I called my pharmacy the other day. My children and grandchildren were in town and we needed some meds. The outgoing message when I called said, “If it’s an emergency…(wait for it)….please dial 911.” I was not surprised. But, I was reminded of a very common message from doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and even counselors offices who work in mental health. If it’s an emergency people don’t want the responsibility, or frankly, the liability (along with their insurance carriers and lawyers). And this is all understandable given the world we live in. So they defer that to three numbers: 911. When I was kid and this service was created (yes, there’s was life before 911) we all feared dialing it. It was sacred. We had images of something like a genie in a bottle or Superman or your personal fairy godmother showing up in an instant to make it all right. Of course today we know when you dial 911 you get a variety of experiences and the responsiveness is not quite that instant. Sometimes you get transferred; sometimes you get to the police; sometimes you get to ‘others.’ And eventually…someone does come to ‘help’ you. But they don’t always know how and their help might not be what you really need.
My neighbors’ teenage son died in his sleep recently. He dialed 911. Eventually the police and fire department came. These are paid public services from our taxes. And these are all very dear servants and we should be thankful for the care that they provide in the greatest and direst of circumstances. They are also accountable to lots of laws and countless regulations. So, unfortunately the first order of business for the emergency workers was not tending to my neighbors son or providing my neighbor comfort. Instead, guess what priority #1 was? They had to establish that my neighbor didn’t kill his son. Sad, but true. The officer was just doing ‘his job.’ And that 911 phone call didn’t bring my neighbor any real benefit. Ironically, neighbors who offered to come and comfort and pray for our neighbor were ushered out of the temporary ‘crime scene.’
As I pondered this experience in the back of my head and heart, I was recently struck by another outgoing message that I heard with a very surprising message. It was the same day I called the pharmacy so it was easy to contrast the experiences. I called my local Catholic Church to inquire about the times for mass during Christmas. The outgoing message started off the same way the pharmacy did. It said “if this is an emergency”… I was expecting to hear the same thing and the following words almost were echoing in my brain. And yet what the lady said was quite different. She said and I quote “if this is an emergency please dial one and we will contact the priest to come pray for you and anoint you.” Huh?!? In this day and age that sounds almost irresponsible and hokey. So instead of calling 911 to get the police, an ambulance, or EMT I’m gonna call a priest? A stranger? Someone’s gonna pour oil on me? How foolish! What a waste of time! I hope the oil is full of antibiotics or maybe morphine for the pain right?!? And yet it reminds me of where our trust truly lies. Why should we trust in public services and doctors and hospitals? Why don’t we trust in the source of human life and the healing He provides? Why are we so focused on immediate pain management as we miss the lasting healing we all need.
Heres’ a confession. I’ve only been a part of something like this three times in my life. The first time I led a makeshift anointing for a man in our small rural church that struggled mightily with depression. It was over 20 years ago and I don’t remember much. We went to his house, prayed, used some oil (not sure what kind or where we got it), and that was that. The next time was a moment in a counseling setting whereby the counselor who was also an Anglican priest asked that we shift gears and use the oil. The most recent was led in a formal service with our Anglican priest in Grapevine, TX. In this case the experience was the most formal. But it didn’t seem stuffy or impersonal. It seemed very intentional and meaningful.
When Jesus came on the scene incarnate He came to a world that was full of so many dark and miserable realities. We know there was oppression, sickness, paralysis, leprosy, and even demon possession which might have been fueling many of these things. There’s a spiritual war at play for something far beneath the things that ambulances and paramedics address. He came to heal truly at the heart of the issue. And He had no shortage of people to heal. Crowds followed him with their own emergencies and reached out to touch the very edges of His cloak. In what’s seemed to be a hinge point in His earthly ministry He stood up in his own hometown synagogue and this is what occurred:
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
Luke 4:16-21 ESV
And how did Jesus do this? Lots of ways. His very speech (ex. “Pick up your mat and walk”), His hand (ex. “He took her by the hand and the fever left her”), His garment (ex. “And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment”), His anointing with spit (ex. “spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him”), His clay he made with his own spit (ex. “He spat on the ground and made clay”), and there’s likely others. In some cases Jesus was not even physically present for the healing. And in many cases the timing of the healing was eerily perfect.
Now it would be easy to say, “Well, that was then, this is now. Jesus has left us to go to heaven. So, I’m sure He can do some of this healing when He comes back. Between now and then we can hope our preferred doctors are approved by our new medical insurance.” I know this sounds a bit sarcastic and a little extreme. But, if I’m honest with myself…in an emergency…I tend to trust in our scientific advancements in medicine. Some would say this is how the Holy Spirit works. Maybe so. I’m trying to sync this up with a group of people that Jesus commissioned to ‘heal the sick.” These were not a group of physicians but “uneducated, common men” (Acts 4:13). Jesus sent them out saying, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Matt 10:8). I’m guessing the disciples might have said, “Uh…what?!? Me?!?” Imagine Jesus multiplying Himself into six groups of two. That’s six other towns receiving healing. Then he sent out 72 (36 groups) doing the same. His commission to this group, “Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10). They came back celebrating saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” They seemed to be surprised the power of Christ worked through them. Maybe we would be too today?
If I’m in an emergency who do I call? Who do I cry out to? Who do I trust? I’ve got health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, home insurance, car insurance, and even phone insurance. I have a security system on my cars and my home with cameras and bells and whistles. To decline these would seem careless, even foolish. I’m investing a lot in this today as we make our bucket list before our health truly declines and we are unable to to ‘seize the day.’ But, what about our true home? What about the kingdom that Jesus announced simultaneously with His healing? God’s Big story is taking us to an inevitable collision course with a place called New Jerusalem.
There will be a lot of interesting things in New Jerusalem. There will be walls, gates, gold, jewels, pearls, glory, the Lamb’s book of life, a river, the tree of life, and more. And we know there are things that won’t be in New Jerusalem.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
Rev 21-22
It’s interesting that Jesus as was healing people in the hear and now He was also announcing His Kingdom to come for eternity. We spend so much of our lives managing pain and temporary illness. We can reallocate much of that energy to prepare for an abundant life where healing will be a thing of the past. The simplest way to do this seems to be making our first call. We don’t need a telephone or emergency service to make this call. We can simply get on our knees and cry out to the One we trust for the ones we love.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is 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. And 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. Therefore, 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