December 14

Bill Pearson, Director of Health Science Ministries

Psalm 131; 2 Corinthians 4:7–5:1

Modern biomedical science holds as a belief that we can know everything about the human being down to the subatomic level. We spend billions of dollars and human hours in the pursuit of that knowledge.  At the same time, little attention is given to what it means to be human. Using science, we can predict and sometimes alleviate the physiological and psychological impact of being afflicted, crushed, persecuted, and struck down, but we cannot say why it matters.

This Advent we are confronted with a pandemic mixed with economic insecurity and a racial reckoning. A vaccine or social change may mitigate circumstances for a time, but a lasting peace is not offered through science or politics. The American dream promises the hope of ample resources to satisfy our appetites and avoid pain. Jesus says “woe to you” who excel in that dream – the wealthy, the satisfied, the merry, and the reputable (Luke 6:24-26). Enduring hope was secured by the suffering of Jesus. The “blessed” then are the poor, the hungry, the lamenting, and the derided (Luke 6:20-23), for these containers can hold “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Perhaps this explains how marginalized shepherds became the first heralds of good news.

A faithful use of science calls attention to the undeniable fact that we are wasting away. A misuse of science promotes a false hope, such as transhumanism, or worse, to deny hope at all. The hope on offer is that while we suffer in the body, an eternal weight of glory rises in us. We hope in the inevitable future reign of Jesus wherein there will be no pain. We live this day in the light of that day.