Poems, Prayers, and Promises from a Country Parson

Please not that this manuscript is a guide that I use for preaching.  I have it handy, but I do not follow word for word.  Check out Colbertumc.org or ComerUMChurch.org to hear the preached sermon. 

It has been said, “Good things come to those who wait.”  But I’ve recently learned that there are some things that aren’t worth waiting for.  In today’s scripture from Mark chapter 1, we find something that isn’t worth waiting for.
    Today’s gospel story is one of several stories in the Bible that brings out the Monday Morning Quarterback in me.  If you don’t know what a Monday Morning Quarterback is, just listen to any sports talk program on the radio tomorrow morning.    These experts will be on the radio giving their advice on how the Giants and the Patriots should have played football in tonight’s Super Bowel.
    These Monday Morning Quarterbacks will be quick to say they should have passed the ball instead of running it, shouldn’t have called that time out when they did, should have let this player play instead of that one, and the list of their suggestions and play calls goes on.  When it comes down to it, Monday Morning Quarterbacks know today what needed to be done yesterday. 
    But Monday Morning Quarterbacks have one problem.  Despite all their wisdom, insight, and expertise--They weren’t on the field yesterday.  They weren’t the ones trying to catch a bad snap.  They weren’t the ones running up and down the field.  They weren’t the ones tackling and getting tackled.  Monday Morning Quarterbacks know today what needed to be done yesterday, but they weren’t on the field yesterday.
    Like I said, this story brings out the Monday Morning Quarterback in me.  It stirs within me the “would’ve, could’ve, and the should’ve.” When I read this story, I wonder why the folks waited until sunset to be healed. 
    “Good things come to those who wait” and “There are some things that aren’t worth waiting for.”  Jesus isn’t worth waiting for!
    When I read this story and think of the sick, the lame, and the troubled who waited for until sunset for Jesus to heal them, I say to myself-”Why did they wait?  If I had been there, I wouldn’t have waited.”  Some things are worth waiting for.  When you know Jesus the healer is in town, you don’t wait for him to come around, you hurry to find him. 
    This is the Monday Morning Quarterback.  We read the text today and know what should have been done yesterday, but we weren’t in Capernaum yesterday. We weren’t there when Jesus the healer came to town, so we can only guess why the people waited until sunset to be healed.
    Maybe they waited until sunset because they were ignorant.  Maybe they waited because until sunset because they didn’t know Jesus was in town.  Maybe they didn’t know Jesus had healed a demon possessed man in the Synagogue that morning.  I don’t know, but the Mark does tell us that the word about Jesus spread around the entire region.
    Maybe they waited until sunset because they had their doubts.  Maybe they waited because they heard the story, but didn’t believe it.  The story of the miracle in the synagogue was too good to be true.  It was just a tall tale.  I don’t know, but perhaps they saw the sick and crippled who had been healed walking by and knew their doubts were wrong.
    Maybe they waited until sunset because they were afraid.  Maybe they had fears about Jesus.  Who was this man?  He had a new authoritative teaching.  He had a different message a message with power.  Maybe they waited until their fears had been alleviated and they knew this man of authority was also a man of compassion.
    Maybe they waited until sunset because they didn’t want to be healed.  Later in his ministry Jesus would meet a man at the Pool of Bethesda.  For 38 years this man had been paralyzed.  When Jesus met him at the pool he asked the man “Do you want to be made well?”  It might surprise you, but there are some folks who are happy being sick.  They like the attention.  They like the pity.  They like not being expected to do what the healthy can and are expected to do.
    Maybe they waited until sunset because they didn’t want to break the Law.  You might not know this but there was a law that prevented work on the Sabbath.  On the Sabbath you weren’t allowed to pick up and carry anything.  On the Sabbath you couldn’t walk too far.  On the Sabbath you were forbidden to do anything that looked like work, and many religious leaders considered healing to be work. 
    The first part of this story took place on a Sabbath.  Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law on the Sabbath.  In doing so, he broke the law.
    I can just imagine a family with a sick daughter.  They heard what happened in the synagogue.  They know Jesus the healer is in town.  They so desperately want their daughter to be made well, but as long as the Sabbath Sun shines down they are forbidden by the law to pick up their sick daughter and carry her to Jesus.  I see mama sitting by the bedside gently comforting her sick daughter.  I see Daddy looking out the window watching the Sabbath sun move across the sky.  The day seemed to take so long.  Then it finally happened.  Sunset came.  When sunset came it marked the end of the Sabbath.  The law was no in effect.  The people who waited could now come and be healed.  I see Momma and Daddy carrying their sick daughter to Jesus the healer.
    Praise God that Jesus didn’t let a law keep him from doing what he came to do.    Jesus as the Son of God was wise enough to know the difference between God’s law and man’s law disguised as God’s law.  Jesus was wise enough to know it was foolishness to think that God would take a day off from bringing healing and wholeness to the broken and sick.
    We don’t know why the people waited to be healed.  We are only Monday Morning Quarterbacks.  We weren’t in Capernaum when the Jesus the healer came to town.
    But this morning there is a question we can answer, “Why are you waiting?”  What sunset keeps you from being healed and made whole by Jesus?
    Could it be ignorance?
Maybe you’ve  never heard scriptures like:

Psalm 6:2-”Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing.  O Lord heal me, for my bones are troubled.”

Jeremiah 3:22-”Return, o faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.”

Isaiah 53:5-”But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.”

Pslam 103:3-5 “He forgives you sins every one.  He heals your diseases, every one.  He redeems you from hell, saves your life.  He crowns you with love and mercy, a paradise crown.  He wraps you in goodness, beauty eternal.  He renews your youth, you’re always young in his presence.”

    Maybe you never heard about the healing ministry of the church.  Maybe you don’t know God has called the church to preach, teach, and heal.  If you ever go to Nancy Goss’s beauty shop she has a little post-it note on the wall that offers a wonderful explanation of the ministry of the church.  Nancy heard this on the radio and was smart enough to write it down and wise enough to post it on the wall for others to read.
    “Preaching is proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.  Teaching is explaining the good news of Jesus Christ.  Healing is making the good news of Jesus Christ real.” 
    Could it be doubt?  Maybe you believe the healing ministry of the church was a thing of the past.  There are several sincere Christians who believe the gifts of healing ended with the Disciples and Apostles.  These Christians do not believe in the miracle of healing.
    Many only know the healing ministry of the church to be what they see on TV.  They look at the big spectacles and crusades and see something they don’t want to be part of.  They hear about the con-artists and “faith-healers” who break trust and use healing ministry as a way to gain fame and wealth, and they don’t believe God is at work healing today.
     At one time, I thought the healing ministry of the church was just a gimmick of flashy televangelists.  I now know that it isn’t.  The healing ministry of the church can be as simple as a prayer at the bedside of a hospital patient, a thoughtful conversation in the Pastor’s office, or a caring touch. 
    If you doubt the healing ministry of the church I know several people who can testify that God still heals. They’ve experienced the miracle of healing in their life.  Perhaps hearing their story can turn your doubt into belief.   
    Could it be that you don’t want to be made well?  Maybe you are content being sick.  Sickness is normal for you. Health would be something new and fearful.   Maybe you are afraid of what it takes to be healed.  Perhaps you don’t want to let go of the pain and bitterness.  Perhaps you don’t want to quit a habit that is making you unhealthy. Maybe you are afraid of what will happen once the brokenness in your life has been made whole.
    I saw this first hand in my family. One day grandma asked grandpa to move a heavy concrete flower pot from the back porch to the front porch.  Wanting to make grandpa happy he moved it, but doing so he hurt his back.  Grandpa never recovered from that injury.  It never kept him from fishing, watching tv, and doing the things he wanted to do, but whenever somebody asked him to do something he didn’t want to do, like wash the dishes, fold the laundry, or take out the trash-Grandpa was quick to remind us of the flower pot.  He was hurt and couldn’t do it.
    What sunset keeps you from coming into the healing presence of Christ?
    Perhaps your just confused.  You don’t know what to think or believe about the healing power of Christ and the healing ministry of the Church. 
    Well, let me tell you what I believe about healing. 
    I believe God is a healing God.  God wants all of us to be whole.  In essence that is what healing is all about.  Healing is wholeness.  Healing is about being fully who God wants us to be and has created us to be.  Healing is about be whole in mind, body, and spirit. 
    I believe God heals in many different ways: God can heal instantly and God can heal gradually directly through divine miracles, with medicine, good health practices, and with the faith community. I believe we cannot limit the ways God is able to heal and bring wholeness.
