Tag: spiritual healing

Confronting Spiritual and Emotional Pain (Psalm 79)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Scream, by Edvard Munch, (1863-1944)

God! Barbarians have broken into your home,
    violated your holy temple,
    left Jerusalem a pile of rubble!
They’ve served up the corpses of your servants
    as carrion food for birds of prey,
Threw the bones of your holy people
    out to the wild animals to gnaw on.
They dumped out their blood
    like buckets of water.
All around Jerusalem, their bodies
    were left to rot, unburied.
We’re nothing but a joke to our neighbors,
    graffiti scrawled on the city walls.

How long do we have to put up with this, God?
    Do you have it in for us for good?
    Will your smoldering rage never cool down?
If you’re going to be angry, be angry
    with the pagans who care nothing about you,
    or your rival kingdoms who ignore you.
They’re the ones who ruined Jacob,
    who wrecked and looted the place where he lived.

Don’t blame us for the sins of our parents.
    Hurry up and help us; we’re at the end of our rope.
You’re famous for helping; God, give us a break.
    Your reputation is on the line.
Pull us out of this mess, forgive us our sins—
    do what you’re famous for doing!
Don’t let the heathen get by with their sneers:
    “Where’s your God? Is he out to lunch?”
Go public and show the godless world
    that they can’t kill your servants and get by with it.

Give groaning prisoners a hearing;
    pardon those on death row from their doom—you can do it!
Give our jeering neighbors what they’ve got coming to them;
    let their God-taunts boomerang and knock them flat.
Then we, your people, the ones you love and care for,
    will thank you over and over and over.
We’ll tell everyone we meet
    how wonderful you are, how praiseworthy you are! (The Message)

The temple was destroyed. The conquering army gloats over their victory. That’s the context of today’s psalm. It’s a prayer, an angry cry for God to step in and act on behalf of the humiliated people. The prayer is more than a simple plea for help; it’s a deeply passionate appeal, that says in 1960’s terms, “God, stick it to the man!”

In the face of evil, when there is destruction all around and violence everywhere, prayer does not become some sort of polite knock at the side door of God’s house. Instead, prayer is a pounding on the front door with a demand for God to do something about this terrible trouble.

For the psalmist, the incongruence between who God is and what has happened to God’s people is inconceivable and unacceptable. To profane God’s temple is to profane God; and to kill and maim God’s people is to flip the middle finger at God. The psalmist is beside himself and overwhelmed with emotion.

There is something very instructive here that we ought not miss. When we have been brutalized, victimized, and/or demoralized, we just want someone, especially the Lord we serve, to take notice and feel what we are feeling. Never underestimate the power of empathy and solidarity. To feel alone and bereft of help is an awful feeling.

Perhaps the psalmist’s prayer offends some sensibilities. I wonder, for those who find the language difficult, have ever had a daughter raped, or a house destroyed by fire, or seen a person killed without mercy in front of their own eyes. Methinks they have not. The feelings of helpless despair and sheer anger defy human words. These are not casual affronts; they are malicious destructions of property and people.

We need someone to affirm the raw ruthlessness of it all, to have some understanding of the impossible place we are in, with having to deal with such wanton cruelty. When our very support is ripped from our lives, the madness within is too much to bear. Who will rescue us from this body of death?

God is big enough to handle our rage and our hurt. The Lord is available and hears our desperate voice of prayer. Yet, God is not always going to directly and immediately answer on the terms we stipulate. God acts out of God’s own providence and justice, and not from our expectations. And that is a good thing, not a bad thing.

God sees. The Lord knows. And the Sovereign of the universe feels it all with us. The realization of this divine empathy enables us to recenter and reorient ourselves around faith, hope, and love. New life is never a gift in a vacuum; it comes out of agonizing struggle in having to reckon with the existence of evil.

So, when someone goes through a hellish experience, let us exercise our capacity to listen and witness the horrible spiritual pain of the person. Healing hurts: it is not a pleasant affair. So, hang in there and walk alongside another in their hour of need, even when their vitriol seems over the top to us. For only in telling our story to another will any of us find relief and renewed hope.

The biblical psalms permit us to use language appropriate to what has happened. They also allow us to move beyond the venom to the God who restores broken lives.

