This is our pastor’s article for our September newsletter.
Our fall into sin has dealt us all a cruel fate. Sin has not only affected us, but its aftershocks have sown the seeds of decay into all creation.
One of our dogs is Samson. He’s 21 years old, hard of hearing, nearly blind, has a heart murmur, high blood pressure, poorly functioning kidneys, and has lost several teeth. Several times a day I carry him to the door, so he can pee and poop outside, what I call his “dogly duties.” Sheri and I can see what’s around the bend, and we’ll take care of him the best we can until he dies.
At the dawn of time, when our first parents fell into sin, it not only brought havoc into the world, but even disease and death. Part of this fall even includes brains that stop working as they should work, where memory, cognitive functioning, and personality get twisted and distorted in the cruelest of ways. Tied to what Adam and Eve have unleashed, both of my parents now suffer from Alzheimer’s.
When you read this, most of you know that I will be in Washington State visiting my parents, rejoicing in what remains of them, and lamenting what the disease has taken from us all. But my visit will be more than a visit. I’ll also have to help set up a way of life where they will no longer be driving. My sister, who lives across the street, will soon have to take care of their finances, make sure they take their daily medications, and that they don’t eat rancid food left in the refrigerator.
Bringing about such changes is a challenge, as I see my parents often acting in childish, rebellious ways. It’s a challenge to honor them as the 4th Commandment teaches us to do. Even as they realize that Alzheimer’s is slowly corroding away who they are, they misunderstand how badly the disease has damaged them. For the disease is even robbing them of that ability. It’s sad to the marrow of your bones.
But what of things spiritual? What happens if Alzheimer’s erases so much of my parents that they even forget Jesus and can no longer cognitively confess with their mouths and believe with their hearts that Jesus is Lord (as they and we can detect)? What then? Have they lost their salvation because nothing exists that shows that they have a living faith, but a faith that died as their cognitive abilities died?
This is where the truth that our Lutheran Church highlights so beautifully can give us a bold and unshakable comfort. Think of a newly baptized infant. He hasn’t one whit of intellectual ability that can grasp the faith or confess its truths. Does a baby understand anything about the two natures of Christ? Yet, Scripture says that baptism saves (1 Peter 3:21). Scripture even says how. Baptism is the appeal of a clean conscience toward God (1 Peter 3:21). And the only way to have a clean conscience toward God is never to have sinned (like that’s ever going to happen!) or for God to forgive you. And, yes, that’s what the Apostle Peter says baptism does–forgives you (Acts 2:38).
So the infant has faith and is forgiven–yet the baby doesn’t even understand what faith is. But it’s his. After all, faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8), and God can it give to whomever He chooses in the ways He chooses to do so. In Lutheranism, we call these ways the “means of grace,” that’s Word and Sacrament.
So, someone has Alzheimer’s. That person doesn’t know who he is, let alone Jesus, his savior. As far as anyone can tell, there is no “personal relationship” left at all. So what! Scripture describes the Church as the bridegroom of Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33). Jesus is faithful to those whom the Holy Spirit has brought into the Church through His means of grace. He will not divorce someone who has Alzheimer’s (or Parkinson’s, and diseases such as that). After all, if faith is a gift (Ephesians 2:8), then the status of the gift does not depend on one’s intellectual ability to recognize it. It’s still a gift to the person to whom it has been given.
So, how does intellect even factor in, then? As one becomes smarter and knows more, his faith also is to grow proportionally. If that doesn’t happen, the sinful flesh will push out the gift of faith that one received as an infant. Jesus’ Parable of the Sower will come home to roost (Matthew 13:1-8, 18-23). That’s why Jesus says that baptizing and teaching go together (Matthew 28:19-20). You don’t have one without the other. That’s why Scripture also talks about growing or increasing in faith and belief.
What a joy it is to know that faith is a gift from God. And if it’s a gift, that means God gives it to you. If you had to do anything to get it, even praying a prayer, then it wasn’t a gift. Delight in this gift all your days. Value your faith for what it is. Continue to come and get “Jesused” as He continues to come to you in Word and Sacrament. And if you get Alzheimer’s, which may happen to me since both of my parents have it, rejoice that Jesus will keep you and no one will snatch you out of His hand (John 10:28). Amen.
