For the next few weeks, we are doing a worship series at my church on Summer Pastimes and how they speak to us of the life of faith. So each Friday I will turn from the lectionary to the gospel I’ve selected for worship that week.
The summer pastime we will explore at Christ the Healer this Sunday is swimming. It’s all the more fitting, as we also have a baptism that day. Swimming is one of my very favorite summer pastimes – especially going into the ocean on a hot day, feeling the rush of cold, cold water, being lifted and dropped by the swell, lost in the vastness. I think I may feel the most free when I am in the ocean, but lakes, ponds, even swimming pools will do.
The Christian life is water-life. We begin our God-Life in the waters of baptism and are sustained by the living water dwelling up inside us for eternity, which Jesus said was Holy Spirit. The prophet Ezekiel wrote of a vision he was shown of a river flowing from the altar of the temple that gradually got deeper, until it was “deep enough to swim in,” a river that brought life to stagnant places. All these images and more have given me the notion of the “healing stream” which flows in and through each of us, and around us, into which we can step for renewal and repair.
Being in the water also has its dangers, though, as Peter found in the passage we will read this week. That gospel story is about Peter’s little dip first onto, and then into the water after he sees Jesus walking on it. In this case, he doesn’t swim, but starts to sink, which is what happens when you’re in deep water and you can’t swim. He cries out for Jesus, who is right there, holding out his hand, bringing him back to the boat. “When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.”
It’s a story of a person of faith who finds himself in the water with Jesus – where he gets distracted by the circumstances around him and begins to sink. That is our story too, as followers of Christ, taking the risk of getting out of the boat and into the freedom and the danger of water-life. In fact, I think of the boat in this story as a symbol for the church – that place from which we jump, to which we return to regroup. Maybe part of the reason our churches don’t always have the vitality they might is that we are spending too much time in the boat with each other, and not enough in the water.
I can beat a metaphor to death better than anyone I know (and this Summer Pastimes series is going to give me lots of fodder!), so I will stop there, and simply invite you to think of living the life of faith as jumping into cool, refreshing water and swimming, entirely surrounded and supported by the water’s density, and yet also having to move forward in it to avoid sinking. We are held in the life of God, cleansed, refreshed and renewed, and yet we also propel ourselves forward in that life.
God is not a part of our life - God is the life in which we live. We have no life apart from God – and total freedom to swim in that living water for eternity. Think about that on your summer swims!
7-30-15 - Jesus is the Bread?!?
A friend of mine was teaching Sunday School once, and had just tried to explain to her class the significance and symbolism of Holy Eucharist. As she lined them up to come into church at the appointed time, she taught them a little song with the words, “Jesus Is the Bread.” After singing this refrain once, one little girl paused and said loudly, “Jesus is the bread?” with an intonation that indicated this was the dumbest thing she’d ever heard.
Some of the people listening to Jesus that day when he was talking about the bread of life that comes from heaven probably had a similar reaction to what he said next. When they said, “Okay, then, give us this bread always,” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” That probably sounded to many like the most preposterous thing they’d ever heard. And what did he mean, he was the bread of life?
We need a mind for metaphor when we encounter Jesus in the Fourth Gospel. But we also need to mine the metaphor to its depth, where we discover he means it as he says it: he is the staff of life and has to be taken in, accepted, received, take up residence in us, in order for us to grasp the life of God around us. I think he was saying to those people, so hungry for something, that everything they thought was in the manna – provision, protection, presence – is to be found in Jesus the Christ.
Indeed, everything we’re hungry for - which we seek in so many places – is to be found in Jesus the Christ, taken in, accepted, received, living in us. And it doesn’t stop there. As we do allow him to reside in us, fill us with the life of God through the Spirit, we become communally the bread of life.
We enact this at the Eucharistic table – we take the bread, now become the body of Christ, broken for us; we receive him into ourselves, his life renewing our lives; and as we disperse, we become the body of Christ, broken for the life of the world. How might we operate differently in the world if we were more aware of being the bread of life in Christ? Whose hunger and thirst might we address?
