The Lutheran Hour
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"A Letter to Jordan"
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Text: Ephesians 5:2
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Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! In a world of darkness, the light of the resurrection provides illumination and salvation to all who are given grace to see. May the light of the crucified and risen Lord touch the hearts of all who are burdened and all who are in pain. May the Holy Spirit provide God’s answers to our human questions. Dear Lord, grant Your blood-bought gifts to us all. Amen.
A short time ago, a young man, I will call him “Jordan”, although that is not his real name, wrote me a letter. That letter was filled with questions which sprang from the heart of a person in great spiritual and emotional pain. I replied to his letter as I reply to many letters. Still, I have not been able to shake the feeling that Jordan was speaking for many of you who are burdened by the pains of life. For that reason I feel compelled to share with you what this young man wrote, and after that, my reply. It is my prayer the Holy Spirit will use these words to answer your questions and bring some peace and understanding to your heart.
With a few very minor corrections, this is what Jordan wrote: To Whom it may concern, In April 30th’s devotion you said, “All of us have those days, months, and years when it seems anything that can go wrong, will. If that’s true for you, please remember we have a God who is a ‘very present help’ in times of trouble.”
My father came down with cancer a year ago. He went through all the treatment, all the pain, and all the (time of) praying. We, as a family, believed the cancer to be gone because the doctors praised my father’s recovery. (Then) It came to our attention that there was more cancer (spread) throughout my father’s body. My father is a good man. A man who believes in Jesus as his savior. He has lived a hard life, and always turned to God. (I want to know) Where is God now? Does God sit and watch, as a faithful believer suffers? (For) What (purpose)? To test his faith? To test mine? If so, I think there is something wrong with that. My father has been nothing but good to the church and family. Where is God? My mother would say (the cancer) is due to “original sin.” Oh, so God doesn’t have to show up to save the day or anything like that? Yeah, believe in Jesus for eternal life. Why is it before Jesus died and rose again miracles happened? Now, today, the only miracles that happen are in sports. Where are the miracles? There are no burning bushes; God does not talk to anyone today. There are no miracles and there is not a soul who can move a mountain with a little bit of faith. Does God work in mysterious ways? For my mother, yeah. Anything which can possibly make us feel better and give our lives something to hope for, other than the painful life we all live, is a miracle. But God does not do miracles. Look at the state of Michigan, the country, or even the world. Where are the miracles? God is a hypocrite. If miracles worked then, then miracles should be able to work now. It does not matter in what god you believe in during your life here on earth because all we do is suffer. Thank you for your time and God bless, Jordan
Although Jordan’s problems may not be yours; you may well share his feelings and his questions. Possibly you know someone who does. If so, I pray what follows may be of help. This is what I replied: Dear Jordan: Greetings to you and grace from our Lord and Savior. As I am the writer of the Daily Devotions, your email has been forwarded to me. Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ken Klaus and I am the speaker on The Lutheran Hour. Before going any farther, allow me to thank you for two things: first, thanks for reading the Daily Devotions, and second, thanks for coming to me with your thoughts and concerns.
Jordan, you should know that I grieve for your father’s battle with cancer. I have sat by the side of many people, some dearly beloved and close to me, who had that detestable illness. Even so, I will not say I can fully understand your pain. The rollercoaster ride of the initial diagnosis, the difficult treatment, a supposed healing, and then back to the depression of cancer’s return has had to have been a terrible, almost unbearable strain.
In your email you spoke with great love of your father. That he has inspired such loyalty and respect from you is a rare thing today. That you are able to say, without fear of contradiction, he is a ‘good man, a man who believes in his Savior’ is just about the highest praise a son can give his father. That he has received at least part of his inspiration for his day-to-day living from the Savior is a blessing. I am sure, even now; he is turning to his Redeemer for help and strength.
You, as a witness of the pain and suffering of someone you love, are looking for a solution, an answer. So far, you have not been able to find it. You heard the doctors say they had beaten the cancer only to discover they were wrong. You have seen and heard your family and friends praying for a miracle… a miracle which doesn’t seem to be forthcoming. Because it seems the darkness is getting darker, you have asked some pertinent and painful questions. You ask, “Where is God now? Does God sit and watch, as a faithful believer suffers? What to test his faith? To test mine? If so, I think there is something wrong with that.” Jordan, you should know, I agree with you. If that is what the heavenly Father is doing… if He is just sitting around as a disinterested Spectator, then there is something terribly wrong, and God is hardly worthy of receiving the prayers of your father, your mother… or your worship.
