Heal the Sick

As we sit, let's bow our heads and pray together.

Our gracious Father, we thank you for your word.

And we thank you, Lord, that you taught us that your word is truth

and that your truth can set people like us free.

And Father, we pray for that freedom as we hear your word and discern your truth.

And Father, we pray that prayer in the hope that we might become free

to be the people that you call us to be in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

In Luke chapter 5, we read these words,

Luke 5 · chapter mention

The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick.

In 2012, you will recall that the Olympics took place in London.

And before the Olympics, there was quite a lot of haroush about

how do you get tickets and what do you do.

And my PA at the time was very keen to go to the Olympics.

And somebody had told her, apply for loads and loads of tickets

because the more you apply for, the more likely you are to get awarded some.

She also claimed that somebody told her that if you get awarded a lot,

you don't have to pay for them.

So she put in her application and amazingly,

she got 1,800 pounds worth of tickets.

And then she discovered that actually she did have to pay for them.

And even more amazing,

well, she'd rather hope that she might get, you know,

the 100 meters final or one of the cycling races or something.

She got, in fact, five days of synchronized swimming.

Now, I am not here in any way to mock synchronized swimming.

It looks to me strange,

but it also looks to me to be really skillful.

And I can understand why it is an Olympic sport.

The problem with it is, as far as I can best tell,

I have never met anybody outside of the Olympics

who's told me they're off today to go and watch synchronized swimming.

I've never known that.

So I imagine that what there is,

there is a small number of people

who are very excited about synchronized swimming.

Then there are the rest of us who aren't quite sure what to make of it.

And there are some,

and I've heard comedians stand up and mock it.

Today, we're going to be talking about

the church's ministry of healing.

Having been a minister for 50 years,

more,

I've discovered that there are some people

who are very excited about the healing ministry.

Sometimes, I wonder if they're a bit overexcited,

but I'll come back to that.

Then there is the rest of us who might be persuaded,

but we're not sure.

We've all heard stories about prayers we prayed,

and the person who we prayed for didn't get healed.

So we're not quite sure.

Is this just unreasonably lifting people's expectations?

And then there are some,

call themselves cessationalists,

who believe that

all the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in Romans chapter 12

Romans 12 · chapter mention

and 1 Corinthians chapter 12

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

ceased the moment the last apostle of Jesus died.

It seems to me that is wrong and severe,

and if you are a cessationalist,

I do apologize to you,

but my reading of Scripture would lead me to believe

I can't agree with that position.

In 1984,

a man called John Wimber

arrived on these shores.

His presence heralded quite a lot of publicity,

most of it good,

and his big message was that

alongside the preaching of God's Word,

God wishes to do signs and wonders.

And John Wimber, I think,

had a remarkable ministry.

I had the privilege of going to his church

in Anaheim in Los Angeles

on Easter Sunday

when a crowd of 5,000 people

gathered in a warehouse

to listen to the Easter message

and to receive healing,

if that's what they wanted.

Well, I'm here to tell you this morning

that I think the healing ministry

is an integral part of the life of the church.

And I want to give you four reasons now

why I think it's so important.

The first thing is,

Jesus did miracles.

Jesus prayed for healing.

And he encouraged his disciples

to do the same.

Some of you may have read that amazing verse

in John chapter 14,

John 14:12

verse 12, I think it is,

where Jesus says this.

He said,

I tell you the truth,

anyone who has faith in me

will do what I have been doing.

Imagine that.

Will do what I have been doing.

And then John goes on.

He says this,

he will do even greater things than these

because I'm going to the Father.

In other words,

what Jesus is saying here

is that when he goes to the Father,

he's leaving behind

a new community of people,

you and me,

who are supposed to continue

his work here on earth.

That work,

quite clearly,

as we observe in the New Testament,

involves the ministry of healing.

It's important because Jesus healed

and encouraged his disciples

to play their part.

Two,

we need to have

a bigger understanding

of salvation.

The word in the New Testament,

I mean,

I don't know what you think

when you think of the word salvation.

I've heard people say,

oh, God has saved me from myself

and there's a measure of truth in that.

I've heard many of you say,

God has saved me

from the consequences of my sin

and there's nothing wrong with that.

But in the New Testament,

the concept of salvation

is better understood

on a much broader plane

than simply

the forgiveness of sins,

though in my case,

that would be enough.

No,

it's about wholeness.

It's about the integration

of body,

mind,

soul,

and spirit.

And salvation embraces

all those ideas,

which clearly

must take into account

body,

as well as mind,

soul,

and spirit.

So the ministry of healing

is important

because it is

part of what salvation

is meant to deliver.