That little girl didn’t yet comprehend it, but she was on the way to being able to say, “I am Jesus bread.” I would have loved to see the expression on her face when she heard that one.
Some of the people listening to Jesus that day when he was talking about the bread of life that comes from heaven probably had a similar reaction to what he said next. When they said, “Okay, then, give us this bread always,” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” That probably sounded to many like the most preposterous thing they’d ever heard. And what did he mean, he was the bread of life?
We need a mind for metaphor when we encounter Jesus in the Fourth Gospel. But we also need to mine the metaphor to its depth, where we discover he means it as he says it: he is the staff of life and has to be taken in, accepted, received, take up residence in us, in order for us to grasp the life of God around us. I think he was saying to those people, so hungry for something, that everything they thought was in the manna – provision, protection, presence – is to be found in Jesus the Christ.
Indeed, everything we’re hungry for - which we seek in so many places – is to be found in Jesus the Christ, taken in, accepted, received, living in us. And it doesn’t stop there. As we do allow him to reside in us, fill us with the life of God through the Spirit, we become communally the bread of life.
We enact this at the Eucharistic table – we take the bread, now become the body of Christ, broken for us; we receive him into ourselves, his life renewing our lives; and as we disperse, we become the body of Christ, broken for the life of the world. How might we operate differently in the world if we were more aware of being the bread of life in Christ? Whose hunger and thirst might we address?
That little girl didn’t yet comprehend it, but she was on the way to being able to say, “I am Jesus bread.” I would have loved to see the expression on her face when she heard that one.
7-29-15 - Bread That Gives Life
I love bread. I love bread so much, I gave it up for Lent one year. If my metabolism allowed, I would start every day with a basket of French rolls, butter and jam. And work bread into lunch and dinner too. (But I’d soon look like a French roll.) Bread is the staff of life, but not the Life Jesus invites us into.
In this week’s passage, the people looking for Jesus want bread from heaven, and they think Jesus might just have access. But they want a guarantee before they trust him. So when he says they are to believe in him as sent by God, they reply, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
You’d think the miracle of the loaves and fishes would have been sign enough, but they wanted God to do what God had done before. It’s often our tendency, when we’ve been blessed, to look for blessing in the last place we found it, and in the same form. And, in my experience, God rarely goes back over the same ground. The trajectory of the Life of God is forward, to new life.
So Jesus tells them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
They were more interested in the temporal bread than the eternal. In fairness, having enough to eat is pretty urgent for an occupied, oppressed, over-taxed populace. Yet feeding the hungry was not what Jesus was up to. He told his followers to do that. He came to nourish souls starved for the presence of the Living God. He came to invite everyone to God’s banqueting table, and to clear the obstacles that kept people away. His priority was to proclaim the reign of God in which generosity and justice so flourish, everyone will be welcome at the table, and fed in abundance.
We too are called to proclaim the bread that gives life. I’m glad so many churches are involved in the sharing of food with those who hunger; that is part of the Gospel life. The invitation to us as Christ followers is to be as much or more involved in sharing the bread that gives Life to the world – introducing people to Jesus as we know him, feeding thirsty spirits and broken hearts, inviting people to feast on him in Word and sacrament. Who can you think of who is hungry for the bread of Life? How might you offer it to that person?
That is the bread we will feast on in eternity. It will never run out, and it will never make us fat, only full.
In this week’s passage, the people looking for Jesus want bread from heaven, and they think Jesus might just have access. But they want a guarantee before they trust him. So when he says they are to believe in him as sent by God, they reply, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
You’d think the miracle of the loaves and fishes would have been sign enough, but they wanted God to do what God had done before. It’s often our tendency, when we’ve been blessed, to look for blessing in the last place we found it, and in the same form. And, in my experience, God rarely goes back over the same ground. The trajectory of the Life of God is forward, to new life.
So Jesus tells them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
They were more interested in the temporal bread than the eternal. In fairness, having enough to eat is pretty urgent for an occupied, oppressed, over-taxed populace. Yet feeding the hungry was not what Jesus was up to. He told his followers to do that. He came to nourish souls starved for the presence of the Living God. He came to invite everyone to God’s banqueting table, and to clear the obstacles that kept people away. His priority was to proclaim the reign of God in which generosity and justice so flourish, everyone will be welcome at the table, and fed in abundance.
