CHRISTIAN HEALING & CHURCH RENEWAL

Let me share with you three reasons why the church has to take the healing ministry seriously.

1 Our lives & our ministry are meant to please God.

True joy is shared in heaven and on earth. Our lives and our ministry are meant to please God. This is the first reason for exercising a Christian healing ministry. This is the kind of ministry which Jesus offered to the glory of God. Worship which pleases God is the primary responsibility of the people of God. Surely it must grieve the Holy Spirit when the church gives little or no attention to the healing ministry which Jesus exercised on a daily basis.

Christian healing ministry brings great joy both to those who receive the healing but also to those who minister. Our world needs more joy. People are exhausted by their search for happiness, failing to realize that joy is a gift of God. Christian leaders have found this joy when they share the healing ministry of the living Lord. There is a story in Luke, chapter ten, where Jesus sends out seventy disciples two by two. They were to "heal the sick and say to them, 'the kingdom of God has come near'." This they did and Luke tells us "they returned with great joy." It was almost twenty years ago when the first healing service was held in a parish in which I was a rector. We ministered to a lot of people. Randolph Cooper, a priest from Texas, was the missioner. It was unusual in those days to hold a three hour mid-week service. When the service concluded no one wished to leave the church. All who ministered went into the vestry and sat down exhausted, but very full of joy, for all that the Lord had done. Jesus is the same today, yesterday and forever. Imagine being able to bring joy to the heart of the Saviour! This actually happens when his followers share his love and healing with others. In that same event described in Luke's gospel we are informed that, "In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit - and gave thanks to God". The word translated here is "agalliasato" which means exults - he was "beside himself with joy" Jesus is looking forward to the continuance of the healing ministry. Re says, "I saw Satan fall and continue to fall." He also said to his disciples, in the future tense, "nothing shall hurt you" Then Jesus warns them against triumphalism. The work of the Holy Spirit is to give glory to Jesus. Healing is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is meant to give glory to Jesus. Jesus taught them not to rejoice because of the powers they had exercised, but to take joy in the fact that God had accepted them and their ministry. To know that "their names are written in heaven" was to be their cause for joy. But the passage about celebrating goes even farther. Jesus tells us that God the Father rejoices in healing and wholeness, as well. For Jesus prays, "I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, and revealed them to little children." He then adds, "Yes, Father; for this was your good pleasure." How wonderful to know that sharing the healing ministry of Jesus brings joy to him and to the heavenly Father. True joy is shared in heaven and on earth.

2 Christian healing deepens our faith.

Healing by prayer, the laying on of hands, and by the sacrament of Holy Unction, leads people to recognize that God is alive and active. While we can be thankful to God for the revelations given to medical research, the praise and glory is not often give to Jesus. Our society is so secularized that people find it difficult to appreciate the sermons in science. When a worshipper receives physical, mental, or spiritual healing, through direct communication with God in prayer and sacrament, their faith is deepened.

Christian leaders need to experience this as well, for people will not be impressed with preaching and teaching about some third hand event that happened to someone else far away. To minister in a parish where there is little evidence of the direct involvement of God in people's lives can be very discouraging for a priest. One of the founders of the Renewal movement in the Episcopal Church wrote, "I had two expectations of my leadership which went unfulfilled. First, no one had been converted to Jesus Christ through my ministry. I saw them converted to the church, yes, but never to God. Second, I never saw anyone's life changed significantly by God. These were things you were supposed to see when you were a leader of the church." Like a number of disillusioned clergy, he decided to leave the ordained ministry and take a training to work in psychology or in the teaching profession. Then God arranged a direct encounter with him and his ministry began again in earnest. Pastors are affirmed and encouraged knowing that God is working through their lives, when they receive a letter such as this, which arrived recently;           "Dear Eddie; I had an appointment to monitor the progress of my eye problem. In April they said it would be 6-12 months to heal if it healed at all, and they wanted to keep track of it. When I went in Thesday, I was told it was healed! No further check-ups needed. Thanks be to God for his grace and healing, and thank you for your prayers! I thought you'd want to know."

3 The healing ministry is necessary for renewal & evangelism.

The witness of the early church and of the great renewal movements was effective because people shared their direct experience of the presence and power of God. Words are important, but words without actions are not convincing. Jesus knew that you could never just teach people with words; to experience the rule of God in their hearts, they have to be loved into the Kingdom of God, because love is more than just words. If Jesus is not active in His healing ministry today, then our hopes for renewal are in vain.

The healing ministry is necessary for effective evangelism. Those who experience healing have something to share about the power of God to transform lives. Some are so enthusiastic about discovering a God who is real and active, they will write about their healing in religious magazines. People who have no connections with the church are lead to inquire about faith when someone close to them experiences and witnesses to their personal healing. Over the years I have had much contact with leaders in the Order of St. Luke. The purpose of the Order, is to promote the healing ministry until it is practised throughout the church. The leaders of this order were all impressed by someone who had commended the healing ministry to them. This had led to both experiencing healing in their own lives, and to finding courage to minister healing to others. Like the blind man in John 9, a person who experiences healing is not going to deny the truth when confronted with wordy arguments. In the New Testament, we see there are three major components in the ministry of Jesus - preaching, teaching and healing. These are ministries he gave to the apostles. The church has focused on the areas of preaching and teaching, probably the least challenging of the three. It is worth reflecting on the degree to which a healing ministry is exercised in your parish. There is something natural about this order. First, we find joy in the service of the Lord, this results in a deepening of faith, and this is followed by sharing the good news. It seems very unlikely that the Holy Spirit will renew the Church until we are open to exercising the three-fold ministry of Jesus.