Healing Rays of Righteousness

The Message of The Cross

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The Jews of Paul’s day were saying to God, “Give us miracles.”  And so, they asked Jesus for a sign that would prove he was God’s Messiah.  They wanted to see some marvelous, miraculous act that would confirm and convince them that Jesus was indeed God’s promised messiah. 

Instead, God gave them a man crucified on a cross.  And they did not like it.  The bloody cross was anathema to them because their scriptures said, “anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.” (Deuteronomy 21:23). They also believed that the Messiah would be a strong leader who would come with great conquering power and majesty.  Therefore, a crucified messiah was a contradiction in their thinking and thus unbelievable.

The Greeks of Paul’s day were saying to God, “Give us wisdom, the intellectual key to understanding the world’s mysteries, the Gnostic wisdom of religious humanism without the Divine.”  Instead, God gave them a man crucified on a cross.  And they did not like it.  They could never dare to humble their proud intellects to believe that in Jesus Christ, God became human man.

To believe that God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to himself was incomprehensible and ridiculous in the human and proud reasoning of both Jews and Greeks.  Neither group was willing to lay aside their egotistical skepticism to simply believe and trust God to be and do what he proclaimed to be and do.

On the other hand, the cross was for Paul the foundational core of salvation history.  At the heart of the Christian gospel is the story of Christ’s death, and the good news that by that unspeakable ugly event of crucifixion suffering and death, salvation and eternal life were made possible for all mankind.

What God accomplished in Jesus Christ being crucified is in direct contradiction of the human ideas of wisdom and power, yet it did what human wisdom and power could never achieve.  The message of the cross of Jesus Christ conveys the truth that God is LOVE, and that mankind is SINFUL.  It further conveys that belief in Jesus, the crucified and resurrected Lord, fully and completely delivers all who believe from their bondage to sin and Satan’s evils.

There are three ways that I think the message of the cross reveals the ultimate power of God. 

1.  The way of the cross is the way of redemption – “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

2.  The way of the cross is the way of reconciliation with God. “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:10).

3.  The way of the cross is the way of restoration – “When you were dead in your sins …, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us;  he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  (Colossians 2:13-15).

The summary message of the cross as declared by the early church was simple and forthright.  “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), and through him (Jesus) to reconcile to himself all things, whether thing on  earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20).

At the center of the centuries, B.C.-A.D., God placed a crucifixion cross.  And, as the songwriter, Jessie B. Pounds, says so clearly, “I must needs go home by the way of the cross; There’s no other way but this.  I shall ne’er get sight of the Gates of Light if the way of the cross I miss.” 

Truly, the way of the cross is the only way home to the Father’s house.  Carroll S. Ringgold tells of a white cross that stood on the outskirts of a city.  A little lad was lost in the city.  A policeman inquired, “Where do you live?  Just tell me where you live.”  But the boy did not know his address.  Finally, upon further questioning, the small fellow said, “Take me to the cross on the hillside, and I can find my way home from there.”

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – March 31, 2021

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Spring-Time Renewal

The annual season of SPRING has arrived.  For me, even the word “Spring” has a kind of energetic and vibrant ring to it.  It is a word pregnant with anticipation and action.  It identifies a season of the year that I most enjoy, because it is the season when both the earth and its creatures give birth to new life.  There is a fragrant freshness in the air as trees blossom, flowers bloom and the grasses burst green with beauty.

In the Old Testament book, Song of Songs 2:11-13, Spring is called “the season of singing” and certainly it is that.  “See!  The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.  Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.  The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.” 

The Message paraphrase reads, “The whole world’s a choir – and singing!  Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios.  Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms.” 

What a delight it is each year to welcome the newness and freshness of springtime, with its annual reminder that resurrection and renewal amazingly happens.  It is a most wonderful and beautifully refreshing time.  It awakens our hearts to sing and pray with Ralph Waldo Emerson.

