Plague 4- Sihler's sermon "Benefits of Sickness"; (#4)

Wilhelm Sihler, young & old

      This continues from Part 3 in a series (Table of Contents in Part 1) of Old Missouri devotions during a time of Plague or Pestilence as we are experiencing with the Coronavirus or COVID-19. — This installment is from one of the early fathers and founders of the Old Missouri Synod, Dr. Wilhelm Sihler.  My attention came to one of his sermons through other online sources, notably the 1580 Press, where a portion of an English translation of one of Sihler's sermons was freely available.  Their bibliography indicated that its source was actually a reprint of the translation originally printed in The Lutheran Witness, July 7, 1883, p. 31-32.  However, one discovers that the Witness only translated the first portion (Part I) of the original German language sermon from Sihler's 1883 book Zeit- und Gelegenheits-Predigten (Timely and Occasional Sermons, title page image shown at right). This sermon is available for viewing in Google Books p. 27-34.  And so I determined to finish translating the entire sermon, including the introductory paragraphs and second portion, Part II. — Sihler's preaching may not have been as good as Walther's. Fuerbringer says "Sihler was earnest, stern, exacting in every respect" (Persons and Events, p. 40). Pieper makes no use of his works in his Christian Dogmatics.  Yet he was a true "Missourian" and so would hold to the proper distinction of the Law and Gospel. — The following is largely my translation using the DeepL Translator with only minor use of the Witness. —  In the next Part 5…

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On the Benefits of Sickness.

I am the Lord that healeth thee.  Exodus 15:26

Beloved in Christ!

Without the sad and pitiful sin of our first parents, and the sin inherited from generation to generation through physical procreation, there would be no evil, neither natural nor moral.

But now we are abundantly afflicted with such evils through our sin and God's wrath; and wherever we turn, a veritable flood of hardship, misery, sorrow, and heartache is everywhere to be seen; the evils are almost innumerable, and the earth is indeed a real misery.

Among these multiple evils, these fruits and punishments of sin in Adam, sickness is one of the most widespread evils in the north and south, east and west; likewise, no class of human society is spared from this evil; sickness seizes the rich as well as the poor, the high as well as the low, the learned as well as the unlearned, the educated as well as the uneducated, man as well as woman, parents as children.

But why is disease itself such a widespread and universal evil?

Answer: So that God, through the painful or prolonged sickness of man, that is, sinners, may make it clear to us through God's painful or prolonged sickness, as through His wholesome punishment, that we must die and that we must carry with us a body of death which, after the separation of the soul, becomes a prey to decay and the food of worms, for every sickness is truly a sign and the beginning of death; and just as bodily death is the wages and punishment of sin, [p. 28] so is the sickness of man, the sinner by nature; for as soon as our first parents, after having enjoyed the forbidden fruit, fell victim to the judgment of God – death in time and in eternity – they were at the same time subjected to all sorts of diseases, as harbingers of bodily death, the germs of which are now inherited by us.

But if in general, according to the Word of God, sickness is a consequence and a punishment of our sin in Adam, then the same is true of every single disease of every single human being, if he is unbelieving and unconverted; for the believer, sickness is a consequence of that sin, but not a punishment, but a fatherly chastisement.

But every illness, whether it is the cause or the reason for it, hits the individual man according to God's will. Our Lord God, however, is One who, as the prophet says, "doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men," [Lamentations 3:33] as the devil does; but even in such a visitation he has good in mind for the sick person, and this staff of woe is also indirectly directed towards the eternal salvation of both the curable sinner and the believer.

We now want to ask and answer two questions:

I. To what end does God send sickness?

II. To what end does God work recovery?

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I. To what end does God send sickness?

But before answering this question, it should be noted that there are two kinds of people to whom God sends disease, believers and non-believers, and the Lord, though with the same disease, has a different reckoning with each of them.

