Sermon for May 30th (Healing)

How many of you have been sick in your lives? Probably all of you at one point in time or another. How many of you have ever had a painful relationship with someone you loved? Again, I’d say all of us have gone through something like that. How many of you have ever felt guilty because of something you’ve done or questioned how God could love someone like you? Maybe that is why you are here today.

So then, how many of you have prayed to God that he would free you from your pain, healed your relationships and forgiven your sins? I hope that most of you have. But here’s the real question: how many of you believe that, when you pray, it will actually happen? How many of you, when faced with an approaching knee surgery, pray that God would heal you knee without the need for surgery? Would you pray that prayer for someone else? Would you believe it could actually happen? When someone comes to you with feelings of anxiety, anger or even depression, do you pray with them or simply encourage them to see a psychologist? When you open your eyes, after the prayer, do you expect that God has made a new creation even though it seems impossible to you? Why not?

Jesus made this promise in the gospel of John, “Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” Do you believe that? If we do, then why aren’t we calling upon God day and night to live up to his promise and why don’t we expect our prayers to be answered.

I’ve always been a big pray-er. But when I moved to Connecticut something changed in my prayer life. Before I moved, I remember sitting next to people in nursing homes or hospitals during seminary and saying wonderful prayers about how I hoped that God would heal them or help them recover but, when I opened my eyes, and I’m being completely honest here, when I opened my eyes I expected them to be lying there in pain still. I thought that maybe they might feel better on the inside, but I didn’t think that God would actually heal any real emotional distress. Now, understand me, it’s not that I didn’t think that God had the power to heal, I just didn’t think that he would heal from my prayers.

Today, I know something very important that I didn’t know then. Not only is God powerful and able to heal (which I already knew), but know I know that He WANTS to heal people. Jesus promised to listen to our prayers and he is wise enough to know where people need healing and when they need it. Now, when I pray for healing, I often pray for impossible things, the more impossible the better I figure, and when I open my eyes I believe that I might have opened them to a new creation.

Whenever you are praying for someone, believe that God is listening, trust their healing into his hands, and open your eyes with the expectation that healing has occurred. It may be that God heals something in a dramatic way right that moment, it may be delayed by a few days or the healing might show up in a place nobody was expecting, but whenever you pray for someone, believe this: healing is taking place.

We are having a healing service today and you will all be welcome to come forward to one of our two stations to be prayed over. It’s not only important that those of us who are praying believe that God will do what we are asking, but that those who are being prayed over believe that God is faithful and will do it as well. But, remember, one of the biggest hindrances to healing is unrepentant sin—guilt—and so I’d like to mention briefly why that is and how to deal with it.

There is a connection between sin and sickness, as well as faith and healing. Sickness and disease is in our world because of our brokenness. Jesus came to free us from that bondage to sin and death. I am NOT suggesting that there is simply a cause and effect relationship between sin and sickness as if to say that everyone with a disease A committed sin B; however, everyone who is sick is a sinner and, not surprisingly, many sicknesses come from sin.

For example, we know from the Bible that overeating is a sin—it calls it a fancy word (gluttony), but that’s what it means—eating more than you need. In America, there are a lot of people struggling with this sin. It’s on a lot of our minds every day and it’s tough for us to deal with. Ask any dietician and you’ll find out that what happens if you commit this sin over a long period of time: obesity. And we’ve all heard the sickness and disease that obesity causes: hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, low-self esteem and the list goes on. However, does that mean that ALL people who are obese also overeat? Actually, no, there are sometimes other reasons such as hormonal imbalances. Does this mean that all people who are obese will get these diseases, no, doesn’t work that way either. However, there is a sin and sickness connection isn’t there.

But one of the biggest hindrances to healing is unrepentant sin. So, if we are going to pray for someone to be healed of a sickness such as type-2 diabetes and they don’t feel bad for overeating and have no intention of turning away from that lifestyle, we may find that our prayers are unanswered. On the other hand, when there is a desire for forgiveness and change, God might not only heal that disease but also give the strength to succeed in losing weight in spite of an overwhelming addiction to food. There is a sin and sickness connection, but there is also a faith and healing connection.

Imagine, on the other hand, that a mother and daughter are having relationship troubles. Many unkind words have been exchanged and a great deal of disrespect has been dished out from both sides. When we pray that their relationship be healed, if they both harbor resentment and unforgiveness, it won’t matter how much God wants to heal their hearts, they won’t believe it. How will they believe God can forgive if they can’t forgive one another? However, praying for them might soften their hearts enough to say that they are sorry to one another and to forgive one another . . . and any relationship will be strengthened when that happens. But if each is just waiting for the OTHER to be healed--there is no accountability--no repentance.

One final point today that I cannot emphasize enough. This point is made by the apostle Paul in the last chapter of Galatians, almost at the end of the book, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” It seems ironic, if not just plain awkward, to speak of the healing ministry as a Christian when our Savior died. He still has the wounds of his crucifixion on his hands and feet in fact. The apostle Paul admits in Philipians that he prayed three times for God to take away a thorn in his flesh, but that God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The only way we can truly understand what healing is really about is when we realize that when we pray for healing we are truly praying for our own death, for only at death will we actually be completely healed. It's not a ministry of glory, but a ministry of weakness.

Healing is not about seeing God’s glory as much as it is seeing how deep our suffering is that Jesus had to die to save us. God is most glorious up there hanging dead on the cross—for it is by Jesus’ wounds that we are healed. We do not boast of our faith, or our healing, or our church, or our faithfulness—May we never boast of anything except the cross of Jesus Christ. Many have taken this wonderful ministry of healing and made it all about a particular person or a special kind of faith which kills the gift that God has given. When this happens, people begin believing that healing is about OUR power (instead of God’s power) or, when they do not see what the results they expect, they blame themselves for their weakness (rather than trusting in God’s wisdom and faithfulness to suffer with them). Healing does not happen because of a faith healer's power but through God's power. If healing doesn't happen as we expect it to right away, we shouldn't blame a person's faith, but trust in God's power.

I pray that, today, you all experience the great power of God’s signs and wonders, but what I really hope happens today more than anything else is that God heals the image that we have of him. We will all die one day, whether we experience a miraculous personal healing today or not, but God promises us that he wants us to have a life that we can live abundantly. Trust that God will heal when you pray or are prayed for and trust that God will heal you where and in what way you need it the most. The Holy Spirit knows our needs even more than we do ourselves.

Before we begin our healing service today, we are going to confess our sins before God and ask forgiveness. Many of us here are struggling with sickness, disease, broken relationships and guilt in our lives; by asking for forgiveness, we are trusting our lives into God’s hands. And when you hear the words of forgiveness, that your sins are washed clean in the blood of Jesus’ cross, consider the fact that Jesus came not just to save you spiritually, but emotionally, mentally and physically as well. He came to deliver you not only from death, but from the effects of sin in your life right now. So, consider this your invitation to know God’s salvation more fully in your life, through the forgiveness of your sins and also through the healing of your bodies, minds and relationships.