healing salvation (with addendum)

in light of some questions about my sermon I have tried to clarify at the end of the text....

Isaiah 58:9b-14
psalm 103:1-8
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17

Isaiah 58 is a stunning prophesy where, God declares that His people are false and sinful, engaging in empty pious practices; but He promises, ‘if you care for the poor, your light will shine. If you take care of the needy your healing [‘aruwkah: a long bandage, healing, restoration] will spring up quickly.’ Salvation heals body and soul, individuals and communities—and it begins here and now!

However, Isaiah says: Salvation is received through obedient, loving-trust. Serving the poor opens us to receive the gift, probably because we receive from God through the same door to our heart from which our generosity and love pour out. The Sabbath also matters, “if you refrain from  trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs…” God says He will raise you high.

We know that the ministry of Jesus is our model. We see that He saves the needy--healing is a weapon of spiritual warfare. Jesus healed constantly. Taking  healing out of the  Jesus' ministry is like playing baseball without a bat. Healing is a major part of the Gospel narrative. In fact, there are forty recorded healing incidents, of which eleven involved crowds. Seven times Jesus healed on the sabbath, including today’s controversy.

So we turn to ask, does Jesus conform to God’s message in Isaiah 58? Is He disdaining the Sabbath, pursuing His own interests, and trampling on God’s holy day? It seems not. He is freeing a woman in bondage to a “spirit of weakness” (infirmity) and as He said elsewhere, the  Father continues to work, He has no sabbath break from His creation. Jesus, the Incarnate God, must continue the work of 'creation', this is a work of salvation—He reveals God’s saving love. Sabbath is for human restoration and Jesus is restoring!

The New Testament delineates different causes for illness, some physical and others spiritual, Today the woman is sick for eighteen years because of a spirit of infirmity. [We hear often that the majority of physical illness (75%-90%) is actually connected to cognitive and emotional causes--the spiritual realm.] All human illness belongs to Satan’s reign, not God's Kingdom. It is hard to overstate how important healing is in the mission of Jesus and His church. Where God is king there is health and salvation!

Spiritual warfare between Jesus and Satan continues today. Social conflict, physical disease and mental illness are all a taste of hell—but Jesus is risen and through the church He not only can heal, He does heal. Jesus is healing among us every day! We have seen people healed of cancer and all other manner of maladies. We have even seen it happen immediately--people's surgeries canceled because the cancer or malady was gone!

Doubters say, “but so many sick aren’t healed.” While it is true, isn't it also fair to ask “why?” Isaiah 58, says that healing/restoration occurs among those who serve the poor and do not pursue their own desires. If our community is disobedient then the word of God makes clear, healings will not happen. God says sin is a barrier. So, too, He says are fear, doubt and unforgiveness. Remember, we are connected to community, our own faith is part of a larger system. 

Jesus testified to the power of unbelief—and too many Christians do not believe. We reduce salvation to ‘going to heaven after we die,’ we deny that there is a devil and preachers declare that Jesus no longer heals. Christians are actually programed to say, “Don’t bother God with your problems when there are others who are worse off.” We literally believe that Almighty God has His hands full, we can help Him by not asking! Ironically, the opposite is true…. Healings increase faith, which draws more people closer to God, which leads to more healing. Our refusal to ask in faith only adds to the doubt and despair in the world. Understand, the spirit of infirmity is already here among us; we need Jesus' healing salvation.

Our Father promises amazing things if we are radically generous to the poor, if we love our Lord and trust His power to heal. Jesus-light already shines in the world—the question is, do enough of us want it shining here? 

