"Healing"
A Sermon of
The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 10, 2006
Text: Mark 7:31-37
I
About 35 years ago, when I was serving as a priest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I was involved with protests against the war in Viet Nam. We invited the great preacher and teacher William Sloan Coffin to speak to our group of clergy and laity. He gave a powerful talk about the patriotic duty of citizens to oppose an unjust and illegal war. But what I remember most was the answer William Sloan Coffin gave to a question after his talk. A young man stood up and said, "It's all very good to get involved and oppose the war, but why should I belong to a church since religion is for people who need a crutch?" The room was silent as we waited for Coffin to respond. "Yes," he said, "religion is for people who need a crutch, but please show me someone who doesn't limp." Coffin then talked about how each of us is wounded in some way, and that it was folly to imagine that one was perfect or that one didn't need other people. Much better to admit one's imperfection and seek healing and wholeness.
The ministry of Jesus was all about healing and wholeness. In today's Gospel, Jesus is brought a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech. We can visualize the scene: the crowd swarming around Jesus looking for something extraordinary and the gospel passage hints that the crowd was somewhat troublesome, because Jesus takes the deaf man aside in private. Jesus wants to do something for the man but he doesn't want a circus or spectacle. Jesus is sensitive to the man's feelings and wants to shield him from the ravings of the crowd.
So Jesus goes off with him in private, and then does something which from our modern perspective may seem a bit strange: he puts his fingers in his ears and he spits and touches his tongue. These gestures of touch are very characteristic of Jesus: he is very sacramental and tactile; he touches, he uses earthy symbols to communicate the spiritual; for Jesus the created, material world speaks of the presence of God. Then, Jesus looks up to heaven, prays -- and his prayer comes from deep within -- Mark says "he sighed," and Jesus says to the deaf man, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
II
If someone were to ask us, "What is the essence of Christianity" we can point to Jesus fulfilling the vision of Isaiah in today's first reading: opening the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, loosing the tongue of the speechless, and helping the lame leap like a deer.
If someone were to ask what we should be as individuals and as a parish community, we could say that we simply want to follow the example of Jesus. We want to be like Jesus. We want to be a healing community, a community that welcomes everyone, whether your wounds are obvious or concealed, whether you seem to leap like a deer or you struggle with a crutch. God loves you just the way you are -- and you are very welcome here at All Saints Parish!
All of us limp in some way -- we all need a crutch, or as the song goes, "We all need someone to lean on." And the amazing, wonderful thing is that hobbled, limping people are able to give hope and encouragement to one another. In the words of the great spiritual teacher Henri Nouwen, we are wounded healers.
III
How does God heal us? In many ways. God heals through the gift of rest; sometimes just sleeping on a problem brings relief, and joy comes in the morning. We are healed by vacations and time away from work. I hope you had a restful and relaxing summer. I am very grateful for my mini-sabbatical which renewed my spirit.
In this Holy Eucharist we encounter the healing Christ. Like the deaf and dumb man in the Gospels, we come to Christ with our issues, problems, worries and concerns. In the privacy of our thoughts, we approach God and pray for understanding and peace of mind. During this service God speaks to us in the scripture readings, the sermon, the singing of psalms and hymns, in the silence, in the stained glass windows, the ritual, and in our very presence to one another in community. During the Prayers of the People, we pray silently or aloud for friends and family who are near and those who are far away and for personal, church, and world concerns.
Christ comes to heal us is when we kneel and confess that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved God with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. And then the priest speaks Christ's words of forgiveness, absolution, and healing.
Christ comes to heal us during Holy Communion, to feed us with the spiritual medicine of his Body and Blood in the healing sacrament that forgives our sins and reconciles us with God.
Christ comes to heal us is when we receive prayers for healing with the laying on of hands. The minister of healing places a hand on your head or shoulder, in a sacramental gesture following the example of Jesus who healed people through sacred touch.
And finally, we are sent forth "into the world in peace ... with strength and courage to love and serve God with gladness and singleness of heart." Forgiven and healed, we are sent forth to be a community of healing for others. Sometimes we may be called to heal through major interventions, but often, we will be part of Christ's healing ministry through the simple act of listening. As Jesus opened the ears of the man in the Gospel, we are called to listen attentively to a friend, co-worker, family member or stranger. And our willingness to listen will bring healing to troubled hearts.
"Why should I belong to a church since religion is for people who need a crutch?" "Yes, religion is for people who need a crutch, but please show me someone who doesn't limp."
Today, we give thanks for God's healing presence in our midst. We pray that following the example of Jesus we may bring healing, hope and encouragement to our troubled world.
Amen.