What give Christians the right…?
Sermon by: Dwight R. MacPherson, EMSeptember 15th ~ Timothy Home Fellowship
James 5: 14-15 & Matthew 7: 7-11 & 21:22
The following is without impromptu or elaboration
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Healing! So what give Christians the right…?
I would like to begin by reading a portion of scripture from this morning’s lessons.
James 5:14-15: It states: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him." Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.
Healing promises…there are many passages of both New and Old Testament scripture that tells of healings such as; Mark, John, Luke, the Psalms, Isaiah to name a few
Have you ever noticed how common the number 3 is in religious history? The children of Israel wandered without water for 3 days under their leader Moses You remember in one of the Gospels, the writer depicts a rooster crowing 3 times for each time Peter’s denial of Christ. Christ arose on the 3rd day. Like most Jewish rabbis Jesus had his inner circle of 3, he had Peter, James and John. God seems to work in threes. To this day we continue to bunch Christian concepts into threes. “Faith, hope, and love, these three abide, said Paul. The Trinity; the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. So let us think about healing…the Mind, Body and Soul and Prayer, Celebrating and Caring? We have a trinity in us too! As Christians we believe in our hearts and minds. Our minds are nurtured by God’s Holy Word. (Speak the Word only and my soul shall be healed). What goes into the mind falls 18” down into our hearts. Think about it…our bodies are the temple of God wherein the Holy Spirit lives and resides…and God don’t make junk! Each of us is so beautiful and precious to God. By the virtue our Baptism and daily walk with our Lord Jesus we become more and more aware of the mind, body and soul, don’t we? Remember, our body is the temple of God presence therefore as Christians we have the responsibility to care for it. If we read and study God’s Holy Word it gives us the guidelines and through faith and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit many of us are called to a ministry of healing and prayer. As Christians we ALL are called to serve Jesus in some fashion…perhaps you are called to a ministry of intercessory prayer, hospice or trauma volunteer, or some other form of ministry that would bear witness to the love of the Lord in your life. Perhaps at work…or through some outreach or healing ministry...I know that many of you, like Elizabeth Price, have been called into various ministries. What a witness she is! As I am sure there are others, we must just listen for the call! Become more and more conscious of God and less conscious of me then we can do His work! What a witness we all are when we are faithful! As the song goes, “Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord. I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart…” So, many times God is calling, are we listening? What is He calling you and I to do? Whatever it may be don’t resist! If we are open and yield to His call many aspects of our lives can and will touch not only our own selves but others in a life changing way and ALL for His Glory and purpose…God gave us two ears and one mouth…we just need to observe, listen and pray.
In Chapter 21 Matthew says:
Matt 21:22: "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
Again in the lesson for today arises the conviction of James (also known as Camel Knees) that the early church had 3 significant characteristics: healing, praying, and rescuing. The first two characteristics healing and praying can be rather easily understood. The early church was a healing church. Shouldn’t we be the same today? When a Jew was physically ill, it was to the rabbi that he or she went. The early church used anointing as a means of healing the sick. The early church was very much acquainted with physical sickness. It did not view sickness as a punishment for sin, but an ever-present part of life, the same as today! Many years back the Christian community took the lead in establishing hospitals to meet growing human needs in the name of Christ. It is no wonder that many hospitals are and extension of the Church’s healing ministry…”Visit the sick, visit the homeless…..”
The second ingredient of the big three, praying. Desperate situations or daily difficulties can be FAITH stretchers! Who do we cry out to when we have physical problems, psychological or emotional issue, soul wrenching issue? Who does the woman in child birth cry out to during labor? An accident? (Personally I could tell you some things!) Sometimes through various situations in our lives we fail to see at the time the handy work of God! The third. The rescuing of the soul. James acknowledges that humans are not by nature compassionate and truthful. Backsliding is a problem. Those who have confessed their faith in Jesus Christ and wish to be compassionate people do not necessarily live their lives in accordance with what they have said they believe. Consequently, someone has to go after them and bring them back into the fold, back from the error of their ways. If not someone in the church, then who? What are we waiting for? We have the God given right and responsibly to help and assist others. However, we must be a clear and holy vessel in our faith and belief and be grounded in Holy Scripture! We must be prepared to show the lost the way back home into Christian fellowship! We must live our lives by example! James is not encouraging us as Christians to condemn others or be judgmental. Nor is he asking us to be watchdogs over other people’s beliefs. We are called to be faithful witnesses of Christ. Living in faith is helping others.
