Do the Word

One of the least emphasized elements in modern writings on healing is the degree to which, with a few notable exceptions, healing is almost always portrayed in the Scriptures as a community event.

Note the community orientation of the admonition to pray for healing in James 5:13-15:

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.

If you’re in trouble, you appear to be on good grounds to pray solo. And if you’re happy, go ahead and sing in the shower. But if you’re sick, it’s time to call in reinforcements.

And note that though much is made in some circles (and yes, even some Scriptures) of the importance of the faith of the individual who is sick, note that in James it is the faith of the group as a whole that receives mention.

This flies in the face of our modern tendency to think of healing as a drama with three parts:

1. Sick person
2. Savior
3. Crowd

Paul Tautges reminds us that Scripture

stresses the need for believers to live together spiritually, united by truth, and in a close association of mutual care, rather than independently, as “spiritual Lone Rangers” (coined by Kent Hughes). These spiritual communities are God’s ordained instruments for carrying out the Great Command, and will continue to be so until Jesus returns. Therefore, we must lead followers of Christ toward a stronger commitment to their local assemblies where they can grow in the grace and knowledge of their Savior Jesus Christ and practice biblical love by learning to serve others.

As I write this, I am in the midst of receiving daily updates from one of our Seoul USA/.W friends whose son is in the hospital suffering from a serious intestinal problem. Question: How do I regard these email updates? Am I a spectator?

No. James reminds me that the prayers of faith of those who receive this mother’s email are as important as the prayers of the mother and of the suffering son himself.

Want to avoid saying something foolish to someone who is sick and instead bring genuine and well grounded comfort? Commit Robert Herrick’s 17th Century litany to memory.

(Extra credit if you learn the tune that goes with it.)

His Litany to the Holy Spirit

Actually, he does. Most assuredly. It is a cardinal article of our faith.

I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
²⁷ I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
–Job 19:25-27, NIV

No illness, in other words, can ultimately endure his return in final glory. The day will come when he dries every tear and grants us new and perfect bodies, as well as a new heavens and a new earth in which we will dwell forever in his presence. When that will happen, we know neither the day nor the hour.

But our hearts ought to yearn for it unceasingly.

What we really mean when we ask why God doesn’t heal everyone is, “Why doesn’t God heal everyone right when they ask, precisely in the way that they desire?”

For the answer to that question, I commend to you the rest of the Book of Job. Just be prepared for God to ask a challenging question or two of his own in the process.

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
—Job 38:2, KJV