The Surprising Connection Between Confession and Healing

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part VIII of our series on Healing and Comforting

There’s a wrong way to read some Bible verses.  And, unfortunately, when it comes to experiencing God’s power at work in our lives, we’re prone to do so (of course, we have plenty of help from preachers of health, wealth, and prosperity). We identified one way to read a verse in Monday’s post, by noting that James 5:16 does not mean “you are sick because you sinned.” That’s the wrong way to read that verse.

Here’s the right way to read that verse—and do this word: “The trio of illness, death, and sin are joined at the root. None of these were ever meant to be hosted in the human frame. God’s healing focuses on all three, penetrating spirit, soul, and body. Confessing our sins to one another—and then praying for each other about what has been confessed—isn’t a prerequisite for healing or preparation for healing. It is healing.”

That’s why James admonishes believers to devote significant time to confessing our sins to each other and sharing the assurance of forgiveness from Scripture. It’s not just preparation to take communion; it’s the Work of Mercy of healing…in every service!

John Wesley’s “band meetings” were designed to help others confess to one another, and as a result be healed. Here are the five questions he came up with to ask each other each time we gather together–questions that are built around the confession of sin. The expectation? That as we do this word from James together we’ll experience that form of biblical healing known as holiness:

  1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?
  2. What temptations have you met with?
  3. How were you delivered?
  4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?
  5. Have you nothing you desire to keep secret?

Wesley experimented with administering these questions in lots of different ways, so we can do the same. In an effort provide a bit more direction to my readers, I’ve come up with three options which I encourage you to try for a week at a time:

Option One:

In the context of a small group (formal or not) elect one person per meeting to answer the five questions. Then have the group pray for the person in light of what has been confessed.

Option Two:

Invite each person present to select and answer the one question of the five that is most relevant to them in light of what God is doing or showing or revealing or convicting them of in their life at present. After each person shares, let each person pray for another person in light of what has been confessed.

Option Three:

Work through the questions over five days of meetings (on, say, a retreat or during a daily journal group meeting). On the first day, ask the first question and have each person answer. Then after each person has answered, let each person pray for another person in light of what has been confessed.

As you do these things, seek to incorporate into your prayers the great assurances of forgiveness found in Scripture, like this one from 1 John 1:8-9:

If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That’s good news, indeed!

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The Simplicity of Healing in Christianity

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part VII of our series on Healing and Comforting

We talked in the last post about whether healing is a spiritual gift, reserved for only a few Christians, or a Work of Mercy to which all are called.  I place it in the latter category not least because Jesus commands all his disciples (not just a few) to heal the sick in Matthew 10:8.

Wherever you land on that debate, however, I think we can all agree that healing should never to be practiced as mysterious magic. No incantations, spells, potions, dances, amulets, or wild-eyed crazy healer types.

For the Christian, healing is always about simple trust in God and heartfelt petition rooted in the knowledge that God wants to heal. He created human beings to host him, not sin, illness, or death. So check out the simplicity of James’ instructions (in 5:13-16) on how we’re supposed to heal. The script is really simple, memorizable even:

13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him,anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore,confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:13-16)

Think about how simple, trusting, and God-focused this is; especially in contrast to other religions where healing is pretty complicated! Iowa State University Religious Studies Professor Hector Avalos offers this typical example, from the religion of ancient Assyria for the cure of malaria. In order to perform the healing ritual, a person needed:

    • a figurine of the daughter of Anu (the primary sky god)
    • a figurine of Namtar (a minor god of the underworld)
    • a figurine of Latarak (a little-known figure)
    • a figurine of Death
    • a substitute figurine made of clay
    • a substitute figurine made of wax
    • 15 drinking tubes of silver for Gula (goddess of healing) and Bēletsēri (mistress of the desert)
    • 7 twigs of tamarisk
    • 7 bottles of wine
    • 7 bottles of beer
    • 7 bottles of milk
    • 7 bottles of honey

The figurines of the deities, which were probably assembled in the presence of the patient or in some sacred area, represent the supernatural beings that needed to be appeased. The foods were probably intended as offerings to gain the favor of these deities. Prayers to the deities were probably combined with medical treatments applied to the patient, and the entire ritual might have lasted hours or even been spread over a few days.

What’s the message in that kind of religion? “The healer is very mysterious and powerful; we’d best pay him a lot of money. And the personal effort to overcome illness is significant and depends heavily upon our actions.”

That’s fundamentally different than in Christianity, where the message is, “God is very, very good. He heals when the church (represented by the elders) come together to pray for the sick person and anoint him or her with oil.” And in Matthew 10:8, Jesus directs us explicitly not to charge for that house call: “Freely you have received,” he says, “freely give.” Note how healing is mirroring into the world what we first received from him.

So the direction the Apostle James gives is simple. But in this case, simple does not mean shallow—far from it! In fact, James shares something in that Scripture passage that has been, at best, forgotten by modern Christians and, at worst, badly mangled. Take a look at 5:16:

16Therefore,confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

Here’s the wrong way to read that verse (i.e., how Christians mangle it if they remember it at all these days): “You are sick because you sinned.”

Want to know the right way?  I guess you’ll have to tune in to the next post!

In the meantime, share your thoughts on the right way to read this verse.

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Is Healing Reserved for a Few Christians or Should All Practice It?

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part VI of our series on Healing and Comforting

Healing is unique among all the Works of Mercy in that it is the only one that shows up in Paul’s list of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11:

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

So is healing a spiritual gift given just to some Christians but not to others? Or is it a Work of Mercy commended for all Christians? 

Jesus seems to point to the latter understanding in Matthew 10:8, where he says to all of his assembled disciples:

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Trying to find the answer to this question has been going on throughout church history. Some Christians have said that healing gifts were given only to the apostles or the early church. Others have said that such gifts remain operative today in the specialized ministry of a few select healers (it seems they all go on to become famous TV evangelists!). Still others say that all Christians should be able to heal but can’t because they lack faith.

But a review of the breadth of Scripture and the witness of church history indicates that Christianity has never understood healing to be restricted to miraculous moments or manifestations. Sometimes God casts out illness through healing gifts, as Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 12. But sometimes God blesses some of the most mundane means.

Even washing soiled bedsheets qualifies.

Bottom line: healing is something all Christians do as a way of mirroring into the world the healing love we personally received from God. The method or means may vary (sometimes miraculous, sometimes mundane), but the call is consistent: All Christians heal because God heals all Christians.

If that phrase surprises you, remember this: salvation is the fundamental healing we experience, and it is common to all Christians. As we discovered last week, to the Lord, sin, death, and illness are all connected at the root.  We’ll talk more about that next week, but for now share your thoughts:

Is healing a specific gift given only to a few Christians or a Work of Mercy and, therefore, something all Christians should be engaged in?

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