Battle Creek Tabernacle Battle Creek MI : Object lessons

Battle Creek Tabernacle

Home > Pastor's Message >
Email | Print |
Share

Digg
Facebook

MySpace
Yahoo! Buzz
Twitter

Object lessons

Sabbath, February 13. What a Sabbath! Gayla Metzger’s praise team opened our worship service. Charles Foote had our congregational prayer, Bob Borrowdale called for the offering, and Jennifer LaMountain sang two songs of worship that blessed me. In between Mrs. LaMountain’s two songs, Rick Barrett read from Hebrews 11: 8-11 about Abraham’s journey. And then I shared from the pulpit after being gone three months. I was so happy to be back in the Tabernacle again.

The sermon I preached was about my trip to Loma Linda, California, for cancer treatment and some of the mental pictures I collected along the way and how those pictures brought Bible lessons to life for me.

I told the story about two children. The first was about a one-year-old boy with big trusting eyes being carried into the children’s wing of Loma Linda Medical Center on his daddy’s shoulder. The other was about parents in the radiation waiting room waiting for their two-year-old daughter to complete her radiation treatment as follow up to her second brain surgery. And she was only two! Both sets of parents loved their child, I am sure of that, and in spite of the discomfort of treatment were seeking the best for their child.

In my sermon I stated cancer has often been compared to sin. Cancer always starts out as just a very small spot, a few cells somewhere, but how serious it can become if not treated. And treatment never gets easier over time. The parents of the little boy and the little girl must have understood this principle as it applies to cancer. I am sure they were tempted to say we can put this off until later. I am sure they did not what to see there son, their daughter go through treatment. But they also were aware that unless treatment was applied, at least in young Sydney’s case, death was the end result. And so it is with sin in the life. Hebrews 4:7 makes the appeal: “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” In treating cancer and sin, today is always better than tomorrow. Now is always better than later. If my cancer was not caught when it was, well, enough of that.

But there is another object lesson that did not make it into the sermon from these two children and other patients in the radiation part of Loma Linda Medical Center. From time to time I would see other patients who appeared to me to be in much worse condition. One of those patients was the father of one of our Michigan conference pastors who was being treated for a serious brain cancer.

Obviously some patients were in a lot more need of treatment than I. In fact, the more one looked at some of these patients the better one could feel about his own condition compared to them. And he could think, my cancer isn’t as bad as theirs. I’m in pretty good condition compared to them. In fact, one could even take this so far as to think, “Lord, I am thankful I am not like others…” and begin to feel so good about himself, he could begin to think he really didn’t need treatment at all! Of course, that would be foolish. Greater cancers do not make lesser cancers insignificant. Cancer is cancer and cancer kills. Of course you know the story I am referring to, the one told by Jesus about the two men who went up to pray and one was lost and one was saved.

So much for making comparisons to others with cancer, or sin. Real healing comes from an honest evaluation of one’s own condition, not someone else’s. Spring is coming this month. Spring is a time for change, new birth, a new beginning. This spring, forget the comparing of one’s self with others. No one becomes better by someone else being worse.

As I sat in the treatment waiting room I often felt compassion for others. I could see the danger and difficulties they were facing. But I would often think, Lord, I have cancer, too, and I also need to be “saved.” Life is full of object lessons that bring Bible lessons and stories to life. Blessed is the one who sees them.

Yours in the blessed Hope, Pastor Carlson

Pastor Doug Carlson