Last week’s sermon was about Jesus casting out demons. This week, not only does he cast out demons, he also heals people, starting with Peter’s mother-in-law.
One could say that casting out demons involves the wellbeing of one’s soul, while healing people from various diseases involves the wellbeing of one’s body. That’s a simplification, but I think it’s helpful. Casting out demons involves the spirit, and healing people from sickness involves the body.
And since last week’s sermon focused on demons, this week, I’ll focus on healing.
Jesus healed people. Crowds came to him, because he was able to heal. They brought to him those who were sick, and those who were blind, and those who were crippled and unable to walk.
And he healed them.
Jesus also taught his disciples to heal. And eventually, they did heal, performing many of the same healing acts that Jesus himself did.
We today seek to follow the same path as Jesus, the same path as the disciples, the same way of living. Jesus and the disciples are a model for us. Which means healing is an important part of our ministry and our lives of faith today.
But the topic of healing today is a little complicated, isn't it?
There are a lot of empty promises when it comes to healing. Fake cures abound.
And there are too many examples of fake healers, those who will stage healings under a spotlight, in an attempt to draw people to themselves, to convince people to follow them or join their church, and to convince people to contribute large sums of money.
You’ve probably seen videos of church services where people come forward to the altar—or, if they are unable to walk, they are carried forward—and the preacher/healer lays hands on them, or maybe whacks them across the head, and they fall to the floor, but then moments later they rise back up, and are healed.
If they were blind, now they see. If they were deaf, now they hear. If they were crippled, now they can walk. If they had cancer, they’re told to go to the doctor and see if the cancer is still there, although they apparently already know, in their heart, that the cancer is gone.
Is any of that real? I don’t know. Maybe some of it is. But some of it, I’m pretty sure, is not, and that makes me hesitant to engage in any sort of healing that is so theatrical.
And yet, I think most, if not all, of us, do believe that God heals, that God heals through us, that God heals through our prayers, and through our ministry.
We pray for healing all the time. We pray for healing in worship—we’ve already done so today. We pray for healing in our small groups. We pray for healing when we are by ourselves.
We do this, because we believe in prayer, and we believe in God’s power to heal.
And maybe you, like me, have even seen people find healing, a healing that can only be attributed to God.
Maybe you prayed, and then the tumor did go away, and the doctors are surprised, and say they’ve never seen that before.
Maybe you prayed, and your weakness went away just in time for you to attend your grandchild’s wedding.
Maybe you prayed, and some other type of healing took place, which could only be described as miraculous.
That’s why we pray, often, for God to heal.
The ways in which God heals through us and through our prayers is hard to understand. It’s a mystery, how God works through prayer.
I once heard about a Japanese water scientist who studied the ways our thoughts affect the world around us. His name was Dr. Masuru Emoto, and he specifically studied the effects thoughts have on water molecules.
He would conduct experiments where containers of water were prepared, and different words were said over the containers. On one container, the word “hope” was written, and researchers meditated on hope while in the presence of that container.
This was done with a bunch of containers with different words. Positive words like Love. Gratitude. And also negative words like hate and fear.
Then he froze the water, and studied the molecules of water under a microscope.
The water that had positive intentions directed toward it formed beautiful crystals, but the water that had negative intentions formed misshapen, ugly crystals.
The results of his study are used to show that our thoughts and prayers can affect reality.
But how, exactly, does that happen?
Obviously there is still so much here that we don’t know or understand. Dr. Emoto’s work continues to inspire scientists today, who continue his research. And it has me wondering: just how does God work through our prayers to bring about healing?
I may never find an answer to that, but I’m glad our God is a God who heals.
For the past few years, I’ve been thinking more about ways the church can help foster and nurture healing. If healing was an important part of Jesus’ ministry, and if healing is what drew so many people to Jesus, maybe we in the church should spend a little more time pondering how we can make our ministry a ministry of healing.
As I’ve already said, we do pray for healing. In fact, First Christian Church is particularly good at praying for healing. One of the things that drew me to this congregation were the prayers that were being said for me and my family, long before I ever accepted the call to come and be your pastor. You didn’t know it, but your search committee was lifting me up in prayer, praying for me on your behalf, and I felt those prayers, and those prayers made a difference.
So we pray, and a big part of our prayers are prayers for healing.
But how else are we called to heal? Can we do more than just pray?
