Rick Warren Preaches First Sermon Since His Son's Suicide

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Last Saturday evening, Rick Warren, the well-known pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California, returned to his pulpit after an almost four-month absence following the suicide of his 27-year-old son Matthew, who had struggled with mental illness throughout his life.
Warren, accompanied on stage by his wife Kay, was warmly greeted by an overflow congregation.
In his sermon, Warren thanked the many people, including church staffers and hundreds of well-wishers, who supported his family as they grieved. He praised his two other children, Amy and Josh, who, he said, had loved their brother and "talked him off the ledge" many times. He also spoke frankly about his own spiritual struggles regarding Matthew's mental illness.
"For 27 years, I prayed every day of my life for God to heal my son's mental illness. It was the number one prayer of my life," Warren said. "It just didn't make sense why this prayer was not being answered."
Kay Warren told of how for months after her son's death, she couldn't even read certain Scripture passages about hope.
But Warren said they were helped and sustained by both Bible passages and friends and family. They hold onto the hope that God is with people during their times of trouble and that God will raise the dead.
Warren had initially informed his congregation of his son's death through a letter, in which he wrote that his son Matthew was "an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate man."
"But only those closest knew that he struggled from birth with mental illness, dark holes of depression and even suicidal thoughts," Warren wrote. "In spite of America's best doctors, meds, counselors and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided."
In his sermon last week, Warren also said that Saddleback's next major ministry push will be to remove the stigma associated with mental illness. "If any other organ of your body breaks down, there's no stigma," said Warren. "But if your brain doesn't work, why are you ashamed of that?" He also said, "Your illness is not your identity; your chemistry is not your character."
Warren announced that his church would offer support groups for people afflicted with mental illness, but said that the larger program is yet to be revealed. It will be similar, however, to the way Saddleback previously helped tackle the HIV crisis, Warren said.
Warren said that his sermon would be the first in a series of six on the theme "How to get through what you're going through." More on this story can be found at these links:
Rick Warren Preaches First Sermon Since His Son's Suicide. TIME
Rick Warren Gives First Sermon Since Son's Suicide. ABC News
The Big Questions
1. A standard meaning of "stigma" is "a mark of disgrace." Why has "stigma" come to be attached to mental illness? Is it logical that this should be so? Why or why not? How does stigmatizing mental illness sometimes keep those so afflicted from getting the help they need?
2. What things in the church or the Bible have been used (or misused) to stigmatize people with mental illness? What are some distinguishing criteria between actions caused by mental illness and actions that are due to sinfulness? When, if ever, is a mentally ill person responsible for his or her actions that directly result from the illness? Explain your answer.
3. What biblical and church resources have helped you get through painful and heartbreaking events in your life?
4. Do you agree with Warren that "Your illness is not your identity; your chemistry is not your character"? Why or why not? Would his comment also apply to those whose illness makes them dangerous to others? Why or why not?
5. What is your definition of mental health problems? Which conditions would you include? When scripture seems to say one thing and your experience says another, how do you balance the two? How does your church minister to those with mental health problems and their families?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Deuteronomy 28:28
The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind ... (For context, read 28:15-45.)
This statement comes in the midst of a long biblical passage listing potential consequences for disobeying God's laws, and it pictures God deliberately afflicting the disobedient with "madness" and "confusion of mind," both of which imply mental illness.
It's easy to see how a biblical description of mental illness as punishment from God can lend itself to stigmatizing those who suffer from it.
Questions: How should this verse be understood today? Why? Unlike some denominations, Rick Warren (and many mental health experts) discuss suicide in terms of mental illness, rather than as sin. What were you raised to think? Is it "either-or" or "both-and"? Explain your answer. How has your life been impacted by individuals with mental health problems? How has that changed your viewpoint?
1 Samuel 18:10-11
The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, "I will pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice. (For context, read 18:6-16.)
Here and in other places in his story, King Saul appears to have bouts of mental illness. The text attributes these instances to "an evil spirit from God," implicitly because God "regretted" making Saul the king of Israel. (Samuel had already anointed David to replace Saul, see 1 Samuel 15:10-11; 16:1-13). Some theologians take the "evil spirit from God" as indicating that God caused Saul to act this way; others believe that the "evil spirit from God" is an interpretation of the author concerning God's allowing Saul to become deranged.
The word "will" as used in "God's will" is ambiguous, and has at least three different meanings: 1) God's "decretive" will: that which he ordains to happen; 2) God's "permissive" will: that which he allows to happen; 3) God's "preceptive" will: those moral actions or inactions that he desires of people.
Questions: Do you consider mental health problems the result of God's direct (decretive) will? Indirect (permissive) will? Not God's will at all? What parts of the Bible argue against God wanting people to be mentally ill? Discuss what, if anything, might have been done for Saul today that could have addressed some of his problems. What would you say to Saul if you were able to address him directly? What do you say to others who are struggling? What have others said to you when you struggled?
Matthew 4:23-24 (The Message)
He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with an ailment, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. (For context, read 4:23-25.)
We've chosen to quote these two verses from the biblical paraphrase The Message because we like how it has used modern language -- "mental, emotional [ailments]" -- to render what the original Greek text called daimonizomai and seleniazomai. These two words were rendered, respectively, in the King James Version as "possessed with devils" and "lunatic" (seleniazomai literally means "to be moon-struck," and is sometimes also translated as "epileptics"; epilepsy was once thought to be influenced by the moon).
The older language probably reflects how people in Jesus' day thought of those with mental illness, whereas the language used in the modern paraphrase reflects more recent understandings.
However these conditions are described, in this passage, "Jesus healed them, one and all."
Questions: How does the language we use to refer to those with mental illness affect how we think about such persons and our willingness to avoid stigmatizing them? Why should we not take this passage to mean that "coming to Jesus" is generally the cure for mental illness? Since Jesus does not heal all physical diseases today, should mental diseases be any different? How do you see Jesus directly involved with those who struggle with inner demons?
Isaiah 43:1-3
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (For context, read 43:1-7.)
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (For context, read 1:3-7.)
Revelation 21:4
[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away. (For context, read 21:1-8.)
Rick and Kay Warren have said that the verses above have been a comfort to them as they grieved over their son's death.
Questions: What do each of these passages mean to you? How might they apply to your life? How have they, and others like them, helped you "get through what you're going through"?
For Further Discussion
1. Print out the Mayo Clinic document Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness and discuss the suggestions included for coping with mental illness stigma.
2. Comment on this, from a TWW team member: "I have a friend, 'Martin,' who suffers from chronic depression, and looking at it from the outside, I can tell you it's a very difficult thing to live with. Martin had a wife and children, a job he liked and a pretty good life, but he would drop into long periods of deep gloom that little by little was destroying all that. There were times when I saw him locked in an inertia that made me want to just kick him in the pants and say, 'This is silly. Get moving and stop dribbling your life away,' but that just showed how hard it is for someone who's not suffered from it to understand it.
    "Over several years, Martin spent a fortune on counselors, psychiatrists and antidepressant medicines, none of which seemed to bring him any lasting relief. He also prayed for help, but didn't seem to find any. Finally he decided to go through electroconvulsive therapy. This is a treatment of last resort, for it has some significant effects beyond the help it is intended to render. In this therapy, which is usually done in a series of 8-12 separate treatments, electric current is sent through the patient's brain, inducing a seizure, which in turn is supposed to produce the desired therapeutic effect. One side effect is that some portions of the patient's memory may be wiped out. In the case of Martin, although his depression was somewhat alleviated by the treatment, he lost all memory of his oldest son's babyhood and the other things that happened in that time period.
    "The treatment helped, and I don't think Martin regretted going through it, although he hated the actual procedure, but even afterward, he was not totally cured."
3. One TWW editorial team member recalls a family that refused to talk about the effect of suicide across the decades, so that some of the children grew up not knowing there had been several generations that included individuals who had committed suicide. Once it was finally spoken about, the newer generations expressed a desire to learn more about the causes in order to break the cycle. How important is it to directly address mental health issues? Discuss what you consider the balance between genetic predisposition, upbringing and free will. Do some people seem to hold these in balance? Are there individuals whose predispositions seem to take away much of their free will? Are you aware of upbringings (including, perhaps, your own) that make it harder to make choices or overcome predispositions?
4. After the suicide of her mentally troubled (and only) son, singer/songwriter Judy Collins took refuge in the music of Bob Dylan, and eventually recorded the CD Judy Collins Sings Dylan Just Like a Woman. Collins credited Dylan's music with saving her life after that shattering event. What scriptures, music, people, etc. do you turn to or have you turned to when experiencing loss and suffering?
5. Respond to this, from a TWW team member: "When my father was in parish ministry, he was unusual in our [theologically conservative] denomination in that he would conduct church funerals for people who had committed suicide. He believed this was a wonderful opportunity to preach in a way that would get people to think. Summarizing, he'd preach that everyone in attendance deserved eternal damnation, just as did the deceased. But because of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, God provided the gift of salvation to the undeserving. He made no judgment about the suicide.
    "When my dad retired, one of the most touching cards was from the family of one of those who had died by suicide. As I recall, they had gone to several other pastors first; all had turned them down. Dad didn't, and as a result of the message and his actions, several members of the family became Christian or renewed their faith, some becoming 'pillars' of the church. In sum: let God judge. We should preach salvation through Christ Jesus." 
Responding to the News
This is a good time to remind ourselves that the term "mental illness" covers a wide range of disorders, ranging from "everyday" neuroses and chronic depression to those who are completely out of touch with reality. In each case, "illness" implies that a sufferer's affliction is not the result of sin or a lack of character. That understanding is a good first step in thinking about how your church might minister to at least some persons with mental illness.
Closing Prayer

O Lord, be with those of us who suffer from afflictions in our mind or emotions, that we may find both your compassion and the earthbound help we need to live whole lives. Be present with your comfort with the family of Matthew Warren. In Jesus' name. Amen.