In Romans,

in chapter 6,

and verse 23 onwards,

we read these words.

He said,

now you have been set

free from sin,

have become slaves to God.

The benefit you reap

leads to holiness,

wholeness,

holiness,

and the result

is eternal life.

For the wages of sin

is death,

but the gift of God

is eternal life

in Christ Jesus,

our Lord.

A right standing

of salvation

is an understanding

of God's concern

to free us

in every area

of our lives,

body,

mind,

soul,

and spirit.

Salvation

carries with it

this profound idea

of wholeness.

And wholeness

can also be described

as holiness.

First Thessalonians,

Paul tells us that

we're called to holiness.

The third thing is,

healing is a sign

of the coming kingdom.

In Luke chapter 4,

Luke 4 · chapter mention

we read these words.

In verses 18 to 21.

Sorry about this.

My eyesight can't pick

the numbers of the verses.

Jesus talks about,

in Mark chapter 4,

Mark 4:21

verse 21,

the idea

that the coming kingdom

is about bringing

this wholeness

to each of us.

I'll come back to that

in just a moment.

And the fourth thing is,

healing is a gift

of the Holy Spirit.

What I want to teach you

today is

that we all,

if you're a follower

of Jesus Christ,

we all have a part

to play

in the healing ministry.

Within that,

there are some people

who are particularly gifted

with gifts of healing.

healing.

It's what we're told

in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

In that great list

of gifts that Paul says

are spiritual gifts,

we are all called

to play our part

in the healing ministry.

Second thing I want

to teach you about

this morning is that

I think if we're going

to understand

healing ministry

in our churches,

we need to understand

the role of faith

in the ministry

of healing.

You can find

several occasions

in the New Testament

where Jesus

commends people

for their faith.

Remember,

there was a

woman

in Mark chapter 5

Mark 5 · chapter mention

and verse 34

who touched,

she'd had a

serious

gynecological

plane for years

and she touched

the hem of Jesus

and was healed.

And there's no

apparent statement

of faith from her

or anything like that.

She just touched

his robe

and she was healed.

And Jesus says

to her,

mysteriously,

your faith

has made you well.

There are plenty

of occasions

where it says

that Jesus

healed people

because of their faith,

but there are

occasions too

when Jesus

told people

that they were healed

even though

they expressed

no faith.

The healing

of the

gathering swine

which you read about

in Mark chapter 5.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

Remember where

Jesus meets this man

severely tormented

by evil spirits.

And Jesus

takes the evil spirits

and casts them

into a

herd of pigs

which run into

the water

and drown.

There's never

no sign

whatsoever

that the man

who was disturbed

had any faith.

In fact,

the only people

who recognized

Jesus in that story

were the evil spirits

that dwelt

within him.

Faith

is

mysterious.

And what I mean

by that is

it would be great,

wouldn't it,

if we could write

some mathematical

formula.

So me

plus my faith

equals miracle.

Sadly,

we're mostly

too grown up

to know

that that's not true.

It doesn't mean

that people like me

and people like you

wouldn't benefit

if we had more faith.

Of course not.

On the other hand,

Jesus did say,

didn't he,

and this is mystery

as well,

is that if you have

faith the size

of a mustard seed,

you can go and say

to that mountain,

go throw yourself

into the sea

and it will be done.

The thing about

a mustard seed is,

I'm told

it's a very,

very tiny seed.

You have faith

the size of a mustard seed.

I don't think

Jesus intended

that we would make

cosmetic changes

to the universe.

But what he is saying

is,

faith is important

and you may not

need a lot of it

in order to see me

do amazing work.

The mystery of faith

bears down upon us

because I am aware

in my own life

and I would guess

in the lives

of many of you,

you have prayed

for somebody

and nothing

has happened.

Some of you

might even describe

the fact that

you've hammered

on the doors

of heaven

for somebody

you loved

who was very ill

or for yourself,

whatever.

And nothing happened.

The psalmist

confronted this

in the Psalms.

They don't

translate it like this

in the English

versions of the Bible.

But at one point

the psalmist

is basically saying

where are you God?

Are you in the loo?

Because the silence

was deafening.

And you know

what that silence

is like.

And so your temptation

is to give up.

To stand back

from the ministry

of healing

and hope

that there may be

others specially gifted

who will do it.

But as far as

you're concerned

you're not really

bothered about it

anymore.

Or even worse

you develop

a terrible

negativity

towards God.

I well remember

going to speak

in Dowie Abbey

which is a Roman

Catholic abbey

in Berkshire.

And they asked

me to speak

on forgiveness

for six weeks.

And my last session

was about

our need

to forgive God.