Before I try to answer your question, and I do so fully realizing you may not be ready to hear my answer, I would like to take a short detour with you. As you have learned in school, there is a line which runs north-to-south in our country called The Continental Divide. That “line” marks a division that determines which way water will flow. Imagine if you will a single drop of water that fell right on a stone which sits exactly on the Divide. Imagine if you will that drop of water was split into two mini-drops. One part of that drop would flow down the stone, into a creek which would flow into a stream, which would flow into a river, which would flow into the Pacific Ocean. The other half of that drop would do exactly the same thing, but it would end up in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean.
The act of hitting that rock on the Continental Divide would determine which direction the water would flow. Right now I believe your questions show that your father’s illness has become your Continental Divide. You will end up flowing one way… the way of faith, or the other way… the way of doubt and disbelief. Neither I, nor your father, nor anyone else, can answer these questions for you, or say which direction you will go.
Now to your questions. Jordan, you said, “My father has been nothing but good to the church and family.” I can believe you feel that way. I’m glad you do. Now, how would you feel if I said your father was cruel, nasty, heartless, and selfish? Unless I miss my guess you would get ready to punch me out. You would say, “My father has shown his love for us. In little ways and large ways, he has given evidence of how much he cares.” You would tell me, “You don’t understand him, you don’t know him. Pastor Klaus, you don’t know my father at all if you can say those kinds of things about my dad.”
That would be a reasonable response. You see, Jordan, you have watched your father in action. You have learned to trust his decisions… even; I imagine when those decisions may not have made sense, even when you couldn’t understand why he did what he did. It may be when you were young; you wanted something which would have been bad for you. At that time you didn’t understand why your dad would say, “no.” It was only in retrospect, as you looked back, that you could get some insight into why your dad did what he did.
Now, because your father has done so many good things, I imagine, even if you didn’t understand his motivation, you would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. You would say, “I don’t get it, but I know my dad loves me.” Jordan, that is exactly why your father and mother are acting the way they are. It is why they keep praying and trusting, and I imagine they’re saying to God, “Thy will be done.” You see, they have had a lifetime seeing God’s goodness, His care, His love. When you were born, they said a prayer of thanks. They knew the multitude of things which could go wrong, hadn’t. That was a blessing from God. If you will excuse me for saying so, it was a “miracle.” When they brought you home from the hospital, they watched, they beamed, they smiled when you did; they worried when you cried and they watched the Lord bring you through a multitude of childhood illnesses.
During the days that you have grown up, they have had their share of ups and downs, but the Lord was blessing them. Days went by and there was no heart attack, no stroke, no fatal automobile accident. They didn’t slip on the stairs and break their backs; they didn’t experience a lot of disasters which could have happened. Your parents, being people of faith, knew that it didn’t have to be that way. Their lives were blessed and that was the Lord’s doing. That you have the hand-eye coordination to write an email; that you can think as clearly as you do, that was a blessing to them. They knew God was watching over and preserving them.
Of course they both knew, as every person must know, difficulties do come. You need to know, these difficulties, these pains, problems, cancers, were not sent by God. They were, as your mother correctly has shared, the ‘result of sin.’ And no, it’s not you commit “SIN A” and you get “PUNISHMENT B”. It doesn’t work that way. Against God’s will and wish, sin is in the world and it messes with people’s lives. Everybody’s lives. Nobody escapes from it. In the Bible it talks of how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. But you can’t go to visit Lazarus today. Even Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, the man who was brought back from the dead, died again. Jesus raised the young man from Nain, but that young man eventually died, too. Pain and hurt and death come to everyone. That is the result of sin. Generic sin causes generic pain and death.
Which takes me back to your question: “Where is God now?” He is where He has always been: He is with you and your father and your mother and everyone in this sinful world. He is with us, and although you may not be able to believe it now, He is loving all of us. Because He loves us and knew that temporal and eternal death was our choice, not His, He decided not to sit around and watch. That’s what you asked, wasn’t it, Jordan? No, God didn’t sit around and watch. Immediately after WE sinned and told God we didn’t want Him in our lives, He did something amazing. He promised to send us a Savior; He promised to send His Son.
Jordan, let me ask. Would your father let you die in his stead? Would he let you die to save someone else? Of course he wouldn’t. Still, that is what our heavenly Father promised He would do. He said, “I’m going to send My Son to die for you.” You see, God knew what Michigan, the country, the world, would look like in the 21st century, indeed in every century. He knew the hate and the pain and prejudice of the world. He knew the greed, the envy, the cruelty, the horrors of humanity. And He also knew that only by His Son taking our place, could things be changed.
