Where do you go for healing?

Super Bowl Sunday – who is on Jesus’ team? This is Super Bowl Sunday. The New England Patriots, vs. the New York Giants. Do we have any Patriot fans on the congregation, how about Giant fans? I really don’t know much about either team. But let me ask you one more question, do we have any Jesus fans in the congregation? If you are on Jesus Team, raise your hand. Let’s all show our team spirit – we are going to do the sr. citizen wave for Jesus. You don’t have to stand up, just waive your hands in the air when I point to you. Hopefully we are all on Jesus’ team. And let us not be fooled when they say that God does not take sides. God has a side. There is a war out there between good and evil. And God is fighting for the souls of humanity. And God has a definite side. God is on your side God is on the side of those who suffer, those in pain, those in grief, those in sorrow, those in need. Isaiah 57:15 says – I dwell in the high and holy places, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit. God always takes the side of righteousness, health, wellbeing, justice and peace. People may tell you otherwise, but Isaiah tells you that God is always on your side, always for you, always true. Isaiah 40 starts out, have you not known, have you not heard? God gives power to the faint and strength to the powerless. I think we all could use a little power and strength today. We are all a little frustrated. We are all in need of healing of some kind. We are on team Jesus because we are all searching and seeking for something that can only be found in Christ. The whole point of the gospel of Mark is that Jesus Christ is the source of all healing. Last week at the beginning of Jesus ministry, we followed a demon into the congregation at Capernaum. The unclean spirit was there, because it recognized the power of authority of Jesus. For the gospel of Mark, the uncleanest of spirits leads the way, and every manner of illness follows Christ in search of healing. Someone said once that the church grew because it attracts the sick, the sinner and the fool. Somehow the unclean spirit knew where to go for healing, and scripture for today says that sunset anyone with all manner of sickness was at his door in search of healing from Jesus. And Jesus healed them, no questions, no charge. There were faith healers of the day, but in order to heal, they had to do all types of incantations and formulas. Jesus just healed by virtue of who he was. Within his relationship to God, He could just talk to God about the problem and the solution just naturally came. Healing of Mother in Law All of Mark is about healing. One healing of note in this story is the healing of Peter’s mother in law. She had a burning fever, and in Marks version of the story, he reaches out and lifts her up, and immediately she is better. So much better that she gets up and fixes dinner for the disciples. Now we have to be careful not to read this story from our modern perspective. In our understanding, Peter’s mother in law would be Peter’s wife’s mother. In Mediterranean and African society, after marriage a husband would never come to live in his wife’s house. Once married, the wife is expected to become a part of the husband’s family. Once she is there, she is there forever. Death, hardship, abuse, are not valid reasons to go back home. The woman referred to as mother in law is a part of Peter’s family. One theory suggests that she is Peter’s father’s brother’s wife. She is Peter’s uncles’ wife – Peter’s aunt. But since she is a woman in the household, she is referred to as mother. Chauvinistic interpretation For me, I also have to be careful not to think of this as a chauvinistic story where the women did all of the work. For me it seems that Jesus and his male disciples has been out teaching and talking all day, and by this time they were hungry and tired. They are looking for a place to eat. Peter’s house is the closest, so they all go there. They gather around the table, waiting until dinner time. Peter goes to check to see when dinner will be ready, and comes back to tell them the news. There is not food, because his mother in law is sick in bed with a burning fever. Jesus, hungry and knowing that he has the power to heal, immediately jumps into action and heals mother in law, so that she can get up and fix dinner. I can’t help but ask, if the woman was just healed, why they couldn’t just let her sleep, why she had to get up and fix dinner for them. But I have to remember that God’s ways is not our ways – even in a man centered society. God trying to heal the world God’s healing is not about us, it is about us. It is about the war between good and evil. God restores well being to our souls for the sake of salvation. Salvation not just of us as one person, but for all persons, for all creation. When people start coming for healing, Jesus retreats and says it is time to move on. He came here to proclaim the message and that there are other places that he need to heal. We have to remember that our understanding of illness and healing is always related to our culture. In china if you want healing you take herbs. In America, you go to the doctor. For us disease is a medical condition. Illness is the way that we deal with disease and any other pain. I will repeat that - disease is a medical condition caused by something in our body. Illness is a soul condition – caused by how we deal with disease or some other pain. Scripture says that Jesus took the mother in law and lifted her up and the fever left her. It is as if Jesus removed the spirit in her, and the fever left also, leaving her well. How do we know we are healed? Today, we may take our medicine, get an operation, and change our habits. Sometimes we are cured and sometimes we are not. Yet in our souls we are still sick, still yearning, still suffering, still looking for answers. Even if the doctor says we are okay, we are the ones who need to come home and rest and recuperate before going back to our daily lives, and yet Peter’s mother in law immediately got up and went on with her daily routine. She got up and fixed dinner because that is what she always does. It was proof that she was 100% healed. How do we know when we are healed? When we are ready to move on, no regrets, no questions. We are able to move beyond our pain and serve others. We are not saved for our benefit; we are saved to glorify God. We are saved in order to serve. Isaiah would say that we have learned to wait on God. The same God that created the world, the same God in charge of all of life, is the same God that wants to bring us to complete healing and wholeness. Have you not heard that before? Learning to wait The flying Roudellas, a group of trapeze artists explain that in a trapeze performance there is the flyer, the one who lets go and the catcher. And a very special relationship must exist between the two to be successful. As the flyer flies high above the crowd, there is a point in which he or she must let go of the trapeze. But his job is not to reach for the catcher. The job is to let go and remain perfectly still in the air and to wait for the catcher to reach out and catch him or her. I imagine that must be a very scary moment – to stay still in the air in perfect trust. But our lives are like that, those tough moments in our lives are like that – moments when we are still, serene enough to wait for God to pluck us from the circumstance and bring us to the other side. Prayerful waiting Prayer-full waiting, and waiting with patience Silent waiting, and waiting with song Centered waiting, and waiting in a world full of distractions Persistent waiting, and waiting with a foot tapping impatiently Hands-open waiting, and waiting with an open book Eyes-open waiting as the sun begins to rise, and waiting in daydreams Sitting-still-as-a-cat waiting, and waiting with one's tail about to wag Off We are simply told, over and over, to wait for the Lord, And I personally think all waiting, every kind of waiting, is appropriate. If you wait, the prize is renewal I would say that Waiting on God is being willing to live life as a prayer – a devotion to God. It is understanding that the world we see now – is never God’s final word. But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Amen. We Will Be Made Whole (not used) How can you know when you have been healed? Seems like an odd question. For many, the answer is obvious: when the pain is gone, the fever has come down, and the disease is no more. But the Gospel gives a better answer. “The fever left her,” we are told of Peter’s mother-in-law, “and she began to serve them.” As she was healed, she immediately began to serve others. When we are ready to help others in their need and focus once again outside ourselves we will know that we too have been cured. We will no longer be slaves to our hurts and resentments. We will at last be made whole. And we shall live. Frank Hegedus