Evangelist and Physcian.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XVII, Issue 5, 1 November 1926, Page 5

Evangelist and Physcian.

(A Sermon Preached m Westminster ' 'Abbey by the -Itev.' David Jenks, ■ 1;: ; 1 - ■■■■■'■'■■'■■< -S.S.M;).- ■ ■'■:■.;-'•. i . '''^Luke is- with,- meJV II. Tim. li:::; ' iV;H. --I ■•;■..■ ■".• .-: ;....-...■ ■It; is essential to abiding> intiniapy between twoi friends :. that ; each, shall contribute- to the i enrichment., pf tte other. Ahd.to study- a man's friend- i;sliips thtfows light uppn his charaflr te I *?' .- •■ ..■■:•;-•.-■•■« ;.• .' „ .". ■'. ■ Unfortunately we do not , know enough 'about; Jonathan to add to our understanding of David; , But if j there is any justification for a common impression that Jonathan/ was ; of a tender ■ and ; affectionate disposition, and'isomewhati deficient m virility, it •reflects favorably ort? David thai,t,:in ttiose years When- I he , was .veryjiittle diiffierentifrom / a:fr.eebo6ter.,,he l should have been so; :stronglyiattftche4 tphim. Wie •-■• may^ however, \ d^finitejiy e r e^it Jonathan - : with a> < genius a f p;r loyalty, and < that suffices . to redeemi (his ;charaeter from weakn,ess. . Tlie' tendency to depreciate Tithothy ought certainly ttf be nlddified ! byi the Vetfy fact ofi.St.'Faults,enduring.(affection for him. The Apostie.may, by reason of his own strength, have had special, tej^dernessV towards t|(ps^ / wlip ]werej lacking. ,in •. f|>rce* ajidi'; charjacl;er:, but—^like^ nis I Diyinie^^^ . Jj[astj?r-T-n6 : tiipicl fl^ot much; -iVBff f for 'iee|leni^s of will, aa^d, certi^inl^ wpuldj npii haye; entrust|with.t^je $rdubu^' resjwnsibility. of . a mission ,to Ephesuis. I^e are ; b^und , x to, see -m, St ? ' Paul's reierence^, tOvTAmotjiy! 't^e proof of s|ro»g -; confidence ; i^i himj which led jhjm,,,tp ,cho,p^(B Aim,, ..'ij^tner, tlian /.' anoxher, -f pr , ; a task' 'of,' ipeWiar difficulty m spi.fce of, r h^s...pli^siea;^ delicacy. ! It,; is more difficult, to^ reflect uppn ■the intimacy b^t^een it ou^ Lord kn4 JPe^er., t\(e ; pught. npt, to, 'b.esitkte rto see in^purirLprd'SjChosen; frienid^hips glimpses of ( some > elements m h^man .character.- t^at made strpng appeal to Hjni.' , And ; > <>ye^ hfio^, . th^i , of : iwb brothers He made Peter f^h^r. thsih Andrew Hjs- close - friend? It' would certainly He at|ach.ed more valiie to' ■»• 'wiw?m.-n ! earil;e3|?' impulsjive, and generous disposition, one strong m, its emotions, t|iaft _ is remembered by many of -His 1 folldwe'rs^ who 'steem only to see the .mistakes that such men are liable to make. And even m this intimiaiby we dip, welli to»remember that I 'friendship;; cannot; i be. <; onesided' iri I its 'contrifeution ; amjidr the ingifatitude'i and opposition* tfrat't was His , gßnei*alf> lptj J&sua , CSferist wira i strengthen«a j If ori Hisir wwk» • an4oeg-

riched in*. His human tjexp.erience by the friendship or^eler. *'>»''■ But Paul and Luke provide an illustration that differs ■ from any of these. In David and Jonathan there is iprobably something of hero-worship for : thjs, kjllgr of Goliath, and on the , other; side .reverence for. the man wfip generously accepted friendship with one . whom he acknowledged, , as about to. supplant himjin theikiingship. While (these; Qld T^tament: friends illustrate an : intimacy , kn|]t m early life;; Paul and: Timothy; were related as spiritual:.; father, andspi}, the former ■:> seeing -m, the latter a ,man after his own heart. With Jesus ,Ch,r,ist a&d Peter, one cannot ignore that' the gjFOwthi.of friendship, was dependent on the. manner ■, m which Peter loyally strove to unfold m Himself the mind of the Master against; all, that, ..w,as difficult to his religious and national instincts. It was a friendship 'in discipMisliipV ' ''•'■•■ ' ■•■' "■■•!■ • ; '•■'. Bti.lt m the friendship of Paul and Luke 'we' have ah "iritihiacy between twloimen, of i mature i age and- of , equal standing. Neither could site regarded as the disciple* or, isoni of , the . other. Andrit was a friendship that sjtopd th,e test ! of, years. It) was, imoKepyer^ a friendship, b.etween. Jew- and... Greek, between..; a ipupiLofnthe; rabbis anjd \ a student off medicine,, between a preacher/ :andi:chnrchoi;gai4se.r: and . a physician: It Was, the .friendship fof; a man of the wprld^with a statesman. The evjdenfle strongly suggests that Luke attached himself to Paul at i a later ' stage m- order- to relieve him of .some of his- hindering physical, disabilities. The, enduring friendship, of two such men (deserves consideration.. ' ■ ■ ' -' : IL ."..■■ '■ I| .prob.ably be r indulging m an.. idle curiosity— aiid tMs ,is ixSi the Qccasipn fpr ( it— to ask whiethei m somje of ', St. Paul 's theoioigicJai bp^cul^.tiops, he ,may ( reilect'. th'i conversations of ; a', travelled physician whpse thoughts would tend to the cosniical impHcatJo^S;,. pf : Chriistianity. Wfe shou^have tp, guard f against the nojtion t%&%. a doetoi m those days had j^ha^is called the scientific temperament, a temper wh I iriiagine to, : be',quite !m(^er*p',and/npt even tb be sought .£^''Jn i \thoSe;-. ;! whii' miilifetered m .the .eaTlier.lce^turies in' such a h'6spijtaj, .as pur owti Si, ; Barth. t Pl6'niew *s. , f are^on n^p^ certain ground 'when, m, St. J^u^e'g writings, we trace, ''tike . iij^ence of Paul's interpretiltibn of, thijb G^spej,^na ; whcm'in th\ parts pecu^i,ar j ,'to, , the , Inirii i^ospel^ 'we remeitnber. tjfye 's c^eful/cpllectip'n of. m^c[ai, ) ahd .recpgnise tfial; the to tlie .'■^^i^e_s.tat^|i <&. ■ : t|f' f e,, 'un|versa^'ty a^d;,th,e j humari, tpn^erny s 6$ the\mi^d

