Mark 1:21-28, message preached on Jan. 29, 2012 at Zion UCC Arendtsville

Jesus Speaks the Language of Health

 Gospel is a word we use a lot, and seldom think about.  The word “gospel” can be loosely translated as good news.  Wikipedia tells us that the word “Gospel” is derived from Anglo Saxon word “Gódspell” (ca AD 1000), which means “good word” or a good tale.  All that by way of saying, when we share the gospel, all we’re doing is just sharing a really good story with a really good ending.  The gospel is the best good news we could ever have.

 Our newsletter is called The Good News.  It shares the good news about Zion.  As disciples we share the good news with others, who may not have heard the really good story, with the really good ending.  As I promised several weeks ago, I am going to talk about evangelizing in this coming year.  Sharing good news comes in a variety of languages, we just need to master the language(s) that we can speak the best.  And that will be different for each one of us in our individual interactions.    But as a church, we can also speak a distinctive language that shares good news.

In the next few weeks I would like to explore, in my messages, a variety of languages available to us.  It’s not only a matter of proclaiming that Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior.  There are other ways to share good news.  Our gospel lesson today, and indeed our lessons over the next several weeks display a particular language used by Jesus.  The language of health.

Jesus’ ministry reflected a serious commitment to healing.  The healing stories represent a big part of the gospel accounts of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  Mark especially picks up on the theme of Jesus’ power to heal and to exorcize demons.  P.C. Enniss notes that of the eighteen miracles recorded in Mark, seventeen have to do with healing.  “If nothing else, the early introduction of Jesus’ healing power and the dominance of healing among the miracle stories suggest again what the Scriptures have been hinting at all along; that is, the intractable relation between religion and health.”[1]

Jesus was not just the great physician.  He was himself a healthy person…healthy in body, mind and spirit.  Jesus healed others by imparting his health to ones he healed.  We think of the woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years who reached out and touched the hem of his cloak.  Scripture says that Jesus immediately felt power going forth from him.   He transferred his health to her.  We think of Jesus as being sinless, which he was.  But we don’t often consider that his perfection extended to all aspects of his life.  His relationships were healthy.  His body was healthy.  His spiritual life was healthy.  He had a healthy approach to having fun with his friends.  He had good boundaries and knew when he needed to withdraw from his active life and pray.  He kept the Sabbath in a way that reflected its original intention.    In short, Jesus was the very picture of good health, and his health is what allowed him to heal others.

If we are honest, we will all acknowledge that we are not as healthy as we should be, in many respects.  We all have issues that must be exorcised before we can live the life ordained for us by God.  Gretchen Ziegenhals writes about this gospel passage in the latest Christian Century and she asserts that we are all possessed by something—jealousies, addictions, pride, unhealthy life styles, excessive debt, anxiety—all are in opposition to the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of a healthy life.[2]  What can we do to free ourselves from these things that possess us?  How do we fill our lives with the habits and activities that support, rather than hinder, our call to discipleship?

I encountered an interesting story about health this week.  It was in Guideposts  (Feb. 2012), to which I know many of you subscribe.   It was a neat article about a pastor in the Mississippi Delta who confronted the epidemic of obesity that is so rampant in that part of the country.  When he first came to the church, from Boston, he was astounded at how overweight so many of his church goers were.  Every week he had people in the hospital with serious ailments like diabetes and heart disease that were clearly related to their lifestyle choices.  He decided to make health a topic and priority at the church.  They had a health fair with screenings and information about cholesterol and so forth.  They started publishing articles in the newsletter. But nothing was really changing in a dramatic way.  Then they had their first pot luck since his arrival.  He looked out at the platters of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, meatloaf and meat balls and tables full of gooey pastries and pies….and realized where the biggest change needed to happen.  As Pogo would say, we have met the enemy and it is us!

Like the church in Corinth (I Cor. 8:1-13), food was causing some of his members to stumble.  Pastor Minor banned fried foods.  He became known as the preacher who banned fried chicken!  Pastor Minor had the deacons start assigning dishes to be brought to the dinners.  Things like broccoli, carrots, baked chicken, desserts made with Splenda.  There was grumbling, but people went along with it and eventually starting cooking that way at home.  Some of his members started walking around the church parking lot for exercise and wanted to know how far they had to walk to cover a mile.  Pastor had one of the deacons measure and determine that 7 laps equaled a mile—he posted it on the sign board out front.  The weight loss among the church people was dramatic. 

Pastor Minor says “I could see God at work all around me.  I saw it from the pulpit every Sunday, 8 or 10 people fitting into a pew that before held only half as many.  Newspapers were carrying stories about the preacher who banned fried chicken.”  The church was growing by leaps and bounds….but growing in a good way!  One day the mayor called to tell him that Blue Cross had just named their city the healthiest in Mississipi.  The mayor thanked the pastor for the role played by his congregation in that transformation.  The bottom line is this:  The most effective disciples are healthy disciples because they have health to share with others.

 We all have issues for which we need healing.  It is hard to acknowledge our lack of health.  Sometimes we have to grow out of things so that we grow into something else.  Growth and health are synonymous and both are what Jesus wishes for us.  It takes courage to grow, courage to be healthy.  What better place to tackle our unhealthiness than the place where the Holy Spirit is available and flowing freely?  That is some really good news to share.  A church only grows when it is tackling issues that are meaningful to people.   If there are issues causing people to stumble, we should tackle them…whatever they are.

This story gave me a different perspective on healing.  When we have accepted our wounds and weakness, we are free to accept the healing grace of Jesus Christ.  Jean Vanier says that each member of a community who grows in health fosters the growth of the whole community.  Each person who refuses to grow, or is afraid to go forward, inhibits the whole community’s health. 

 All aspects of our lives–spiritual, relational, physical, financial—are fair game for the healing touch of Jesus.  And his wonder working power is here in the Body of Christ. Like the church in Mississippi we must allow God to fix what is broken by first admitting that we are broken.  And then the Body of Christ is the best place for us to learn those habits and activities that do support a life of discipleship.  Next week we talk about financial health, and I will share a story about a church that tackled credit card debt among its members.  Surely that is a pressing issue for many of us.

The word that Jesus spoke in the synagogue caused things to happen.   He didn’t just talk, he acted in ways that healed the broken places.     The one who has authority over us has given us the authority to heal in his holy name.   We accept health for ourselves, so that we may share it with others.  That is a very good story with a very good ending.  That is sharing the good news.