We too are called to proclaim the bread that gives life. I’m glad so many churches are involved in the sharing of food with those who hunger; that is part of the Gospel life. The invitation to us as Christ followers is to be as much or more involved in sharing the bread that gives Life to the world – introducing people to Jesus as we know him, feeding thirsty spirits and broken hearts, inviting people to feast on him in Word and sacrament. Who can you think of who is hungry for the bread of Life? How might you offer it to that person?
That is the bread we will feast on in eternity. It will never run out, and it will never make us fat, only full.
7-28-15 - The Work of God
I’ve drunk the Cool-Aid and swallowed the red pill* on the whole “It’s God’s mission, not ours” thing. I happily bandy about the words “the mission of God,” and have even developed a nice neat definition of what I think it is in general, a definition that makes room for any number of specifics: “The mission of God is to reclaim, restore and renew all of creation to wholeness in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” That’s so neat, God may want to print it on his stationery!
Only it may be wordier than need be – for Jesus defined the work of God far more succinctly. When he told the crowds, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you,” they asked the next logical question:
“What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
That’s all? Believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One, “the one on whom God the Father has set his seal?” What about all that other work we think we’re supposed to do? All that feeding and housing and proclaiming and peacemaking? Not to mention the worship planning, vestry meeting, bulletin folding, Facebook posting that occupies our church lives?
It’s a question of sequence. Doing all of that without believing that Jesus is who he said he was, “I AM,” leaves us busy working, and working out of our own very finite strength and vision. But believing first, putting our whole focus on faith in Jesus as Lord, leads us naturally to live out that belief in the places to which the Holy Spirit directs us – some of which may include peacemaking and proclaiming and planning and posting. Jesus told Martha of Bethany straight out, when she complained that her sister was listening to Jesus instead of helping put lunch on: “Mary has chosen the better part; it will not be taken from her.”
Where is your emphasis as you live out your journey as a Christ-follower? It's easy to get sucked into the works and neglect the Work. One way to reorder our priorities is to recommit ourselves to spending some minutes each day seeking Jesus’ presence, allowing ourselves to be filled with his peace and love. Just sit quietly and say, "Come, Lord Jesus." See what develops.
When we know we’re doing the Work, the works flow forth like that mighty stream of Living Water.
*The Matrix reference above is purely superficial - not commending it as a gospel allegory or anything... only seen the darn thing once!
Only it may be wordier than need be – for Jesus defined the work of God far more succinctly. When he told the crowds, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you,” they asked the next logical question:
“What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
That’s all? Believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One, “the one on whom God the Father has set his seal?” What about all that other work we think we’re supposed to do? All that feeding and housing and proclaiming and peacemaking? Not to mention the worship planning, vestry meeting, bulletin folding, Facebook posting that occupies our church lives?
It’s a question of sequence. Doing all of that without believing that Jesus is who he said he was, “I AM,” leaves us busy working, and working out of our own very finite strength and vision. But believing first, putting our whole focus on faith in Jesus as Lord, leads us naturally to live out that belief in the places to which the Holy Spirit directs us – some of which may include peacemaking and proclaiming and planning and posting. Jesus told Martha of Bethany straight out, when she complained that her sister was listening to Jesus instead of helping put lunch on: “Mary has chosen the better part; it will not be taken from her.”
Where is your emphasis as you live out your journey as a Christ-follower? It's easy to get sucked into the works and neglect the Work. One way to reorder our priorities is to recommit ourselves to spending some minutes each day seeking Jesus’ presence, allowing ourselves to be filled with his peace and love. Just sit quietly and say, "Come, Lord Jesus." See what develops.
When we know we’re doing the Work, the works flow forth like that mighty stream of Living Water.
*The Matrix reference above is purely superficial - not commending it as a gospel allegory or anything... only seen the darn thing once!
