Forgive me, a Sinner
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
This morning’s scripture lessons are full of healings.
Our gospel lesson comes from St John. In that passage, Christ Jesus heals a man who has been paralyzed for thirty-eight years.
Our epistle lesson comes from the Acts of the Apostles. In that passage, St. Peter heals a man who has been paralyzed for twelve years—then the apostle raises a woman from the dead.
But we don’t get excited about these passages. In fact, most of us respond to these scripture lessons with disappointment. Because, for us, healing is something that Christians used to do a long time ago, but it’s not something that happens very often nowadays.
That’s the way a good many of us approach these passages of holy scripture. However, in Holy Orthodoxy, the work of healing continues. That’s why the Church is called a ‘spiritual hospital’ and a ‘house of healing’. That’s why the Holy Eucharist is referred to as the ‘medicine of immorality’; that’s why, when we make our confession, we stand before the One Who is the ‘Physician of our souls and bodies’.
Many of the saints are also famous for their healing powers: there’s Cyrus and John and Cosmas and Damian and all the other unmercenary healers. There’s the Great Martyr Panteliemon and St Nectarios of Pentapolis. There are many icons and relics which also have healing power.
If we are sick, we can ask the priest to read a prayer for us. If we are dealing with a really serious medical condition, we can request a Service of Holy Unction. And the Church also prepares us for resurrection, because what happens to the woman in this morning’s epistle lesson is also what is going to happen to each of us at the end of time: we are going to be resurrected.
So the work of healing continues in the Church; everything that we see if this morning’s scripture lessons is still happening in the Church. If anything, nowadays, the work of healing is more readily available through the Holy Mysteries and through the prayers and relics of the saints.
But we forget all that. We forget about all that because of our dependence on medical technology.
During this Paschal Season, we’ve been reading a book about media technology. It’s a good book by an Orthodox Christian scholar, Dr. Jean Claude Larchet. And it’s not too late to get in on that discussion. However, in the book, Dr. Larchet focuses on media technology; he doesn’t really have anything to say about medical technology. So that’s something we need to address this morning.
And, if anything, our reliance on media technology is even more complete than our reliance on media technology. The new media technology has only been around for a couple of decades, but medical technology has been developing rapidly for several generations now, and so we just take it for granted. Our dependence on that technology is total.
Just look at the way we are approaching the current situation. The main focus of our concern is on the discovery of a vaccine; we have complete confidence that we will eventually be able to produce that kind of vaccine. And that confidence is not misplaced because the medical technology that we have in this country and in other countries of the industrialized world is absolutely amazing.
Medications and procedures that were unavailable even a decade ago are now routine. Robotics and imaging have transformed the way we do surgery and the way illness is diagnosed and treated. And with all of this impressive and sophisticated technology, it’s easy to regard what the Church does as unnecessary and primitive.
So even when we believe that the Church does the work of healing, we tend to put most of our energy and most of our trust into medical technology. Now there are a few whack jobs out there who insist that this should be an either/or proposition: either you rely on Christ Jesus and the Church, or you put your hope in medical technology. But that’s a false dichotomy; there’s no reason to reject all that medical technology has to offer. However, when we use medical technology, we need to be aware of two very basic principles: There are some things that medical technology simply cannot do. And there are some things that medical technology should not do.
Let’s start with the first principle: There are some things medical technology cannot do. For example, medical technology can replace your knew, but medical technology cannot provide you with the courage or the wisdom or the resolve you need to use that new knee in a way that will make your life healthier. Medical technology can give you a new heart, but medical technology cannot fill that heart with peace and hope and joy. Medical technology can regulate your emotions and help you manage your fear and your anxiety, but medical technology cannot empower you to do the work of forgiveness and reconciliation.
So we don’t have to minimize in any way the incredible blessings that medical technology can bring into our lives. But as amazing as that technology is, there are a great many really important things it cannot do—and here’s the most important one of all: medical technology stops at death. Each and every one of us will, at some point, die. And when that happens, all the machines will be shut down; all the compassionate doctors and caring nurses and all the hard-working techs will have to step aside.
But our brothers and sisters in the Church will stay right by our side. When we enter the next life, those folks will be right there with us through their prayers and through their good works on our behalf. We will also be greeted and supported by our patron saint and our guardian angel and by the Mother of God.
Medical technology has nothing like that to offer. It never will. So even though it is absolutely incredible, this kind of technology has limits; it has boundaries beyond which it cannot go. But that also bring us to the second principle we need to consider: There are some things that medical technology should not do.
We will start with just one example: Artificial wombs. Medical researchers in this country estimate that in less than a decade, artificial wombs will become not only possible but very popular. An artificial womb is an environment which will allow an unborn child to grow and develop under medical supervision apart from a woman’s body. The folks who are promoting this technology claim that it will save the lives of thousands of women and children who die in childbirth each year. These people also insist that this arrangement will make it possible for women to continue to lead full and productive lives without the stress and discomfort of pregnancy or the impact that pregnancy and childbirth has on a woman’s body.
And, sure, the idea of an artificial womb sounds creepy, at first, but, then, when you think about the advantages, it starts to make sense. And that’s how we end up doing things we should never, ever do: it’s a gradual process, and, of course, this whole concept of an artificial womb is also predicated on our acceptance of things like in vitro fertilization and surrogate mothers and same sex marriage, and one thing leads to another, and we find ourselves doing things that we really shouldn’t be doing.
Let’s take an example that’s even closer to home. Nowadays, it’s not at all strange to see folks of all ages and backgrounds walking about with earphones or earbuds. But since we are all used to having things in our ears, since we’ve already been convinced to do that, why not just have a device implanted right under our skin? It wouldn’t be any more complicated than a piercing; it would make all of our entertainment—music and movies and video games—fully immersive, and just think of all the medical data that implant could communicate to our doctors. And once Tom Hanks has one, once Michelle Obama and Laura Bush get one, when Jimmy Kimmel and his family each get one, there just won’t be any objection at all because of each of the earlier decisions that we made and each of the practices that we’ve already accepted.
There are some things medical technology should not do. But, Mothers and Father, Brothers and Sisters, if we are going to avoid doing those things then we need to put more trust in the Church than we do in our technology. So as we turn to our Typika. Let us ask the Risen and Ascended Lord of the Church to show us how we can make that happen. Because that is how we will all be able, with one mouth and one heart, to praise and glorify the all honorable and majestic Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.