Three Weeks of Healing.. Part 3

Three Weeks of Healing… Part 3

(Homily at Trinity Church / February 12, 2012 / Rev. George Pell)

Next Sunday, our gospel story tells of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Mountain top.  His appearance changed (transfigured), his followers saw him in a new light; but deep down, he remained what he was, God’s son, intimately connected to the source of all life, the model of human life perfectly transformed into the image of God.  We may sometimes be transfigured, and even our sense of healing form time to time may fall into the category of ‘appearing’ to be changed, but that inner transformati9on of healing has not happened.  I’m sure that Jesus in his ministry struggled with the many who wanted relief of their symptoms, but who lives were not changed, not transformed at a deeper level. 

We can more easily understand healing of our physical bodies.  But what about healing of our emotions, or spirit; what about letting go of our prejudices and hurts. How much healing do we want in our lives?  How much wholeness and holiness can we take?

In our gospel story two weeks ago, that certainly was an issue.  The man tormented by the demons of his life was resistant to change.   He had cried out to Jesus from the depth of this pain… ‘What have you got to do with us?’  People in Jesus’ time saw most forms of mental illness as signs of possession of evil spirits; something foreign to who that person really was.  Get rid of the demon, and the person is once again whole.  But the man had built this inner pain into his life, and feared living without this crutch.  He was sick; people accepted him that way; he expected to fail, to be rejected.  And yet something drove him into the synagogue, a place from which he had been expelled because of his illness.  He had come to Jesus, but not sure he really wanted healing, deep, thorough, life-renewing healing.

Maybe we can see places in our lives where at one level we know we need healing; and we know that in Christ, we have the offer of healing of our spirit. (Allow time to reflect on this.)  Jesus response was to quiet, and to expel these seats of evil in peoples’ lives.  No more dialogue with or living with these inner demons. And then, as we hear in other stories, in place of the pain, the anger, the need for revenge, the unwillingness to forgive or be forgiven, something new and wholesome; something holy needed to enter that person’s life.

So the question for us from the first of these stories is; are we willing to ‘do the work’ to be healed?

Last week’s gospel took us from the synagogue in Capernaum to the home of Peter’s mother-in-law.  Jesus had been in the synagogue, gathered with others for worship and holy discussion when the man had burst into their holy place.  Jesus had not sought out a person to heal; but he responded to the need for healing so evident in that man’s life.  Now, resting with one of his followers, he met with a woman suffering a fever.  Then he responded to the many people brought to him to be healed.  But the next morning, Jesus felt the need to take some time apart, for pray and reflection.  And then, he sensed he needed to move on. 

Can we see ourselves, not only as recipients of healing; but sources of God’s healing?  It certainly seems to flow from our baptismal covenant, and the covenant of God with God’s church that the ministry of healing needs to be part of who we are as a community.  But me??  You?? How is God calling us to be a part of the healing of the world?  Too easily we dismiss God’s call and our potential.  Too easily we get caught up in that medical model of healing that can turn us, for example, from ‘having a hernia’, to ‘being a hernia’.  Are there areas of healing and wholeness, perhaps unrecognized, in which we can offer God’s care?  Since healing and wholeness involves all that we are… body.. mind…. spirit… emotion… there is a wide range of ways in which we can discover and exercise a ministry of healing.  It may be that we are good listeners.  Perhaps we can quietly assist others in tasks they cannot do for themselves, and feel frustrated and unwilling to ask for help. Perhaps we can pray with others.  Of maybe we just need to be people who can ‘count to ten’, be present or say the words that just seem to come, and are able to ‘reduce the heat’ when disagreements take on seemingly epic proportion. And it doesn’t need to be an obsession.  Jesus didn’t spend his whole time looking for people who needed healing.  As he went about teaching and sharing the good news of God’s love, he was a healing presence.

So the question for us from the second of these stories is; are we willing to ‘do the work’ to be healers?

Our reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the gospel reading today deal with people suffering from leprosy.  It was not a illness which attacked the mind, but its effects might certainly cause emotional and spiritual dis-ease.  Leprosy meant expulsion form society.  Abandoned to live in ‘Leper’s colonies.  Forced to quickly get off a path and call out ‘unclean, unclean’ when another person approached them.  One mystery in the Brother Cadfael series (featuring a medieval sleuth who also happened to be a Benedictine monk) is entitled… ‘The Lepers Bell’.  At that time, those inflicted with leprosy had to wear a bell around their necks, and ring it as signs of their deformity.  Even today, TV appeals are made to assist those who have been cast out from their homes and families because of the fear of contamination. While we know that many illnesses can be passed from human to human, thank God that we are discovering precautions that can be taken.  Does having a significant illness… whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual… mean that person is expelled from our presence.  Is shunning (whether physically, emotionally or spiritually) too often our response to those who seemingly cause us pain?

In the stories today, we are reminded that illness can affect any of us… Nanaam the general; or the unnamed people with leprosy. In both cases, the person inflicted with leprosy reached out for healing.  In both cases there was a person ready and willing to meet the person I their need. As much as we may want to be a healing presence in the world, or in a particular person’s life, there needs to be a reaching out… both ways.

As people needing healing (and all of us have places in our lives that need healing), we need to remember that while there may be places in our lives and relationships that need healing; other parts of our lives, and other relationships may well be very healthy and holy.

As people seeking to be a healing presence, we need to remember that there are areas where we can be part of the healing of this world; there are other places where our time, our personality, and the circumstances of our lives mean that we can’t heal all the people, all the time.

And so, a reality check.

God loves each of us, and all of God.  God was us to be healed and healing.  With humility may we learn to accept the work for the healings we need; and, in God’s name and power meet others in places in their lives where healing is needed.

Karen Armstrong, in her book ‘Twelve Steps to Compassionate Living’ describes one exercise in which a person imagines three circles.  Into one circle we place a person whom we love. In a second circle, we place a person for which we have no particular feelings one way or the other.  Into the third person, we put a person with whom we struggle.  For each, we are to pray for the best for that person, for healing and wholeness; for joy; for peace.  Perhaps each time the exercise is done a different thing may be prayed for.  I have tried to use this over the past few weeks, and have discovered a wonderful truth.  In praying for their healing, their joy, it allows me to feel healing and joy as well.

I close with a prayer that I use at each of the services we hold at our Care Facilities in Port Alberni….

Loving God, you care for each of us. You call us to wholeness.  Not all our pains and loses can be cured, but each of can know your healing power in our bodies, in our minds, our emotions, and our spirits.  Lord Jesus Christ, lay your healing hand upon each of us that we may live in wholeness, peace, and joy to the honour of your name. Amen.

May that be a prayer for ourselves; may it be a prayer we offer for others.