            For flowers that bloom about our feet;
            For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
            For song of bird, and hum of bee;
            For all things fair we hear or see,
            Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

            For blue of stream and blue of sky;
            For pleasant shade of branches high;
            For fragrant air and cooling breeze;
            For beauty of the blooming trees,
            Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

It is also the time when many people do “spring house-cleaning” which is a process of thoroughly cleaning house and property.   This is a vigorous activity of washing away the grime and dirt, gathering up trash, and getting rid of clutter that has accumulated over the past months. 

I think it is significant and helpful that the Church season of Lent leads us into this season of Spring.  This should remind us that the physical effort of “spring house-cleaning” activity should begin with a similarly needed cleaning of our spiritual house.

For Christians, the Lenten season is seen as a time of repentance and forgiveness as we allow God’s Spirit to do a thorough cleaning of our spiritual house.  This cleaning work is best done as we focus our thoughts on Christ’s suffering and death for us during these weeks leading up to his resurrection on Easter Sunday. 

As we think about God’s amazing love for us, the light of Jesus reveals the accumulated grimy dirt of pride, envy, and selfishness that clutters and corrupts our relationship with God and with others.  Acknowledging what is revealed, we repent and invite God’s Holy Spirit to enable us in a thorough cleaning of our spiritual house.

The smelly garbage of resentment, anger, and bitterness needs to be buried.  The ugly trash of prejudice, gossip, and a critical spirit needs to be discarded.  Broken and injured relationships need forgiveness, repair, and healing.  The clutter of unnecessary worry, doubt, and fear needs to be sorted out and given away to Jesus. 

These are but a few of the things God will take care of when we come to him in repentance.  God has promised that if we repent of these things, he will both forgive and “thoroughly” cleanse our lives.  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9).      

Springtime and the Lenten season both speak to us of cleaning up our lives through repentance and forgiveness so that we can experience the invigorating freshness, beauty, and music of new life and relationships.  Let us do so now in preparation for the best Easter Sunday yet!     

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – March 24, 2021

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Hope and Healing

Whether it be in response to our own physical or mental health or that of our spouse or children, none of us wants to ever hear the words, “There is nothing more we can do.  There is little hope for recovery.”  To feel a sense of hopelessness is most likely the most difficult sense we  can experience.  I believe we can survive most any difficult experience if we can sense that purpose and hope is somewhere near and within our grasp.  It has often been correctly said that “Hope enables us to cope.”

In his book, When Love Gets Tough, Doug Manning talks about a lady who shared her experience of aging with these words, “The toughest part of aging is living without goals.  All my life I was looking forward to something.  First, it was getting out of college, then marriage, then a new home, then a family, then the marriage of my children, then the empty nest and time to travel with Bob.  But now Bob is gone, I am retired, and all I can do is look back.  There is nothing to look toward except the day I am to die.  I have lost my purpose.  The rest of it I can handle.  So, what if the body creaks a little.  The loss of purpose leaves me with no reason to live and no way to die.”  

In contrast to the above woman, Miss Mary McCorkle, a 104-year-old lady said the following when asked to summarize her life.  “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”  I can’t see, I can’t hear, I can’t walk, and my hair is falling out, but every day I live the world is more beautiful.  I can still read my large-print Bible, watch the changing seasons from my window, and do some baking and canning from my wheelchair.”

It is evident that Mary’s life was brimming over with everyday purpose and hope which kept her in touch with life and caused her to enjoy every day of it.

Hope and a sense of purpose are so essential ingredients to the quality and enjoyment of life.  Victor Hugo is quoted as saying, “The word which God has written in the brow of every person is HOPE.”   And an Irish proverb states, “HOPE is the physician of every misery.” 

Hope and purpose is essential for living at any time, but especially so in the hard times of adversity and difficulty.  Hope and purpose are heavenly gifts given us to enable our looking forward with confidence, knowing that even if the future holds suffering and death, it will be okay because Jesus Christ has gone before, prepared the way, and promised to never leave nor forsake us.  

