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Show Dead Poet’s Society watch?v=vdXhWS7lLvsThey stand on their desks because earlier in the movie he had them all stand on his desk ... to see the world from a different point of view.Robin Williams certainly did that.He saw the world from a different point of view. And, sometimes he caused us to see it too. He entertained & inspired us thru films, TV, & his unique kind of humor. And he died tragically August 11 taking his own life. It was then that we learned that he’d suffered from depression much of his life, and he was in severe depression in the days before his death.(Mental illness in our World)Major depression is a mental illness. Approximately 1 in 10 Americans suffer or have suffered from clinical depression.According to a recent Christianity Today survey of 500 church leaders, 81% of us have someone with some form of mental illness in our family: anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, OCD, and more.A USA Today article from around the time of Robin Williams death said that diagnosis of mental illness in children is on the rise.In the ChristiantyToday survey: - 98% said they’d seen some type of mental illness in their congregations.- But the percentage that said mental illness is openly discussed in a healthy way within their churches was only 12%.It can be a difficult subject to discuss.556831514986000And, it is especially difficult to discuss in a sermon, because there are not many definitive passage on the issues in the Bible. Today, however, I feel led to try.Title slideWe are talking about God’s Amazing Grace.Today I’d like to discuss Amazing Grace for Mental Illness.When you survey the Bible looking for examples of mental illness,you can find a few.(Mental illness in the Bible)Moses was at the end of his rope at times.After dealing with the complainers and the wandering so long he told God:Numbers 11:15“If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.” He felt so miserable, so depressed and discouraged, that he said, “O God, if You really loved me, You would kill me.” That’s not necessarily clinical depression though.That’s just leadership.King David went through a lot of adversity and it wore him down. His Psalms recount some of his darkest moments saying things like:Psalm 13:1-3O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever????How long will you look the other way?How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,??with sorrow in my heart every day?Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!??Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.A few months ago we talked about the dark pit Job was in for a long time over his great losses and intense suffering.In 1 Samuel, King Saul suffers from what is called an evil spirit from the Lordand it makes him suffer different symptoms like depression, violence, and irrationality.In Daniel in the OT, King Nebuchadnezzar has a total psychotic break.He thinks that he’s a cow, eats grass, and lives as a wild animal. In the New Testament we find that Jesus heals many people who are possessed by unclean spirits and sometimes these cause issues that are similar to some mental illness symptoms.Which leads us to what we might say are The Causes of Mental iIlness.The world today says that mental illness predominantly brain chemical malfunctions and imbalances.I read a blog with thousands of comments where a writer was vilified for saying depression is a spiritual problem too. On the other hand, some in the Christian community see mental illness as online and entirely a demonic issue.It seems that a Christian/biblical view that takes into consideration biblical texts as well as current medical facts would say that There are physical, emotional, and spiritual causes for mental illness.The Bible describes humans as having body, soul, and spirit.One place this is stated clearly is:1 Thessalonians 5:23May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.We are beings of three parts, in a similar way that God is 3 in one.Maybe that is one way we are made in his image.So therefore, it seems true thatMental illnesses have physical (body) causes. Our mental faculties are seated in the physical organ called the brain.When the brain is injured or ill, it can cause mental illness.A Danish study from this year found that head trauma like concussions can increase the likelihood of some mental illnesses by as much as 400%.Lots of research has been done in recent years around how the chemicals in our brains, serotonin, dopamine, and others, can be imbalanced or malfunctioning leading to mental illness. Stress can create all kinds of health problems for our bodies,and some of those are in the brain.And mental illness can be caused by drug use and chronic alcohol abuse and the damage they can inflict on the brain.Mental illnesses have emotional (soul) causes.Our soul is harder to define.The NT Greek has a word psucke. It’s translated as soul.It’s what we get the word psychology from.Our soul is the being in us that transcends the physical body.Some of it is rooted in the brain, but the mind is more than the brain. Our soul is our emotions, our will, our mind, and our personality.Anxiety disorder is the most common mental illness.It is purely physical sometimes.It can be caused by stress, or sometimes unknown causes. But in many cases it is generated by emotions, by fear and phobias.2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.Mental illness can also result from overwhelming pain in the soul -loss, tragedy, grief.And by injury inflicted on a soul through abuse, violence, or neglect.Mental illnesses have spiritual causes.The New Testament has several examples of where Jesus encounters people who are demon possessed and they are exhibiting symptoms of mental illness.In Mark 5 Jesus encounters a demon possessed manwho is violent, irrational, and who cuts himself.After Jesus commands the demons to come out of the man,the text says, Mark 5:15“they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.”When the demons go, the man is returned to his right mind. But we also find that people from whom Jesus casts demons out are also healed of blindness, epilepsy, and the inability to speak.Matthew 17:14-15, 18 A man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly.... And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.This epilepsy by Jesus is caused by a demon.But all epilepsy is not caused by demons.Epilepsy is also a physical illness.Some children are born with it. Sometimes they have surgery on their brain and it is healed.Jesus healed blindness and muteness by casting out demons.All blindness we know is not caused by demon possession.So, from the whole picture the Bible gives us then,we find that demon possession, can cause illness, both physical and mental.Do demons cause all physical illness? No.Apparently they caused and can cause some.In the same way, do demons cause all mental illness? No.They caused and can cause some, but they are not always the cause.Not all mental illness is demon possession or influence. Which leads us to...God’s Grace for Mental Illness.What is Jesus’ practice when it comes to illness, in our body, soul, or spirit?For all types of illness, Jesus heals.Take away the mental and it’s just illness. Jesus healed all kinds of illnesses – blindness, deafness, physical deformities (hands, feet, legs), leprosy, epilepsy, bleeding, and more.If you have or someone in your family has some kind of mental illnessJesus can heal all types of illnesses.But, He did not heal all people at the same time. He could have. He does not heal all people today. But he can heal anyone and anything if he chooses.The follower of Christ can, and is encouraged then to ask in faith,for healing and wellness.But what if the answer seems to be no, or not now?If Jesus does not heal, his grace is enough.In the NT the Apostle Paul has an unknown illness.He calls it in his flesh.It is believed by some that this was possibly very poor eyesight.But we have no way of knowing what it was.2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8?Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9?But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10?That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.He has this issue, which could be anything, that he says torments him.He prays three times for the Lord to take it away.But God doesn’t.Instead God says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.Sufficient means enough. God says, “My grace is enough.”So, for those with mental illness who wish God would take it away.God would maybe say to you, “My grace is enough.”He doesn’t heal you, but He will help you.He will give you what you need to get through.He will give you his strength in your weakness.He will give you his power, his ability to endure.His grace is enough.Here’s the other wonderful thing I see here. Jesus healed all kinds of illnesses. But what if your illness is not one of the illnesses Jesus healed?What if your illness is one of the ones the Bible never mentions?I think the reason that Paul had to suffer some unknown, unnamed illnesswas so that God could have him write this perfectly planned word of comfort for all illness not specifically mentioned in the Bible.For all illness not specifically addressed in the Bible,His grace is enough.For the illnesses that people prefer to speak vaguely of, like some mental illnesses – his grace is enough.If you or someone in your family has some kind of illness, mental or otherthat he has not chosen to completely heal as of yet,I say to you – His grace is enough.And, I would add ... One of God’s graces to us is medicine.Do you know the two boats and a helicopter story.A man was in a flood.As the water came up to his knees at his door, he prayed, “O God save me.”A boat with neighbors came by and asked him if he needed a ride.He said, “No, God will rescue me.”Then the water came up to over his head, so he climbed to his 2nd floor.And prayed, “Oh God save me.”Then a boat with firemen came to the 2nd floor window and told him he needed to evacuate.“No,” he said, “God will rescue me.”Then the water rose so that he climbed on his roof.He prayed, “Oh God save me.”Then a helicopter came overhead and called down and said “Come on board. It’s going to get worse.” “No,” he said, “God will rescue me.”When he drowns and goes to heaven, he asked God,“I prayed and I prayed, why didn’t you save me?”And God said, “I tried. I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”Why didn’t you go?Sometimes we can’t see the help that God is sending us because it’s not in the form we want or expect.In the church there has been some rejection of medicine for mental illness.But, why couldn’t it be that medicine is God’s healing hand.He gives it to us.He gives us the advancement in knowledge to produce it.On the Christian counseling radio show called New Life Live,I recently heard a young woman call in who suffered from bipolar disorder.She told the Christian doctors that she’d quit her medicines for bipolar disorder because her church told her she has no faith in God if she takes meds.That assumes that God only works in a vacuum. But God does not do his work only when there is nothing else.God works through medicine.Even in primitive, prescientific times, the Bible shows people of faithusing ointments, oil, and wine for medicinal purposes.“Take a little wine for your stomach.” Paul tells Timothy. The Good Samaritan pours oil on wounds, for medicinal properties.In the Book of Revelation one church is told to “Buy salve for your eyes.”Eye salve would have been for medicinal reasons.Medicine is not anti-faith.Chemotherapy is a gift from God to heal.Insulin is a gift from God to bring ongoing health.All kinds of medicines are miracles of God and little miracles of the grace of God in the lives of those who suffer.Medicines for mental illness are not different.Are all pharmaceuticals all, only good and always prescribed just when nothing else will work? No.But there is no biblical reason to reject or to associate any lack of faith or stigma with taking medicine for good, sound medical reasons.When my wife and I were newly married and off to college for the ministry, in a span of a few months her father died (with lots of family issues), we were in a new city working & in college with 2 small children.and she had a miscarriage.After the miscarriage she just didn’t come out of it. It hit her very hard. As a result of the compound major stresses, we believe, or as a result in some hormonal change post miscarriage.things physically changed in her body and brain.She was in depression.At first, I had to learn to be patient with what it was and why it was so debilitating to her.She continued at times to function and to be loving, hardworking,and a good mom.But at other times she was deeply sad, tired, moody, and she felt like she was not herself. It was hard to get off the couch.Hard to take kids to day care.She just wasn’t going back to feeling like she had before the miscarriage.She found help and relief in an antidepressant medicine.It restored something.And with Christian counseling.And she read her Bible.She says, at first, it was the only thing that helped.And God has often used her to help other women with her experience and her faith because God can use the difficulties in our lives for his glory if we let him.In our weakness his power is made complete.This leads to my last point today.We are instruments of God’s grace to others with mental illness.God puts his grace in us to share it with others.We are called to share that grace with those that are affected by or who suffer with mental illness.For about seven years I worked in then volunteered for Washington City Mission.I oversaw men’s homeless shelter in evenings.I worked with a mentally ill population.From that experience I found there are generally 3 kinds of homeless.The lazy poor.Those in circumstantial crisis.And the physically and mentally ill.The mentally ill there needed real help often to function. It was frustrating because they are dysfunctional.Many, self-medicated with drugs and alcohol.But as instruments of the grace of God we must help those who are ill.And grace keeps helping the mentally ill in our lives even when it is frustrating.They need kindness, support, understanding, love.As instruments of God’s Grace, we need to help those who have mental illness even when the choices they make are immoral or unwise.Grace does not require performance to give.That’s grace.As followers of Jesus we are instruments of God’s grace to this world.I close with a verse from John in his 3rd epistle.3 John 1:2Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. ................
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