God Is On the Move

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:1-10, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
When we read the Acts of the Apostles (a better title would be the Acts of Jesus through the Apostles, though that's quite wordy), one of the things we notice happening quite a bit are miraculous healings. People being healed from various ailments, diseases, and even demon possession.

We shouldn't make the obvious mistake at this point. Some people have imagined that, because God sometimes heals people in answer to prayer, it must always be God's will to heal all people in answer to prayer, so anyone who isn't then healed can't have prayed properly. Or something like that.

Over the years, I've run into a lot of people who promote this line of thinking. On more occasions than I would like to remember, I've been accused of lacking faith or living in sin simply because God has chosen not to heal my paralysis. When self-righteous folks have accused me of these sorts of things, I've always chosen to simply bite my tongue, smile and move along. (But, deep inside, I've always wanted to “shoot them the bird” and call them a few “colorful” names.)

This healing-thing must've been as much of a puzzle among the early Christians as it is for us. There are plenty of times in the New Testament when people get sick, or die, or other bad things happen to them, and however much they pray, and however devoutly, the answer is "No." Then we remember that that's what happened even to Jesus himself, in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-44). So: no easy answers. Prayer isn't an automatic machine. And sickness and trouble will be with us until God makes new heavens and new earth.

But healing happens too, and more often than skeptics like to imagine. And that is particularly when the work of God is going ahead, new ground is being broken, and new challenges are being faced.

We need to think about what is happening in such cases. It isn't that our own world and God's world are two totally different or separate spheres, and that once in a blue moon God decides to "intervene" in our world, producing something odd and irrational. It is, rather, that God, the creator, is remaking the whole world. God has dramatically and decisively achieved that in Jesus and his resurrection, and the sheer cosmic energy of that glorious event spills out—especially when his people pray and ask him to heal people in their bodies and minds as well as in their hearts and souls.

As happens so often, the man who was healed got far more than he bargained for. He was just hoping for money, but gained a whole new life. That's what it looks like when resurrection life is on the move in a community. People come to church because they want friendship, solace, companionship, a cup of tea, or, yes, money. But once you ask God for help you have to be prepared for him to help you in ways you didn't expect. And also to challenge you.


POINT OF PONDER:
You, too, can be part of the work of God's new creation. What's that going to look like in our community, this Eastertide?


WHO AM I?
I am Tres Sansom, and we’ve had a grand ole’ time in Port A this week. The weather has been hit or miss, but I’ve been soaking in as much sun as possible. In this picture I’m being coached by Kate’s sister, Janna—the sun goddess herself—on the proper technique to ensure an evenly shaded suntan.