Isaiah 35:5-8; Luke 4:14-21
When you walked into this beautiful worship space this morning, what did you see?
I’m not talking about the dust and sawhorses just beyond the double glass doors in the former Library Narthex, or the railings painted with red primer in the southeast stairwell.
In this sacred space, what did you see?
Regardless of your entry way this morning, it would be hard to miss the four kneeling stations adorning the side aisles.
And if you have been here before and you have seen these “stations” then you know what happens....
You know that after you have heard God’s Word...
responded to it with prayer
and song...
and then tasted that Word made flesh, broken open for you in the meal of Communion...
you will be invited to kneel and receive another great gift: The gift of healing prayer and the laying on of hands...
And if you have not been here to experience this event, then I invite you to do so.
I invite you to bring your life - with all of its complications and burdens...
with all of its struggles and hardships...
with all of its pain and brokenness...
and to lay it all down on God as one of his children prays for your healing.
But before all of this happens, let me share right now what this healing liturgy is not:
It is not ‘hocus pocus’
If you bring a wheelchair, cane or walker up front with you this morning, plan on returning to your seat with it.
There will be no slapping your forehead...
no pushing you over into the arms of a “handler”...
There will be no junk piles of crutches, wheelchairs and walkers at the conclusion of our service today.
Sorry, it just won’t happen.
Not only is this healing liturgy not hocus pocus, but it is not a Divine Insurance Policy against heartache, sickness and especially death.
Even Lazarus, it is safe to assume, when he came out from the tomb at Jesus’ command died at some later time.
Nor is this healing liturgy a Get Out of Jail Free card when it comes to suffering and persecution.
Just ask the Apostle Paul what life was like for him in prison as he lived his life “in Christ”, suffering for the sake of the Gospel.
Though our healing liturgy today is clearly personal, it is not private.
Just take a look at the Litany of Healing which follows in just a few moments.
You will notice that not only do our prayers give voice to our own need for healing...
but we pray for all who suffer...
we pray for all who lead us in our world today...
we pray for the homeless...
and we even pray for our enemies...
Finally, this liturgy for healing is not a cure.
As much as I earnestly crave a magic wand that will, with the flick of a wrist, instantly take away all sickness and death...
I know that when push comes to shove, I along with you, can only sit by the bedside...
Surrounding you, or the one you love with prayer and God’s presence...
Surrounding you, or the one you love with the assurance that
beyond the sting of Good Friday, Easter Sunday is coming!
When you walked into this beautiful worship space this morning, what did you see?
Let me tell you what I see...
Not only do I see a majestic worship space adorned with four kneeling stations, but I see a pulpit and a choir loft from which the Good News of Jesus Christ is proclaimed...
I see a baptismal font in which God’s Word is mixed with and splashed around in the earthly element of water promising forgiveness and eternal life...
I see an altar table placed at the foot of a Cross where God’s Word of life is not only heard but tasted like manna in the wilderness....
Let me tell you what else I see as I look out over you this morning.
In this morning’s healing service of Word and Sacrament, I see you, people of God...
some of you coming with hearts full of thankfulness for a good diagnosis or the touch of your child’s hand in yours....
and still I see others of you whose feet are burning on the hot wilderness sands of stressful jobs, broken relationships, loss of vocation, sickness and death.
But that’s not all I see...
Here in this place we call “sacred” and in this time we call “holy”...
I see waters breaking forth in the wilderness...
I see streams in the desert...
I see burning sands becoming a refreshing pool..
and thirsty ground springs of water.
And all because the One who claims in this morning’s gospel reading to be the fulfillment of this vision, is also the One who experienced the burning sands and the thirsty ground of a wilderness Cross himself, ultimately defeating the wilderness on Easter Sunday.
His wilderness and ours...
No, we will not walk out of here this morning cured. But we will walk out of here, healed.
Healed by the Word made flesh...
Healed by the One who took on the vulnerability of our flesh and blood...
Healed by the One whose love knows no boundaries and whose life has no end.
Healed to be healers...
Healed to love God and all that God loves.
That’s what I see when I come here each and every Sunday morning looking out over these pews...
looking out over you...
you who are wounded...yet still feeding those who hunger.
you who are broken...yet still giving refuge to the least of these
you who are loved...reaching out to the unloveable.
You who are healed...healing in the wilderness.
I cannot think of a better place to be than right here...right now. In God’s Presence and in yours.
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