Because I'm aware

that there are people

maybe here this morning

who are angry

with God

because they prayed

and they felt

that God

let them down.

That's a very

understandable

response

but at some point

friend

you're going to have

to let go

of that.

It's not going

to do you good

just to blame

God

and have a

negative

attitude

towards Him.

In this abbey

I started to talk

about forgiving God

it's full of

packed with Roman

Catholics

come to this

Lent course

and suddenly

I was aware

that in the

congregation

I could hear

sobs

and then there

were more

sobs

and then

more sobs

and suddenly

an awful lot

of people in there

were weeping.

faced with the

reality

that they knew

they had to

forgive God.

Well it's a Roman

Catholic abbey

so there's no

prayer ministry

at the end

or anything like

that.

We all went

home

I had no

idea

what happened

after that.

But if you're

one of them

maybe you need

to sob

and maybe you

need to seek

God's forgiveness.

The last thing

I want to say

to you is this

I've said that

the ministry

of healing

is for all

of us

I want to

ask the

question

so what

is your

part?

We all

have a part

to play.

Well the

first thing

is I would

love you

to develop

the habit

you can do

it on a

piece of

paper or

somebody said

to me

they got a

little black

book I

didn't quite

like the

sound of

that.

But they

got a little

black book

where they

put in the

names of

people who

they knew

who were in

need of

healing.

And they

wrote down

the names

of people

and every

day in

the presence

of God

they just

read.

I know

some of

you do

that already.

You can

even do it

on your

smartphone in

the notes

section.

Just put

down people's

names.

And every

day if you

can't find

90 seconds

or two

minutes I

would have

to question

how deep

your discipleship

goes.

and just

bring people

to God.

The second

thing is

this is

really

important.

See we're

all part of

the healing

ministry and

God's great

idea was

that the

church,

you and

me,

gathered here

today,

Christians all

over the

world,

that the

church,

the new

community of

believers,

churches,

would be a

place

which would

in itself

be a kind

of healing

community.

And I'd

like to say

to you,

you know,

my experience

is that all

churches are

wonderfully

whole and

healing

communities.

But unfortunately

having been a

bishop and

having had

experience of

lots and

lots of

different

churches,

I'm ashamed

to say that

some of the

churches I was

aware of were

just plain

toxic.

I can't

imagine anybody

would get

healed in

there.

People who

are daggers

drawn with

each other,

people who

really dislike

each other.

I arrived at

one church one

night to do a

confirmation and

the church

wardens were

standing either

side of the

door.

They said to

me,

can we have a

word?

Always worrying,

believe me,

when you're a

bishop.

I said,

yeah,

of course.

They said,

how can we

get rid of our

vicar?

So I

thought they

were joking.

I said,

well,

you could

shoot him.

Fortunately,

they realised

that I was

joking.

What I said

to them was,

how do you

think God

is ever

going to

bless this

church?

Have you

spoken to

your vicar

about what

you're

anxious?

No,

we haven't.

I said,

well,

I think the

vicar is

your first

port of

call.

See,

churches

that harbour

that kind

of behaviour

are not

going to

be blessed

by God.

You noticed

in our

amazing reading

today about

these people

bringing their

friends to

Jesus,

that the text

I chose

is the power

of the Lord

was present

for him

to heal

the sick.

You know

what I think?

I think if

our church

communities

were really

genuinely

healing

communities,

those who

have the

specific

spiritual

gift of

healing

might see

God do

a lot

more stuff

amongst

us.

What does

that mean?

In James

5,

there's a

verse I

love,

although I

find it

very,

very

challenging.

I know

it in the

authorised

version of

the Bible

best.

It says,

the fervent

effectual

prayer of

the righteous

man availeth

much.

And at

the beginning

of James

James 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

James talks

about

relationships

in the

body of

Christ.

Before he

gets round

to saying,

is any of

you sick?

Call round

the elders

of the

church.

Before he

does any

of that

stuff,

he

tells them

that they

need to

watch their

behaviour.

And I

think that's

absolutely

spot on.

And we

need to

watch our

behaviour in

the body

of Christ.

We need

to be

people who

behave

appropriately

towards

each other.

In Mark

Mark 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11,

we read

there a

very important

scripture.

You know,

Jesus says,

we've got

faith the

size of

a mustard

seed.

Go

throw,

tell the

mountain to

go throw

itself into

the sea.

It will

be

done.

And then

he says,

when you

stand

praying,

believe what

you are

praying for

and see

what happens.

And then

he says,

this is the

sting in the

tail,

friend.

If you

have anything

against

anybody,

go seek

their

forgiveness.

You know

what the

most terrible

responsibility

of being a

disciple of

Jesus Christ

is?