Jordan, you have watched your father suffer with cancer. How would you feel if this cancer was just the beginning of pain for your dad? How would you feel if he would spend forever going from this terrible pain to a pain which was even worse? That was your father’s fate… and yours… and mine. Did the heavenly Father just sit around and watch that happen? I give thanks He didn’t. If He had, there would have been no hope. But because the Lord did something, because He sent His Son to take our place, to live, to die, to rise for us, hope for everyone has been restored.
I know you don’t believe that, but it’s true. When the doctors tell someone, “We’ve done all we can”; when the medicines are ineffective; when the best of care is ineffectual, sometimes that’s when God does His finest work. He Who loved us before we were ever born; Who has wanted only the best for us throughout our lives, does something… you should excuse the word, Jordan, but He does something miraculous. He saves us. 2,000 years ago Jesus, His Son, came into this world. From almost day 1, Jesus was hated. His king tried to kill Him; when He began His ministry, His friends tried to murder Him; the pillars of the community loathed Him; his church plotted to kill Him; His government deserted Him, His friends ran away from Him, and a trusted pal betrayed Him with a kiss. Jesus was beaten, unfairly accused, whipped, spit upon, crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cross. This He did. ALL this He did even as He managed to lead the perfect life we never could; all this He suffered so the eternity of all who believe on Him might be changed, so they might be saved.
Does the heavenly Father sit around doing nothing? Just once. When His own Son hung on the cross, the Heavenly Father did not intervene. You can hear Jesus cry out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” That day, on Calvary, Jesus was forsaken so your father and mother would not be… so you would not be. It was an unbelievable act of love on God’s part, and your parents know it… and they wish you would be as sure of it as they are.
Jordan, you said your father hadn’t done any wrong. If I asked your dad if he was perfect, he would probably laugh and say, “Not hardly.” He knows he is a sinner. He knows what would have been in store for him. But because of Jesus, he also knows his eternity has been changed. In short, because of Jesus, cancer won’t have the last word in your father’s life. Because of Jesus, death won’t have the last laugh; because of Jesus, your dad is going to win… and he is going to win big. When your dad breathes his last in this world; when he shuts his eyes for the last time, in less time than it takes you to read this sentence, he will open his eyes in a place unlike anything you could possibly imagine.
Because of Jesus, He is going to spend FOREVER without having to see another doctor, without having to wait for another test, without ever having another IV, without having another injection, without any pain. Because of Jesus, He is going to be with his father and mother, and all those who have loved, and been loved by Jesus. Because of Jesus, he will spend eternity with your mother and you and all who have been forgiven and saved by the Redeemer.
Jordan, I know this is not the scenario you would have written for your father, but God has performed some miracles here. And those miracles are far better and more profound and longer lasting than anything which is done in the world of sports. You mentioned miracles. Yes, they happened, and they still do. Have you ever avoided an accident… an accident which might have killed you if you had been in a specific location a second earlier or later? Was that “luck” or was that the Lord’s hand providing a miracle… a miracle that you didn’t even notice, but Your Father in heaven did.
Yes, miracles happen… and although the Lord doesn’t usually waste them on moving mountains into the midst of the sea, He, through His Son and the faith the Holy Spirit gives, does move lost souls from hell into heaven; He moves fear aside and substitutes faith; he takes people suffering with cancer and lets them know this is not the end. And, my young friend, he can do something similar for you. Are you likely to suffer pain, loss, heartache, emptiness as you live your life? You will. Are you going to experience anger and rage and be filled with a sense of unfairness? You will do that too.
But, please don’t get angry at the only One who can lead you through the pain, the loss, the heartache, and emptiness. Don’t be furious at the One who has ultimately, and finally, and forever, set things right. See the Lord as your parents do. See Him as a loving Father who has proven His care in so many ways, so many times. See what the Lord is doing and you, like they, may, even when you don’t understand, be able to repeat the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Do you remember what He said? Jesus prayed: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” My friend, may the Lord bless and be with you… and please extend my deepest respect for your father, a man of God, and your mother, a lady of great Christian courage.