Additionally there are three dynamics in healing: Praying, celebrating and caring!
Praying.
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray,” James says. Again listen to verse 14-15:
“Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
We anoint the sick because the followers of Jesus did the same. In the Gospel according to Mark says (6:13), Jesus sent out his disciples two by two. They proclaimed that all should repent and “cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick”.
The Church of the faithful is a praying place and a praying people. 1. Prayer does something in us. 2. Prayer does something for us. 3. Prayer does something through us.
We could have a sermon on any one of these three truths. But I’ll leave them for your own reflection: Prayer does something in us, for us, through us. What a wonderful, wonderful thought!! James says it over and over again: “the prayer of faith will save the sick”… let me say that again ”the prayer of faith will save the sick”. The prayer of a righteous person has great power!!! A prayer of faith has a healing effect. “Pray for one another, so that you may be healed.” Prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. The laying on of hands for healing in conjunction with “prayers of faith” are acts of obedience to God’s command these are acts to accomplish that which is signified – because God Himself has set it up that way.
Matthew says:
Matthew 7:7-11: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened...” What a powerful passage!
Listen to these words: “Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.” Remember the testimony at our Anglican Homecoming? Remember Flora? I am sure that we all have stories and testimonies that we could share…I know that I do just within my family and my own self! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!! We should be ready to share of the Lord’s redeeming work in our lives, our families, our communities when ever and where ever as to the wonderful love of our Lord and His saving and grace working in our midst! In the early church they were always ready to BURST into song…as a sign of their joy in the Lord. Their joy was rooted in their confidence of God’s salvation and His enabling presence in their lives. Jesus gave His early followers this warning and promise, “ In the world ye shall have tribulation; be of good cheer (be joyful); I have overcome the world” says in (John 16:33) The Lord, Abba, Father is the same today as He was yesterday and will tomorrow and to the end of time! He is faithful! The questions is ARE WE? I say: Praise the Lord! Be joyful! Don’t squelch the spirit of our emotions, clench our hands or hold our lips tight…let us proclaim the day of the Lord! Be joyful and rejoice in all things! Jesus lives in us! Praise God for the healing of our mind, body and soul! The church and the gathering of the faithful is a celebrating time and we should be a celebrating people!
And finally,
The Church and Christian Fellowship are to be a caring place and a caring people.
The passage from James is shot straight through with energy and full of life. “Is anyone suffering…pray! Is anyone sick, call the elders…Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another? Now let us listen especially to Chapter 5, verses 19-20: “ My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” The whole passage is a exciting photograph of a caring community, people attending to the needs of others. As Christians we are called by God to a people to hold up others that are in need not only within our church and Christian Fellowships but for the concern of persons outside of the church and fellowship. We must GO outside of our comfort zones to offer and share the love of our Risen Lord through our actions as a praying and caring people. We need to institute what I call, “God’s Spiritual Formula”…in my weakness and His strength equals TRUE MINISTRY! We need to do some evangelizing as genuinely caring Christians.
So who gives us the right? I think as bible believing, Gospel believing Christians we know…God does! It is a direct avenue from God! The guidelines have been laid out in His Holy Word! Do you believe? What are we to do after we say YES Lord, I believe Lord, Here I am Lord!
In a few moments we will come to the part of our Morning Prayer liturgy that will allow those who wish for the laying on of hands and anointing for healing of the mind, body or soul. Weather it is a prayer and anointing for you or on behalf of someone else, I offer the following question in the form of a statement that perhaps each of us can ponder in our hearts as you come up or even as you sit and pray.
It is not what I am being healed from Lord that is important…but what am I being healed for?
Amen.
Let us pray.
Lord, you invite all who are burdened to come to you. Allow your healing hand to heal us in our minds, hearts and souls. Touch our soul with Your compassion for others. Touch our heart with Your courage and love for all. Touch our minds with Your wisdom through your Holy Word, that our mouths may always proclaim Your praise. Teach each of us Lord to reach out to You in our needs, trusting in you and may the faith stretchers in life make us better Christians and help us to lead and rescue others and bring them back to You by our example. Loving Jesus, bring us health in body, mind and spirit that each one of us may serve You with all our strength. You created each of us Lord now we ask in your Name to touch each person here today gently to your call. All this we ask in the Name of the Risen Christ and our loving Savior Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen and Amen.
