AMEN Australia 2014: From Bended Knee to Bedside

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Adventist Medical Evangelism Network Australia

Morning Devotional

Henry To

Three Dreaded Words

Now, this morning I'm going to be sharing, first of all, a little bit about myself, and also a little bit about what God's placed in my heart in terms of a message that I believe is relevant for every 1 of us, whether we're a doctor, a nurse, health professional, even whether we're a Christian.

This is a very important message for each of you.

Now, just to say a little bit more about myself, as Rob introduced, my name is Henry, I was born and raised in Melbourne.

I actually graduated from the University of Melbourne back in 2003 from the medical school.

And ever since I graduated, God has placed me on a path, and 1 of those paths is to hopefully soon also graduate from the Royal Australian College of Surgeons.

Now the College of Surgeons, I've no doubt that God has worked things in my life to allow me to enter this training program and also work things in my life to hopefully complete the training as well.

And I have amazing testimony and stories about how God has done that, particularly through the issues of the Sabbath.

I won't be sharing too much about that today, but hopefully I'll be able to share a personal testimony with you soon or 1 day about that.

But I want to share with you a little bit about what it's like to be a surgical trainee.

I'm gonna start off this morning's talk by 2 examples of what it's like to be a surgical trainee and how that has influenced the way that I practice and the things that I do.

So before I start, I'd just like to get you all to bow your heads together.

Gracious Heavenly Father, I'd just like to thank you and I'd like to praise you, Lord, that we can be here together, that we can open your word, that we live in a place and that you've given us time this morning, Lord, to just commune with you.

I pray, Lord, that we'll be humble in your sight, we'll listen to your voice, Lord.

You'll reveal yourself to us as I speak, and I pray, Lord, that each person here will gain a special blessing from being here today, in Jesus' name, amen.

So as I mentioned, I just wanna go through 2 examples of just short testimonies of what it's like to be a surgical trainee.

Now this is where I do most of my work, the operating theatre, and in the operating theatre, especially when you're a trainee, to be a surgical trainee you've got to love to operate and 1 of the things you love to do when you operate is to operate on your own, to have that sense of independence Now for surgical trainees you start off first by working together with a consultant surgeon, a senior surgeon, and most of the time at the start, you're assisting him.

So he would do the operation, he'd show you all the steps, and then you'd copy what he does.

And then over time, when you gain more and more confidence, you get to do the operation yourself.

And so instead of the surgeon doing the operation, you're doing the operation, and he'll assist you.

And then eventually with more confidence he would allow you to do the entire operation by yourself, he wouldn't scrub in, he might stand in the corner and when he's really happy with your abilities then he'd just stay in the tea room and he wouldn't even come into the operating theatre.

And in my second year of training I was up to that point.

I was really getting more and more confident and I was really glad that I was confident enough to be able to do some operations.

And so it came to a time when the consultant said, okay I think you're good enough to do operations by yourself and so I'll just be in the tea room, you just go ahead and go ahead and do your stuff.

And I was so excited because this is the first time that the senior surgeon was not gonna scrub together with me when I operated.

I finished the operation, I thought it went quite well.

An hour or 2 later I saw him in the recovery area.

And when you're on call, people come through the emergency department, you get phone calls from the emergency department team and they get you to come to review patients.

Now I got a particular call at about 7 o'clock that night and the emergency physician on the other end of the phone, he said, there's a patient I'd like you to see.

And for those of you who are medical professionals, there are 3 words that you really dread hearing.

And so that's why my title is called 3 Dreaded Words.

Now these 3 dreaded words are kind of borrowed from another talk that I heard, but when I heard this talk, it really rang true.

So the emergency physician was on the other end of the phone and he said the 3 dreaded words that doctors don't like to hear.

So for those of you in the audience, you're probably laughing because you might know what this means.

So the emergency physician was on the other phone and he said, you know, I've got this 30-year-old man who came in, do you remember that you operated on him earlier today?

And that usually means that something's gone wrong if he's come back and for sure something actually did.

He came back with swelling over his wound, a lot of bruising around that area, and basically he had a post-operative haematoma.

Indeed he had all that swelling and it was just a vessel or something that I didn't tie off or something that I didn't diatherm properly and indeed he had a very large hematoma and a lot of pain, you know.

And for me as a surgical trainee, I was like, oh, my first operation, first complication, that's 1 out of 1, you know?

But even worse for the patient, he was in a lot of pain, he said, how did this happen?

And all I could do was apologize and to treat him the way it is.

Thankfully he didn't need a second operation.

But it gave me that reminder, you know, when you hear those words do you remember, it gives you that sense that what you've done, the operation that I've done has unfortunately led to a problem, a complication, something that shouldn't have happened.

Now I want to go through a second example of also happened during my second year of training.

And for those of you who don't know what this is, this is actually a gastroscopy.