Lord Jesus Christ, by your patience in suffering you hallowed earthly pain and gave us the example of obedience to your Father’ will: Be near me in my time of weakness and pain; sustain me by your grace, that my strength and courage may not fail; heal me according to you will; and help me always to believe that what happens to me here is of little account if you hold me in eternal life.

My Lord and my God, as Jesus cried out on the cross, I cry out to you in pain, O God my Creator and Sustainer. Do not forsake me. Grant me relief from this suffering and preserve me in peace, through Jesus Christ my Savior, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Broken and Poured Out (Matthew 26:6-13)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. While he was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ head while he was eating.

The followers saw the woman do this and were upset at her. They said, “Why waste that perfume? It could be sold for a lot of money, and the money could be given to those who are poor.”

But Jesus knew what happened. He said, “Why are you bothering this woman? She did a very good thing for me. You will always have the poor with you. But you will not always have me. This woman poured perfume on my body. She did this to prepare me for burial after I die. The Good News will be told to people all over the world. And I can assure you that everywhere the Good News is told, the story of what this woman did will also be told, and people will remember her.” (Easy-to-Read Version)

It seems that much of the world’s default response to events right in front of their eyes is to be judgmental, binary, and negative – as if everything is a simple sum of right and wrong, good and bad – and all adjudicated by our perceptions and perspectives on it.

The disciples reflexively moralized the actions of the woman and her jar of expensive perfume. What a waste, they believed. They thought they knew better and could do better.

But there was more going on in today’s Gospel lesson than what meets the eye. In the Apostle John’s account, the woman in the story is identified as Mary, a woman with a sordid background who had her life transformed through meeting Jesus. (John 12:1-11)

Near the end of Christ’s life, as he was about to enter Jerusalem and be arrested, tried, tortured, and killed, this woman, Mary, is aware of what is happening when others are not, even the disciples of Jesus. Her own brokenness cracked open to her the true reality of life.

The surface event itself is a touching and tender moment in history. This woman, whom everyone knew was a damaged person, took a high-end perfume and broke the entire thing open. She then proceeded to anoint Christ’s feet with it. You can imagine the aroma which filled the entire house with expensive perfume for all to smell. 

The woman, Mary, was affirmed by Jesus for seeing the situation as a possibility and opportunity of loving her Lord. Mary alone had the vision amongst all the disciples, and the accompanying action, to enter through the door of risk in order to connect intimately and lovingly with Jesus.

Mary’s love, radiating outward for all to see, reflected the genuine love of God for the world – a love so great that Jesus would soon experience death and burial because of that love for humanity.

The disciples were grumping and cursing about the right way to do things; whereas Jesus blessed the woman with no reference whatsoever to morality or ethics. Mary had no concern for playing the numbers game and counting money, but instead focused on the ultimate value before her.

Giving what she had to Jesus, Mary demonstrated the path of true discipleship. She helps open our eyes to the realities which are right in front of us:

  • The broken jar of perfume shows us her brokenness and our need to be broken. (Matthew 5:3-4)
  • An extraordinary and extravagant amount of perfume was used, picturing her overflowing love for Jesus. (John 20:1-18)
  • The perfume was poured on the head of Jesus, and she herself used her hair as the application (according to John); hair is a rich cultural symbol for submission and respect. (1 Corinthians 11:14)
  • The perfume directs us to the death of Jesus. (John 19:38-42)
  • The perfume highlights for us the aroma of Christ to the world. (2 Corinthians 2:15-17)
  • There is more to the disciples’ response than mere words about perfume; the Apostle John specifically names Judas as questioning this action – the one who is not actually concerned for the poor. (Matthew 26:15)
  • The woman and the disciples (specifically, Judas and Mary) serve as spiritual contrasts: Mary opens herself to the sweet aroma of Christ; Judas just plain stinks.
  • The perfume presents a powerful picture of the upcoming death of Christ, for those with eyes to see; he was broken and poured out for our salvation. (Luke 23:26-27:12)

Christianity was never meant to be a surface religion which only runs skin deep. The follower of Christ is meant to be transformed, inside and out, so that there is genuine healing, spiritual wellness, and authentic concern for the poor and needy. 

Keeping up appearances is what the Judas’s of this world do. However, the Mary’s among us dramatically point to Jesus with their tears, their humility, their openness, and their love.

