Please

[Chrysostom]

The cry of a troubled heart always pierces the heavens, and it is good that you run to the Lord with such urgency. But consider: the preservation of this earthly life is not the highest good. What profit is there if a man should save his life and yet lose his own soul? The body may recover today and perish tomorrow; the soul, once lost, knows no recovery. So let your prayer stretch beyond the sickbed. Plead for mercy, as the blind men did, with no other claim but mercy. Yet plead above all that he may eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, that he may have eternal life, whether he remain here a little longer or depart to be with Christ.

Do not cling to this life as though it were your own. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, then shall you truly live. So set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth. If the Lord grants recovery, receive it as an undeserved gift and give thanks; if He takes the one you love, do not murmur. For if we bear losses thankfully, our reward will be greater. I know the aching of your heart, but I must speak the truth: too often we pray as though this world were our home. It is not. The saints who prayed for Peter did not demand his release; they entrusted him to God. Do the same. Cry out with tears, but let your prayer end with, "Thy will be done." Whether in life or in death, the Lord's purpose is love. Watch, then, and be sober. For none of us knows the hour when we shall be called. Let the dread of losing a soul stir you to greater vigilance for your own. And if you need the help of the saints, seek it; but do not neglect your own watching. For if we sleep, the prayers of others profit nothing. Wake, then, and trust the Lord to do what is right. He hears. He cares. He will act.

 

[Silas]

The ache in those words reaches deep, and God hears every syllable. When we face the looming shadow of losing someone we love, we come face to face with the fundamental questions. What is life? Is this misery and suffering all there is, or is there something more? You are crying out for a life to be spared, and that is right and human. Make your plea to the Judge. Do not try to justify yourself, just cry out, "God have mercy." That is the best plea anyone can make.

But in the midst of this, listen to the witness God has given. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Jesus said that the Father has life in himself, and he has granted the Son to have life in himself. He has the authority to execute judgment and the power to give life. No one takes his life from him; he lays it down and takes it up again. This is the One to whom you pray. He holds a life that is more than just a heartbeat, more than just flesh and skin fenced with bones and sinews. He offers a quality of life, an age-abiding life, that is marked by righteousness, peace, and joy. This life is not a life lived under the sun, chasing shadows and finding emptiness. It is a life in the Son.

Your loved one’s body may be failing. The old life, the life of the flesh, is always under the law of sin and death. It is a life on the animal plane, body-conscious and subject to decay. But we do not despair as those who have no hope. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that gives life tonight. If Christ is in him, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death. That stronger force of life and light expels the darkness. You do not have to be afraid that this suffering is the end. For the one who has the Son, death is not a final wall but a passage. He that hears the word of Jesus and believes on the Father who sent him has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.

There is a mystery to suffering, and we must be careful. It is a heresy to say that sickness always points to some hidden sin, as if we could control healing by our own righteousness. Even a faithful servant of God may not be healed in the body, so that we learn not to trust in formulas but in the Giver of life himself. The gift of God is not a spare part for the old creation; it is a new creation. In baptism, the old life governed by the flesh is buried, and we rise to walk in newness of life. That new life is spirit, soul, and body, in union with God’s Spirit. The real life of your loved one, his true identity, is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall he also appear with him in glory.

So, continue to pour out your heart for his recovery. That is not wrong. God can do it. But do not put your ultimate trust in an extension of life under the sun. Put God at the center of your life even in this storm. Place your loved one into the hands of the One who has authority over all flesh. You are not just opening this situation to God’s work; you are opening your life to God himself. He who has the Son has life, a life that death cannot touch, a life the grave cannot hold. That quality of life is already his if he belongs to Jesus, and it is a life that will never end. May the Spirit of God, who makes all things alive, comfort you and give you that peace which surpasses all understanding, as you trust in the One who is the resurrection and the life.