It '"would have be"cn v of inestimable benefit to' the 'cause! (of Ghrisjianijtjjf and to' mankind if : a similarly /clpsj^ friendship had been maintained down the ages between .the Christian minister and i the doctor. Each has mu^ch to to the other, arid, the two ministries are. so closely allied iti the service of humanity that either 1 is incomplete without the other as, an unfolding- of human life. ! In our days, when knowledge is highly specialised, each has suffered by reason of partial estrangement. The pastor , needs the , , outlook of the doctor to; enrich his theologicai equip^ ment by. g-uarding him against tlte dangers of specialisation m that region, which ought to embrace alt spheres of human : thought and knowledge. And the doctor, immersed ill concentration upon a limited study of mail,; needs the larger understandiijig of human personality which the > pastor's contact with men should help tc| supply. It is a, false division that re^ garcW; the one as, the minister 6f^/th6 soul and the; other as the minister tjt thej body, and ; supposes tjiat either canfulfll his : ministry m disregard ! p$ the;ioffice of the other. ' :: To give only a simple illustra;ljionj and deliberately to pass over tbe more difficult implications : "V)f hai could ,be, of more value to the modern BailL; than a better understanding of'i thje, trained rn^nd as it is to 'be found m i intiniacy with even one modern Luke.; or; of more seryice ' t*6 the doqtpr or the medical ' student thatti to tiujn from his concentratitta upon, thei ibodily, frame -to ! f riencii^ discussion .with one by w;hom man is sesn,as a.ibeing. of conscience and'of struggling^jaspiraitiori? ; ' At their best the two are ; alike, m giving their lives to the service of hiimanity Hn tenderness of heart an^ self -sacrificing devotion., It has of tea seemed to me that the clergy could learh 'something of the pastoral office from- the kindly spirit of the doctor towards the poor, his readiness to l^p of service at 1 any momenfy his selfforgetfulhess and his concentratediafe. terition upon his patient. I do noi think that one so commonly sees : a night-bell at the vicarage^ as atithfe doctor's house; r and m country dlsr tricts it speaks eloquently of the dpctor?s reputation that no one thinks twice of sending for him.: at night, while there is much hesitation whether" it is right to fetch out !the clergymah!. I have ventured to .say this because, whehil was a deacon, I learned vaiuable lessons of » parochial worj: froni the friendship of itwo Christian ddbtorsj and because I doubt whether any but the clergy know to; what ;:extetii the practising doctor 'is* a ! true minister of Christy evenf "when! lilce Ab6ii ben Adheni he must: ask? the recording angel' to write 'his name ;as

one that loves his fellow-men rather than as one who loves the Lord. "' ■■ ■. ' ■■.■■'■'.'■ . fi - • HI. Undoubtedly it is where the doctor can bring with his own person that which made the difference between the Christian physician and the earlier Luke that he is seen m the fulness of his gifts to mankind. It may be that St. Luke has deliberately left himself out of the narrative; but while Acts is confidently regarded as containing proof of medical authorship, I am not aware that the author ©yen directly, implies that he shared m the work of preaching. And when St. Paul writes of him as "the beloved iphysician," it is reasonable to suppose that he is not thinking of what Be. himself, owed to him, but of that place which the Christian doctor had acquired throughout the Churches of St. Paul by his ministry of healing m the Name of Christ. It was an almost incalculable advantage that while the apostle strove to bring home to men an understanding of Jesus Christ \s the Saviour who redeems the whole of life, there should often have been with him one who went about doing good and healing the sick m the Name of this same Jesus. In the friendship between the evangelist and the physician, one fact is outstanding. Whatever may be the immediate purpose of "Acts," or of an earlier form of it, as addressed to Theophilus, its central figure is the apostle of the gentile Churches. There is the spirit of hero-worship m the book. St. Luke has learned the missionary spirit from St. Paul, to the enrichment of his own ministry ; he has shared m Pauline evangelisation by his special contribution, and has realised the fellowship of medical missions with the unfolding of the Kingdom of God and of Christ. He Knew that to go with St. Paul was to give a more complete interpretation of Jesus Christ to those to whom He •was as yet a stranger, and that men's hearts were opened to receive the new tidings of the preacher when they realised that their sick were healed m the Name of Christ and by one who manifested His Spirit. And man, being 1 inseparably one, although we think of him as body and spirit, ifc is inevitable that this must be so. In non-Christian lands, where the responsibility and paternal cafe of. a foreign Government may provide a medical' service independent of missionary societies, the call is not less urgent that these posts should be filled by men and women who have the spirit of St. Luke. And m lessdeveloped regions, where medical work id a branch of missionary enterprise, the evangelist is . not properly equipped unless he can say that Luke is with him.