Sermon at St. Thomas by Lynn E. Cunningham

April 30, 2006. Easter III. Acts 4:5-12; I John 1:1-2:2; Luke 24:36b-48.

1.       Last Sunday, I talked about the three friends that we have in the Biblical narratives, telling of the Creation of the world by God, the Exodus from slavery in Egypt, and life of Jesus. I suggested that these three narratives can provide healing power for those who reflect on them in life’s crises. Today, I want to continue this theme of healing and introduce – or reintroduce – the congregation to a liturgical practice of healing, the laying on of hands. This may not be truly new here, since I gather it has been done here in earlier years. But the practice has fallen into disuse in recent years, and the parish worship committee suggested it may be time to see if members of the congregation would like to renew the practice. I have been part of healing services at my former parishes for many years, and believe strongly in it.

2.       As we complete the sharing of the eucharist today in this service, I am going to invite those of you who wish to, to come forward, and line up to kneel at the altar rail. I will lay my hands on your shoulders, and say a brief prayer. I will also invite anyone who wishes to lay on hands on someone else to come forward also. This will allow you to join in laying hands on someone that you care about who is seeking healing.

3.       Let me make clear, that you do not need to come forward at all. Also, you do not need to have a major illness or crisis to come forward to ask for healing. You may ask for healing for another person or group of people as a kind of surrogate for them. For example, when my mother was in the final months of her life, I would sometimes ask one of the priests at my former parish to lay hands on me both because I was grieving, but also to ask for healing for her.

4.       During this time, I will ask each of you remaining in the pews to pray silently for yourself and for those coming forward.

5.       Of course, St. Thomas practices healing in several ways already:

          a.       By knitting the prayer shawls and sending them to persons who are ailing.

          b.       By maintaining a prayer chain, to alert parish members to pray for someone when they are in a crisis.

          c.       By the professional healing work done in the community byJackie Page, Jean Murphy, and others.

          d.       By being a circle of friends and supporters for each other.

          e.       I feel that I have joined a circle of deeply caring people by coming into St. Thomas. So we already are practicing healing as a community of caring persons.

6.       Today’s renewal of the liturgy of the laying on of hands brings in another practice for the healing that already goes on here.

          a.       I hope to include the laying on of hands during the service once or twice per month, but each of you should feel free to request it after a service as you feel the need.

7.       What is happening in the laying on of hands during our worship time? My answer is that this community is acting out the desire of the Holy One that each person be restored to the state in which we were created, the fullness of our nature as children of God.

8.       There are many healing stories in the gospels: the blind man, the leper, the Gerasene Demoniac, the woman with a hemorrhage and so on. The list of healing actions by Jesus is long, rich and nourishing. Indeed, today’s gospel lesson can be seen as a kind of healing story, when Jesus appears to the twelve and gives them his peace.

9.       Liturgical and spiritual healing can be seen to offer a complement to the modern medicine with which our society is blessed.

10.     Modern medicine offers fabulous vaccines, medications and treatments for illnesses that used to drastically shorten the lives of our ancestors.

11.      But modern medicine, vital as it is, sometimes leaves untouched the spiritual nature of the healing process. The liturgy of the laying on of hands during worship can help fill this gap.

12.     To me the healing process involves both restoring balance and, what might be called, touching wholeness. By balance I mean balanced, healthy life styles. By touching the wholeness of God, I mean getting back in touch with the sense that I am a whole person rooted in the Holy One after I have been wounded or sick. I will talk about these two in turn.

13.     Balance can be as simple as trying to take good care of yourself and those around you. A consensus is emerging about several aspects to maintaining good health, including

          a.       the need to remain physically active throughout life.

          b.       The wisdom of doing some form of muscle toning exercises, such as the classes that Judy Temaat teaches.

          c.       Eating nutritious meals with lots of vegetables and fresh fruits and whole grains.

          d.       Not to mention the need to maintain the minimum daily requirement for chocolate in the diet, including chocolate ice cream, chocolate Easter bunnies, and chocolate truffles. You know what I mean!

          e.       Other examples of Balance includ taking breaks from working too much. Taking quiet time to commune with the Holy One. Taking time to enjoy friends and family.

