The second reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 26th, James 5:13-20 says…
If any of you are suffering, they should pray. If any of you are happy, they should sing. If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. For this reason, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve. Elijah was a person just like us. When he earnestly prayed that it wouldn’t rain, no rain fell for three and a half years. He prayed again, God sent rain, and the earth produced its fruit. My brothers and sisters, if any of you wander from the truth and someone turns back the wanderer, recognize that whoever brings a sinner back from the wrong path will save them from death and will bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
Every single one of us needs healing. We all hurt in some way and yet we latch onto this fantasy that we should somehow be perfect and ok all the time. “I’m fine!” is the common response to the question, “how are you doing?” Sometimes we need to admit, “no, I’m not fine, I need a little help.” The church has a responsibility to step into those places of hurt and pain and offer reconciliation, peace, and healing. Jesus seeks to bring health and wholeness to every part of life.
I remember the first time I was invited to a healing service I said, “I didn't know we did healings, I thought we were Methodists.” I attended the service and it was a really powerful experience. We shared in Holy Communion, the pastor preached a sermon and then he asked the question from the book of James, “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.” Then anyone who wanted to was invited to come forward to be anointed with oil and to take a moment at the altar for prayer. I watched as person after person did just that. They lined up down the center aisle and were prayed for and anointed. This was a service I started attending regularly and most weeks I too went up and was anointed. Some other weeks I just stayed seated and listened to the piano and spent some time in prayer during it all, but every week I found the service to be something that was really helpful and healing.
There are certainly a lot of preconceived notions and skepticism about what healing is and what it is not. Healing is not magic. There is a difference, an important difference, in healing and curing. The healing I’m sharing about and the healing mentioned in the book of James is spiritual. The United Methodist Book of Worship explains the root of the word healing in the New Testament Greek is sozo, which is the same root word for salvation and wholeness. Spiritual healing is God’s work of offering balance, harmony, and wholeness of body, mind, spirit, and relationships through confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Through this kind of healing, God works to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity, among individuals and communities, within each person, and between humanity and the rest of creation. Healing is not magic, but underlying it is the great mystery of God’s love. There is a difference in healing and curing. God does not promise that we will be cured of all illnesses. God does not promise that we will be spared suffering, but God does promise to be with us in our suffering. Trusting that promise, we are enabled to recognize God’s sustaining presence in pain, sickness, injury, and estrangement. And the greatest healing of all is the reunion or reconciliation of a person with God. When this happens physical healing sometimes occurs; mental and emotional balance is often restored; spiritual health is enhanced; and relationships are healed.
I believe the church, the global church, needs to embrace more our responsibility to be about healing. Yes we are called to teach people about the life that really is life, but that conversation should always start with an embrace of love and forgiveness and grace for all people. It is a very spiritual and powerful thing to be prayed for and anointed with oil.
At the Wesley Foundation before the pandemic, we had a healing service and I anointed the students with oil the week before their final exams. This ritual was a welcomed time of peace in the midst of a lot of stress and anxiety. Finding opportunities to offer healing can be transformative and brings us all closer to the heart of God.