Dr. Rick Mandl - September 7, 2020
The Power Of Unconditional Love
The Power Of Unconditional Love
Monday, September 7, 2020
Hey church family. COVID 19 has touched each of us in different ways. Here at the church it means we can’t minister in the same ways that we have ministered throughout the 90+ years of our church’s presence here on this corner. That’s obvious when it comes to things like not being able to meet in person for our weekend worship services. But something you don’t see, is that we also can’t visit those in our congregation who in the hospital – because it’s not allowed - sometimes that’s done to protect us – sometimes it’s done to protect them.
This past Sunday night we had one of our ERBC Zoom prayer meetings. And with us on that call was a member of our church family who was joining us from his bed at Kaiser Sunset where he’s been admitted with COVID-19. I was so glad that he was on that call, because not only did it allow him to pray with us, and others in our church for all the things we were praying for, but it gave us an opportunity to pray with and for him. It’s hard when pastors can’t visit church members in the hospital. Harder still is when family members can’t visit members of their own family who are in the hospital. And it’s even harder when you’re not talking about a hospital, from which most people are released after a short stay, but rather a nursing home where people are often living out the rest of their lives.
This week I was reading about a man names Jack Eccles. Jack Eccles is a longtime Baptist pastor with two doctoral degrees. And he’s also someone who I would describe as a life-long learner. I say that because even at the age of ninety-three, Jack Eccles is still learning. He is currently learning German and recently posted a sermon to YouTube. His wife of seventy years, Gerry, is the mother of their nine children. Five years ago, in 2015 Gerry was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and as a result lives in a nursing home in North Carolina.
Earlier this year, on March 12, Jack Eccles arrived at the nursing home, just like he did every day to visit his wife and to spend much of the day with her. But on this day he couldn’t visit. On this day he was turned away because of the coronavirus. Not willing to take no for an answer, the next day Jack returned with a suitcase of clothes, his books, his medications, and his computer. The nursing home had agreed to rent him a single room so he could care for his wife Gerry. As I said, that was March 12. He has been there ever since.
Wearing a mask and goggles, he feeds his wife three times a day, checks to be sure she gets her required forty ounces of liquid a day, and wipes drips so they don’t stain her clothes. He positions Gerry’s head and neck carefully to be sure she doesn’t choke. Their profile in the Wall Street Journal is an inspiring story of love, family, and ministry. In it, Dr. Eccles explains his care for his wife simply by saying, “We’re married. I want to be with her. She took care of me for seventy years, and now it’s my turn.”
Jack and Gerry Eccles are a powerful example of a true Christian marriage: a lifelong, unconditional covenant between a man and a woman. As I was thinking about the marriage that they have built, I realized that if through the years they had only focused on their marriage for only an hour once a week and a few minutes each day, there is no way that their relationship could not be the love story it is today. The Bible tells us that as Christians we are the “bride” of Christ. If we focus on our “Spouse” for only an hour each week for worship, and maybe a few minutes each day for prayer and Bible study, how strong will our relationship be?
Believing in God is one thing; having a relationship with Him is another. Just like a marriage, having a relationship with God takes effort and time. When we prioritize our relationship with God, just like we would with our spouse, we can experience the benefits of a relationship that’s not just special but extraordinary.
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