St. Paul’s United
Church Sunday, February 8, 2009
God’s Healing and Wholeness – Rev. David Mundy
Acts 5:12-16 Mark
1:29-39
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Last March as the Christian church was about to enter into
Holy Week, one of our St. Paul’s members received the dreaded medical diagnosis
of a brain tumour. And as we made our way through Jesus’ passion she
experienced her own Good Friday which was the likelihood that she had only a
few weeks to live. Fortunately a visit to a specialist opened the possibility
of surgery and just days after we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on
Easter morning she had the tumour removed.
Almost immediately after this surgery she returned home and
while her family was and is loving and supportive it
was really more than they could handle alone.
In short order a team of caregivers made up of friends in the
congregation, along with others who didn’t really know her was organized. Meals
were prepared and provided, people were organized to
stay with her. The friend who had driven her to Toronto for appointments and
the surgery continued with practical support.
Those of us on the St. Paul’s pastoral staff made our visits
and when we did we prayed for the best possible outcome and God’s healing
presence in her life. All of us were impressed with the quiet dignity with
which she responded to the effects of the surgery.
I wish so much that I could offer you a traditional happy
ending to this story, the ending that says she has made a full recovery and
returned to her activities which included family and friends and this faith
community. Sadly, for so many of us she lived for only about five months after
her diagnosis. Everyone who knew her had hoped and prayed that it would be five
years, or ten, or fifteen, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Some would say that this shows that Christian claims for
healing are pathetic and that prayer is useless and that faith is false.
We wish that our friend, Karen, had been cured of her disease
and restored to physical health -- actually that is my desire for virtually
every person I pray with -- but we are mortal and all of us eventually die. I
believe that Christ was present in her life through her caregivers and her
doctors and her pastors
and in that sense there was healing. We speak these days of the
balance of body, mind, and spirit and this happened in many ways, even though
this was not the outcome we hoped for.
Today we will consider what may be the most controversial
subject in our six week series on Spiritual Practices, the subject of healing.
There are scores of stories in both the older and newer testaments which are
about healing and curing and to simply cut them out of our faith story,
particularly in the gospels, would leave a significant hole in our
understanding of Christ’s ministry.
We began with a passage from the Acts of the Apostles, which
tells us that after Jesus’ death and resurrection his followers struggle with
their loss and their sense of mission. Then there are the startling events of
the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit sweeps into their midst and gives
them a new purpose. Not only do they teach about Jesus they heal in his name.
Our reading tells us that Peter and others actually entered the precincts of
the temple in Jerusalem to heal those who were ill in body and spirit, a
dangerous choice because of the religious authorities.
I looked at a number of gospel stories of Christ the healer
and it was hard to choose one for this morning because there are so many. Then
I discovered that the lectionary reading for this Sunday is about Jesus’
healing ministry. In the passage from Mark we heard today Jesus addresses the
fever which “laid low” the mother-in-law of Simon Peter, one of his disciples.
It is one of the first things Jesus does in his public ministry. Some would say that it is a “guy thing” that
once she is healed she is expected to feed Jesus and the disciples! We can
imagine Peter saying “Are you okay now Mom?...great!...what’s
for dinner?”
The story goes on to describe the press of people who
are desperate for healing and wholeness in a culture that knew nothing of
modern medicine and whose cures were often worse than the disease due to
superstition and ignorance. In the cool of the evening the sick and those
possessed by demons are brought to Jesus and he cured many. While we may find
it troubling to hear of demons, it was the way of describing mental
illness in a pre-scientific age.
For the first time among many when reading this passage, I
noticed that it is says Jesus cured many, not all. Even for Jesus there is no guarantee
that the people who approach him will get better. Yet Jesus recognizes the
suffering and illness which are all around him and repeatedly responds
passionately and compassionately.
What should we do with these stories of healing and wholeness
from the bible? And how might a ministry of healing be part of our life
together as the Christian community which is St. Paul’s? We want to be
compassionate people but we might be intimidated about describing our care as
healing for a number of reasons.
With the advancements in medical care through the twentieth
century, we have effectively addressed our physical and psychological illnesses
and have increased our longevity. For centuries the religious rituals of
healing were virtually the “only show in town” and were at least as effective
as much of the quackery that passed for medicine. Today it is faith healing
that is considered quackery, at least the version of healing we sometimes see
on television where vulnerable people are manipulated by those who make unkeepable promises and deliberately deceive.
