The 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it." 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.  (Luke 7:1-10 NRSV)

 

“DESTINATION HEALING”

 

            A number of years ago I had a dream.  It was that there was a pain in my head.  Well, it turned out that it was more than a dream.  I woke up and everything sounded like I was under water.  I went to the doctor.  She said, yup, your eardrum ruptured.  Just blew right out.  She prescribed an antibiotic for me.  With time it healed and my full hearing in that ear returned.  When we are sick or injured we want to go to a doctor.  It can be a world-famous medical center that wants many more people to come to it or it can be like my first doctor as an adult, Dr. Guy Carlson, who charged $8 an office visit and did his own lab tests right there in the office in front of you.

The Gospels have numerous stories of healings.  Jesus healed people and word got around.  And so they sought him out.  The Gospel reading this morning is such a story.  A centurion had a slave who was very ill and so he sent people to Jesus.  When he approached, the centurion sent word that Jesus only had to speak the word and the servant would be healed.  The reasoning is simple.  The centurion has great authority.  He commands people and they obey.  Therefore all Jesus has to do is command this illness.  This is no magic.  It is a recognition of the great power Jesus has in the world.  He relies on a greater authority.  That takes faith and so Jesus tells the crowd that it is faith such that he has not even seen in Israel.  The slave was healed.

Why would the Gospels be so concerned with healings? It is because that is where we live.  It is because most of us at some point or other in our lives have the need for it.  But it might be rather risky to do so.  Many want healing and having that as an example might have inspire their faith.  We live, though, in a world with medicine alongside of faith and sometimes that is the route we should take.  It is common sense to go to those who might be able to help us and those people who reject that and rely only on faith, such as the couple in the news whose child died recently when they did that, seem willful, naïve, and abusive, rather than faithful.  And those who reject faith, putting their trust solely in science, seem somehow to be missing something.  Medicine, as valuable as it is, does not have every answer.  We know that part of the reality we live in, whether we use medical expertise or faith, or both, is that some healings do not occur.  A friend of mine was a chaplain in Wisconsin when he met a woman in the hospital whose fiancé just had a massive heart attack.  Things were not good.  The woman, understandably, wanted a miracle.  They prayed.  He did not make it.  But while the outcome was not what she wanted, the idea is not a bad one.  Jesus helps us in the impossible situations in life.  It might just be that the impossible situation is one other than the one we were thinking of.

            The healings in the Gospels are wonders, and they certainly show us God’s power, but they do more than that.  One of the things they show us is the scope of God’s mercy.  Jesus is shown in the Gospels as responding to those who come to him for help.  There is never a time when Jesus says that he can’t be bothered, or that he can’t heal a certain type of illness, or that the people who ask for healing are not the right kind of people.  All those who have had healing, whether from the most ordinary malady or miraculous intervention, have had some of the power that God places in the universe.  The centurion was an important person and even had sent people to Jesus to get his help.  This is a man with influence and God heard him.  And yet, this story can be laid side by side with the other healings in the Bible which have people from very modest means.  Social standing does not seem important to Jesus in who is healed.  And yet for all the importance of the centurion, he has this humility.  He tells Jesus that he didn’t have to come, that he could heal with simply a command, because he is not worthy that Jesus come into his home.  We are reminded that none of us is so important that we can command life.  All of us are in some position at some time to seek some help.

            The centurion is remarkable, too, in that he is seeking this for a servant.  It is not for him.  There are others in the Gospel healing accounts who seek Jesus power on behalf of another person.  That is a wonderful and kind thing to do.  It reminds us that our service is to those around us as much as it is to us.  We become like the Jewish leaders, relaying the needs of others to God.  That is not a bad role to have in a part of life in which there is so much that we cannot do.

 

            The healing miracles demonstrate the faith of individuals.  They show that they have heard about Jesus, and based on that simple faith come to him.  Jesus often comments on that faith.  Faith can continue to direct us to God.  The healing miracles of the Gospels often have a dimension other than the physical healing.  Sometimes the mind and the soul as well as the body are involved.  Sometimes Jesus tells the person that their sins are forgiven as well as their body is healed.  God is more than a doctor.  In all the facets of life, God is present and faith can provide help.  Perhaps the healing becomes part of a greater healing.  Marilyn Morgan Helleberg tells the story of her father, a doctor who had been cheated out of a large sum of money.  Her father had a hard time putting it out of his mind.  One night, this man was brought to the hospital hemorrhaging critically.  He said to her father, “I wouldn’t blame you if you’d let me bleed to death, Doc.”  Her father asked what his blood type was and proceeded to donate the needed blood.  She says that her father felt a peace and closer to God than he had ever before.

 

            The healing stories of the Gospels point us to Jesus.  That is a good direction to go.  Every one of us makes a trip to the doctor or a journey in life to seek healing.  This morning, let us lift up those things we need for ourselves or for others.  We can trust in God’s power and goodness.  We know the One who holds all things in divine hands.  When we come to God, we might find more healing than we even imagined.  For our lives, our whole lives, are in God’s hands.

 

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