It’s Friday; let’s slip over to the Epistle reading from James, which flows nicely from yesterday’s reflection about the connection between forgiveness and healing. James offers a glimpse into the spiritual practices of his 1st century church:
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Clearly, in this church people did not take illness lying down! Going from Jesus’ example, and that of the apostles who followed him, the early Christians lived in expectation that God’s healing would be poured out in their midst. There was order to it – people were to call for the “elders of the church,” leaders whose faith and maturity had been affirmed by the community. And these not only prayed – they anointed the sick with the oil of healing, which had perhaps been blessed by the bishop, as is our practice today.
James then makes a bold claim and an interesting connection:
The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
We often see in Jesus’ healings a connection between repentance and healing. It stands to reason that unforgiven sin, either coming in or going out, can “clog up the works,” increase our stress and make us more vulnerable to illness or accident. By the same token, releasing our sins, forgiving others and accepting God’s forgiveness of us opens the channels so the river of God, the Holy Spirit, can flow more freely through us. What’s missing in our way of doing church is the practice of regular confession to one another, and prayer together. That’s one of the strengths of small prayer groups – we can be honest about who we are and real with one another, and mirror for each other God’s forgiving grace.
And let’s not miss the big promise here: The prayer of faith will save the sick. How do we interpret that when we don’t see healing 100 percent of the time? Jim Glennon, an Australian priest who had a powerful gift of healing (it’s stronger in some than in others) likened the prayer of faith to planting a seed. We invite God’s healing by faith, and though we can’t see how God is working, we give thanks with each sign of improvement. Even before we see any sign, we give thanks. “First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain,” he would say, quoting Jesus in Mark 4:28.
Where do you seek healing, for yourself or another? Can you find a “faith friend” to pray with?
Where is forgiveness blocked in you, either in or out? Can you pray with someone for release?
God’s forgiveness and God’s healing are promises. Sometimes the “saving” of the sick might include their death; our prayers, like seeds, are planted in mystery. I do know that the more forgiveness we release, the stronger our faith; and the more we pray for healing as a church, expectantly, the more blessing we see.
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