The Vestry voted a while back to have healing services on the fifth Sundays, which means they come four times a year. Sometimes the readings for the day and the time in the life of this congregation does not lead me to preach about healing, but today both of these things lead me in that direction.
To say I've been in hospital and rehab settings quite a bit in the last couple of months would be a fair statement. And our lesson from the book of Genesis speaks about an incident involving an unusual healing.
But before I talk about them, let me clarify something that we all know, but need to think about occasionally, whenever we pray for healing for others or for ourselves. To be healed is one thing; to be cured is something else.
One type of cure results from a diagnosis of a disease or dysfunction followed by treatment to get rid of the disease. Modern medical care can do amazing things to cure us from various serious diseases. Miraculous cures happen when a person with a disease that can't be treated by medical means is cured anyway, by means that science or medicine cannot explain. These may have happened to people you know—maybe even to you. These are what we desperately pray for when doctors tell us there is nothing more to be done for someone we love.
We human beings are mortal. Our life spans can be very short or very long or somewhere in between. We may deny our mortality—most of us do at some point or another—but our mortality need not prevent us from receiving healing.
Prayer for healing does not take the place of medical treatment; the two work together. Being healed through prayer means being given the power to live life as fully and abundantly as possible, no matter what our physical or emotional circumstances. Healing can occur over and over again as our circumstances change, because we need help from our Creator to live fully in those new circumstances. Yet sometimes we find what ails us (or someone we love) is stronger than our bodies and our minds can handle. Then healing must take place in the loving arms of God—for we believe that our lives will continue after our earthly ones. Now let us examine the reading from Genesis to see what it tells us about healing.
Jacob had much to be anxious about. About 20 years before, he had cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright. He had manipulated his father-in-law, Laban, to allow him to leave and return to Canaan with his wives, his children and a goodly portion of Laban's flocks, herds and camels. Now he was afraid as Esau came toward him with 400 men. He had taken measures to protect his family and property by sending them away from him. As night fell, Jacob was alone. He encountered a man whom he understood to be a divine being. The two wrestled and Jacob's opponent dislocated Jacob's hip. Holding on to his opponent and refusing to allow him to depart, Jacob demanded healing though a blessing. He received that blessing and a new name to signify what had happened: “ Israel. . . you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.” Esau and Jacob were reconciled, and Jacob continued to prosper. Yet in his old age he and his family had to face more difficulties. We will hear about these in the coming weeks.
Jacob's story reassures us that our healing does not depend on our worthiness. His healing appeared to depend on his desire to live fully in a relationship with God—even when that relationship involved struggle. We may expect connection with the Holy One to be easy, because we know we are beloved by God. Yet Jacob's experience may be more typical than we would like to think. Of all the words I might use to describe my eight days of retreat this month at the Jesuit Center, “easy” would not be one of them. “Struggle” would be more accurate. However, by the end—although I don't think it's complete—I could describe my time there as a healing time. Our healing by God may, indeed, take our entire lives and, as I said earlier, even our lives to come.
Some folks will come forward this morning to the altar rail to be anointed and to receive prayer for healing—for themselves or for someone else. Some will remain in their places where they will be praying for themselves and for others to be healed. Some may simply pray without words—in effect asking the Holy Spirit to pray in their stead “with sighs too deep for words.” This time may be a time of peace for you, or it may be a time of struggle. In whatever state your find yourself, offer it to God. The Holy One became present to Jacob when Jacob needed even more than he even knew how to ask for. The Holy One met Jacob where he was, as he was. The Holy One will become present to you, will heal you, and will give you wholeness and life more abundant. Just ask, as you are—and then receive!
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