St.John's Church - An ecumenical partnership serving the needs of the Grove Green and Weavering communities

I used to live in Cheltenham and people think that a spa town in the Cotswolds is very posh and nice, it does certainly have its nice parts. There's a small estate of post-war pre-fabs. They are actually made out of the wings and fuselages of decommissioned bombers and were designed to provide temporary accommodation in post-war and post-blitz England. They were built to last ten years but it was never thought that anyone would have to live in them that long. They are a sort of early form of Ikea flat pack, with very light and thin and cheap, quick and easy to make, quick and easy to assemble. Not made to last, they are still being lived in today(In fact, I think they're listed buildings).
You might know Jesus' parable of the two people, one of whom built his house on the rock and the other on the sand. The storm came and the sand shifted and the house built on it fell, but the house built on the solid rock remained standing. We're going to have a think about that.
Imagine a landlord who owns everything(That's God) and imagine you are given the use of a plot of land(That's your spirit). You don't own it, the landlord does, but he lets you use it free of rent and you build on it(That's your body), but there's one condition - whatever you build, big or small, fancy or plain, well-built or not - that the building cannot be permanent.
The landlord has said that no matter how fine it is will be taken down one day. That sounds a bit tough, but there's good news. The good news is that the landlord himself will replace it with a really amazing permanent dwelling for you to have forever. The Bible says that our visible, physical bodies are a bit like that building. No matter what they're like (big or small, fancy or plain, well-built or not) they are they are only temporary. Our bodies are temporary; we are going to die. But we believe in the resurrection of the body 'not just Jesus' but our own, too, and that resurrected body is the amazing house that we'll get to live in forever.
So we've had a think about the building that stands on the plot of land, but what about that ground that its built on? But as well as this visible, physical body we have another part - an invisible, spiritual part. We call that our soul or our spirit. That bit of us is deep and hidden - a bit like the ground on which the building of the body stands. That's not temporary - that's permanent and eternal, and if that has problems then it doesn't matter how fine the building on top is.
Now I'm aware that the boundary between the two might not be quite as black and white as in the image of the house standing on the land. The mind, for example, is not visible or physical and yet it seems to be inextricably linked to the brain. So there may be some overlap or interface between the two. Our body, mind and soul are more connected than a house is with the land, but let's keep it simple just for the time being. So imagine for a moment that the land on which the house stands is bad. How bad? Subsidence, toxic contamination? Worse - earthquakes and volcanoes! Clearly that is a very big deal, after all we need a good base, a good grounding, and good foundations. The rest of the building could be beautiful but if the ground it stands on is fundamentally flawed then so anything built on it.
In our stories today God heals people. He touches and changes them at every level - body, mind and spirit. We can show this with a simple diagram:
Two overlapping circles arranged vertically - one above the other: Upper one = Invisible/spiritual, Lower one = Visible/physical
Now it's important to note that healing may take place in one (1) or the other (2) or both (3)
Examples:
1. The Nine Lepers, or the crowds who Jesus healed.
2. Job or Jesus - many holy, spiritual "healed" people who are or were sick or dying
3. The Tenth Leper

1. Is pretty obvious - a physical, visible, medical healing
2. is subtler - an inner healing. This is where physical, visible, medical problem is NOT dealt with but becomes a point of growth and even a blessing. Sometimes this means being given the grace to come to terms with a problem or the strength to cope with a problem that God has chosen NOT to deal with by removing (1) It can even mean that God will use our broken-ness and weaknesses and limitations and to bring help and healing to others to others and glory to him. This is not a cop out, but can sometimes be the most powerful and profound and permanent form of healing. After all our role model here is Christ himself.
3. Is both

Let's look at 1. God can and does "heal" miraculously, and that's good. Sometimes that's his will, and this is good - it's a gift from God, it's his love and power - and I don't want to deny it or diminish it. But this type of healing needs to have a few things said about it:
a. It isn't permanent. It's a temporary reprieve. We are all going to die. Please remember that and get used to it.
b. It is an end in itself but is also the means to an end - i.e. it's good to be healed but God does it for a purpose - e.g. so that we can show and share his love, to restore us to his service, to revive our faith.
c. It is a "sign" or token of God';s love and power and of the age to come when there will be no death or disease. Think of it as a hint, a taster, a trailer, a sneak preview of the Kingdom of God that is yet to come. John's gospel doesn't use the word "miracle" at all when Jesus heals people. It uses the word "sign". But that said, Jesus does a lot of them, and I think he still does.
So even with all that in place and in mind let's go back to what we first said about (1): Sometimes it's the good God's will to "heal" miraculously by the direct intervention of his loving power, and when that happens it's good. But let's note that of the three areas (1, 2, and 3) this is, in a sense the least important. Because someone can be healed in area 1. but not have their hearts, minds, lives, spirits touched. Area 2 can remain unhealed, untransformed. Such people may be changed, healed, on a physical level but utterly unchanged, un-healed inside.
E.g. - Look at the nine lepers; look at those who wanted miracles but not the rest of the package. Look at the crowds who want Jesus to work his magic cures but have no intention of listening to him or following him or changing the way they live. But God is not a bell hop, not a magician, not our personal puppet. He does these miracles, including these type 1 healings, to bring people in and show them his love and power. But what God really wants is healing here - deep healing in areas 2 or 3, rather than just in area one.
Why?
Because it's the permanent part of us. The body is temporary. It's going to die. Then it will be resurrected - and note that that means transformed rather than just resuscitated or reanimated. Resurrection is transformation, but it is preceded by death and decay - by the demolition of the old house. But the spirit us different because it's the part of us that doesn't die. The body will die but the spirit that has been made alive by and to and for God is truly and permanently alive, forever. Eternal life with God beings now in our spirits; our bodies are prone to disease and death and decay, but our spirits are made to be eternally alive by God. Ever changed a bulb? Imagine changing the lampshade but leaving the bulb on burning brightly while you do it. Our spirits are lit and made alive by God and remain so throught this life, through death and through the resurrection. The lampshade - our body - dies and gets replaced but the spirit stays "on", stay connected to the power of God like the bulb is plugged in to the mains.
Then we have to say that 1 (purely is Flesh/Body/Physical healing) is essentially temporary, after all, the flesh is going to die. It's a reprieve but that's all. But God does care about us our bodies, and often this sort of healing is his will and his work. God can and does heal the body, the flesh, the visible, physical, temporary part of us. But I think he wants to heal the other part as well or instead.
Let's have a look again at the three types of people who were healed: . . .
Examples:
1. Healing only in the physical / flesh / here-and-now. Examples: the nine lepers who didn't come back to say thanks, or the crowds whom Jesus healed.
2. Healing not in the flesh but in the spirit / profound and permanent healing for all eternity. Examples: Jesus himself - and many holy, spiritual "healed" people who are or were sick or dying; Christian martyrs past and present.
3. Healing in both spheres - flesh and spirit. Examples: the tenth leper; Naaman.
Conclusion:
A Story, Matthew 20:29-34 / Mark 10:46-52 / Luke 18:35-43. Let's end with a story of a man who Jesus healed in every way. He was blind, and (therefore) he was poor. He was begging when Jesus passed by and he called out to him: "Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me". Think about that request. What thing or things might it mean?
Jesus stopped and asked him a question: "What is it that you want me to do for you?". Does that sound like a daft question? Or not? The man says he wants to be able to see. He wants healing in the physical / flesh / here-and-now. So Jesus grants it, and I'd like to think that he was healed spiritually as well, in a profound and permanent way for all eternity. I certainly hope so.

So we pray:
Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon us.
Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon us.
Jesus, son of God, forgive our sins.

Amen