May 26 2019 Thousands of Healings

May 26 2019 Psalm 67 * Revelation 22.1-5 "Thousands of Healings" Pastor Jacqueline Hines

So we have spent the last few weeks wading through the book of Revelation.  Even when the meaning of the book of Revelation escapes us and puzzle us, the symbolism enchants us.  The colors are vivid and illuminating with red horses, black horses, pale horses, gold bowls, blood dripping, the dramatic movement of earth, wind, and blazing fire;  larger than life angels with wings spanning more majestic than an eagle; lions and tigers and bears that take our breath away.  In the midst of all that, God is speaking in thunderous tones as lightning flashes and trumpets blast. If nothing else is clear, God’s sense of urgency is clear.  The persistence of evil is undeniable while God’s presence is undaunted.

The message shakes us up and messes with our heads. We are tossed to and fro. We may even find ourselves a bit bruised and broken at the possibility that we are guilty in some way. We ask ourselves, are WE being judged or warned or is this terrible message for those whose sins are greater than ours. Either way, whether we are guilty or mere witnesses, we always need healing, renewal, and restoration. 

Verse 2 tells us that God has healing for the nations.  God has created us in such a way that we are constantly in a healing mode. Every day healing happens. Life is restored from the smallest cell to the massive waterways. For example, trees drop their seeds so new ones will grow, replacing those lost to insects, fire, or disease. Our bodies regenerate new skin cells every 39 days, new red cells every 120 days, new liver cells every 300 days.

We are designed for constant healing. We need healing from at least three things: from war, from wandering, from witchcraft. We need healing from war. War may be in our mind, our heads, our thoughts. Joyce Meyers became well known for her book entitled Battlefield of the Mind. She uses scripture to correct Christians who think negatively, who condemn and judge themselves until they are overwhelmed with worry, confusion and doubts about God’s and other’s love and care for them. War may begin with the battles in our minds. We need to stay in God’s healing presence until the war in our minds turns into an oasis of peace and quiet. God’s healing presence comes to us as we pray, serve, abide in God’s word, and when we do justice and love mercy.

Our relationships may be a battlefield. From nitpicking, negativity, naysaying, and knee-jerk reactions in the nasty zone, relationships can be a burden wherein we are done if we do and done if we don’t. Struggles and strains, whether in our marriage or in the marketplace can mess up our day, make us mean, and make us miss the mark.

Like any war, there will be casualties – breakups, breakdowns, beat downs, back stabbing, blasphemy. At their best, relationships make us rich and royal and righteous rather than ragged on the edges. We need God’s healing presence and wisdom to direct us out of troubling situations into a place of peace and justice. War is not the answer! We need God’s healing if we are going to have any peace. Again, God’s healing presence comes to us as we pray, serve, abide in God’s word, and when we do justice and love mercy.

John the Revelator’s declaration for the healing of the nations  reminds us that all of us need healing from our wanderings. From nation to nation, we are more alike than we are different. You have heard of many a child who wanders into a well or the woods or a corn maze or some city street. All children can get lost. Young people have told me that they avoid certain people and situations because those certain people are surrounded by trouble. Trouble can happen to anybody. They stay as far away as they can because they do not want to get what they call, “caught up” or “swept away”. Sometimes, things happen and we do not know what hit us. Sin is like that sometime. Before we know it, we are caught up and swept away by enemies stronger than us.

We want to avoid as much as we can wandering or being “caught up” by the violent winds of sin and temptation. At times when we are finally found, we may be in bad shape like the toddler known in the news as the mud baby  who was snatched out of her mother’s arms in the very sudden 1999 Oklahoma tornado that left 1600 people homeless overnight. In such times when we are afraid, we can trust in God and walk with God through every storm.

It is not easy to be a Christian and trust God. A very wise and spiritual person told me of a very deep and surprising experience they had. As they were boarding a plane with a group of ordained ministers going on a professional trip years ago, she felt the Holy Spirit whisper sadly that none of them are really following me. Another time, I worked in a math lab where a minster worked and I announced to a Jamaican student that a certain tutor was an ordained minister. The student responded, “But, I don’t smell him.” Meaning, there is no evidence that he is consciously communing with the Creator. Christianity is a lifestyle for which there is plenty of evidence, isn’t it?

We need healing for the warfare that wreaks havoc in our lifestyles and the wanderings that waylay us like a ton of bricks. We also need healing from the effects of witchcraft. 

The person in the bible most noted for witchcraft is the stubborn King Saul who was always trying to compete with the mild-mannered shepherd boy David who later became King in Saul’s place. One day King Saul abused his power by doing what only priests were designated to do. So he was called on the carpet with these words: Rebellion is witchcraft –  Rebellion is an attempt to control something or someone that is not yours to control. Saul was also told, obedience to God is better than making a big sacrificial donation. And stubbornness is idolatry.

We all want to be in control, some times more than others. We do well to learn a lesson from racehorse Maximum Security and stay in our lanes lest we become disqualified from the race and be forced to leave the winner’s circle.

Though he was king, Saul took authority that did not belong to him. Someone with authority over him accused him of being a witch – a very sacrilegious label for a God-appointed king. Most humans do not listen well when others tell us the error of our ways. Most humans reject negative feedback. We resent it and are generous with our revenge and defensiveness. At our best, we would not wait for others to correct us, rather we repent on a daily basis and wait for God to shape us and mold us into loving people with good character.

It is our constant lesson to learn that God is God and we are not. How wonderful it is to be able to take all of our burdens to the Lord and leave them there! It is indeed wonderful, yet I do not know about you, but there are some things I want to be control in case God has a different idea in mind and I may not appreciate it.

That is what the faith journey is all about, letting go and letting God that we might be blessed and be a blessing, that we might be healed and become healers.  All of us are in need of healing. All of us have the Holy Spirit within us that gives us power to heal in thousands of small ways and big ways. May today be the day that we are healed from war, healed from wandering, and healed from witchcraft in the name of Jesus. I invite you now into a quiet space and God’s healing presence as you pray, serve, abide in God’s word, do justice and love mercy. Let it be so today. Amen.