GOSPEL MESSAGE & RECORDING
One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child,
I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
Here, in this famous Christian poem, the origins, and authorship which are in dispute, speak of the presence of Christ in our life when we feel abandoned and alone. When we think that God is not there, the reality is ever-present in our lives. He is working out the best for us so that in the end, our life may glorify Him. Humanly speaking, if you think the Hand of God is not present in your life, look again, and you will see that he is indeed present, but in a way that our human eyes cannot understand or perceive.
The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:1-11 that “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” What does St. Paul mean when he says, “For when we were still without strength?” The keyword to understand is “without.” Without means: when we are at our lowest point, or when we are completely exhausted, or when we have lost so much that we don’t think that life is worth living, it is then that God is closest to us. Let me explain.
Being Orthodox Christian, we often tend to believe that God is with the person that prays and fasts diligently. Indeed, that could be true. But what is even equally valid is that God is with the down-trodden, the rejected, the addicted, the one who is at his or her lowest point in life for various reasons. Whatever the case, as the Apostle did, we must understand that when we are “without” strength, and we have no more to give, God is there!
Often, our impression of God is that we have to please Him, as though he is a man like us. God doesn’t need to be impressed by our prayers or our fasting. He is not in that business! He wants to have a relationship with us. That is why even when we are “without strength,” he is still there for us. Why else would Christ die for us while we were sinners? (Romans 5:8) We didn’t go to Qurbana; we didn’t go to confession; we didn’t ask for forgiveness—none of that took place—but yet Christ still died for us because he is a God that meets us where we are, and not by what we are doing, or what we will do in the future.
In the Gospel reading today, we heard about how the four men carried their paralytic friend and brought him down through a roof to place him in front of Jesus to be healed. A person with paralysis is not a typical friend. But yet, these four men maintained a relationship with their friend despite no social benefits. We can say that his friends were there for him at the paralytic man’s lowest point and condition.
We should understand that God calls us to be there for others at their lowest point and to help them. Life is not about raking in all the benefits of life; however, sharing those benefits with others. How many of us walk away when someone needs us at their lowest point? During COVID-19, many people are at their lowest point, and it might be expressed through withdrawing, depression, or even anger and frustration, and as such, we should be there to assist or help.