    Some folks ask “if healing is the will of God.”  I believe it is.  And some folks wonder why somebody who prayed for healing wasn’t made well.  I don’t think it is a matter of “If God heals, but when.”  God can elect to heal on this side of eternity, but God certainly heals on the other side of eternity.  The Bible tells us that in Heaven there is no sickness or disease.  In Heaven we will be whole.
    I also believe God wants us to know about healing grace.  That is why I am preaching and teaching about healing today.  I don’t want ignorance to keep you from coming to Jesus the healer.
    Next week, we will look at what some call the Healing Steps.  These steps are not a magic formula to receive divine healing and control the divine will of God, but rather they are Biblical principles that help put us in a position to understand and live in the will of God and thus be ready to receive whatever healing grace God offers. 
    But that is next week.  This is today.  So this morning I ask.  Why wait?
    I believe in the presence of Christ there is healing.  In the presence of Christ we can experience health, healing, and wholeness.  In the presence of Christ we can experience the fullness of salvation.  Did you know that in the original language in which the Bible was written, the healing, wholeness, and salvation are all part of the same word?  Healing and salvation go hand in hand.  Healing and wholeness go hand in hand. 
    If you think about it when we are sick, part of our self is missing. When I was stuck at home with the swine flu, I didn’t feel like myself.  I almost didn’t feel human.  I had no energy, no appetite, and I could barely think straight.  When are lives are full of sin we too can have the same symptoms.  Healing and salvation through Christ make us whole.  In Christ we are made fully human.
    So why wait? 
    Jesus is here.  We believe in the sacrament of holy communion Jesus the healer is present at the table.  In this simple meal of bread and cup Jesus is here to bring health, wholeness, and salvation to all who come to him in faith.  
    I believe in the healing power of the sacrament of holy communion.  I believe in communions healing power because I've seen it first hand.  
    I was in my second year of pastoral ministry.  At the time I was serving a small church in the cornfields of central Kentucky.  I was also a full-time seminary student and working part-time at the YMCA.  It was a busy time of the school year when I got the call.  “Bro Hugh Mama’s in the hospital.  It don’t look good.  Her colon is dying.  She is in bad shape.  Could you come?  Could you bring communion?”
    Earlier that year I had preached my first sermon series about Christian healing.  I had shared with this small congregation about the healing power of holy communion, but I’ve never seen it face to face.  I had doubts, but I continued to ask God to help my unbelief.
    I made the long drive from Lexington to Elizabethtown, Ky.  It was about a three hour round trip.  I wasn’t looking forward to trying to fit a funeral into my busy school and work schedule.  Mama played the piano and I didn’t know how we would replace her.
    Well I visited Mama.  We talked.  I prayed and we had communion.
    I never had to preach Mama’s funeral.  She is still alive.  Though her health has deteriorated over the years, Lela Mae is still here.  God’s healing grace in her life reminds me of Hezekiah.  Hezekiah was at death’s door and he prayed for God to heal him.  God gave him 15 more years.
    Like I said, the question isn’t if God heals.  It is when. 
    So why wait?
   
    Jesus Christ the Healer invites to his table the broken, the hurting, the tired, and the weary who love him, earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace and wholeness with one another.  Therefore let us confess our brokenness, our hurts, our pain, and our sins to God and to one another.