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Healing
& Miracles We read there that “there are different kinds of gifts but the same Spirit . There are different kinds of service but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but the same God works all of them in all people.” The passage then goes on to say that the Spirit is given for the common good and lists the gifts. Fourth on this list is the gift of healings and separate from this is the gift of miraculous powers. I find this distinction interesting because no doubt in Biblical times and today also the gift of healing and the performing of miracles seem to be closely associated, but the passage implies that this is not necessarily so. Aside from tongues the gift of healing probably generates the most controversy in Christian circles today and there is much scepticism from the secular world around the ability to bring healing into people’s lives through prayer and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it is for this reason that this gift is often avoided as a topic for sermons. Why do we avoid speaking about or indeed exercising the gift of healing? Well as I have already indicated the gift of healing seems to generate controversy, but there are other reasons we may avoid discussing the gift of healing. Perhaps we are intimidated by the possibility that our prayers for healing will go unanswered. Perhaps some of us have had our hopes raised for a miraculous healing only to have them dashed. Perhaps others of us find the whole concept of appealing to the Holy Spirit for healing in the physical sense too difficult for our rational minds to cope with. Whichever, the fact remains that exercising the gift of healing is something that Jesus exhorts all believers to do. He says in Mark 16: 17 – 18 “And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils and speak with new tongues…. They shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall be healed.” “They shall be healed. “ I looked up the definition of healing in the dictionary and this is what it said: healing to restore to health, to cure, to relieve of dis- ease, to eliminate an evil. I once read somewhere that “ health is not just the absence of disease, but is a state of positive wellbeing.” Working with this definition, we may ask ourselves in what sense we are being asked by Jesus to heal the sick? How does the gift or charism of healing translate into our practical, daily Christian walk? It would seem that like faith, the gift of bringing God’s healing into the lives of hurting people, is one that is available to all Christians, though of course some people obviously seem to have this gift in a more developed sense than others. The fact remains though, the promise of the gift of healing is for all who believe and that means any Christian and every priest. It remains with those who choose to use it for as long as they use it at the discretion of the Holy Spirit. Let us turn to the gospel narrative chosen for today and see what we can learn from it about the gift of healing. In some sense the story of the healing of the paralytic which occurs right at the start of Mark’s Gospel is a tiny version of the whole Gospel, for in it we see : Jesus teaching; healing and forgiving; Jesus condemned for blasphemy; Jesus vindicated and God glorified. The story clarifies Jesus’ purpose for coming. Jesus came bringing forgiveness and healing. These two elements define a Spirit filled ministry , a Spirit empowered ministry. This is our Biblical calling too, and this is the hall mark of our ministries too: to bring healing , wholeness , wellbeing and forgiveness to our communities also. In the Gospel story, Jesus is at home offering hospitality to all who would come, including pharisees and scribes. The hospitality is unconditional and the house is crammed full. Clearly He is exercising his gifts of teaching and preaching very effectively because there are many people there. Next we hear that four men had brought their friend who is paralyzed to Jesus and because they could not get to him by conventional means they think outside the square and lower their friend down to Jesus through a hole they have made in his roof. Great problem solving I think and a great encouragement for Christians as we try to bring people to Jesus and endeavour to overcome the obstacles that might stand in the way of us doing that. It surprises me that nothing is said about the man’s own faith . Significantly it is the friends who have the faith that impresses Jesus. So Jesus decides to act. He shocks everyone present, by forgiving the man’s sins. This is surely God’s prerogative they say. What they are missing is that Jesus is God incarnate and that his human form is the conduit of God’s Holy Spirit. I must say that I always find it a surprise when I read the story that he offers the man what appears to be unsolicited forgiveness of sins when his friends have clearly brought him for physical healing. But this is precisely the point. Jesus’ came to save the world. He is far more concerned about our eternal lives than our physical lives. He knows that no meaningful healing that will last for eternity can take place without reconciliation with God which is only achieved through the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ first priority is to heal the soul. This is the model for our ministry also. This is the priority for the Church . This is our core business if you like. When we are asked to bring God’s healing into people’s lives , we are asked to do so in a holistic and spiritual sense first and foremost. We are asked to be channels of forgiveness and reconciliation and acceptance . In the Greek the word for healings is ’ iamaton’ and it means cures or healings that relate to conditions that are consistent with God’s will. It is a word that is loaded with meaning, a fat and rich word that is far broader than mere physical temporal healing. It refers to making people physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, morally, theologically, philosophically and spiritually whole. The gift of healing is the power that the Holy Spirit gives to believers to serve as channels of a holistic spiritual healing that comes from God and ends in a relationship with God. Jesus Models the Spirit- filled healer for each of us 1. he does not over-dramatise his gift 2. he does not separate healing of the body from the total context of Christian living 3. he is compassionate 4. the exercise of the gift results in the giving of praise and glory to God. All this is true of miracles as well. Charismatic healings and miracles are for the edification of the whole body of Christ, not for the popularity ,ego or selfish interests of the healer or the healed. Ours is an outward looking faith. A faith that seeks to reach others and touch others with God’s healing love which may sometimes result in physical healing but always leads to healing of the soul and of the relationship between God and the person in need of healing. In Acts 9 Peter brings healing to Aeneas. The story has extraordinary parallels with the gospel story. Like the young man Jesus heals, Aeneas is also paralysed and Peter says to him: ”Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Stand up and make your bed. “ Again we see a man get up and walk and again we see the people who witness the healing miracle turn to the Lord and give him the praise and glory. It is made abundantly clear in the story that the source of the healing is not Peter, it is Jesus. Peter is the channel for Jesus’ Holy Spirit and the healing that occurs is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit and at the discretion of the Holy Spirit. All Peter has done is to pluck up courage, step out in faith, engage with the man, claim Jesus’ promise and leave the rest to God. When next you come across someone in need of healing. Don’t be shy about offering to pray with them and for them. When next you pray for someone who is sick in body mind or soul. Remember this: we are called to be channels for the Holy Spirit. We do nothing in ministry in our own strength. The gift of healing is a charism promised to all believers who choose to avail themselves of it. By charism I mean a good gift that flows from God’s benevolent love to humans by the Holy Spirit. Receive this gift in faith and use it freely for it is not you who will do the work of healing but the Holy Spirit and whatever healing takes place will have as its priority the reconciling relationship between God and the person in need of healing. Knowing this will surely give us all courage to pray and lay hands on those God sends us who are in need of healing and even for ourselves. All too often we think too much of what we can or cannot do and too little of what Christ can do through us. Rev. Charmaine Braatvedt. |
