Text: Matthew 9:27- 10: 8
As followers of Jesus, called to embody his way in and through our own bodies, what does it mean to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to forgive sins, to raise the dead? How is it that we can be Jesus? These are the themes we are pursuing in the Sundays of July. Last Sunday we began by exploring what is might be for us to be about the call of raising the dead.
Today we’ll consider our calling to join with Jesus in healing the sick.
We’ve just heard Matthew’s stories of Jesus restoring the sight of two blind men, and casting out a demon so that a mute man could speak again. These are stories to be experienced, not explained. We so often attempt to explain these kinds of stories, making distinctions between ordinary events (those events we call natural), and those that seem extraordinary (those events that we call miraculous, that would require supernatural intervention).
But the New Testament does not make those distinctions – rather healing stories are signs of God’s ordinary power at work,
just in a more striking way. Like sacraments, these healings are signs pointing to the wholeness that is God’s intent for humanity; these healings disclose God’s purposes for us here and now. They are the outward and physical expression of God’s intent –people being reclaimed for life, renewed relationships between people, renewed relationships with the Creator.
And the strange thing is that Matthew’s stories are our stories as well – we’re invited into their stories, to identify with the blind men, with the person held in bondage to a power that silenced – we’re invited into their stories to see whether the transforming power of the risen Christ can be at work in our own bodies, and in the bodies of those we know and care about.
What is it to be trapped in a psychotic state, to be isolated from those who know and love you? What would it mean for you to be called back into life again? What is it to be blind, to not see the way ahead, to be unable to perceive as others do? What would it mean for you to have someone open your eyes? What is it to be possessed by something evil? What would it mean for you to be set free, to be given your voice back again?
Did you notice that in each of these stories Jesus’ miracles do not create faith? Rather they presuppose faith.
Jesus asked the two blind men, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They replied, “Yes, Lord”. And then he touched their eyes, and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” And their eyes were opened.
A mute man, possessed of a demon was brought to Jesus; someone had enough faith to bring him to Jesus, to trust that Jesus could do for him what no one else had been able to do.
Faith is the essential channel for God’s power to be at work. We are simply asked to participate with faith in acts of healing.
Near the end of today’s reading, did you notice how Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority
over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness? Did you hear your name in that list of disciples? Did you hear his instructions? “Proclaim the good news, ‘the kingdom of heaven has come near’, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment, give without payment.”
What can Jesus possibly mean? Is healing about finding meaning? Is it about daring to ask, what is our suffering,
or the suffering of others, really for? What’s the purpose of it all? What’s the meaning hidden in it?
In the end healing is a lot about paying attention, about noticing what’s going on in ourselves and in the lives of others. It’s about sharing the truth about our lives, sharing our unvarnished and unfinished stories, sharing our broken selves with other broken people. Making sense, making meaning of it all.
It’s also about offering practical and spiritual support much like many of you do – just ask Cheryl Caldwell about the healing care that helped her through those long weeks of confinement after breaking her knee cap.
Trusting that Jesus has given all his disciples authority to heal – it’s ours to carry out this healing work, not through magic, but through the simple gift of presence. It’s about comforting those who need comfort, challenging those who need to be challenged, paying attention, noticing the details, listening intently, and loving without limit.
It’s true - sooner or later we’ll all get sick. Sooner or later we’ll all die. That’s a given. And most often that involves suffering.
And suffering, whether it’s acute or chronic is nasty. Most of us know that being with someone who is suffering is hard work.
Our instinct is to run away, to avoid those situations. It’s frightening to be with some who is suffering and to feel helpless in the face of pain and uncertainty. But being part of a Jesus community, being part of his healing ministry means learning to be with those who are suffering. It means learning to be deeply present to the suffering one, it means being a tangible and visible sign of hope, it means holding the faith that God is close even when we can’t see how, it means making sure that those who suffer know that they are not alone.
Healing is what I witnessed these last few days with Karen’s father as his children gathered to be with him. From his fall on July 1st until he died late Thursday afternoon his children were deeply present to him, speaking with him, holding him as he struggled, tenderly wiping his sweating face. They played and sang those great hymns of our faith, reassuring him of God’s abiding love.They expressed their deep, deep gratitude for his way of loving and encouraging them. They kept watch with him, witnessing his courage, his strength --and witnessing his joy as he moved beyond our reach while anticipating what was awaiting him. It was indeed a grace filled journey for us all. It was a time of profound healing.
In the end the work of healing means fostering genuine relationships between the sick and the well, it means breaking down the barriers between the healthy and ill. It means “trusting that illness and suffering are, in the end, just part of our lives –
a part that, like anything else, could help bring us closer to God”. [1]
(jesus freak, p.82)
Healing is a lot about building relationships – caring relationships between people, deepening relationships with God. It’s about being present to others, and offering spiritual support that helps another connect more deeply with God. And because we are a Jesus community, called to embody God’s presence, called to be the Body of Christ, a lot of our spiritual work is grounded in regular, ordinary bodies. We bring food to those who are sick, we share bread and wine at this table. We visit those who are ill, encourage those who are struggling, offer companionship to those who are lonely, offer a place to belong. We anoint faces and bodies with healing oil, we hold the grieving, rub the feet of those who are in pain, we pray with those who have no more words to offer, we sit with those who are dying.
As a community of faith perhaps the most powerful healing we can be about is to create space- space for silence,
space for the pain and fear and horror, space for rage, space for questions about why, space for life and in life space for death,
space for the healing presence of God, space for prayer.
Healing is about relationships with God and with one another, and prayer is one of the deepest forms of relationship
with God and with others. And so we are called to pray for one another. “Prayer can’t cure. All prayer can do is heal, because healing comes embedded in relationship, and prayer is one of the deepest forms of relations. [2] ... Jesus calls his disciples, giving us authority to heal and sending us out. He doesn’t show us how to reliably cure disease. He doesn’t show us how to make a blind man see, dry every tear, or even drive out all kinds of demons. But he shows us how to enter into a way of life in which the broken and sick pieces are held in love and given meaning, in which strangers literally touch each other and in doing so make a community spacious enough for everyone. He shows us how to enter into a way of life in which the deepest desires of our hearts draw us to health. Don’t be afraid, Jesus says, your faith will make you well.” [3]
(jesus freak p.105)
[1] jesus freak, 2010 Sara Miles, Jossey-Bass Publishing, p82
[2] jesus freak, 2010 Sara Miles, Jossey-Bass Publishing, p85
[3] jesus freak, 2010 Sara Miles, Jossey-Bass Publishing, p105