That if

I've done

something wrong

to somebody,

clearly I

need to

go and

seek their

forgiveness,

but the

Bible turns

out on its

head as

well and

says if

somebody,

somebody's

done something

to you and

you've done

something to

somebody,

it's always

your responsibility

to go and

put it

right.

And

dare we

claim the

promise of

James chapter

five,

the fervent

effectual

prayer of

the righteous

person availeth

much.

You look at

the world,

friend,

and I'm

pretty sure

you think to

yourself something

needs to change

here right

now.

You look at

the world and

you think that

and you read

your newspaper

and it's raining

outside again

and you start to

feel bad about

life,

who wouldn't?

But you have a

part to play

in becoming a

meaning maker,

not just in the

lives of

individuals,

but in

communities.

when one

person changes,

their immediate

environment changes

for Christ.

When one

person,

when a

community

changes,

there's a

possibility that

a town or a

region can

change.

And when a

region changes,

even a

country can

change.

And when a

country changes,

the global

geopolitical

mess that we

find ourselves

in can

also change.

But in

the end,

it's about

you and

about your

faith and

your understanding

of the mystery

of faith and

your desire to

be persistent

in prayer,

not to be put

off.

I've often

thought this,

you know,

it's like people

pray and nothing

happens and

they blame

God.

Often

doctors fail

us.

You know,

they diagnose

it wrong or

they give us

the wrong

treatment or

they don't

know what's

to do.

We don't

write off

doctors altogether

on that

basis,

do we?

But many

of you are

too quick to

write off

God if he

doesn't do

what you

want.

now is

the time.

Now is

the time.

If you're a

disciple of

Jesus Christ

to step

up,

now is

the time.

If you're

wavering around

the edge of

the church

thinking,

you know,

these are

nice welcoming

people but I

don't know

about the

stuff they

bang on

about,

maybe now

is the

time.

The

effective

fervent

prayer of a

righteous

person.

We don't

have to

earn our

righteousness

in the

church.

We have

to trust

what Jesus

did on

the cross

of Calvary.

Bearing

shame and

scoffing

root,

in my

place

condemned

he stood.

Seal my

pardon with

his blood.

Imagine.

Hallelujah.

What a

savior.

savior.

So I

want to

give you

a little

challenge.

I'm expecting

tomorrow there

will be a

run on

little black

books in

the stationery

shops of

this town.

As you

do what I

think the

Lord would

have you

do.

For those

of you who

think, and

let me just

say because

you think it

doesn't mean

you might

have it because

unfortunately we

human beings can

suffer from

something called

delusion.

But if you

sense you

have a gift

of healing,

then what

you need to

do I

think is to

go and test

that with

people who

love you

enough to

tell you

the truth.

And also

mention it to

the minister

of your

church,

Clive or

Russ.

And let

them help

you discover

whether that's

where your

gift is.

And if

you believe

that a

church should

be a healing

community,

it should

be a

greenhouse

where in

growing together

others who

come amongst

us will

also find

that growth

and wholeness

of which the

scripture speaks.

We want to

say no to

toxic churches.

We want to

say no to

bad relationships

in the body.

Maybe some

you need to

pick up a

telephone,

write a

note,

whatever.

But don't

be the

person who

undermines

the wholeness

of the

church.

When we

understand that,

I think we

understand that

verse which I

read out for

my text.

It's an

interesting

verse to

me.

Where

Luke says

this,

he says,

the power

of the

Lord was

present for

him to

heal the

sick.

You want

to be in

a church

where the

power of

God is

present to

heal the

sick?

There's a

work to be

done.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

As was

John Wesley's

habit, just a few

moments of

silence for the

Holy Spirit to

come and

bring you

under conviction

as to what

you need to

do.

our

gracious God,

we want to

call down

holy fire

upon your

church.

The fire

of the

Spirit,

Lord,

would you

please forgive

us for our

lukewarmness,

for the

sense of

distance we

put between

what is

and what

we might

contribute.

Father,

forgive us

for bearing

grudges

against you,

against members

of the

congregation,

whoever,

whatever.

Lord,

help us to

know that

in you

the chains

of

dysfunctional

pasts,

the chains

of terrible

habits,

the change

of destructive

learnt

behaviour.

Lord,

that those

chains can

be broken

and we

can be set

free and

we can play

our part in

making your

church the

healing community

which might

enable those

who have the

particular gifts

of healing to

do their

work.

work.

So come

Holy Spirit,

we pray,

inspire

ourselves and

provoke us,

Father, to do

what we need

to do.

In Jesus' name

and to his

glory and the

people who

agreed,

said together,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.