From the Pastor's Study
From the Pastor’s Study
Normal or Abnormal
March 30, 2022
Last week as my mother gradually succumbed to the ravages of cancer, as a family we wanted to know what was normal. Every death is different, of course, but there are a number of things that happen to people in those situations. As the cancer takes an increasing hold on the body, the organs begin to struggle. Kidneys and liver no longer remove toxins from the body, and the whole system that is designed to process food and water begins to shut down. With the increase in toxins, the heart, brain, and eyes all begin to cease to function as they should. Over the course of a few days, the body can no longer function, and it shuts down completely. Death happens. As a family we understood that this process was normal, but it did not seem to be so.
A normal body has systems that function as they should. Our liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, and brain all carry on their work, day in and day out and we don’t think about them unless they start to act abnormally. Thus, as I think about it, the process of dying is not normal; it is abnormal. Death is not the way it’s supposed to be. Yet, we view the steps of dying as normal because that is what happens to almost everyone who lives. There may be different steps, some small and incremental and some huge and immediately catastrophic, but in every death the body ceases to function as it normally should. Again, death, although it happens every day and seems normal, is abnormal, not the way it is supposed to be.
It seems to me that we often view as many things as normal that should not be considered as normal. The rebelliousness of a teenager, immoral behaviour, broken relationships, unchecked use of resources, poverty and starvation – all of these happen so often and are so prevalent that we simply classify them as normal. But these things, and so many more, are not the way God intended things to be, and therefore they are abnormal. We should always be appalled when things do not occur as God intended.
We often talk about something called a “new normal.” A new normal happens when a loved one dies, for example, and we learn to go on with life without them. We don’t cease to miss them, but we do develop new routines and patterns that recognize that they are no longer with us. Another example of a “new normal” may occur when someone loses a finger. Their hand is no longer normal, but they adapt to the new normal, learning to do things in a different way that takes into account that they no longer have that finger. The new normal is what happens when we live with the abnormal long enough. Sadly, when the abnormal becomes so commonplace we no longer think of our adapted lives as belonging to the realm of the new normal. This is especially true of sin. Couples living together outside of marriage is viewed as normal by so many because it happens so often. Yet, it is abnormal because this is not the way it's supposed to be, and we should be appalled by what we see. Sinful behaviour is abnormal, no matter how prevalent it is.
We can be thankful that the abnormal does not last forever. My mother’s body went through a very abnormal process, and she died, but that is not the end of the story. Because of God’s grace, one day, when Jesus returns, there is going to be a resurrection, and all who believe in Jesus will be raised to eternal life. That is not entirely normal either, for as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, our new bodies will be glorified. We will be immortal and imperishable. How our new bodies will be like what God intended us to be when he first created us, I do now know. It does seem that there will be something better about them. We do know, however, that what we receive by God’s grace will be so much better than what we have now. Certainly, there will be nothing like cancer or heart disease or progressive illness in eternal life, and that will be truly incredible. All that we find in creation that is abnormal, not the way God designed it to be, will disappear. Everything will be renewed. Even sin will disappear. Those who confess their sins will be purified from them, and in the new creation that sin will no longer cling to them. (We cannot forget the other reality, that those who do not confess their sins and who do not seek forgiveness in Jesus Christ will not be purified and will not be renewed and will not be part of that new creation.)
I cannot accept that what happened to my mother last Saturday was normal. It was not. Death is not normal. Even though we have learned to live with the abnormal, we should never accept the abnormal as being normal. No matter what area of life we consider, we should be appalled at what things have become, but we should not be despairing. While we resist the abnormal when we can (for example, in areas of immorality), we do not give up hope because one day God will make all things new again.
My mother was 25 years old when I was born. I know that means that if I live as long as her, I have another 25 years on this earth. That’s not a lot of time, all things considered, but, in some ways, I do find the abnormality of this world a little tiring. I’m glad I won’t live as long as those people listed as Adam’s descendants who lived for centuries. I just don’t know if I would want to put up with the abnormal for that amount of time. But I am also very happy that though these 25 years will probably pass more quickly than I wish, and though my body will go through some very abnormal changes, I have the sure hope of eternal life. I’m looking forward to that new normal, even as I try to be faithful in this abnormal world.
Pastor Gary
