The Church as a Hospital
Today we
remember Saint Luke. Saint Paul refers to him in his letters as “the
beloved physician”, which is why he is connected to healing. We know him best
for his early biography of Jesus in the “Gospel of Luke”, and the second half
of that work, which is the “Acts of the Apostles”” where Luke describes the
early growth of the church. Being a
physician, and being the author of texts that contain the teachings of Christ
do not contradict. They are both aiming at health and restoration.
It has been said that the church is not a museum of
saints, but a hospital for sinners. The church is concerned about the ultimate
and eternal health of human beings. The Church is not primarily
concerned with making people behave morally, though that is a part of what happens
as we are healed. The church is not primarily a philosophy club where those
with similar ideas and worldviews gather together. The church does have a way
of looking at the world, but this is not the goal of the church. The Church
is a hospital.
We are told that the world was not meant to be this
way. We read the papers, or watch the news, and we look into our own lives
and they are stained with brokenness, disease, war, sickness, and death. In the
beginning, we are told, God created human beings absolutely healthy. They were
filled with love for their creator, love for one another, and love for all
creation. Through their own choice, they
turned from God and forgot who they were created to be so that now human beings
are characterized by confusion, destructive desires, and brokenness. What we have
come to know as normal, is not the way it was meant to be.[1]
We are
also told that since the day human beings allowed brokenness onto the world God
has been working to repair it. Since that day God has been working to bring
us back to a state of health where all parts of our lives are brought under His
care and desire- Body, mind, spirit, relationships, emotions, finances, our relationship
to the rest of creation.
God may
use numerous means to bring us healing- prayer, nutrition, exercise,
counseling, medication, Bible study, surgery, meditation, sleep, our numerous
other means. Ultimately it is God who is using all these means to bring us
healing (Ex. 15:26).
This is why Jesus came to us. Jesus is the ultimate physician
of our souls and bodies. Our healing comes as we enter the kingdom of God,
which is here and is continuously growing. As signs of that kingdom of
healing and peace Jesus shows us miracles. We read in Matthew (9:35)
that “Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease
and every infirmity.” Jesus in his compassion and mercy is about healing
the entire person, body, mind, spirit, and social relationships. Jesus’
ultimate goal to heal the relationship between the world and God. Jesus’ physical
healings foreshadow that great healing, which is God’s desire for creation.
In
Jesus we see humanity as it was meant to be- he is the fully healed human being. This is God’s
desire for us as well. As followers of Jesus the church is meant to be an
instrument of God, brought into being to help heal the split between us and God.
The church, as a hospital, receives the broken, fallen, sick, and confused
human beings, and through a variety of methods working with the presence of the
Holy Spirit, helps them to begin the process of becoming healthy. In the church we are trained to take on the
life of Christ. In repentance we admit our brokenness and we learn to follow
the teachings of Jesus. Jesus himself, his actions on the cross, and the way he
taught us is God’s medicine to heal us.
The proof
of this medicine is the lives of the saints who manifest the healing of God
most clearly. They have followed the way Christ has taught us and they have exchanged
their symptoms of hostility, jealousy, anger, idolatry, murder, and adultery,
…. for the Fruits of the Spirit “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).
As
followers of Jesus we are charged with the task of sharing this medicine.
The theologian Paul Meyendorff says “we are Christ’s presence in the world, and
we, as the Church are charged with bringing healing to those around us”. … Healing lies at the center of the church’s
service to the world. In the books of Acts Jesus’ Apostles
continue to be surrounded by healing as a sign of God’s Kingdom (Acts
9:32-43). God uses the church as the
body of Christ to heal, but that doesn’t always mean physical healing. Sometimes
physical healing happens in God’s mercy and as a sign of the greater healing to
come, but this is a mystery. St. Paul had a thorn in his flesh that was not
healed, but nevertheless we are told to pray for each other. James 5:14 says “Are any among you sick? They
should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them,
anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.”
Paul Meyendorff says, “the very purpose of
the Church is to heal us, to restore the rift between God and humanity
which is caused by our sin and leads to death. This is achieved precisely when
we are united to one another and to God in the body of Christ, which is the
church”… “Jesus Christ is here asking for nothing less than the healing of
the whole world, all humanity, all creation. This is achieved when we come
to know Christ, when we become one with him and with one another. Everything that
the church does, all its sacramental and liturgical life, all its teaching, is
directed at restoring the proper relationship between God and creation, which
has been corrupted through our sinfulness. This is the real meaning of
Christian healing, and it involves the whole person, body, soul, and spirit.”[2]
Baptism
is our entry into the church. In baptism, we enter into a new relationship with God, and
are joined with Christ. Meyendorf tells us that in this new relationship “sin,
sickness, and death no longer dominate us. We become children of God, heirs of
the kingdom, members of Christ’s body, the Church. This new relationship is to
endure for ever, and neither sickness nor death can destroy it”.[3]
Baptism is the ultimate
sacrament of healing and is aimed at the whole person, body, soul, and spirit. Hear this Eastern Orthodox prayer over the
baptismal waters: “Therefore O loving King, come now and sanctify this water by
the indwelling of your holy spirit, and grant to it the grace of redemption,
the blessing of Jordan; make it the fountain of incorruption, the gift of
sanctification, the remission of sins, the remedy of infirmities… Master of all, show this water to be the water
of redemption, the water of sanctification, the purification of flesh and
spirit, the loosing of bonds, the remission of sins, the illumination of the
soul, the washing of regeneration, the renewal of the spirit, the gift of
adoption to sonship, the garment of incorruption, the fountain of life …”[4]
That is the healing God wants for us.
We will still deal with sickness until the fullness
of God’s Kingdom is here. Meyendorff says,
“In this new life,
sickness and death no longer have the same power over us, for they have been
defeated. Sickness and death continue to exist, but they now mark not
the end of our existence, but a transition to eternal life, a passage into the
kingdom. Just as Christ himself died and rose again, so we too shall die and
rise. In Christ, our ultimate defeat is transformed into victory!”[5]
Baptism as our entry into the church is really at its
core about healing. It is about healing our relationship with God. When that is
restored health begins to happen in all other areas as well. Baptism is primarily
a healing sacrament. In Baptism we are set on the path of restoration and
wholeness. “The sickness and death which once ruled our lives are defeated, in
the sense that they, just like the cross, become a means of victory and a
passage into the kingdom”.[6]
The Church is a hospital for the broken. It is the
instrument of God for healing the world body-mind-and soul. So may you embrace
your baptism and the healing that began on the day you were baptized.
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