Healing and Faith
Just as my last posting was prompted by this current series of sermons, so this one will be as well. Last Sunday I preached on the raising of Jairus' daughter. When word came that the synagogue ruler's twelve year old daughter had died, Jesus' response was simply, "do not fear, only believe." This Sunday I will address the hemorrhaging woman who was healed in a story sandwiched inside the overall account of Jairus' daughter. To her Jesus said "your faith has made you well." Numerous times in the Gospels when Jesus healed, he cited the individual's faith.
Last month I attended a large conference at which one of the presenters, a popular speaker on the topic of prayer, very passionately dealt with healing and faith. He repeatedly encouraged us to name the specific need for which we prayed, and to claim that healing in faith. To his credit he took an expansive view of Jesus' work on the cross. He reminded us, correctly, that the cross wasn't just about taking away an individual's sin, but that it was about dealing with all that is wrong with creation. He stated that "cancer was defeated at the cross," and that we should remember this when we pray. However, he overstated his case. In exhorting us that faith always healed, he never really addressed the obvious: what about faithful people who aren't healed? Many people in the large room that morning were moved to tears by his presentation, but I found myself growing more and more uncomfortable with it. I've ministered to too many devout faithful people who were dying of cancer or some other ailment, whose prayers for healing were not answered.
How then do we address this matter? What is the role of faith in healing? Does God still heal? Why are some granted miracles and others not? As I tackle this, I make no claim to have all the answers, but rather want to share my own "marinations" on the topic. Regarding faith, it is intricately linked with healing in the gospels, and James 5 speaks of the power of a righteous person's prayer. Faith, in itself, is nothing. It is only as strong as its object. For the Christian, the object of our faith is Almighty God, revealed in Christ Jesus. Faith is what connects us to God, it is what provides the channel by which we know God and receive his grace. To the question, "does God still heal?" I would answer emphatically, yes. Miracles do still happen. There are the instances where the stage 4 cancer patient miraculously recovers.
The last question I posed above, is much more difficult and must be answered carefully and with a pastoral heart. We must not go so far in emphasizing the power of the prayer of faith that we imply that if someone is not healed, that the reason is his or her lack of faith. To do this is to make the sick and dying feel responsible for their own condition. Some comfort that brings! The crux of the matter is this: the mortality rate for being human is 100% on this side of God's new creation at the end of Revelation. Beyond this several more things must be pointed out. Contrary to what so many today in the "health and wealth gospel" camp would say, scripture simply never promises us good health. Some people do ruin their health by their own lifestyle choices, but even beyond that our bodies are finite and cannot last forever. They are subject to disease and corruption. In this broken world Jesus miraculously healed some people during his earthly ministry. At times he healed the blind, the deaf, the demon possessed, the paralyzed, the lepers, and raised the dead. What we are not told is the number of people in the first century whose blindness was never healed, who leprosy was never cleansed. Though we aren't told in scripture, I would even hazard a guess that Jesus probably attended funeral processions. Simply put, miracles by definition, are rare events. We do not know why miracles occur in some instances but not others. That must remain in the counsel of God, whose love and wisdom are unsearchable.
Finally, we do well to remember that in a sense God does always heal the faithful. At times it occurs before the grave, but if not then it occurs after the grave. When the dear saint whom we love dies after being wracked with pain, we should not ever think for a moment that God did not take the pain away. He did, and in a way far more complete than would have been done if that loved one had miraculously recovered. Paul speaks of this in Philippians. There he, contemplating his possible execution, says that for him it's a "win-win" situation. If he lives he has more time with the church he loves. If he dies, he's in the presence of the Lord. That's some promise!
Last month I attended a large conference at which one of the presenters, a popular speaker on the topic of prayer, very passionately dealt with healing and faith. He repeatedly encouraged us to name the specific need for which we prayed, and to claim that healing in faith. To his credit he took an expansive view of Jesus' work on the cross. He reminded us, correctly, that the cross wasn't just about taking away an individual's sin, but that it was about dealing with all that is wrong with creation. He stated that "cancer was defeated at the cross," and that we should remember this when we pray. However, he overstated his case. In exhorting us that faith always healed, he never really addressed the obvious: what about faithful people who aren't healed? Many people in the large room that morning were moved to tears by his presentation, but I found myself growing more and more uncomfortable with it. I've ministered to too many devout faithful people who were dying of cancer or some other ailment, whose prayers for healing were not answered.
How then do we address this matter? What is the role of faith in healing? Does God still heal? Why are some granted miracles and others not? As I tackle this, I make no claim to have all the answers, but rather want to share my own "marinations" on the topic. Regarding faith, it is intricately linked with healing in the gospels, and James 5 speaks of the power of a righteous person's prayer. Faith, in itself, is nothing. It is only as strong as its object. For the Christian, the object of our faith is Almighty God, revealed in Christ Jesus. Faith is what connects us to God, it is what provides the channel by which we know God and receive his grace. To the question, "does God still heal?" I would answer emphatically, yes. Miracles do still happen. There are the instances where the stage 4 cancer patient miraculously recovers.
The last question I posed above, is much more difficult and must be answered carefully and with a pastoral heart. We must not go so far in emphasizing the power of the prayer of faith that we imply that if someone is not healed, that the reason is his or her lack of faith. To do this is to make the sick and dying feel responsible for their own condition. Some comfort that brings! The crux of the matter is this: the mortality rate for being human is 100% on this side of God's new creation at the end of Revelation. Beyond this several more things must be pointed out. Contrary to what so many today in the "health and wealth gospel" camp would say, scripture simply never promises us good health. Some people do ruin their health by their own lifestyle choices, but even beyond that our bodies are finite and cannot last forever. They are subject to disease and corruption. In this broken world Jesus miraculously healed some people during his earthly ministry. At times he healed the blind, the deaf, the demon possessed, the paralyzed, the lepers, and raised the dead. What we are not told is the number of people in the first century whose blindness was never healed, who leprosy was never cleansed. Though we aren't told in scripture, I would even hazard a guess that Jesus probably attended funeral processions. Simply put, miracles by definition, are rare events. We do not know why miracles occur in some instances but not others. That must remain in the counsel of God, whose love and wisdom are unsearchable.
Finally, we do well to remember that in a sense God does always heal the faithful. At times it occurs before the grave, but if not then it occurs after the grave. When the dear saint whom we love dies after being wracked with pain, we should not ever think for a moment that God did not take the pain away. He did, and in a way far more complete than would have been done if that loved one had miraculously recovered. Paul speaks of this in Philippians. There he, contemplating his possible execution, says that for him it's a "win-win" situation. If he lives he has more time with the church he loves. If he dies, he's in the presence of the Lord. That's some promise!
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