7-27-15 - Sleight of Hand
Who doesn’t enjoy a good magic trick? Even as some part of us feels foolish for being taken in, it’s also fun to be dazzled. And a good magician knows how to dazzle by diverting our attention. I read a profile of one of the world’s most talented pickpockets (he only does it in his act…), who can lift a watch off a wrist or remove keys from people’s pockets without them being aware. How could anyone be so dumb?, we think. They’re not. They’re normal. The pickpocket is able to get in close, direct their attention where he wants, and then do what he wants.
Jesus certainly got people’s attention with both his teaching and his “deeds of power,” or “signs,” as John’s Gospel calls them. As this week’s passage begins, we see that the crowd whom Jesus had given the slip is now searching for him. They can’t figure out how he got to the other side of the lake.
So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
Their attention, he says, is on their immediate needs, not on the Life of God at loose in the world. Another group he admonishes for only being interested in the miracles – for their flash value, not the life-altering power they point to. One way or another, if our attention is on the temporal, on what we think we need, or what we’re impressed by, we’re apt to miss so much of what God is doing in and around us. Jesus invites us to focus on the eternal – and thus to bring transforming power into the everyday.
“Do not work for the food that perishes,” he says, “but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”
The evil one tries to get us to focus on all the things that don't matter, so that he can rob us of our peace, our power. Then anxiety and depression and conflict increase - as do advertising budgets. Is your focus today on things that give life or sap life? There's something to pray about...
Jesus is not a magician – but as we allow him to get close to us, he can draw our attention to where it needs to be, on his love and power and grace. He just may pick our pockets of all the valuables that mean nothing, and then, presto!, from behind our ears produce a pearl of great price, and invite us to take it.
Jesus certainly got people’s attention with both his teaching and his “deeds of power,” or “signs,” as John’s Gospel calls them. As this week’s passage begins, we see that the crowd whom Jesus had given the slip is now searching for him. They can’t figure out how he got to the other side of the lake.
So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
Their attention, he says, is on their immediate needs, not on the Life of God at loose in the world. Another group he admonishes for only being interested in the miracles – for their flash value, not the life-altering power they point to. One way or another, if our attention is on the temporal, on what we think we need, or what we’re impressed by, we’re apt to miss so much of what God is doing in and around us. Jesus invites us to focus on the eternal – and thus to bring transforming power into the everyday.
“Do not work for the food that perishes,” he says, “but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”
The evil one tries to get us to focus on all the things that don't matter, so that he can rob us of our peace, our power. Then anxiety and depression and conflict increase - as do advertising budgets. Is your focus today on things that give life or sap life? There's something to pray about...
Jesus is not a magician – but as we allow him to get close to us, he can draw our attention to where it needs to be, on his love and power and grace. He just may pick our pockets of all the valuables that mean nothing, and then, presto!, from behind our ears produce a pearl of great price, and invite us to take it.
7-24-15 - All Were Healed
We end this action-packed chapter of Mark’s gospel with the camera pulling back to a wide angle; after these very specific stories aboutJesus’ ministry, we get an overview:
And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
All who touched it were healed. All who touched even the fringe of Jesus’ cloak were healed. No wonder some (perhaps less than reputable…) healing ministries in our day mail out pre-blessed “healing” handkerchiefs and bits of cloth to people who’ve sent a donation. And maybe I shouldn’t be snarky – if we experience God in the form of energy, perhaps that divine power lingers in cloth or the walls of holy places. Or is it rather the faith of the people who believe the cloth will heal them that results in healing? Time and again, Jesus told people, “Your faith has healed you.” Maybe the placebo effect is real.
As my friend Peter says, "If we knew how, everybody would be doing it." We would actively invite people to be healed. And most Christians do not do that. Why? I think it’s because we have not seen “all healed.” We’ve seen one or two healed, on occasion, and we allow the weight of all those "not healed" to overwhelm us.
I don’t know why so many people in our culture get sick and die without any visible healing – but I do believe that part of the reason is they’re not prayed for. I wish God would just go ahead without us, but the record of scripture and humanity’s history with God suggests that God has chosen to work through us. And if we don’t allow God to work through us … healing often does not occur. Very occasionally God’s will might be for something other than healing as we understand it, but that is rare. The reign of God leans toward life and more life.
