those moments of crisis, it is God’s presence that sustains and comforts us.

That presence comes to us in the community that surrounds us, be it our church family, our faith leaders, or anyone who has been a source of support in our lives.

We are in the season of Advent.

Advent reminds us that sickness, suffering, infirmity, and death do not have the final say.

During Advent we remember that the promises of God to this broken and hurting world are true.

We remember what God has already done for us in the Incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

We remember that God loves his fallen creatures so much that he became human and lived among us, fully human and fully God.

As Christians, the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ are central in our lives.

It reminds us that the cross has dealt with the penalty of sin once and for all, and that Christ lives with us through our trials and tragedies, never leaving us to face our perils alone.

What has happened to us shapes who we are, but it is not who we are.

We are children of God saved by God’s grace, transformed by God’s mercy, and empowered by the Spirit to join with God in letting fullness, laughter, and joy reign in our lives and in our world.

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, by your patience in suffering you hallowed earthly pain and gave us the example of obedience to your Father’s will: Be near us in our time of weakness and pain; sustain us by your grace, that our strength and courage may not fail; heal us according to your will; and help us always to believe that what happens to us here is of little account if you hold us in eternal life, our Lord and our God. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 461)