That is what I wrote to Jordan… and now share with you. If you know someone who needs to meet our Lord; if you know someone who needs to read Jordan’s letter, please… call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for August 9, 2009
Announcer: And now, Jordan’s story continues. I’m Mark Eischer, here with Pastor Ken Klaus. Earlier on today’s broadcast, we heard the letter Pastor Klaus received from a young man we’re calling “Jordan.” He was upset with God and Pastor Klaus responded to this young man’s anger and doubts. So, in effect, we were kind of “eavesdropping” on a conversation. I think Jordan was speaking for many people who are hurting and wonder, “Where is God?”
Klaus: Indeed, I can’t think of anyone who has managed to escape the difficulties that sin, Satan, and the world seem to delight in giving us.
Announcer: Jordan’s letter came to us more than a month ago. When you wrote your reply, you thought that might be the end of the discussion right there. But, Jordan has since replied to Pastor Klaus.
Klaus: And we thought you might like to hear “the rest of the story.” So, I’ve asked Mark to read Jordan’s most recent letter.
Announcer: Jordan writes, “Pastor Klaus, I wrote to you, not too long ago, about my father being sick, with cancer. I was angry and upset with God. You were kind enough to write me back. And, I thank you for that kindness. (You should know) My father is going to die soon. His pain is great, so I ask God to end it soon, so my father and those who love him won’t have to suffer anymore.
“When I wrote to you before, I was angry and bitter. Your kindness and truth is what I knew in my heart but just needed to hear (or read it) again. I thank you. I know that my father will live for all of eternity with our Redeemer. (Truly) I am not ready to see my father go. I pray daily that my faith be strengthened by the hardship that’s happening to my family. (It is easier because of his witness.) I am thankful that I have a father who is loving and supportive.
“With all of the screw-ups I have made in my life, my earthly father still loves me even on his death bed. (That amazes me.) (But it has made me realize) the love my heavenly Father has for me is something I cannot truly understand. The love of giving us Jesus is beyond my understanding. I know I will see my father in heaven. I just hope he is and will be proud of me and my life. Thank you Pastor, Signed, Jordan.”
That’s the letter. And on behalf of all those other Jordans who might be out there listening today, thank you, Pastor.
Klaus: You’re kind- but the truth is, I didn’t do anything, Jesus did it all. It is Jesus who came into this sinful, sad, sorry world. It is Jesus who carried our sins; it is Jesus who died the death we deserved. All I did was share that wonderful story of salvation. Even in doing that, I was late. The Holy Spirit had beaten me to the punch and Jordan remembered what he had been taught; what he truly believed. You know, Mark, at the end of Jordan’s letter he says, “I hope (my father) is and will be proud of me.” I don’t know what is in the future for Jordan- he’s already had to pass through the fire- but I know his father has to be proud- unbelievably proud. At the same time, this young man can rejoice. He has had the privilege of knowing a real man in his father, a real Christian man.
Announcer: Something else that struck me: talking about the doubts and questions. Many would say that doubts are a sign of weak faith. What do you think?
Klaus: What I think is this: Jesus never put down those folks who were sincerely doubting and questioning so they might receive an
answer. When the risen Redeemer showed Himself to Thomas, He didn’t chew him out. On the contrary, Jesus said, ‘Here, My friend, touch My hands, put your hands in My side.’ The real problem was when Jesus supplied the answers and people refused to listen.Announcer: Now, you said, He had no problems with those folks who had a “sincere doubt.” So you’re making a distinction here.
Klaus: The difference is this: sincere doubt asks a question and listens for the Lord for an answer. Then, having heard, the Holy Spirit moves that person to a deeper faith.
Announcer: And the hard-hearted disbeliever?
Klaus: The disbeliever asks his questions, the Lord provides the answers, and then that individual disregards what God says and asks the question again and again.
Announcer: And any examples from the Bible of this?
Klaus: Oh, yeah. The Children of Israel. They had seen God’s miracles in Egypt, but they still doubted He would take care of them. Or, the disciples who, having seen Jesus’ miracles, still doubted He would help them. Jesus was disappointed in the smallness of their faith.
Announcer: Anything else you want to say?
Klaus: I give thanks for Jordan. But, I also give thanks for his father. Well done, good and faithful Christian father. You can rest in Jesus. Your son is going to be OK.
Announcer: This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” arranged by Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Alle Menschen müssen sterben” by J.S. Bach. From Orgelbüchlein & More Works by J.S. Bach by Robert Clark & John David Peterson (© 1997 Calcante Recordings, Ltd.)
“Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend” by J.S. Bach. From Johann Sebastian Bach Organ Works by Per Fridtjov Bonsaksen (© 1995 Vanguard Classics)