This morning, we are turning to Christian healing. In the 21st century, we often leave healing and physical health to specialists – we trust medical doctors and nurses and physical therapists have “an edge” on treating our bumps and bruises. But, healing also has a spiritual component – the church has a role to play in helping each other heal from physical, mental and emotional injuries and illnesses.
Let us now turn to James’ Letter in the New Testament and read a bit of what he preached about healing, We will turn to James chapter 5, and read verses 13 through 16:
Scripture James 5:13-16
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Message Healing
When Jesus walked the earth the first time, one of the most notable things he did was heal people. Jesus was surrounded by people with countless physical and mental needs – people born blind, people with bleeding disorders, people with skin conditions like leprosy. In the Israel of the first century, when little was understood about the causes and spread of disease, people became outcasts when they were ill or had disabilities. And, when Jesus ministered on earth, part of his work was to provide miraculous healing for those in need ... .sight was restored, bleeding was stopped, a stooped over woman could stand up straight, skin was healed and clear, a paralysed man could walk again. Jesus healed people’s bodies and minds.
After Jesus ascended to heaven, healing was still a major component of the Christian faith. The Apostles of the early church performed miraculous healings ... .Peter raised Tabitha from the dead…Philip healed lame and paralyzed people in Samaria…Paul healed a man who was crippled since birth in Lystra. Healing and Christianity went hand in hand.
As the Christian church became bigger and more established, stories of healing miracles started to fade away. Christians have always felt it was our duty to care for the sick – we have hospitals and nursing nuns and Christian burial societies going back far into the past. But, other than a few stories of saints, regular Christians were not expected to be able to heal each other of diseases as part of their Christian work.
In the 19th century, a religious revival swept the United States. During the Second Great Awakening, our formerly secular nation became very religious. And, many people were turned onto the Christian faith by revival preachers and new Christian groups. Healing started to be featured at revival worship services. Once again, healing was something people believed Christians could do.
But, there has been skepticism about the healing done by faith healers – films and books have portrayed faith healers as scam artists and crooks who pretend to heal others in the name of Jesus. Some of the famous faith healers were proved to be frauds, or to at least be complicated people full of both good and bad traits who possibly took advantage of vulnerable people. So, the work of famous faith healers was tainted by scandals.
Still, Christians have persisted in our work to encourage healing. Part of our regular work is to pray to God and lift up people who are suffering with physical, emotional, and mental ailments. At Trinity, we are a praying church. We eagerly await the opportunity to share our prayer requests for others and ourselves. We know that prayer makes a difference in our lives. It is comforting to know that others are praying for us. And, we believe healing comes through God – even when we are receiving attention and treatment by doctors and nurses, we believe the Holy Spirit is at work through their hands and their decisions.
One of the things working against us is that we sometimes lack belief when things seem miraculous ... .we live and have grown up in an era of rationalism and science. We struggle to believe in things that lack scientific evidence. And, we sometimes feel silly when we pray and ask God to heal us.
We must remember that nothing is 100%.... What was believed to be scientific in the year 1900 seems like quackery now – medical science is an ever evolving field. And, much of our emotional and mental health is dependent on things we strive to practice in Christianity when we get our heads and hearts into a healthier place, our physical health improves. We know that our psychological outlook makes a difference in our physical well-being. When we are feeling negative or depressed, we are less motivated to take care of our physical health: we exercise less, we eat unhealthy foods, we don’t make doctor’s appointments, and we ignore symptoms.
Working on enriching our faith lives also helps us heal. Our psychological health improves when we ask God to support us…..when we lift up our concerns to God….when we ask God to forgive us…when we let go our our anger towards other people…when we ask other people to forgive us.
We can’t always explain how acts of faith work, but we know healing comes from God. Sometimes God works through doctors and nurses and physical therapists. Sometimes God works through the Holy Spirit. When we pray for healing, we are healed – sometimes physically, sometimes mentally, and sometimes burdens are lifted that we didn’t realize we were carrying. The healing that comes from God doesn’t work the way we expect medical science to work – if we have a headache, and take an aspirin, we expect the headache to go away. When we have a headache; and we ask God to heal us; sometimes God heals other things that are broken within us.
When we struggle with a problem, it is important that we talk to God about it. When we pray and tell God our sorrows, we must ask God to make them better – to lift the burdens from us. Our faith requires us to pray for each other and to lift up to God prayers on each other’s behalf. When a friend or church member or relative is in need of healing, we must pray and ask God’s Holy Spirit to heal them.
Let us do so whenever we hear of a need in others or whenever we have a need for ourselves. God makes a difference in our lives. God hears us when we pray. And God heals us in body, mind and spirit. Amen.