Now as we go through training, you need to do a certain number of procedures and the College of Surgeons get you to do a minimum number of procedures before you become proficient at it.

And for gastroscopies, which is when you have a flexible telescope, which you use to look, when you've got the patient asleep, of course, you look down the esophagus and the stomach and the first, second part of the, first, second, third part of the duodenum to examine if there's any pathology there.

And so with gastroscopies you needed a minimum of 200 of them and then the college would deem you proficient to do gastroscopies on your own.

Now with gastroscopies I was really excited because I really wanted to get my numbers up.

And I wanted to do as many as I could, because the more that you do, hopefully, then the better I'll get at it, and the more I can tick off that box on my thing.

So it was a Friday morning, and a 60-year-old lady came in with some vomiting.

Now she had a past medical history of renal failure.

I did a plain film, couldn't obviously see a small bowel obstruction, so I talked to my consultant surgeon who was on during the day and I said, this patient's coming in with vomiting.

We had a gastroscopy list this afternoon, we had another space right at the end of it, and I thought it'd be perfect, you know, we can get this lady in, do the procedure for her, and you know, hopefully find out what's wrong and get her home.

And I thought, you know, it'd be great, I could add another number to my list.

So I thought, you know, it'd be really good.

And this lady, you know, I can add her on.

The consultant heard the story and thought, you know, yeah, sure, we'll go ahead and do that.

And so indeed, we went through our afternoon list, we added this lady on, she was given her sedation, and then I went ahead and did the gastroscopy.

Now, as I was going down, unusually, I found a lot of fluid within the stomach.

Now, it's not usual you see that, normally patients are fasted and you don't normally see all this fluid in the stomach, particularly green colored fluid.

And I thought, it's a bit unusual, it's got a lot of fluid there, so I just sucked as much as I could out, had a look around, took some biopsies as we do by standard, and then finished the procedure.

And then at the end of the procedure, the few minutes afterwards I was writing my notes, The anaesthetist was saying, oh, this poor lady, she's got a bit of coughing, you know?

And then a few hours later, I came back to see her again.

And indeed, she did have a bit of coughing.

But it was a pretty low, morbid procedure.

I thought better do a chest X-ray just in case, make sure there's nothing bad going on in there.

I did a chest X-ray, a little bit of pulmonary infiltrates, nothing too major, so I thought she should be fine.

So it was Friday afternoon, I was going away for the weekend, I handed over to the weekend team and then I left.

So Monday, started work once again And the weekend surgical registrar come up to me and he tells me those 3 dreaded words.

He said, do you remember the lady you did the gastroscopy on Friday?

Once again, that feeling in your heart, oh no, something's gone wrong, you know.

Bee See

Devotional

But the question that I had to ask myself as a very young doctor and as a young Christian as well is, is it enough to want to be the best medical missionary for the purposes leading others to Christ?

We are here essentially at this weekend because we believe that we want to be the health professional that makes a difference, that is different, that shows a different side of patient care to whoever we come in contact with.

But It is odd that Jesus would respond to such a request or such a question as the rich young ruler posed in the way that he did.

And they are questions that I was grappling with as I started my career, and indeed I hope I grapple with as I continue on.

And I want to pick up in verse 17, sorry, verse 18.

And in verse 18, Jesus says, "'Why callest thou me good?

"'There is none good but 1, and that is God.'" Now the story goes that Jesus, Jesus is 1 of those people that almost, you know those people that answer questions with questions?

But he asks this rhetorical question of the rich young ruler.

In other words, what is it about me that you think is good?

The pen of inspiration, Desire of Ages, tells us this ruler had a high estimate of his own righteousness.

He did not really suppose that he actually lacked anything, but he was not altogether satisfied.

But what was it about Jesus that he thought was good?

What did he feel that Jesus could offer him spiritually that he had not already experienced?

He was a Sanhedrin in training, basically a Pharisee to be.

He was 1 of the young stars to watch almost in the times of Israel.

Was his greeting to Jesus, was his question a mere formality, a mere polite greeting, or did he really really know what he was asking for?

So the same question could be said of me.

What is it about Jesus's role in my ministry as a dentist, as a Christian, that I actually see as good?

You know when I at 1 stage I was I went through the process of interviewing for medical schools.

And when you prepare for medical school interviews, 1 piece of advice they usually give you is if you should ever be asked the question, why do you want to be a doctor, Try your best not to say to help people.

And it's not because they don't think you want to help people, but it's just because everyone says that and it loses its meaning when you just say you want to help people.

Is it that we really desire to be a blessing to others, to alleviate their suffering, to show them Christian kindness?

Now these things are by no means insignificant because Jesus then goes on to list a list of commandments that relate to the way this rich young ruler was to relate to them around him, his neighbors.

And indeed, we know from Romans that these commandments particularly relate to the way we love those around us and our relationship with our neighbors, friends, strangers, those that people have placed in our care, that Jesus has placed in our care.

