Meditation for September 19, 2007

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Matthew 4:23-35

 

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So His frame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to Him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and He cured them. And great crowds followed Him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan."

 

Healing and the Kingdom of God

 

From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus proclaimed a new kind of kingdom - the kingdom of God.  From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus healed people. This is not a coincidence. Jesus' vision of the kingdom of God included a number of things.  For example, one of these was justice for the poor and the oppressed.  But the kingdom of God also includes a vision of healing - for individuals, for broken and unjust social and political systems, for the whole earth.

 

As followers of Christ, then, we must concern ourselves with healing, too.  I believe God is the Author of all healing.  But God also chooses to work through His people.  We are, very often, God's instruments of healing.  We need to be "on the lookout" for stories of healing and transformation, and where we see signs of healing, we need to say to each other, "There. See that? That is God at work in the world today!"

 

There are so many different avenues for healing.

 

Trained doctors, chiropractors, nurses, physicial therapists, occupational therapists - just to name a few - are instruments of God's healing power.

 

Veterinarians are instruments of God's healing power for farm animals and the pets we love, and we are reminded that God cares for the whole creation.

 

Different types of therapists (psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed counselors, clinical social workers - to name a few) are instruments of God's healing power for those who seek healing for various kinds of emotional traumas, relationship struggles, and mental health challenges. ("Therapy", at its root, means "healing" or "to cure".)

 

Faithful leaders in the Church (both laity and clergy) offer the healing presence of God as they pray with the laying on of hands, anoint with healing oil, and/or offer the sacraments of the Church in the name of Christ.  Many have experienced healing in this way over the centuries, and this healing work of the Church continues today.

 

Those who work directly with the poor and the oppressed, and do whatever it takes to improve their conditions, are instruments of God's healing. Those who work to get unjust laws changed and those who work to change political structures that are unjust are also instruments of God's healing.

 

Those who work to care for or reclaim the earth, and those who work to protect its various species, are instruments of God's healing.

 

Those who welcome the stranger - perhaps a stranger who has been shunned in other places... those who genuinely forgive someone who has caused offense... those who offer a loving, supportive presence to another person who is hurting, for whatever reason... those who really listen to someone who, more than anything, needs someone to listen to him or her... those who teach a class or lead retreats and, in the process, bring us back into communion with God... these are all instruments of God's healing.

 

A few final questions...

 

How is God doing a work of healing in your life today?  Are you open to the next bit of healing that God wants to do in you?  Who are the people that God has used to bring healing in your life, and how have you expressed your gratitude for them?

 

How is God using YOU as an instrument of His healing love?  Is is through your job?  Through the relationships that you have with your family members and friends?  Through your gift of hospitality?  Through a particular ministry that you have within St. Ambrose, or out in the community?  Are you that "listening ear" that folks come to when they are troubled, and after they have been with you, they walk away renewed, refreshed, and healed?

 

Do you give thanks that God uses you as a very important instrument of His healing power, as one of the ways that He establishes His kingdom?

 

I give thanks for all the many ways that you - the people of St. Ambrose - bring healing to other people, to animals, to our earth.  Thank you!

 

Lord, help us be open to the various ways that you want to bring healing into our lives.  And make us receptive vessels, so that we can also be faithful instruments of your healing.  Thank you for using us to establish your kingdom here on earth.  Amen.