I wrote yesterday that I believe healing to be a manifestation of God’s Good News. Why would we leave one of the most central Gospel tools unused? God’s desire for us is not illness or trial, but that we be whole and beloved and available to share God’s love with the world. We can pray anywhere and everywhere, any time someone tells us they are struggling with infirmity, be it physical, mental or spiritual. We can invite the healing stream of God’s life already in us by virtue of our baptism to be released into every situation.
And we can invite people to become aware of impediments to that stream's flow – like self-loathing, or a conviction that healing is not possible, or a deep-seated resentment, or unhealed trauma – and help shine the light of the Spirit into those dark corners so our friends become more receptive to the power of God at work in them.
I heard a definition of faith this week: “Faith is a spiritual force that becomes a catalyst to activate spiritual laws that have authority over natural laws.” (I don’t know who wrote it – it was quoted to me in conversation.) If chapter 6 of Mark’s Gospel teaches anything, it is that Jesus demonstrated amazing authority over natural laws – food, water, diseased cells. As he and others exercised faith, people experienced healing and deliverance.
Jesus still has that authority. And he's still coming into the villages, towns and marketplaces - but now through us. Let's make ourselves available to carry that healing stream.
And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
All who touched it were healed. All who touched even the fringe of Jesus’ cloak were healed. No wonder some (perhaps less than reputable…) healing ministries in our day mail out pre-blessed “healing” handkerchiefs and bits of cloth to people who’ve sent a donation. And maybe I shouldn’t be snarky – if we experience God in the form of energy, perhaps that divine power lingers in cloth or the walls of holy places. Or is it rather the faith of the people who believe the cloth will heal them that results in healing? Time and again, Jesus told people, “Your faith has healed you.” Maybe the placebo effect is real.
As my friend Peter says, "If we knew how, everybody would be doing it." We would actively invite people to be healed. And most Christians do not do that. Why? I think it’s because we have not seen “all healed.” We’ve seen one or two healed, on occasion, and we allow the weight of all those "not healed" to overwhelm us.
I don’t know why so many people in our culture get sick and die without any visible healing – but I do believe that part of the reason is they’re not prayed for. I wish God would just go ahead without us, but the record of scripture and humanity’s history with God suggests that God has chosen to work through us. And if we don’t allow God to work through us … healing often does not occur. Very occasionally God’s will might be for something other than healing as we understand it, but that is rare. The reign of God leans toward life and more life.
I wrote yesterday that I believe healing to be a manifestation of God’s Good News. Why would we leave one of the most central Gospel tools unused? God’s desire for us is not illness or trial, but that we be whole and beloved and available to share God’s love with the world. We can pray anywhere and everywhere, any time someone tells us they are struggling with infirmity, be it physical, mental or spiritual. We can invite the healing stream of God’s life already in us by virtue of our baptism to be released into every situation.
And we can invite people to become aware of impediments to that stream's flow – like self-loathing, or a conviction that healing is not possible, or a deep-seated resentment, or unhealed trauma – and help shine the light of the Spirit into those dark corners so our friends become more receptive to the power of God at work in them.
I heard a definition of faith this week: “Faith is a spiritual force that becomes a catalyst to activate spiritual laws that have authority over natural laws.” (I don’t know who wrote it – it was quoted to me in conversation.) If chapter 6 of Mark’s Gospel teaches anything, it is that Jesus demonstrated amazing authority over natural laws – food, water, diseased cells. As he and others exercised faith, people experienced healing and deliverance.
Jesus still has that authority. And he's still coming into the villages, towns and marketplaces - but now through us. Let's make ourselves available to carry that healing stream.
