Rev. Betsy Aldrich Garland
June 28, 2009
Mark 5:21-43

Healing Powers

Do you believe in the power to heal? The gospels abound with stories of Jesus’ healing all sorts of people of all sorts of illnesses and conditions. It seems that Jesus was always ready and willing to heal. He was always healing someone – or on his way to heal someone – or just returning from a healing. In fact, the gospels contain 58 references to healing.

For the early followers of Jesus, this was a new development – a sign that Jesus was the Messiah, the one for whom they had been waiting. The healings are “Proof Positive” that Jesus is the Son of God! When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he were the Messiah, Jesus said to them, “Go back and tell John what you have seen . . . the blind see again, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them (Luke 7:22).

This is a change from how the Old Testament conceives of illness. Although the ancient Israelites were offered the Law of Moses to keep them healthy – laws about maintaining personal hygiene, eating clean foods, getting enough rest on the Sabbath, and so on – the Hebrew Bible approaches illness and disease as the result of disobedience.

Ancient people tried to make sense of world they lived in; we see this reflected in wisdom literature where illness is the result of one’s not being wise enough to understand how the universe works. You may have heard someone say, “Why me?” “What did I do to deserve this?” as if he or she is being punished. I’ll bet you’ve even said this yourself, once or twice!

In the New Testament, the New Covenant that God makes with us, sickness and disease are not seen as punishment for sin and rebellion and disobedience. Jesus says so himself: Remember the story of Jesus encountering a blind man (John 9:2-3). The disciples ask, “Who sinned, this man or his parents . . . .”, assuming that someone is to blame. “Neither this man nor his parents,” Jesus replies, and then he mixes saliva with dirt and puts it on the blind man’s eyes and tells him to wash, and the man is healed.

God wants us to be well, to be whole. In fact, the words “health,” “whole,” and “holy” all come from the same ancient root in Old English, to make sound or to restore, to make a person spiritually whole, holy.

Do you believe that God can heal us? We know that God heals through the skilled care of doctors and nurses. But does God heal beyond the ministrations of the professionals? Can we help the doctors heal us? We live in a modern age. The meditation I chose this morning makes that point, “Science and religion meet naturally, if uneasily, in healing.” 1

We don’t know why some people are healed when we pray – and others are not. We don’t know why some tumors shrink and disappear when we go though chemo and radiation – and others do not. We don’t know why some people experience critical brain damage and come out of a coma and recover fully – and others do not.

We do know treatment is more effective in those who take advantage of guided imagery and meditation, massage and Reiki. We do know the one who is secure in the love of family and friends recovers faster. We do know that prayer and meditation change the stress response and give healthy cells a boost to fight the rogue cells.

But – when healing does not occur, it does not mean that we are bad or unworthy or lacking in faith.

It may mean that one’s soul is so damaged by some tragedy that healing cannot occur until the memories are healed. It may mean that one harbors a private grief or guilt or resentment that has hold of his or her soul and that needs to be confessed so healing can take place. Or, it may mean simply that one’s immune system is overwhelmed and / or that the body is too sick to take advantage of healing strategies.

Does God wish us to be well? Of course!

Our scripture this morning focuses on two healing stories – one in which a young girl is restored to life and one in which a woman is healed of her incessant hemorrhages. UCC pastor and poet Maren Tirabassi reflects on the complexity of illness as it affects our bodies, our minds, and our souls:

Was it a tumor in her uterus that made her bleed so long?
Was it an abortion she regretted that would never go away?
Was she beaten every day,
or did she hurt herself?

I do not know, gentle God,
what made this woman so desperate
she would touch a strange man in the street –
But I feel my own reaching . . . .

Was it anorexia that killed the teenage girl?
Was it self-doubt, pregnancy, or fear of growing up too soon?
Was it loneliness, responsibility, or did she hate her body?

I do not know, gentle God,
what laid this girl so still that a
death-raiser had to come to her –
But I feel my own powerlessness . . . .

Desperate or powerless –
sometimes I reach out for the fabric
of your garment, silent, furtive with hope,
choking the words I dare not say.
sometimes another must intercede for me,
entreat and bring your presence
to the bed where I am paralyzed.

When I am desperate, Savior, offer me peace.
When I am powerless, teach those I love to feed me.

Amen.

1. Laurie Zoloth, "Living Under the Fallen Sky," Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Spring 2008, p. 36.

2. Maren Tirabassi, An Improbable Gift of Blessing: Prayers to Nurture the Spirit, Cleveland, Ohio, United Church Press, 1998, p. 149.