addendum (9/8/19)
1. The point of Isaiah is that "the nation" is under judgement. The entire people, the group, and any individual is always part of the group. There is NOT a direct linear correlation between "taking care of the poor" and "receiving God's blessings." While our individual lives do matter, the social context does as well.
2. Salvation is a whole body experience, and healing affects all aspects of the human person and human community. Physical healing is not the primary issue, right relationship with God is. 
3. While salvation/healing begins now it does not reach its completion (teleos--perfection, wholeness, completeness, end). So the question "are you saved?' is answered by "how do I look?" which literally means--do I look like I am seeking God and receiving His life? Do I look like I am on the path and  headed in the right direction? Are their manifestations of God's Holy Spirit in my life?
4. "Doubters" are not the only ones who ask "why are not all healed?" We all have those questions. However, there are many people who self identify as non-believers. It is them to whom I refer. Unfortunately, to some extent, we are all doubters. The Bible is clear, our doubt is a barrier to God. Peter sunk in the water and Jesus asked, "Why did you doubt?" The disciples are scared in a storm and Jesus asked, "Why have you no faith?" There are dozens of times that unbelief is challenged by Jesus. Part of facing our "sinfulness" is admitting that we have doubts and these doubts are a problem.
5. All physical healing is temporary. Lazarus is dead. The disciples are dead. I understand mortality is real. However, healings took place in Jesus' ministry and to the extent Jesus' ministry flows UNIMPEDED through us we will see "greater deeds than these" (per His promise). 
6. We live in a fallen world. Sin, unbelief, disease, suffering, mental illness, etc. are the "World" (in the negative sense). We are in a physical, social, spiritual environment which is (more or less) toxic.
7. Being healed does not mean you have more faith than someone who was not healed, necessarily. Personal faith is one important component, but there is much more to the story. How serious is the problem? The bigger the problem, the more power is needed. What about your social environment? are you surrounded by anger, fear, doubt? What about outside spiritual forces? Is the Enemy at work? Are there people who wish you ill? Are there unconscious wounds or thoughts at work? Sometimes the ministers are filled with doubt. Their prayers are ineffectual. It is not a simple equation of faith means healing. 
8. Even if the physical healing doesn't happen there can be other healings of greater long term impact. Many who die are closer to God in faith and love. From the perspective of eternity, ten or twenty years are not much. From our perspective, they can feel like an eternity. Herein lies the dilemma
9. There is so much more that I do not know or understand, than there is that I do. I am hopeful what I have learned and shared here is of value.

The seven sabbath miracles http://icogsfg.org/sab-7mir.html

do not be afraid

genesis 15:1-6

Psalm 33:12-22

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Luke 12:32

The Lord tells Abram, “fear not,” the second time the Hebrew word yare (‘afraid’) occurs in the Jewish Bible. The first time was Genesis 3:10 when Adam told God, “I hid because I was afraid.” The word afraid will occur 412x. Fear is a big problem.

The central role of doubt and fear are manifest from the beginning, although the Bible is silent on why Adam and Eve sinned. This is the nature of a richly symbolic revelation--it invites us to hear and interpret (within the context of the church). I think God was absent in order to give humans the freedom to choose to trust and love Him. Absence, however, also provides freedom to not trust and not love. The doubt of Adam and Eve opened the door to fear and sin. Eve did not trust God, she trusted herself. Did she fear being duped? I don’t know but we do know that they hid from God in fear. What is more frightening, to be abandoned by God or face His judgement and rejection?

Did Adam blame Eve because he was afraid to face his guilt? 
Did his betrayal feed her doubt and fear? 
Cain will soon murder Abel—biblical families are rife with jealousy, betrayal and even violence. Trust and love are risky business.

We will each experience doubt and fear in our own unique ways. Do you prefer God’s providence or your own autonomy?
Is it better to be isolated or to trust someone? 
Can you face the truth about yourself and take responsibility or do you prefer projecting it on others? 
From the beginning we have had to subdue the world, work and keep watch. Creation is good, but it is also dangerous. No matter how brave or strong we might be, the threats are bigger than we are. God's solution to our dilemma is salvation; which unfolds in promises!

In Genesis 12 God had promised an heir to Abram. Abram believed, but he also wavered. He was worried about the lack of an heir.  Now, in Genesis 15 “The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid…" This is how prophets described God’s communication. The prophetic word is aimed at salvation! Abraham worried about an heir, in spite of God’s promise. Now God’s prophetic word is, “Fear not, I am your shield.” The prophetic word sets us back on the right path. Like us, Abraham struggled to trust in God’s promise.

Hebrews says "by faith Abraham obeyed..." Hebrew says that faith is confident assurance in what is unseen. Fortunately, even when our confidence is less than assured, we can still be obedient. Faith and obedience are interconnected. Sometimes faith is behaving like the promise is true, even if we are unsure.

Jesus says, "Do not be afraid little flock, it has pleased the Father to give you the Kingdom." God’s promise to us is a share in His reign. We have everything we need in God, but we may not always feel sure that that is true. Jesus tells us to check our hearts—do we desire God or are we led by our other desires? He warns us to use material wealth to help others, He says. The amount of wealth we have is easy to overlook. The lure of pleonexia--wanting more cannot be ignored. Jesus wants us: Be watchful and faithful.  