What is this then for unbelievers? Answer: It is to be a wholesome chastener in the sick person, and to work and cooperate with the divine Law with its demanding, threatening, and cursing, killing, and condemning, so that he may awaken from his hard sleep of sin, recognize his sins, feels this in his conscience, and confesses repentantly toward God. [click on the "Read more »" below to read the balance]

For this next purpose, the Lord lets the illness continue at home, in which he gives the patient several salutary treatments, for sometimes he gives him a small foretaste of the eternal agony of hell, sometimes he stops him from following the usual paths of sin, such as of greed for money or drinking, as in the time [p. 29] of health, and at other times it leads him more into loneliness and silence and gives him the opportunity and leisure to reflect on his sinful state and his life that he has lost up to this point, and to test himself according to the commandments of God. God also wants to make his previous ingratitude for the noble good of health sensitive to his conscience, and how vain and void even the great earthly possessions are compared with this good; for even if the sick person were still so rich and possessed millions, what can all his money and goods help him now? Likewise, what use to the coarse eaters and drunkards or the tasty gourmets are their delicious food and drink, since they both are disgusted by all food and strong drink?

In short, the benevolent rebuff of God with unbelievers who are ill according to His will, is first of all directed to the fact that they, through the demand and curse of His Law and the punishment of the sick, stricken thoroughly in themselves, feel their burden of sin and curse of sin painfully in their conscience and reach righteous repentance to God with a frightened spirit and broken hearts.

Then there is also God's gracious reckoning that the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel, will ignite true faith in Christ in the heart of the repentant sick person, and that he, like the man who is sick with palsy, Matt. 9:2, will first be healed in the soul through the forgiveness of sins, for it was primarily for the recovery of the sinful sick soul that God struck the body of the hitherto unconverted man.

Only now does the believing sick person also have the spirit of grace and prayer, and can, similar to the leper, Matt. 8, call upon the Lord: "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me whole also in my body, as Thou didst unto so many in the days of Thine earthly walk, and bless the means of cure.” But he closes properly with the third petition, because even if God did not give him the health he had asked for, he will give him something better when his soul enters into eternal life at the death of the body.

Unfortunately, God does not obtain this merciful rebuff for most of the unrepentant sinners whom he strikes with illness. As with his Law, they only oppose his well-meant punishment for illness with an increased evil will. They have to suffer, but they do not want to suffer; and instead of letting themselves be crushed by the blows of divine Law and bodily sickness for their salvation, their hearts become ever harder, like an anvil. And instead of allowing themselves to be softened by both to “repentance toward God”, they become [p. 30] inwardly more and more stubborn, bitter, ugly and hostile to God. At times, when they are in great pain, they break out in blasphemous words against God, or, in the case of prolonged illness, they surrender to their unavoidable fate in the dull and silent defiance of the Lord, like Mohammedans, even though they are still baptized Christians. Sometimes they also reproach God, especially when they are self-pious and self-righteous children of unbelief, that He plagues them so hard and long while so many apparently godless people enjoyed lasting health, which they then hate all the more and yet envy them at the same time.

But in the case of those who already believe, his dear children in Christ, God has a different reckoning in the mission of sickness. For them it is not a punishment, but a salutary chastisement or a fatherly means of education, in order to maintain them in the state of penance, faith and new obedience, also in connection with His Word. For Christian people are not yet vain spirits, and have in themselves, besides the new man, the old man, besides the new spiritual being, according to heart, mind and will, the flesh, the original sinful and corrupt nature with its fruits, the real sins in desires and thoughts, words and deeds. There is now a constant struggle against the lusts of the flesh, so that through the grace of the Holy Spirit and through the power of the divine Word the new man may subject the old man more and more, and the dominion of the Spirit over the flesh may become ever more complete.