In this contemporary environment of fragmented human ecology, our first step toward wholeness and integrity begins with a posture of giving everything we have – body, soul, and spirit – to the Lord Jesus. In receiving the love of God, we can then freely give that love to a world locked in the shackles of tunnel vision, judgmentalism, and incessant moralizing.

To take the risk of breaking ourselves open and becoming vulnerable, we find love. In finding love, there we see intimacy. And where there is intimacy, there is the relational connection which transforms the dark and the negative to possibility and light.

Loving Lord Jesus, my Savior, and my friend, you have gone before us and pioneered deliverance from an empty way of life and into a life of grace and gratitude. May I, and all of your followers, emulate the path of Mary and realize the true freedom which comes from emptying oneself out for you. Amen.

People Are a Bundle of Contradictions (Romans 7:7-20)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
“Contradictions” by Michael Lang, 2015

But I can hear you say, “If the law code was as bad as all that, it’s no better than sin itself.” That’s certainly not true. The law code had a perfectly legitimate function. Without its clear guidelines for right and wrong, moral behavior would be mostly guesswork. Apart from the succinct, surgical command, “You shall not covet,” I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it.

Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong. So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead. But the law code itself is God’s good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel.

I can already hear your next question: “Does that mean I can’t even trust what is good [that is, the law]? Is good just as dangerous as evil?” No again! Sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me. By hiding within God’s good commandment, sin did far more mischief than it could ever have accomplished on its own.

I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. (The Message)

“Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.”

Muriel Sparks, “Loitering with Intent”

The Apostle Paul’s vulnerable expression of his dilemma resonates deeply with many people. There are times when we say things to ourselves such as:

“I told myself I wasn’t going to be like my mother, and here I am responding just like she would.”

“I know better than to drive by the liquor store on my way home and pick up a pint of vodka, yet, I still did it.”

“I don’t want to die, but my thoughts keep racing about a plan for suicide.”

There are many situations in which we are both frustrated and befuddled by doing the things we do not want to do, and not doing the things we want to do.

Yes, indeed, Paul’s existential angst is a timeless description of our common human condition. We all can relate to the seeming inability to do what is right in so many situations. It can drive us nuts, even to a constant and never-ending low-level discouragement that underlies almost everything we do.

Paul’s prescription for dealing with this does not rely on law. He understood that putting our willpower and effort into obeying commands gets us nowhere, because we will eventually fail. Neither our brains nor our spirits work that way. Our willpower was never designed to be the driver of what we do and do not do. If anything, willpower, and the lack thereof, demonstrates just how much we are climbing the ladder on the wrong wall.

People are a bundle of contradictions, doing good, then bad, and flip-flopping back and forth with great frustration.

God’s law was not crafted to transform us from the inside-out. The law has three solid purposes, none of which are meant to bring deep personal transformation:

  1. Attention to the law works to restrain sin in the world
  2. Use of the law provides us with a helpful guide for grateful living in response to divine grace
  3. Reflection on the laws show us how bad off we really are in this world, and how much we are in need of forgiveness

We need a change of habits, and this is different than adopting a list of laws.

Habits are developed from our desires, our affections. In other words, we do what we love – more specifically, our ultimate love(s) drive us to do what we want. To put it in a more straightforward way:

We sin because we like it. And the path to overcoming any besetting sin is to have an ultimate love surpass the lesser sin which we like.

For example, I have developed daily habits or rituals of faith which enable me to commune with God. I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and this ultimate love enables me to push out all competing gods who want my devotion. I also love my wife with all my heart. We work on developing habits of a marital relationship which reinforce our love for each other. Love is what drives me to do right and good by her.

So, what do we do when we mess up? For the Christian, no matter what the question is, the answer is always grace.

God’s grace in the finished work of Jesus Christ applied to us by the Holy Spirit is the operative power that changes lives. The law has no power to do that kind of work. Freedom from the tyranny of our misplaced desires and disordered loves comes from Christ’s forgiveness through the cross. Like a lover enamored with his beloved, our desires become oriented toward Jesus for his indescribable gift to us. That is the strength of grace.

Saving God, I thank you for delivering me from sin, death, and hell through your Son, the Lord Jesus. May your Holy Spirit apply the work of grace to my life every day so that I can realize spiritual healing and practical freedom from all that is damaging and destructive in my soul. Amen.

A Lot of Hurting, Touching, and Healing (Luke 6:12-19)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Jesus calls his twelve disciples, by Sadao Watanabe

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. (New International Version)

Pain is a lot

Touch is important. Humanity needs touch. It’s also one of those things that we likely take for granted. 

Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand co-authored a book, originally published in 1982, entitled “Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants.” It’s largely a biography of Dr. Brand, who pioneered both the diagnosis and prognosis of leprosy. 

He discovered that leprosy occurs because of a lack of feeling – an inability to sense touch. The delicate nerve endings we all have in our fingers and toes are numb to the leper. The lack of sensing pain in the extremities leads to small cuts or injuries, which would be immediately treated by someone who feels pain, becoming gangrene with the losing of fingers and toes.

The ability to feel, to reach out and touch another person, is vitally important to our spiritual and emotional lives. Without touch, the calloused heart and unfeeling soul does not realize the damage that is being done to it.           

One of the gifts we have as people is the ability to feel guilt, sorrow, disappointment, and pain – to be touched mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – as well as physically. And in our ability to feel pain, it brings about attention to prayer and addressing the situation.

Many people are troubled in either mind or spirit, or experience chronic ailments of the body, day in and day out. They just want relief, to be at peace in both body and soul.

Jesus prays… a lot

In today’s Gospel lesson, Luke puts together two stories: one of Jesus choosing and calling his twelve disciples; and then one of Jesus being among the people and healing them of their diseases and their troubles. Let’s observe the relationship between them.

Jesus often withdrew to lonely, isolated places in order to pray (Luke 5:16). On this particular occasion, he went out and spent the entire night in prayer to God. When morning came, we discover the reason for the all-night prayer meeting: Christ chose the people who would be closest to him in his earthly ministry. He called the twelve to follow him and be his disciples.

I find it highly instructive that Jesus spent so much time in prayer before making such big decisions about his ministry. If anyone could size up somebody as a potential follower, it seems to me it would be Jesus. And yet, there was a lot of deliberation and interaction with the Father. Since the Lord Jesus found it necessary to pray with an extending time, and consult with the heavenly Father, I would say that our own prayer life and reaching out to consult and collaborate could probably use an upgrade.

Jesus heals… a lot of people

Then, Jesus and his disciples, together enter the fray of the crowd. And the disciples get their first lesson in following Jesus: Christ-centered ministry is about healing – it’s about restoring people to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Healing is at the heart of all real Christian ministry. And healing is really what everyone is to be about, whether they identify as Christian, or not. To be healed is to experience a holistic restoration of body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Touch is a big part of healing. Physical touch is important, and it’s powerful. Sometimes, bodily healing is needed because a person has been physically abused, or experienced some sort of physical trauma. And it can be very difficult to have others touch them, after such experiences. Yet, part of the healing will be in experiencing redemptive touch – either by surgeons, family, friends, or trusted others. The answer to bad touch and bad pain is to experience good touch and the good pain of healing.

Non-physical touch is no less important. And, I believe, Jesus understood this perhaps more than most. He routinely “touched” people in ways that changed their lives. Christ sought to not only bring physical healing, but also to heal the mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds.

Jesus touches… a lot of lives

Jesus touched a lot of lives through his healing ministry:

  • In healing lepers of their disease, Christ made sure that they were no longer ostracized from the community but were restored to full function in society.
  • In curing persons demonized and tormented by evil spirits, Jesus was concerned to restore them to their right mind and ensure they were included as members of society, as well as restored to their families.
  • In bringing salvation from guilt and shame, Jesus brought reconciliation and restoration between God and sinners.
  • In all his relational interactions, Jesus was intentional about making connections to the lonely and the lost, to those who were emotionally cut off from the mass of society.

So, whenever we feel pain – whether in body, mind, emotion, or spirit – this experience lets us know that we need to pay attention to something. As we do that, it can drive us to the source of healing, wholeness, and restoration. We go to prayer – not out of duty – but because we are convinced that there are divine resources only God can provide.

And we can come, again and again, finding the grace to help us in our time of need. For God’s mercy is inexhaustible; the grace of God will never run out or run dry.

Therefore, let followers of Jesus everywhere be aqueducts of grace, angels of mercy, and agents of healing in a world which so desperately needs the love, care, and attention we can give them.

May God the Father bless you; God the Son heal you; and God the Holy Spirit give you strength. May God the holy and undivided Trinity guard your body, save your soul, protect your mind, and bring you safely to his heavenly country; where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.