For the Christian believer, hope is neither a message of escape nor a hollow promise of avoiding all problems and sufferings.  Our “living” hope and purpose is firmly anchored in the biblical good news that for every today, tomorrow, and for eternity, there is a future for each of us because a sovereign, almighty, all-loving God is in it.  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has  given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”  (1 Peter 1:3).   

A multitude of health research studies confirm that having a future orientation is critical for any person to maintain physical and mental health throughout their later life.  It is a well-documented fact that hopelessness quickly and completely drains the energies of life and purpose from any human being, regardless of race, creed, gender, or wealth.

Perhaps the most destructive thing our selfish, me-focused, American culture has done to its aging population, is to deprive them of any hope and purpose by ignoring them or treating them as if their future is empty and meaningless.  Unfortunately, our present culture is also doing the same with those persons in our communities who are the underprivileged, dependent, or different from us.

Yes, every Christian church has persons in their midst and neighborhood, who are suffering various losses with much pain and grief, and with diminished hope become discouraged and depressed.  For that reason, Jesus Christ commissions us to extend love, compassion, and support, from the whole church community to these persons, enabling them to discover and hold onto a hope and purpose that both anchors their soul and energizes their life, even to moment of death.

May our prayer and life mission be to enrich the life of every friend and neighbor in ways that enables them to say of their life, “I enjoyed every minute of it.”  We will  be blessed in doing so! 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  (Romans 15:13).

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – March 17, 2021

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Should Christians Grieve the Deaths of Loved Ones

Whether by illness or accident, death suddenly robs from you the life of your dearly loved spouse, child, friend, or parent.  Your world seems to have come to a standstill.  You feel separated from reality.  Nothing makes any sense.  Everything seems out of control, even your feelings.  What is happening?

You have been plunged into bereavement grief.  A most precious relationship has been cut off from you.  And so, begins a painful journey through bereavement grief.  A journey through three difficult wildernesses or seasons of Shock, Suffering, and Recovery.

But does not the apostle Paul say in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 that we Christians “do not grieve like the rest of mankind”?  Unfortunately, this incorrect partial reading of the text has caused many Christians to suffer an inadequate grief experience that in turn leads to unhealed emotional, physical, and spiritual disturbances.  Read and listen to the whole of Paul’s statement.  “Brothers and sister, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”

Yes, the Christian believer does and must grieve the death of loved ones, but their bereavement grief is comforted, protected, and healed by the hope of life beyond death, assured to us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. 

This hope is the resource of our Christian faith that steadies and reassure us through the raging rapids of painful, tumultuous emotions; that pours healing balm of Gilead into our wounded soul; that provides enabling energy for the day.  This hope is not available to the non-Christian.  That is the sharp contrast that Paul wants his readers to know and experience.

The death of a loved one, whether sudden or after extended illness, is a soul-shattering experience for both Christians and non-Christians.  Bereavement grief is a deep and serious wound to one’s body, mind, and spirit, that needs lot of careful attention and assistance if recovery and healing is to be accomplished.  Bereavement grief that is denied, buried, or rushed through, becomes infected and causes various debilitating physical and emotional illnesses.  It also undermines our relationship with God.    

Lazarus is a dear friend of Jesus, and when he died, Jesus travels to the home of Lazarus’ sisters and shares deeply in their grief.  He wept tears of empathy with them, but Jesus’ weeping was different than the wailing of their friends and neighbors.

The Scriptures read that Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” by the ability of death to defeat life and cause such deep sorrow to his friends.  So, he determined to conquer and destroy the hopelessness of death.  His calling Lazarus back to life on this earth was a public display of his mission.

We believe the resurrection of Jesus from the dark, lifeless tomb, to be  the bedrock of our Christian faith.  We believe Jesus’ resurrection offers us supreme evidence that his mission to conquer death was accomplished, giving us hope of life beyond the grave.  As Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”  (John 15:25-26).