7-23-14 - Bring the Sick
When I lead healing services, or offer prayers for healing, people often come forward with prayer requests not for themselves, but for others. They may not be aware of it, but they are right in line with the people of Jesus’ day. This is what happened after Jesus and the disciples came ashore after their adventure on the high seas:
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
People came to hear what Jesus had to say, to hear his stories and wonder at his teaching. But his healing really drew crowds. For Jesus there was no distinction between preaching and healing. “Proclaim the Good News and heal the sick!” he commanded his followers when he sent them out. Healing and other signs of God’s power were demonstrations of Jesus’ message: that the realm of God was near, in fact was right here, is right here, coexistent with this earthly realm, and breaking through every time we exercise faith.
Words alone rarely have power to transform lives, but words married to actions that express them can change the world. St. Paul knew this as he went about his missionary journeys. As he wrote to the church in Corinth, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (I Cor. 2:4) Indeed. The church of Jesus Christ neglects the ministry of healing to its own detriment, and to the impoverishment of a world that needs the gifts the Spirit has given us.
Jesus’ power to heal is undiminished. Only now, he heals through us, and we invite people to bring their friends to him not on mats, but in the power of prayer. Let’s not be afraid to use our imaginations in those prayers. Instead of just lifting up a name or a story, let’s imagine Jesus in our midst, and see the people for whom we pray brought right into his presence. Be attentive to what you see in prayer – sometimes the Spirit uses images to give us a clue as to an underlying cause, or to where healing is starting. I was praying for someone the other day and had a picture of Jesus with his hand on the back of her neck, where many nerves come together. I don’t know quite what that meant, but I noticed it and gave thanks.
Who would you bring to Jesus if he was in your town? Want to try a prayer experiment? Get quiet and centered, and ask Jesus where he might be for you today. If a place comes to mind, go with it; what do you see and hear, smell and feel? Do you have some time with him before you bring in your friends? When you’re ready, imagine escorting the people for whom you are concerned right into his presence. How do they interact with him in your imagination? How do you respond?
Whatever you experience in that prayer time, know that God has heard your prayer, and that God is not idle. Invite Jesus to add his perfect faith to your imperfect faith, and release the outcome to God as fully as you can. Every time it comes back up, gently say, “I thank you, Lord, that you desire wholeness for all.” And believe that the Word made flesh has the power to transform everything.
He already has.
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
People came to hear what Jesus had to say, to hear his stories and wonder at his teaching. But his healing really drew crowds. For Jesus there was no distinction between preaching and healing. “Proclaim the Good News and heal the sick!” he commanded his followers when he sent them out. Healing and other signs of God’s power were demonstrations of Jesus’ message: that the realm of God was near, in fact was right here, is right here, coexistent with this earthly realm, and breaking through every time we exercise faith.
Words alone rarely have power to transform lives, but words married to actions that express them can change the world. St. Paul knew this as he went about his missionary journeys. As he wrote to the church in Corinth, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (I Cor. 2:4) Indeed. The church of Jesus Christ neglects the ministry of healing to its own detriment, and to the impoverishment of a world that needs the gifts the Spirit has given us.
Jesus’ power to heal is undiminished. Only now, he heals through us, and we invite people to bring their friends to him not on mats, but in the power of prayer. Let’s not be afraid to use our imaginations in those prayers. Instead of just lifting up a name or a story, let’s imagine Jesus in our midst, and see the people for whom we pray brought right into his presence. Be attentive to what you see in prayer – sometimes the Spirit uses images to give us a clue as to an underlying cause, or to where healing is starting. I was praying for someone the other day and had a picture of Jesus with his hand on the back of her neck, where many nerves come together. I don’t know quite what that meant, but I noticed it and gave thanks.
Who would you bring to Jesus if he was in your town? Want to try a prayer experiment? Get quiet and centered, and ask Jesus where he might be for you today. If a place comes to mind, go with it; what do you see and hear, smell and feel? Do you have some time with him before you bring in your friends? When you’re ready, imagine escorting the people for whom you are concerned right into his presence. How do they interact with him in your imagination? How do you respond?
Whatever you experience in that prayer time, know that God has heard your prayer, and that God is not idle. Invite Jesus to add his perfect faith to your imperfect faith, and release the outcome to God as fully as you can. Every time it comes back up, gently say, “I thank you, Lord, that you desire wholeness for all.” And believe that the Word made flesh has the power to transform everything.
He already has.
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