Something different
today…a break in the weekly routine—a service of prayer and healing…Of
course, one would hope that every worship experience here at Ascension would
be an opportunity to sense God’s healing presence in prayer and through
other means.
And yet, the notion of a
“healing service” per se is for modern day Lutherans like us somewhat
foreign territory. In most cases, prayer with laying on of hands and
anointing with oil simply haven’t played much of a role, if any in our
individual and communal piety, in the way we express our faith. It sounds
exotic, dare we say even strange, something out of Oral Robert’s playbook or
one of the host of so called “faith healers” who hawk themselves on
television these days.
But make no mistake, the
Bible and Jesus himself have A LOT to say about healing. The root of the
word healing in the New Testament is a Greek word “sozo” and it shares the
same root meaning as that of “salvation” and “wholeness”.
It’s important to remember
that spiritual healing is God’s work of bringing people to a place of peace
and wholeness in mind, body and spirit with ourselves, with God and in our
relationships with other and with the world around us.
Jesus healed the sick and
in turn sent out the disciples in ministry. As we all know, a big part of
that work had to do with healing the sick. Later on, in the book of James,
the church is called to be a community that prays for and anoints the sick,
that they may be healed.
All healing is from God.
The healing ministry of the church in no way takes away from the way that
God works through the work of medical professionals, doctors, nurses,
therapists, counselors and others. That being said, whatever healing and
wholeness that comes through these means is God’s work and not our own.
It’s sad that the arts of healing have become so compartmentalized.
Healing isn’t magic, but
points us yet again to the wondrous mystery of God’s love for us and for the
world. As we work to bring healing we act as instruments and channels of
God’s love for others. We use oil because it was and is an effective
medicine, a soothing balm. It also plays a part in many of the healing
stories that Jesus told, like that of the Good Samaritan who bandaged and
poured oil on the half dead traveler’s wounds. The oil that we anoint
ourselves with has no healing power in and of itself, but serves to remind
us of the one who touches us with his love and healing, our Lord Jesus
Christ.
We often wonder about the
fact that not everyone who we pray for receives healing. That’s a tough one
and maybe the best we can say is “we just don’t know.” Would it be so that
everyone who asked for healing prayer were immediately healed, but sometimes
it just doesn’t happen. What we can say is that if a person doesn’t receive
the healing she or he desires it isn’t because he or she didn’t have enough
faith. Anyone who suggests that is the case is dead wrong.
Somebody once said that we
live in a society that defines healing as an activity that happens largely
between patients and the modern medical profession. Christ shows us though
that the practice of healing is a whole lot more than a simple transaction
between me and the doctor. This is key, I think, when we as the church talk
about healing, we’re not focused so much on the idea of a cure, but of
wholeness, that is to say a right relationship with God and our neighbors,
what Jesus refers to as Shalom—an all encompassing peace that puts an end to
meaningless suffering, the reality that we see most clearly in the
resurrection of the body. In the mean time, Jesus promises to be with us,
to bring us hope and healing each and every day of our lives.
A member of a
congregational healing team makes an astute observation about the ministry
he shares with others in his community. Over time, he says, “we began to
think in terms of obedience to our baptismal vows, and some of us could not
escape the conviction that we were being called to a task that has always
been central to the church’s ministry, even when it goes unnoticed. We
needed to learn to get ourselves and our concern for results out of the way
and just let God act through us.”
As with any other need
that we lift up to God in prayer, when we pray for healing something always
happens even if it isn’t what we ask for. We see our situation in a
different light, we discover options we hadn’t considered, or like the
members of a chronic illness support group have discovered the recognition
of a whole new way of conceiving on health and healing as experienced
realities within the reality of healing. More than anything else, what we
are doing in our praying for healing open up space for God to act in and
through us that God’s will would be done in us as the catechism reminds us.
In a few short minutes,
we’ll share in the Lord’s Supper, that meal through which we receive
Christ’s healing promise of forgiveness and new life. And having been
touched by the one who is our health, our salvation and our life we go forth
to share such love. As the table is dismissed, you are invited to move to
the area adjacent to the chancel on your left, where I will be stationed to
offer anointing and prayer. If you have a special prayer need that you want
to share with me, I would be glad to offer lay my hand on your shoulder or
hold your hand as we pray together. I promise you that whatever you share
will remain between you, me and God. If you choose not to receive anointing
and prayer, please return to your seat. If you’re waiting in line, please
give the person in front of you some space for privacy.
So, what’s going to
happen? What is happening? It’s hard to say, but for those who believe and
trust in God’s healing presence things are already happening, maybe not the
way we expect them to or that we hope for, but something. May God grant us
eyes to see, ears to hear the wonders of His healing love for us all.
Read “Silence, Frenzied,
Unclean Spirit” as a prayer.
"Silence, frenzied, unclean spirit!" called God's healing Holy One.
"Cease your ranting! Flesh can't bear it; flee as night before the
sun."
At Christ's words the demon trembled, from its victim madly rushed,
while the crowd that was assembled stood in wonder, stunned and
hushed.
Lord, the demons still are thriving in the gray cells of the mind:
tyrant voices, shrill and driving, twisted thoughts that grip and
bind,
doubts that stir the heart to panic, fears distorting reason's
sight,
guilt that makes our loving frantic, dreams that cloud the soul with
fright.
Silence, Lord, the unclean spirit in our mind and in our heart;
speak your word that when we hear it, all our demons shall depart.
Clear our thought and calm our feeling; still the fractured, warring
soul.
By the power of your healing make us faithful, true, and whole.
-Thomas H. Troeger, 1984
Amen.
Pastor Brian Peterson
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