14.     Finding balance in life can be more tricky than just eating your vegetables.

15.     Many years ago, I was traveling in Nepal on a medical expedition to set up health clinics in several remote mountain villages. Our team leader was a doctor who had a mild form of cancer that was largely controllable. He had visited one health care professional, a homeopath, who said that he could give him some new medications which would likely stop the cancer, which was the good news. The bad news was that the treatment would cause serious side effects on his other body systems. Balance means choosing among approaches that have several different effects. Many of today’s wonder drugs can give serious side effects. Taking strong medications seems to be a matter of choosing to balance off the positive effects of the medication, against the risks of the side effects. Many of you can tell stories of how you had to go back to your doctor several times to have him or her adjust your medication.

16.     Making changes in our lives can present internal, spiritual challenges that can throw off our balance, as well as the physical effects. I wanted to move to Dubois as I approach retirement age, because I love this area and its people. But moving here meant leaving behind many dear friends back in Washington, D.C. and giving up a teaching job at a wonderful law school. Living in the big city was stressful, but it had its rewards. Living here in Dubois is relaxing and refreshing and to me the right thing to do at my age, but I miss things about city living, like movie theaters and printed newspapers. I can feel myself becoming a different person just by living here, as opposed to living back in Washington. I have no doubt all of you have experienced such changes. Finding balance in the midst of disorienting changes is not easy. Asking for God’s healing by the laying on of hands can help maintain good spiritual balance.

17.     Another aspect of healing that I want to mention today is touching wholeness. The passages from the Acts and the First letter of John provide stories of healing that express this getting back in touch with the wholeness that God intends for each person. The stories can be read as a background for our renewing today the laying on of hands and the healing process.

18.     The story of Peter and John is a classic healing story in the New Testament. Peter and John are headed up to the Temple to pray when they come across a beggar at the gate who has been unable to walk since birth. He begs them for some money, and Peter says, “I have no money, but I can give you Jesus Christ of Nazareth, now walk!” Peter then reaches down and physically pulls the man up to a standing position. The man’s feet and ankles become strong and he begins to walk around the Temple and to shout with rejoicing.

19.     This story illustrates what I am getting at when I refer to getting back in touch with the wholeness. Peter and John helped that beggar man get back in touch with the sense that he was a whole person, who is rooted in the Holy One.

20.     Similarly, John in this first epistle says that God is light, and in God is no darkness at all. To me a core element of healing is restoring the sense in ourselves that there is a spiritual wholeness which God intends for us, even in our brokenness and trauma. John calls this the light of God, in which there is no darkness at all.

21.     To go back to the man whom Peter and John helped to walk by touching him with the power of Christ. The man surely thought of himself as a beggar from all those years of lying by the side of the gate and begging. Begging must have shaped his mind. With this healing, suddenly, people are no longer going to take pity on him and give him alms. Instead, now he will be able to make a living with more choices. He is going from dependency to independence. That is going to change his whole world. Healing, finding a new wholeness in life, always comes with some kind of a price, with new choices to be made.

22.     I have done a lot of counseling with low income families whose lives have been badly crippled by poor education, heavy debt, dependency on welfare. People who have made some terrible choices about using drugs or alcohol. Helping such folks find a way out of a terrible mess both inspires them and provides hope, but it also is daunting and scary for them, since they realize they will have to change who they are as persons. The truth is, all of us are in this boat. No matter how not-poor, not-oppressed we think we are, we are still in the soup of life and Christianity teaches clearly that we are going to have to get up onto our feet, like the crippled beggar, and take on a new life. Healing through laying on of hands can be one way of our helping each other do that.

23.     I am really tempted to start naming examples here in this congregation of people who have had to grow and change in response to changes in their lives, but I won’t. Every one of us here has had to try to learn to change ourselves inwardly in response to what life has dealt up to us.

24.     Renewing the liturgy of laying on of hands during our Sunday morning worship should not be taken either too seriously or too lightly. I invite you to approach it as just another way that this already very caring community reaches out to support and touch each other to encourage each other through the rougher passages in life, and to, at least symbolically, be touched by the wholeness that God intends for each of us.

25.     In Jesus name, Amen.