HEALING AND MISSION

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In the ministry of Jesus and in the first century church, people experienced God’s healing.

Luke 4:18-21 ... “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

Acts 3:6 -- But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

Healing continues in the church. In the name of Jesus, his disciples continue this ministry in his name and with his presence.

• It’s too bad that charlatans kept us from recognizing the importance of the work of healing in Christ’s name (Acts 7 – Simon the Magician)
• “We don’t want people to think we’re faith-healers.” Those faith-healers also preach in suits and ties. Do we stop preaching? If we stopped preaching and teaching because of bad preaching and teaching, that would be sorry. So let’s not stop healing because of a few eccentrics.
• Let’s expand our definition of healing and mission ... it’s not just miraculous. Healing wasn’t the only focus of the miracles. It was a sign that the kingdom of heaven – a new reign – was breaking into our world. And that’s still the case today.
• You do not have to be in the medical, science field to participate in God’s work of healing.
• Body and Spirit are both the domain of the kingdom of God
• We do not command God’s power to heal. Even Jesus was limited in his power to heal. But likewise we cannot say that our faith is proportionate to our experience of healing. Once again, that is trying to command God’s power.
• Death has ultimately been conquered. The resurrection is God’s sign that all disease and death will ultimately be undone – that is his will. As Jesus said, we have experienced God’s favor in Him.

I don’t think we’ve truly left healing in the past as some odd artifact of a legendary age. Look at our prayer list. That’s a witness to our hope and faith that God heals. But how wide and how broad is our understanding of God’s healing power – the in-breaking of the kingdom?

All sorts of healing ... James 5:13-18

• James is an early word from the Christian community. He seems to assume that there are godly responses to disease and sickness – and even sadness and sin. And he doesn’t chop these up into separate concerns.
• I find it humorous that “medical science” begins to accept that these issues are related. Thank God for physicians and counselors who administer wisdom and learning in combination with God’s principles.
• Christian leaders in ages past (including James) understood how sin, sadness, and sickness, and faith were intertwined and they prescribed treatments for the whole experience of illness and wellness.
• But please note: This can sound a lot like new age medicine or therapy that has no relationship or reliance to God’s Spirit whatsoever. Thos views are not wholly wrong, but they are missing the vital core of healing. James, Jesus, and the witness of Scripture always place God and his Spirit at the center of healing.

Some practical responses for the church ...

• Stress, mental illness, depression, addiction – We have got to stop saying that these are not real. They may be difficult to understand and perhaps even debatable, but they are real. Whether we attribute it to an evil spirit, or brain chemistry, or a bad day – it is real. But it is also all within the power of God to manage. Honestly, is God anymore threatened by a demon than he is by serotonin levels?
• We also need to get beyond the unnecessary burden of shame that surrounds issues such as these and addiction. Do we speak the language of shame or the language of healing? “Wait, isn’t this enabling the problem?” Not at all. Was Jesus enabling the Legion of demons that possessed the Gerasene man when he asked their name? In ages past, Christians understood that naming a problem (or a force or a demon) was a way of overcoming it. Just as a diagnosis can be a first step to treatment, naming problems gives us the “handle” on them that we need so that we can place it in God’s care.
• Challenge to the church: Let’s stop being afraid of sickness and sadness. Let’s stop being afraid of the “sinners in our midst” and let us not be afraid to name truth and humbly work within God’s healing power to overcome them.
• Being a community of truth doesn’t simply mean that we hold all the right doctrinal positions. It means that we are authentic and we can speak truthfully to one another. We tell the truth about ourselves and one another and we speak God’s truth. The powers of addiction, depression, stress, and sin are fueled by lies. James is calling the church to speak the truth in song, prayer, and confession.

• We have got to stop despising weakness. Our culture glories in youth, strength, and power.
• This is why health care is such a major concern in our nation. On a big scale, we bought into the modern idea that through our own resources we can create a world in which no one gets sick and no one dies. It is the serpent’s lie that convinces us that we are no good if we are weak. It is the serpent’s lie that convinces us that we are less human if we are weak or sick.
• Let the church be a family in which our value is NOT determined by how healthy we are. I know that we find it hard to share our weaknesses (physical and otherwise) because we are afraid that others will treat us differently. We don’t want to be pitied. And in church we should not be pitied. (Rose prayed for me and my mom).
• Pain and weakness are not a sign of God’s disfavor. Tragedy and suffering is not a sign of God’s abandonment. (John 8) Nor is God always trying to teach us something. Sometimes we tell people who’ve experienced a horrible situation – “What is God trying to teach you.” Maybe God is trying to teach us (the questioners) something. Honestly, how often do we pray for people and want others to be well because we aren’t sure that we can bear their brokenness?
• We rejoice with those who rejoice and we suffer with those who suffer – but all have the same worth for all are created in God’s image. Think of how much healing would take place if we adopted this belief and practiced this belief more.
• We can show dignity and respect the humanity of one another (Mark 10) – Jesus asks the blind man “What do you want me to do for you?”

• Let’s be serious about healing the sickness of sin. Some of us feel illness in our mind, our heart, our bodies because of sin and broken relationships.
• Man goes to doctor and says, “It hurts when I lift my arm like this.” ... Stop hurting yourselves.
• Do you need to reconcile with others? There is so much pain in our relationships with one another and the spirit of God can heal it. “But that’s not easy.” No, in fact Scripture says 1) it is hard, and 2) you need to do it.
• Do you need to reconcile with God? Maybe you need to have it out with God. Go ahead. But you will never be healed and whole if you do nothing.

Thomas Aquinas went to visit Pope Innocent IV. Aquinas was amazed at the trappings of wealth, gold and treasures. So the Pope commented to Aquinas, “Well, Thomas, I suppose the church cannot say as Peter did, 'Silver and Gold have I none.'” Aquinas replied, “True, Your Excellency, but neither can we say, 'Arise and walk.'”

What’s our message? Can we say “Arise and Walk”? Are we willing to be so bold? Is our faith in our own resources (silver, gold, science, human effort) or in the Spirit of God? Let’s be agents of God’s healing in God’s ways ...

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 18 October 2009

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