Prayer, worship and study, in-reach and outreach are concrete ways to trust and obey Jesus. Be alert to what scares you, or worries you. Be aware of your doubts. Doubt and Fear block theosis union with God. We are all unsure, worried and afraid, in our own way. Admit it and do not let them steal your heart from God. 

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"The word of the Lord came..."

this expression occurs a dozen or so times in the books of Samuel and Kings in connection with prophets like Elijah or directly to a king. Jeremiah has it 20x, Exekiel 49x and Zechariah 4x. There are also many more examples, with slight modifications in wording or order, which are also found. The point is this is a standard expression of prophecy and an indication that Abraham was also a prophet.

The Bible does not provide much psychological information, so we rarely have insights into motivations. We are left to interpret, based on the Rule of Faith (the orthodox faith and church teaching), most narratives. This must be done carefully and humbly. So what I say above about fear and doubt is my opinion, and, therfore, not put forth as necessarily true.

you cant take it with you

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23
Psalm 49:1-11
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21

Most of the Jewish Bible pre-dates belief in eternal life. Ecclesiastes has a particularly bleak assessment of human existence and mortality. “*Everything is a vapor”—it says, to start a book which declares that life is not fair and things don’t work out for the best. Work is drudgery and busyness—(the same Greek word Jesus said to Martha). He basically asks, “What’s the point?” and in 2:24 advises us to eat, drink and enjoy what time we have, before we disappear forever.

Ps 49 takes up a similar theme—both the wise and the foolish will die, leaving everything they have to others. Even the rich cannot ransom their life from God. Our sense of control is actually an illusion.

In Jesus Christ, however, the dark view of human toil and mortality are seen in a new light. The resurrection of Jesus changes everything and Paul exhorts us to a new way of thinking. We must “put off the old humanity” (paleos anthropos) and “put on the new [self],” our “mind renewed in the image (ikon) of the creator." 

The Ancient Church teaching on the passions and theosis is all found here in the Colossians reading. Theosis focuses our mind above because that is where Jesus reigns. Ecclesiastes paints an accurate picture of life on earth. Our Lord saves us from the earthly, which Paul delineates:

Porneia—literally any form of sexual immorality, figuratively idolatry.

Akatharsia—uncleanness, impurity, lust; the opposite of holiness.

Pathos—passion, illicit desires which cause us pain

Epithymia—desire, craving, longing, lusts for what is forbidden

Obviously, all four overlap, and each reveals how our souls are tied to the earthly. Sin is deadly, and death is of sin. Every sinful behavior is produced by these earthly desires and it is our behaviors which ruin us, our loved ones and our world.

Last of all Paul lists pleonexia (greed, avarice, covetousness) which literally means “to have more.” Each person want more because nothing satisfies the hunger within us. Always is search for something different, something else, something more… Paul says pleonexia is actually eidolotria—idolatry.  

Our hearts were made for God, He is the Something More which we desire. The holy desire is union (theosis) with God and others in love, but in our brokenness our heart is twisted and betrays us. The passions, lusts, unclean desires and greed are distortions of the true desire. Only God can satisfy our hearts, so the couunterfeit desires are really creating false gods. The tragedy of life in a fallen world is that we desire what hurts us and we desire to have more and more of it to satisfy our longing.

It is pleonexia which Jesus warns us about in the Gospel. Jesus is not among us to settle property disputes—to distribute resources. Jesus came to heal the passions not feed them. Jesus quotes from Ecclesiastes—the rich man who says ‘now I can eat, drink and be merry,”--but Jesus calls him a fool, for tonight, says Jesus, you die. For the author of Ecclesiastes, death was the end, but for Jesus it is only the beginning.

It is hard for us wealthy Americans, driven by the passions and always wanting more and more, to become rich for God. There is so much for us abundance around us... We can stay busy and distracted, perhaps even believing in a God whose job it is to settle our disputes and give us what we think we are owed. This is to limit ourselves to the old humanity--living as if the here and now is all that matters. This is to choose death. There is another way. The way to life in Jesus is death to old humanity, a rejection of the earthly passions. Let us truly and deeply repent. Let us truly seek the heavenly things where Jesus is. Let us truly choose life.