Texts: Mark 1;29-39, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Jesus left town before curing everyone who needed it. Also, there were still more people who needed exorcism. So, why did He leave? He told Simon, “Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.”
In the Gospel of Mark Jesus’ curing miracles are evidence of his power as the Son of God. They are not the reason He came into the world. He is not a doctor. Jesus does just enough curing of illness and casting out of demons to illustrate that God’s power is with Him. The power that created is the same power that cures. Then Jesus moves on, because the purpose of His coming to each town is to proclaim the message.
And the message is this: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the Good News.” Jesus preaches this message to all people, Jew and Gentile, even those without any obvious disease, injury, illness, or deformity, because He is most concerned with the cure of souls.
I found a collection of sermons in Virginia entitled, “The Cure of Souls”. The dedication by William Milton is as follows,
“To the memory of the Doctors of the Old School of the Church in Virginia….
Who, by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the Word of Truth, by the power of God….as faithful pastors of the flock of Christ and skilled physicians of the souls of men,
Went about doing good and ministering in their cure of souls to the individual members and the lost sheep of the Household of Faith…”
As with Jesus their Lord, these pastors were most concerned with what brings wholeness to people, “the cure of souls” as Milton describes it.
This is different for each person. While some may be in need of trust to restore them to wholeness, others may need love. Some may be in need of comfort, or reassurance, or forgiveness, or guidance, while others may need hope to bring them to wholeness.
Though the terms ‘cure’ and ‘heal’ are often used interchangeably, they really have different meanings. “Cure” is defined as a ‘recovery or relief from a disease”, while to “heal” is ‘to make sound or whole.’ We might be cured of some physical or mental ailment, but remain unhealed in the larger sense. The soul remains sick. Jesus is most concerned with the healing of souls damaged by evil and sin. I don’t think he’s so concerned about your cholesterol.
Many people who seem to have everything in this life—success, fortune, family, and friends—are still lacking something deep within their souls, a close relationship with God. There is no amount of things in this world that can fill our need for God, except God.
Some of the worst acts of violence against innocent people have come from people who had come to see their lives as meaningless or they felt unloved, and it twisted their souls. We remember Las Vegas, Nashville, and Virginia Tech. Some would say these people were mentally ill, while others would see them as diabolical. What if they are the ‘canary in the coal mine’ for us? Something is seriously wrong when people find meaning in killing strangers.
It is not uncommon for people who feel empty to cause harm to others, even if unintentionally. There are people who, through no fault of their own, have not been raised to know the love of God. There are others who have rejected God, determined to make the purpose for their lives material, shallow markers of meaning in the world. They remain avaricious, empty, angry, hopeless, or lonely. Their souls are sick, and in need of the healing that only God can provide.
We all know what it feels like to recover from a cold or the flu, or surgery, a sprain or broken bone. We simply want a return to normal. What is normal for a human being created in the image of God? Perhaps we have yet to experience normal as God intended our life to be.
Sometimes we are not at peace within ourselves, and we don’t know why. We might turn to psychology or medicine or self-help books or a trusted friend, but perhaps what we most need is to seek God. We are all in need of some measure of His healing to return us to wholeness.
This is the second week in a row that Jesus has confronted demons in a person. In the power of His presence they react, they recoil. Evil cannot stand to be in the presence of Divine goodness.
I think I’ve witnessed this among ordinary people, when someone influenced by Satan encountered a holy person, a sincere follower of Jesus. My previous parish was in a run-down neighborhood with many people who were mentally ill or on drugs. I’ve seen someone attack a holy person primarily by alleging against them the thing that the person influenced by Satan was actually doing. People influenced by Satan, or perhaps possessed by demons, cannot stand being in the presence of someone who is truly holy, or someone who represents Christ to them.
While Jesus demonstrated the power to cure people from specific diseases or infirmities, his larger purpose is to heal the soul by restoring it to God. Only in God is perfect wholeness to be found. So our prayers may be for a cure, but in drawing closer to God we are being restored to wholeness. I’ve often seen this happen as someone is approaching death. In drawing closer to God their soul is being healed, and they are at peace with Him and everyone around them, their loved ones. All is forgiven. Divine love envelopes everyone who is present, even doctors and nurses.
In his autobiography “Confessions” St. Augustine of Hippo wrote, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” Until our hearts rest in God, we will find no peace, no ultimate health. We cannot take care of the body without attending to the soul.
How to we attend to the soul? Jesus makes it clear in the text this morning that it has something to do with the proclamation of the Good News, for he says that is his purpose. And, this is Paul’s purpose too this morning. He exclaims, “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!”
As our culture drifts more and more away from the knowledge and wisdom of God found in the Bible, more of us become sick.
People most need to hear the Good News that God loves us so much that He sent his only Son to us to take upon Himself our sins, our infirmities, our suffering. Jesus identifies with us where we are, and He forgives all that is making us sick. In hearing the Word of God proclaimed we are awakened to our need for God, and we become more aware of those things within us, perhaps our own demons, that make us resistant to His light and truth.
What brings wholeness to all of us, what brings healing to our soul, is hearing God speaking to us personally through His Holy Word, encouraging us, explaining the things we experience. We come to know the extent to which He loves us, and, accepting His grace, He heals the sin-sick, or broken, or empty soul. Amen.