Great Themes of the Kingdom: Healing, 2/21/16

Sermon 2-21-16 great themes of the kingdom lent – healing Matt 12:1-14

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.² When the Pharisees saw this ,they are following them! they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. ⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a] you would not have condemned the innocent.⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹ He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Healing- I believe in healing.

Most of us think nothing of it, until we are sick

Then we are too concerned with bodily healing.

As if our body is the only thing that matters.

The Christian faith is not a healing cult.  If it were, then the Christian faith would be about us.

Face book prayer likes …. Getting more does not insure your healing

God does heal people though and we should pray for it, but trust him no matter what.

The prayer that I pray in the hospital when it is touch and go.

What is Jesus doing

Jesus is going vs. the convictions of his day

Religion has become binding instead of freeing

We get stuck in our rules…….. jesus wants us to focus on our walk with god

And who is the bound person in this story?  Who is in need of healing?

Arent the Pharisees bound?

Sometimes our minds keep God from moving in our souls.

Before God can do his work, we must be healed in our minds.

Healed of selfishness, healed of arrogance, healed of not listening.

Jesus would have loved to see the Pharisees healed too.

There is much hubbub about the rules

Lets not miss the miracle, the man is healed

Instead of arguing about procedure and rules someone should have throw a party.  We need to throw more parties.

The Christians are arguing again about baptism, doctrine or some social issue……….. someone visited church and made a commitment to Christ and the Christians are arguing

We forget that life is good and amazing and pretty soon it is all rushing by.

You woke up?  Celebrate?  You are well?  Offer prayers of gratitude?

Someone is healed?  Throw a party.

We don’t throw enough parties in this life.

Sometimes people are not healed.  What do we do with that.

My question to Oral Roberts in 1984

Sometimes the human body simply fails.  While God cares for our bodies, he is most concerned with the care of our souls.  Someone prays for life to go the way that they want it to go, other people pray for patience, understanding and character.  Surely if we are in the right place inour souls, then whether we get the healing that we want or not, our hearts will be in the right place with god.

There’s a famous Evangelical Christian named Joni Erikson. She had a diving accident at age 17 which left her as a quad­riplegic in a wheelchair, She wrote a beautiful story about her accident and her relationship with God.  Having lost the use of her arms she eventually learned to paint by holding a brush in her teeth.

Joni Erikson appeared as a guest on the Christian TV talk show, 700 Club some years ago.  She is a lovely human being and what she said in that interview forever changed how so many people viewed the issue of healing.

There were several well meaning and enthusiastic “prayer warriors” who offered to pray for Joni to be healed of her quadriplegia.  But from her wheelchair Joni Erikson said to them, Could you instead please pray for the times when I cherish inflated ideas of my own importance … the times when I fudge the truth … the times when I manipulate my husband to get things my own way… if you want to pray for me please pray that I receive the power of  resurrection to put to death the things in my life that displease God.

So while others were praying for a cure, Joni Erikson was praying for things that would allow her to trust and glorify God.

I have a friend in Florida who is praying that I am offered just the right church.

God stands by us in our health and he stands by us in our sickness.  God never fails us.  He never leaves us alone.

We pray for what we want and we trust God.

We also must learn to savor every day that God gives us.  Every moment.

Even the difficult ones

In fact, The scripture is pretty big on Finding god in trials

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faithproduces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4

So your life is going along pretty well.. Then suddenly. Bang. Here it is. What? Where did that come from? Are you kidding? I would have never seen it in a million years. Shock and awe.

Grief. Anger. Bargaining with God.

Grief is an interesting animal to live with.

The wound keeps getting scratched open.

Well, there is some good news. Trials make you closer to God. The raw edge of the pain just takes you to a place where your communication is so much better. Nothing else matters. All of the things that were distracting you last week, well, they all have taken a back seat now.

The words of the Laura Story song, blessings…..

Laura Story blessings song
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

finally I would tell you today ways that we participate in the healing

Healing isn’t just something that Jesus does or doesn’t do

We humans can play a pretty big role too, or not.

The story of my moms illness and death

Life

Faith

Diagnosis

Denial

No one from church to visit

Cancelling appointments, no show

Praying for demons to come out of her

But there was another church who stepped in for jeff and cathy

I was new…. I found out then that I was cared about

It is so important that we be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Sherri Swanson is preaching to day and she will be talking not just about the healing that came from doctors and medicine, but from the cards, the calls, the hugs, from the people that came to visit her and stand with her in a difficult time.

Oh the power of A kind word a warm embrace

We close w the words of Teresa of Avila-medieval mystic (1515–1582)

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.