At the same time, however, the Christian human being does at times slacken somewhat in this struggle. For example, he becomes sluggish and cold in praise and thanksgiving, also for the noble gift of health and other benefits of God. He no longer has the same seriousness and zeal to hear and learn, to read and contemplate God's Word, and to grow in the salutary knowledge of God and of himself and to obtain clarity in these; yes, after the old man he sometimes feels a listlessness and aversion to God's Word. Sometimes, even quietly and gradually, sin creeps back up to his heart, which before his conversion was his beloved and habitual sin, whether it be greed and avarice, or a tendency to strong drink, or the world's concern, the world's lust, the world's fear, or, if he is a husband and father, he no longer has the same diligence to govern his house according to God's Word, to raise his children in discipline and admonition to the Lord. Or he [page 31] is in all directions according to his wishes and will, and he is in danger of re-establishing himself in the earth and finding himself quite at home here, so that he feels of the stranger and pilgrim in him, etc.

In short, the Christian man is in a dangerous condition. What is to be done by the dear God, his heavenly Father in Christ, who has constantly turned His eye on him and perceives him more tenderly than a mother of his? He sends him a possibly lengthy and sometimes painful illness. And for what purpose?

First of all, to make him more complete in his capacity for "repentance toward God", to make him more and more aware of the vanity of the world, the fleetingness and nothingness of earthly goods, joys and pleasures, and to make him feel a deeper hatred and disgust for his former favorite sins; that he feels his carelessness and slothfulness in thanking and praising God, his lack of seriousness and perseverance in using the Word of God heard and read as a sin against love for God, more acutely in his conscience and repentantly confesses it toward God; that he would become more aware of his infidelity or weakness in the governing of his house and in the discipline of his children; that instead of the heartfelt compassion of Christ's love for the sins, evils, hardships, woes and miseries of his neighbor, there had often been hardness and dullness in his heart, and that he had therefore repeatedly missed the opportunity to help and serve Him through active love, according to his physical or spiritual need; that even against the love of his neighbor he had often given room to the sinful bad habit of his natural temperament, especially anger and tiredness.

Secondly, God's reckoning with his children in the sending of sickness is that they are not caught up in any false penitence worked by the Law; but always anew, in childlike faith, they go to the throne of grace, their Lord and Savior, and from the fullness of His merit, by virtue of His absolution, receive grace for grace, forgiveness for forgiveness, consolation for consolation. And by such a constant dedication of God's grace in Christ in his Gospel, they strengthen more and more in the healthy faith in Christ, which even without, yes, sometimes against one's feelings, clings to the Word of Grace and adheres to it.

Thirdly, God also sends the faithful sickness, so that their faith, which is righteous, may work in them the longer, the more the patience may work in them, so that they may enjoy being ill for as long as it pleases God, and their hearts may rest gently and quietly in the third petition, and they may leave their recovery or [p. 32] departure to the will of their God.

Fourthly, God makes them sick and sometimes keeps them in a long school of the Cross, so that, with the strengthening of repentance, faith and patience, the old man may die more and more and the new man live more and more.

In addition, their godly behaviour should not only serve as encouragement to weak believers, but should also be a powerful warning voice for conversion and a serious sermon of repentance to the unbelievers who flee the illness and hate it and are slaves to the fear of death.

II. To what end does God work recovery?

As daily experience teaches, God also often makes many unbelievers well again from serious illness, without having achieved His merciful rejection of their conversion through His Word and the salutary punishment of the illness. God's goodness does not lead them to repentance any more than His earnestness has done. They also attribute their recovery not to God's blessing in the remedies used, but to the skill of the doctor or their strong nature, or, if they are self-righteous, they see it as a retribution and reward owed to them by God for their moral well-being and civil righteousness. But if they are coarse or fine Epicureans and servants of the carnal lusts, whose motto is: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we are dead," and whose rhyming rhyme is: "Let us live in haste, for with death all is over," it is precisely through their recovery that the carnal security in them is strengthened. They follow the saying: "When the sick man gets well, he never gets worse"; for they throw themselves all the more impetuously and with increased greed into their beloved and accustomed desires and pleasures in order to compensate, as it were, for their privation during their illness. These are the wretched people, for whom the devil, in their increasing carnal security, turns the rope all the tighter to drive them, as his fattened and slaughtered cattle, down the broad path of destruction of hell.