The resurrection of Jesus gives us an endless resource of comfort, strength, hope, and assurance, BUT it does not prevent the pain of death’s separation, nor does it shield us from the disabling grief of loss,  BECAUSE it is only after “the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, that “then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  (1 Corinthians 15:54). 

Only when God’s eternal life is transfused into our resurrected bodies, do we become invulnerable to death’s separations, sorrows, and pains.  It is only after, in the new world of God’s Kingdom is the grief of death forever abolished.  “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of thins has passed away.”  Rev. 21:4).

Meanwhile, it is important for every Christian to know that after the death of a loved one, they must journey through grief, acknowledging and expressing their painful feelings appropriately and adequately to fully realize the blessings of spiritual and emotional growth that God offers all who mourn.  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  (Matthew 5:4).

Jesus knows the way through the dark, threatening valley of darkness and fears because he has been there before.  Jesus invites every bereaved person to take his hand and let him lead you through the journey of death’s grief and bring you to a new plateau of spiritual and emotional growth and ministry.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:4).  AMEN!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – March 10, 2021

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

God’s Gracious Goodness in Time of Grief

Last Sunday we heard Pastor Dustin say that “Great things can come out of our wilderness experiences.”  I agree with him and wish to share a painful wilderness experience that had a major and significant impact on my life and ministry.  Let me begin by briefly describing how very blessed I was in the years leading up to my wilderness journey.

Life was good.  Dottie and I married in 1959, and were blessed with four children, Nelson, Karen, Sharon, and Carolyn.  I was ordained as minister at Metzler Mennonite Church in 1966.  During the next 10 years, I pastored a white, conservative congregation, a mixed black/white congregation in a Harrisburg black community, successfully graduated from Goshen Biblical Seminary, and was installed as pastor at Frazer Mennonite Church. 

In the year prior to my wilderness journey, our oldest child, Nelson, graduated from Goshen College and was hired as the Director of the Umble Center on campus.  Our second child, Karen, graduated from the Nursing program at Hesston College and was married on the same day.

Life for me was incredibly good and satisfying.  But I, like most of us are probably inclined to do, was enjoying this good life wrapped in a world of assumptions.  We go to bed at night expecting the sun to rise in the morning.  We wake up in the morning and assume that life will be much the same as yesterday.

Like most people, I had somehow convinced myself that tragedy is what happens to other people and not to me.  And when it did happen, my friendly and comfortable world was blown to bits and I was torn apart by a whirlwind of intensely painful emotions of confusion, uncertainty, and God forsakenness.

While serving as pastor of the Frazer Mennonite Church,  I worked half-time as chaplain on the newly formed hospice team at Paoli Memorial Hospital, beginning in 1980.  During the next four years I was privileged to become a well-trained chaplain and confidently ministered to the  terminally ill and their families in their journeys of grief through dying and death.  

I had been taught much about “end of life” death and grief from expert seminar lecturers, training studies, and through many bedside experiences .  And I was being invited to lead training seminars and grief support groups at the hospital and in our Lancaster conference churches.

Even so, I was not prepared for the telephone call that I answered during the late evening of May 1, 1984, informing me that our 23-year-old son, Nelson, was dead. 

I still remember the conversation and the feelings that followed.  “Hi Ray.  This is Lawrence Burkholder, president of Goshen College.  How are you and Dottie doing this evening?  I said that we were doing well and watching the story of Helen Keller on TV.  He then said, “I have some very sad news to tell you.  Nelson was playing in a practice soccer game, when he collapsed on the field with a heart attack and is dead.” 

After a brief silence, he continued with additional details surrounding Nelson’s death, and asked for permission to request an autopsy.  He expressed his condolence and promised to pray and to be in touch with us during the next few days and ended the conversation. 