It would be sad, though, if somehow we allowed a distorted
image of healing or other developments in healing to effectively shut down our
response to those whose need for healing in body and spirit is very real.
I don’t think it is an
exaggeration to say that through nearly thirty years of ministry I have been in
hospitals close to a thousand times visiting members of the congregations I
have served in several provinces.
In all those years it has never occurred to me that I would
suggest to a patient that he or she get dressed and leave the hospital because
I was sure that God was going to heal them without medical intervention. That
would be irresponsible and contrary to the gospel message of healing and wholeness.
At the same time I am convinced as strongly as ever, that my
presence and that of our other staff members and volunteers who provide
pastoral care is a vital part of the process of care and even of healing. The
“God talk” of our conversations is often deeply meaningful. Often I am aware
that individuals are frightened or overwhelmed, and our medical system does
little to address these spiritual needs. In all the years of offering to pray
with individuals and families I have yet to be refused. Virtually every time I visit someone I pray
for those who are providing care in the hospitals, and ask that God be present
for comfort and healing.
James Wagner has written very sensibly about what the healing
ministry of the Christian community will include in our modern-day context. He
identifies three important aspects:
To help one another
experience spiritual union with God through Jesus Christ. This healing is greatest of all. We
sometimes call this healing conversion, being born again, regeneration, or
spiritual rebirth and renewal.
To help one another maintain
a harmonious balance in each human being’s total system (body, mind, spirit,
relationships) day after day, week after week.
To help one another restore or repair
the total system (body, mind, spirit, relationships) when imbalance, disease,
or lack of harmony are evident. We intentionally use all of the therapies that
God provides for abundant life, including spiritual, medical, and psychological
resources.
An
Adventure In Healing and Wholeness – James K. Wagner
This morning we can affirm that the Christ of the gospels was
a healer of body, mind, and spirit and that his earliest followers participated
in his healing ministry. We can also affirm the privilege of practising healing
ourselves in the ways which have been both traditional and timeless for the
church.
✙We are healers when we include those
with health problems in our prayers and many congregations regularly have
services of prayer for healing as part of their worship life.
✙We are healers when we participate in
the health cabinet which is an extension of the parish nursing ministry of the
congregation. I am convinced that we need to reactivate this work during this
special anniversary year.
There are less obvious but no less important ways we can be
healers in Christ’s name.
✙We are healers when we make a
casserole or fire up the snowblower for someone who
is ill or in grief.
✙We are healers when we pick up our
knitting needles and resume work on a prayer shawl. There have been nearly a
hundred prayer shawls knitted by St. Paul’s members for those who are in
distress.
✙We are healers when we volunteer to
visit shut-ins and those in nursing homes, which a number of our members do
faithfully. We are healers when we drive a friend to a medical appointment.
✙We are healers when we extend kindness
and understanding to those who are in the darkness of depression or may be
dealing with various forms of mental illness
Some of you will have seen the quirky, sweet little movie
called Lars and the Real Girl starring Canadian Ryan Gosling. The
central character is a loner who lives in a sparsely furnished apartment in his
brother’s garage and has virtually no social life other than going to church.
He falls in love with a life-size inflatable doll which he orders through the
mail. It is that kind of doll, but Lars quickly clothes her sensibly for winter
weather and creates a back-story that she is actually a missionary from Brazil
named Bianca. Obviously Lars is delusional but in this small town family,
acquaintances, his doctor, and the people of the church all decide to support
him on what proves to be a journey of healing. There is a truly refreshing
scene in which the church board debates whether to let Lars bring Bianca to
church on Sundays, and after some give and take they decide it will be just
fine.
There is a prayer for healing in the Book of Worship for the
United Church of Christ in the United States and I invite you to join with me
in this prayer.
We give praise and thanks to you, O God!
In Jesus Christ, you have given us life;
brought ministry, forgiveness, healing and
peace;
commanded the disciples to heal the sick;
and continued the healing ministry among
us to this day.
Keep us mindful of your love and mercy
that we may be faithful
throughout all our days,
in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.