But what is the point of God's working the convalescence in all these unbelievers and giving them back their health after the illness and not dragging them away in an evil, quick death? In some of them He does this out of abundant goodness and mercy, seeing them as his creatures, seduced by the cords of the deceiver, the devil, and therefore He prolongs the period of grace for them, as in the case of the floods of sin [page 33]. He also knows beforehand with some of them that they will be punished more severely later on and, by His grace, they will finally come to the penance of thieves and be torn out of the fire as flames. It is the same with some people, as with the prodigal son, that as a consequence and punishment of their sins they must first sink into extreme misery and ruin before their sins awaken through God's punishment and fall on their necks in heaps, and before the hammer of the divine Law can smash their hard hearts with its demanding and cursing. It is similar to some stones and boulders that are made brittle by fire all around them before they can be crushed.

Again, God gives health to other unbelievers, yes, he lets them, according to Ps. 17, have their part in this life, fills their stomachs with His treasure, let them have children of fullness and leaves the rest to their young; for He knows, even if they do so, that they will either reject from the outset the graceful Gospel of Christ and will not be worthy of eternal life, or that they will fall away again after a temporary faith and resist the converting grace to the end, so that they will be lost forever on both sides through the fault of their malicious and persistent unbelief. And because God knows that after their death they will fall into eternal want and eternal torment, He, as their benevolent Creator and Sustainer, wants to give them health and many a temporal well-being for this temporal life after sickness, even sometimes to a great age.

In other individual unbelievers, God may often work to restore them to health after their illness and deliver them from various plagues, and finally, after they have resisted the work of His converting grace for years and decades, and have therefore fallen, like Pharaoh, into the judgment of stubbornness, He will erect a monument to His holy justice, tearing them away from the land of the living by a sudden and often terrible death.

But what does God do in his saints, his children who believe in Christ? The summary answer is that they pursue sanctification or daily renewal with all the greater earnestness and zeal.

This is done, first of all, by making all the more diligent efforts to praise and thank God, not only for the noble gift of restored health, but also for all the [p.  34] other gifts of body and soul, and especially for the gift of all gifts, Christ crucified and risen for them, through and in whom they are so abundantly blessed with all kinds of spiritual blessings in heavenly goods. And with this praise and thanksgiving there should also suitably be connected a greater loyalty and perseverance in prayer and intercession.

On the other hand, they should be even more careful and consistent in their use of the Word of God that they have heard and read, in understanding it properly, then examining it and, in accordance with the Law and the Gospel, imprinting it ever more thoroughly on their memory, heart and conscience, growing together with it and acquiring its firm nature.

Third, that they become ever more courageous and joyful, in overcoming all human fears, to confess their Lord and Saviour before his enemies, the mockers, and to suffer gladly for what is pleasing to God.

Fourthly, that they may walk in the fear and love of God ever more faithfully and perseveringly in the love of their neighbor, partly in the exercise of their civil and domestic professions, partly also in other ways where and how God gives them the opportunity to do so, but especially in the preservation and promotion of church and school and for the spreading of the pure Word of God among the Gentiles and in this country among their fellow believers and people who are scattered in the far West and spiritually neglected.

Fifthly, that they may become ever more willing and able, in the healing and blessed school of the Cross of their heavenly Father, to bear the Cross of their Lord Christ, while at the same time always holding fast the hope of eternal life, which is certain that all the sufferings of this time are not worthy of comparison with the glory that is to be revealed in them, if they persevere in faith and godly nature to the end.

May the gracious and merciful God help all the faithful sick and recovered for Christ's sake, Amen.

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