The Healing Power of Faith

I hope to give an update on everything that has happened over the last month and a half soon. In the meantime here is the sermon I preached at my home parish during the 10:30 Youth Service. The passage for the Gospel is Mark 1:21-28. And yes, it is the Gospel for next Sunday; turns out I can't count.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus spent a large portion of His life and ministry healing people; making the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead living again, and lepers whole. Was his motive to have compassion on each person according to their need, to display his authority and power as God’s agent? Is it possible that God wished to radically expand the community He calls the kingdom by restoring those who were excluded because of their illnesses? This morning’s gospel is the first story in Mark of Jesus’ public ministry. He has found His “fishers of men” and now He is starting to speak to the public. It just so happens that He starts this ministry in Mark with an act of healing, following an authoritative teaching, which soon has the whole town talking. It would be like if you were a scientist and your first research project resulted in a cure for breast cancer. To that end, Jesus hits the mark every time; revealing who He is and giving us a new sense of God’s greater plans.

“The healing power of faith” is one of those phrases we hear so often that it has become a dreaded cliché. How many of you have really thought about what it means? What does it mean to have a faith so strong and powerful, that it heals? How do we know what faith is, and what do we mean by healing: a cure or something that goes deeper than the physical?

According to the Hebrews, the body and soul are inextricably intertwined; if one is suddenly out of balance the other is soon to follow. In Greek the verb sozo means both to heal and to save, and the word soter means both savior and physician. In Buddhism and Hinduism, they believe that there are 7 distinct chakras of the human body that keep us in balance and draw us closer to the Divine. The Chinese and other cultures, to bring understanding of stability and longevity, study the concept of qi. These concepts are all famously embodied in some fashion in The Force in the “Star Wars” films.

We are constantly seeking ways to bring balance to our lives. Some of us practice yoga, another ancient concept meant to bring balance between spirituality and humanity. Most of us pray, in hopes that God will hear our request for healing and bring the desired balance back into our lives.

All our prayers for healing in times of sickness liken us to the woman who sneaks up in a crowd to touch Jesus’ robe, believing that touching the robe will heal her. “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’” (Mark 5:21-23)

The Gospel of Mark often portrays Christ as a servant. We read stories of Jesus reaching out to the poor, the outcast, those living on the fringes of society. Then, being ill often meant being excluded from community; so healing restored one to the group which is more than individual wellbeing. He reaches out a hand to those men and women who are so desperate for that healing touch, so desperate to believe that they can be healed. He shows us that compassion, love, and faith can be the most powerful tools in our arsenal as servants of God. He tells us that no matter the circumstances, no matter the struggles we feel we are facing, God is always there to lift us up if we but reach out and touch His robe.

Anyone can pray for healing; you don’t have to be a priest, and you don’t have to just pray for yourself. The Prayers of the People are the most well known way we pray for the healing of others, but you don’t have to wait for Sunday morning services. If you are with the person, try laying your hands on them and asking God to use your hands and your faith to bring healing upon them. You may feel foolish at first, but with God, He asks only that we try. Remember, there is no right or wrong time to ask for healing from God. If you are seeking healing for yourself, there is a wonderful little prayer in the BCP on page 461.

“O God, the source of all health: So fill my heart with faith in your love, that with calm expectancy I may make room for your power to possess me, and gracefully accept your healing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

It is important to note, that we are not always seeking healing from illness and disease. Sometimes the sins we commit can cause us to feel out of balance. In times like this, we can seek the help of Christ, but it can also be beneficial to involve another person. This kind of prayer is called confession; and once again, you don’t need to go to a priest. Sometimes it can be therapeutic to simply “confess” what’s on your mind to a close friend, and pray about it afterwards. God doesn’t want us to live in suffering and pain. We have only to ask to receive His forgiveness and grace.