Suddenly, time came to a screeching halt and my world seemed unreal.  Nothing made sense.  My mind was in turmoil, struggling to accept the tragic news as fact.  I so much wanted it to be a bad dream from which I would soon awake. 

Dottie came into the kitchen where I was, wanting to console me, thinking that one of my parents had died.  I sobbed on her shoulder until I was able to tell her it was Nelson.  After more sobbing we realized we needed to tell Carolyn, who was still watching TV.  This was followed by sobbing phone calls to our other two daughters, Sharon, and Karen, and then to our families.

I felt so weak, empty, and out of control as I tried to think what next needed to be done.  I felt numb, dazed, and functioning in slow motion as we planned for a funeral, responded to the many friends and neighbors who stopped by to embrace and pray with us in the week that followed.  The day of funeral service and burial seemed so unreal and almost a blur as we were being comforted by an unexpected crowd of people sharing with us their condolences and memories of Nelson. 

About 3-4 weeks later the emotional numbness gave way to a heavy weight settling in my stomach, crushing and squeezing the breath and life out of me.  I later described the feeling as having my heart ripped out of me and leaving a ragged bleeding hole in my chest.

The intense pain of loss and grief with its whirlwind of emotions, began to seep through my whole body, causing my mind and heart to cry out, “Oh God, why have you forsaken me.”  It was an unrelievable, indescribable pain that I never knew was possible to humanly experience.

The death of one’s own child is most difficult because the child, regardless of age, is a part of the parent.  This child, Nelson, is my child, my flesh, my future, and it seemed impossible to fathom that he is gone.  It soon dawned on me that I was needing to “walk the talk” of my chaplaincy training and teaching.

Even though there many people and many life experiences  that shaped my spiritual outlook on life and my relationship with God, the sudden death of our son was probably the most pivotal in my spiritual journey. 

Nelson’s death caused major demolition to my previous understanding and experience of God.  What I thought was a well-constructed Anabaptist perspective of Christian theology and faith, now lay broken into a pile of scattered debris at my feet.   

The meaning and purpose of my whole life, past, present, and future, now hung upon a fragile lifeline, and I had to make a choice to either become bitter toward God and spiritually die or find a new, better way of understanding God and relating more intimately with Him.

I chose the latter, and even though I was feeling forsaken by God,  I somehow knew that I was not, and chose to believe and cling to his promise, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5). 

In my search to rebuild a more authentic and stronger relationship with God, several passages became especially helpful to me.   Lamentations 3:22 – “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

And verses 32-33, “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.  For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.” 

These verses and many others from the Psalms and book of Job, which I slowly read and studied, anchored my faith, and deepened my relationship with God.  This in turn, enabled me to reframe a more authentic, compassionate theology of God, built on a much firmer foundation in Jesus Christ.

Thanks to the emotional support and genuine caring love of many persons in our church and Christian community, I began to slowly formulate a new understanding of who God was, and his expectations for intimate relationships with us by creating us in his image and likeness. 

In this searching for a better understanding God, I discovered a deeper purpose and direction for my life and ministry.  It is spoken by Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we  ourselves receive from God.” 

This “ministry of comfort” became my life’s mission statement as I pursued further training in Clinical Pastoral Education at Philhaven Hospital.  This training equipped me for full-time chaplaincy ministry at Menno Haven Retirement Community and Chambersburg Hospital for more than 20 years.

During those years I continually gained new insights and real-life experiences into God’s view of suffering and his faithful enabling presence through such journeys.  My relationship with God has richly deepened and my ministry as chaplain was graciously blessed as I ministered emotional and spiritual consolation and encouragement to those suffering distress and fear in their journey through grief.

And so, I present my testimony this morning as an offering of thanksgiving and join the psalmist in praise to God as recorded in Psalms 139:14, 16-18 – “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.  … Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  How precious  to me are your thoughts, God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.”                    

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – March 3, 2021

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley