Terminal Cancer and Testimonies - Jonathan Voos

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Terminal Cancer and Testimonies

On money, fame, and Luke's story.

On money, fame, and Luke's story

July 03, 2023

Dear reader,

I’ve long declared that if my life was as organized as my Spotify, I’d be unstoppable. My dozens of playlists are immaculately organized by sub-genre or season of life. I rarely feel the need to listen to the same song on repeat. However, when one song stands out to me, it usually speaks to my current life situation.

Right now, this song is MONEY & FAME by NEEDTOBREATHE. The chorus goes:

What do you kids wanna know about now?

I made enough to make a young gun proud

Money and fame bring a man to shame

Ain't no doubt about it

What do you kids wanna know about now?

I found the bottom from the top somehow

Money and fame bring a man to shame

Ain't no doubt about it

I always struggle with humility during job application seasons. When applications aren’t on my mind, I can clearly articulate what I value in the long-term and why money and prestige aren’t everything. But, I’m not immune to the rat-race pressure of condensed job bidding periods during which my default mode is to shoot for the “best” opportunity possible. Although discerning what to do and where to apply is difficult, God worked it all out this summer. I trust that he will do the same in the future. MONEY & FAME serves as a great reminder that I should prioritize discerning God’s will rather than seeking to glorify myself.

God gave me another such reminder today in the Fort Worth Downtown YMCA parking lot. For the past couple of months, I’ve been plant-sitting for a friend who is interning out of town. I had not been by to water the plants for a couple of weeks because of a car accident and subsequent trip back to San Antonio. I returned to Fort Worth today and accordingly planned on going home and unpacking my freezer stuff before heading back downtown to the gym and her apartment.

As I exited the highway, however, she texted me that her mom went by earlier that day and that the plants looked good. I somehow have not killed them yet. So, I decided to quickly stop at the gym rather than drive home and turn around. As soon as I parked and got out, a heavily perspiring man with a wooden walking stick approached me and asked if I was willing to help out a veteran.

I told him I didn’t have much and gave him the loose cash from my car along with the protein bar on my seat. I thought that would be the end of the encounter. However, he pulled out his Nokia flip phone, said his name was Luke, and showed me that he had taken buses and trains from Knoxville, Tennessee down to Fort Worth. He then began to tell me part of his life story. Since I didn't have anything pressing to do (not even bench press—shoulder impingements aren’t fun), I listened patiently.

Luke first talked briefly about his military service. Then he told me why he came to Fort Worth. As of three months ago, Luke was supposed to be dead according to his doctors. In battling terminal bone cancer, he’s lost over fifty pounds and decided he wants to spend his last days with his family where he grew up. Upon hearing this, I told him I’d be praying for him and again expected to be on my way.

Instead, Luke asked my name, quipped that we just need Matthew and Mark now upon hearing “Jon,” and launched into his testimony. Luke came from a military family—born on Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth sometime during the late 1950s or early 1960s. While he spent ten years of childhood on a New York dairy farm, Fort Worth was always home to him. Luke ran from God during his early twenties, but eventually gave his life back, felt called to the military, and served eight years in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan beginning in 1986. He has metal in his face and right leg and bullet holes in his chest from his service. In his civilian life, Luke worked as a carpenter and mason. His parents, sister, and brother live in town. Another sister lives an hour away. He also has kids and had or has a wife, although I’m not sure where they fit into this picture.

Luke calls himself a “whole Bible believer.” While I don’t know the specifics of his theology outside of understanding that he also doesn’t believe in “once saved, always saved,” the man obviously knew his Bible well and had many verses memorized. He made several good points about discernment, the need to be vigilant in reading the Bible, and the need to not live in sin. Despite his military-related ailments and bone cancer, Luke seemed full of joy. When I asked how he keeps faith despite all the suffering he has endured, he teared up and told me nothing bad comes from God and that he is grateful for all that God has done for him. He doesn’t know why we suffer, but he trusts that God will lead him to where he needs to be nonetheless.

He said friends would always ask him why he never worried about money or cared about saving more for future problems. His response always was that God always provided more than he needed, so why should he worry? He’s lived his whole life with the fourth man in the fire (referencing the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the Book of Daniel), and told me he even began walking again only thirteen days after having 7 pieces of metal inserted into the leg he almost lost from a bomb. He still maintains his faith that God will always provide, even though it seems like he’s lost everything.

After telling me more about his background and showing me pictures of his family, Luke said something that really hit home. He never wanted nor cared about money or fame. Instead, he lived his life so that whenever his kids saw someone who needed help, they’d confidently be able to say their dad would have helped that person. He gave his time and resources as needed to strangers—sometimes to the chagrin of his wife—and felt called to help others when it was within his power.

God used Luke to minister to me in a situation where I expected only to provide a little help and move on with my life. I hope the little I contributed made a similar impact on him. Ultimately, instead of pursuing money, fame, power, and the things of this world, we should all strive to act more like Luke and truly love our neighbors as ourselves.