So the command to love our neighbors as ourselves, to bless other people, to be able to alleviate their physical suffering is by no means insignificant.

But I had to think to myself there are many, many non-Christian professionals, health professionals, that could do the same thing, that could alleviate suffering, that could be kind, that could be compassionate, that could be generous to those around them.

And Jesus's answer is so clear, so unambiguous.

Verse 21, it says, Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him and said unto him, 1 thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come.

And I was starting my career and I was thinking, oh, this is great, no more exams, finally don't have to pay any school fees, life is looking up.

But it's a stark reality to realize that Jesus is telling me, especially at the prime of my life, you lack 1 thing.

Probably more than 1 thing, but especially 1 thing.

Desire of Ages says, the Redeemer longed to create in him that discernment which would enable him to see the necessity of heart devotion and Christian goodness.

If he would place himself under the guidance of Christ he would be a power for good for he possessed qualifications which if he were united with the Savior, would enable him to become a divine force among men." So Jesus essentially presented this rich young ruler with a choice and he said heavenly treasure which would be eternal life or worldly esteem.

If he were to follow Jesus, he would have to forgo all the worldly ambition and promise that awaited him in the Sanhedrin.

But again, to keep back little or much from God was to retain that which would lessen his moral strength and efficiency.

For if the things of this world are cherished, they will become all-absorbing." These words struck me so hard as I was reading them and thinking about how they relate to my career and the way that I conduct myself.

As I was reading this story, I was struck with the contrast of that of Zacchaeus.

I particularly relate to Zacchaeus because we're both a little bit vertically challenged.

But Zacchaeus was similarly a man with a promising career.

And Luke 19, if we could turn briefly to Luke 19, tells us of the story of how Zacchaeus is going about his business and then Jesus comes into his vicinity or comes into his neighborhood 1 day.

He climbs up into the tree, et cetera, et cetera.

But the turning point for him really came in verse 5.

And it says, And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down for today.

And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully.

And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner.

And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

Jesus said to him, this day is salvation come, this house for so much as he is also a son of Abraham.

For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

So contrasted to the rich young ruler, Zacchaeus was also confronted with the situation where he had to choose between worldly treasure, worldly esteem, and heavenly treasure, which was eternal life.

In contrast to the rich young ruler, though, he had an experience with Jesus.

He felt his love, he felt his kindness, he felt his forgiveness.

And the restitution, the renunciation of worldly possessions that followed, was a mere consequence of his experience and his love for Jesus.

He wanted to know the world and he wanted the world to know that he had been changed.

And his actions, his restitution, held the principle that is said in Psalms 107 verse 2.

Zacchaeus was redeemed and he was saying so and doing so.

And I was struck with these 2 stories and I thought to myself which of these am I?

Am I the rich young ruler or am I Zacchaeus?

What is my experience with Jesus And what is your experience with Jesus?

And I read again and it said, only 1 thing he lacked, desire of ages, but that was a vital principle.

As I said before, our theme for this weekend is Bended Knee to Bedside.

We want to be praying doctors, we want to be earthen vessels for Jesus to pour through to our patients, we want to be the best doctors to make sure that we give our patients the best care we can.

That's all important, but could it be that our bended knee experience is exactly that?

That we are only as good a doctor as we are a Christian.

Before eternal life, before blessing, before any service that the rich young ruler hoped to offer, came the question, what good do you see in God?

What is your personal testimony of his goodness?

What can you share of your experience with others?

And if we lack, if I lack this spiritual depth, or if we yearn for a deeper experience with Jesus to be able to bring to our bedside, then Jesus the Master Healer has this recipe for us.

It is the verse of Mark 10, verse 21, that we read before.

And the 3 stages that he outlines for us.

The first is, to go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast.

And for some, this may be material wealth, but more pertinently, perhaps for us in the industry where we pride ourselves on a culture of lifelong learning, I'm sad to say that involves exams, but we all love to learn for life.

It speaks also of the wealth of knowledge that we as doctors, health professionals, are seemingly always seeking to conquer because there's always something more to learn, there's always more to do in your career, there was always more to more accolades to chase.

The rich young ruler had earthly possessions that he was urged to use in the support of God's cause.

But perhaps the crux of the matter for him was not so much giving up these treasures, these riches, but more the donation of his heart.

The only reason his possessions were an issue were because they were a liability, they were a constant reminder of his allegiance to his current life.

And true discipleship for him would involve, require a state of no strings attached almost, where he had no attachment to his previous life.

For where your heart, your treasure is, there your heart is also.

For the rich young ruler, it was the possession to which he was entrusted, which was his talents, his riches also, but more his talents, his youth, his energy, his love for Jesus.

And God similarly entrusts us with means, talents, opportunities that we may be his agents in helping the poor and suffering.

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