While I was pondering this, a thought occurred to me: is it right to pray for a miracle, when the result we long for is something we are capable of achieving on our own?
For example: a kid in school prays, as the exams are being passed out, that they get an A on the exam, that the answers miraculously come to their brain despite the fact that they didn’t study.
I suspect all of us prayed a prayer like that at some point when we were in school.
Now imagine that, later in life, you’re no longer a student in school—in fact, it’s been a very long time since you were a student—and your physical health is declining. Maybe it’s your kidneys, or maybe it’s your heart, or maybe it’s type 2 diabetes, or maybe it’s just the inability to walk up a single flight of stairs without needing to pause halfway and catch your breath.
And you pray, O God, give me strength, give me health…
And yet, all your life, you drank too much soda, and ate too much red meat, and you spent too many days sitting on the couch or at your desk without walking any further than the distance from your living room to your car in your garage, or from your bed to your couch.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Given the typical American lifestyle, is praying for good health despite all the bad health choices we’ve made, any different than a student who didn’t study, praying for an A, or at least a passing grade, on their exam?
Prayer needs to be paired up with action. Pope Francis has said that the way we pray is that, first, you pray for the hungry; then, you feed them. The Pope said that’s how prayer works.
So is it right to pray for health, when we fail to live healthy lives?
Now, I’m not saying that every health problem, every sickness, every disease, is the result of our health choices. People are afflicted with different health issues all the time that have nothing to do with their health choices. Even Olympic athletes get diagnosed with cancer.
And sometimes, all we can do is pray.
But other times, there are things we can do, or things we should have done…
And what are the implications here for a congregation that feels called to more actively engage in a ministry of healing? Can we do more than just pray (when it comes to healing)? Should we do more than just pray?
A few years back I was meditating on the Shema, the ancient command that Jesus quotes; the command that Jesus says is the most important command, that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
I thought about each of those four ways of loving God: heart, soul, mind, and strength…
How do we love God with all our heart? How do we love God with all our soul? How do we love God with all our mind? How do we love God with all our strength?
And I realized that the best way to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, is to ensure that my heart, soul, mind, and body are as healthy as they can be. The best way I can love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, is to put in the effort to take care of my emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical health.
Now, among churches, some do a good job helping people find emotional health, most do a good job at helping people find spiritual health, and some even do a good job at helping people find mental health. But I don’t know very many churches that do a good job helping people find physical health.
What would it look like if the church more actively helped people find healing in their lives? Are there examples of churches doing that?
I looked for examples. I do know of a few churches that offer classes in yoga; but other than that, I didn’t find much.
But I am happy that the Pension Fund of the Christian Church is sponsoring a retreat for clergy this September, and that at this event, they will launch Cornerstones – a new initiative with an emphasis on clergy health and wellness. I’m hoping to learn more about how to not only care for my own emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical health, but also how we as a congregation can grow a ministry of healing, focusing on all four of these aspects of health and wellness.
Why should we wait until someone is sick or afflicted to be concerned about healing? Why shouldn’t we work to help people make choices that will make it less likely that they’ll become sick or afflicted, at least for those illnesses and conditions which we know can be prevented?
There are many examples I could share with you about this type of health and healing. I’ve been fascinated by books and documentaries about blue zones—communities where people are healthy and active into their 90s, where many people live to 100, with sharp minds and healthy bodies, because of how their environment encourages healthy living.
But I’ll just close by lifting up to you a name you may have heard of…
Dick Van Dyke is currently 98 years old. He recently said in an interview, “I look forward to going to work every morning; I go to the gym three days a week, and do a full workout.” And he’s still singing, and dancing! Last year, he was on the TV show Masked Singer, and a few years ago, that was really him in Mary Poppins Returns, jumping up on the desk, and dancing, to the amazement of the cast and crew.
A few years ago, in a TV interview, he said: “People are more afraid of aging than they are of death; we need to tell them, there’s a lot of good living to do!”
And, in that TV interview, he demonstrated how he does sit ups, and commented, “a lot of people my age don’t do this. And many of them can’t even get out of bed.”
When it comes to health and healing, 98 year-old Dick Van Dyke is a model and an inspiration.
The power of prayer to bring about healing is real. Let us continue to pray for healing, for ourselves, for our families and friends, for our church, and for the world.
But let us also act, and do what we can through the choices we make. Let us search for ways to foster healing through our lives, and through our ministry. Because that is also a significant way that the church can bring healing to the world today.
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