Healing

I changed my sermon again. I realized that my congregation needs to hear more about healing right now than about focus. Or at least I felt that was the message I could share today. So here's a quick sketch of what I did. Again, from Mark 1:29-39

I’m a “Sound of Music” fan. Anything to do with music and dancing and frolicking children, well, that’s just good stuff. My favorite scene, however, is the horrible thunderstorm where, one by one, the kids come into Maria’s room (Maria being the nanny/nun) to try to find some comfort. And music is the great healer. (tell more)
Jesus was asked to use this power that God had blessed him with to bring comfort, much like Maria. When he was ready to call it a day, he healed Simon’s mother-in-law and suddenly scared people from all around town crowded him, asking him to heal them. And he did. . . .
But there came a point when Jesus said – it’s late, let’s go to bed. He said goodnight to each of his “Vontrapp” children and laid down to rest for the evening.
But he was troubled. Although he was thrilled to be given this gift of healing by God, he wanted someone to sing to him, to comfort him, to heal his mind and his heart of all of its overwhelming questions. So he went back outside, this time the children weren’t lined up hoping for healing. They were all asleep in their bed, fears gone. And Jesus sat. And he prayed. He asked God -- what is it YOU want me to be about? Is it this healing that everyone seems to want? Is that it? Because if that's what you want I'll make it my focus. Or is it the casting out of demons like I did the other day in the synagogue? Is that it? Because if that's what you want I'll make it my focus. Or maybe you want something else, something entirely different. Just tell me. I'm here as an empty glass waiting for you to fill me with your focus, your purpose. Just tell me. Just heal my mind, God. And as Jesus sat, he listened. (stop everything and listen for some sort of revelation).
We know that Jesus was healed of all that was plaguing his mind because by the next morning he was back to focusing on what was most important. He didn’t get caught up in the thunder and lightening that had haunted him the night before – no, he realized what he had been called to do. And he followed.

It’s so easy to lose our focus – to miss out on what God is telling us, what God is calling us to be. We get sidetracked by the storms that blow up on us in life. We think – I CAN’T – until someone reminds us that we can, until someone starts singing to us about “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.” Most often what we need to do is just get away from it all, taking a step away from the routine and the demands just to pray to God, asking God to heal us, and then to listen. (stop everything and listen for some sort of revelation)
And when we emerge from our silence, we will know what it is we are called to do. We will know where our own healing comes from so that we can heal others, singing the song of healing for others – so that we will know what it is we have been called to.
Throughout life we will need to be healed. Sometimes we need physical healing, but always we seek spiritual healing – someone to touch us and take away our fears, someone to offer us hope.
That’s why we gather here, week after week. We gather to listen for the one who speaks with authority – not me, but God. We gather to listen for a word of hope, a word of healing. We gather to ask God to heal us, and we wait, expectantly, for that word . . . for that song that will allow us to sleep soundly.
What is the Word we are receiving, Spring Lake Presbyterian Church? When we, like Jesus, go off to a quiet place to listen for God, what do we hear? Jesus must have been given hope because by morning he was ready to do God’s will. He got up, acknowledging that he wouldn’t be able to heal everyone, and moved right along to the next town and the next town and the next town. He walked into synagogues and said – This is the message of God – not a set of laws, but simply two rules: Love God and love your neighbor. And healing occurred. Healing occurred in Jesus himself because he realized he was doing exactly what God had called him to do – not what the crowds wanted from him but what God wanted from him. And healing occurred in all who heard him – perhaps not physical healing (though that happened too) but a deeper healing, a spiritual healing – a healing that replaced fears with hope.
Where is it you need healing today? Of what are you afraid? Let Jesus touch you and watch the fever disappear. Is there a place deep within you that feels empty or lonely? Take the time to listen for the One who speaks with authority – not me, but God. Allow God to meet you in your emptiness and fill you, heal you, befriend you. Allow God to sing you the song you need to hear so that you can sleep soundly.