Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:05] Chuck Allen here with another weekday podcast. And thanks so much for joining me today. Today I want us to have part reflection, part story, part song, part healing. We're diving into some biblical roots here and a beautiful soul of an old hymn, an old hymn entitled There Is a Bomb in Gilead. Now, not a bomb, a bomb.
[00:00:29] You've probably heard it maybe in. In a church that sings more spiritual kind of music or more soulful music, but maybe in a movie or maybe just in a quiet memory that still feels like Sunday morning to you. That's me. I remember singing this as a kid, but this hymn didn't start as a hymn at all. It started thousands of years earlier with a question from a weary prophet by the name of Jeremiah.
[00:00:57] There's this ancient cry in the book of Jeremiah, in chapter 8, where the prophet looks at his broken nation, people that are exiled, cities that are ruined, hearts that are undone. And he says in Jeremiah 8. 22, is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for my people?
[00:01:18] It's a cry of grief, not cynicism, not heartbreak. The balm Jeremiah speaks of was. Was real. A healing SAP that grew in the hills east of the Jordan River, a place called Gilead. It was famous for its soothing power, priceless, precious healing power. So Jeremiah's question really hits much harder. If they're supposed to be a healing, why is there still hurting?
[00:01:49] Now think about that. This is a really quite. It's a powerful question for today. If there's supposed to be healing, why are we still hurting?
[00:01:58] So we kind of transition to a song from suffering.
[00:02:02] Centuries later, the same question echoed across another people's story. Enslaved people here in America, they knew Jeremiah's lament. They knew what it meant to cry out for healing that never seemed to come.
[00:02:16] And somewhere along the way, out of that pain, hope began to sing.
[00:02:20] The enslaved church took Jeremiah's question, is there no balm in Gilead? And turned it into an answer. There is a balm in Gilead now. You can feel the shift from despair to defiance, from question to conviction. It's kind of like they said, yes, there is healing. It's found in Jesus. And it may not come from the systems or the powers or the pharaohs, but. But it comes from the Savior. That's the heart of the old hymn. It's a resurrection of hope. In the middle of oppression. There's this gospel echo, if you will. The spirituals, like this one do something wildly brilliant. They weave together, lament, enjoy sorrow and Strength. Just like the gospel itself, the Helm's refrain speaks of healing and hope in its verses, and they encourage the discouraged believers.
[00:03:12] It's like, if you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, you still have a part in the healing work of Jesus. That's the quiet revolution of the spiritual tradition. Everyone's voice matters. Everyone's faith story is part of the healing.
[00:03:30] In Second Corinthians, chapter 1, the apostle Paul writes, Beginning in verse 3, all praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us and in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. That's the balm. It's not just medicine, it's ministry. It's a living balm.
[00:03:53] It's. When I think about this hymn, I think about how healing doesn't always look like the wound disappearing. Sometimes it looks like the wound simply becoming a well.
[00:04:05] Sometimes it looks like people who have suffered deeply become healers for others.
[00:04:12] That's. That's what Jesus does. He takes broken things and turns them into blessings. He holds pain long enough for it to become compassion.
[00:04:23] So maybe the question Jeremiah is asking, is there no balm in Gilead? Still lingers in us today. And maybe every time we show mercy, every time we offer forgiveness, every time we sing hope back into the ache, we're answering his question again.
[00:04:39] Yes, there is a bomb in Gilead. Yes, there is healing. And yes, the presence of Jesus still reaches across every wound, every heartbreak, every Gilead.
[00:04:52] So today, wherever you are, if you're tired, if you're angry, if you're praying for something that feels like it's never coming, my friend, take heart.
[00:05:02] There's still a ball. And somehow it's still more than enough.
[00:05:07] Thanks for listening in today. Grace and peace, my friend. Thanks so much for listening in on the weekday podcast. I'm Chuck Allen, and thanks again for joining me. Bye now.
