Sermon Tone Analysis

Hunger for Healing

Hungering to Know and be Known

GFC

November 20, 2022

Main idea: All of us hunger for the healing of God, whether that be physical or emotional or spiritual.

(blank)

Introduction

Good morning, it’s good to be back!

We had a mostly good trip to Belize.

It was a rough start because we were still recovering from Covid, and the first four days were pretty long simply because of our fatigue and our continuing coughs.

But by Sunday, we were beginning to feel healthy and get our energy back.

Thank you so much for praying for us.

It made a difference.

One of the blessings of visiting a place you’ve lived before is to be able to reconnect with old friends.

We did a lot of visiting with people at the events of the Region 6 gathering on the weekend, and both before and after our meetings we were able to visit in people or go to restaurants with them.

It was great to catch up with what is happening in their lives.

We heard many good stories of joy and celebration, weddings, births, business success, holidays and ministry happenings.

We also heard many stories of not so good times, relational struggles, faith setbacks, addiction, church conflict, suspicion, kids gone wayward, broken relationships, illness, accidents, parents with dementia, death, marriages coming to an end, etc. etc. Simply put, people in Belize have the same kinds of struggles and heartaches that we do.

We listened, asked questions and prayed with our friends, both Belizean and Canadian, about their heartaches and struggles.

In some of these conversations I heard despair and wondering if God would ever help.

It’s hard to keep trusting when live gets difficult.

In all of these conversations about difficulty, I heard a longing, a longing for God to move and to act.

A longing for reconciliation between broken families, a longing for deliverance from addiction, a longing for children and friends to turn back to God, a longing for parents with dementia to be able to be loved and cared for and/or go home to be with Jesus, a longing for marriages to be healed, a longing for healing from physical illness and disease.

Does this longing sound familiar?

Richard Dawkins, a prominent atheist wrote, “In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice.

The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”

Needless to say, Dawkins viewpoint isn’t very compassionate!

But if his viewpoint is right, where did our longing for things to be made right come from?

Why do we long for wholeness in the midst of brokenness?

(blank)

Sin & Rebellion & Hope

The Biblical viewpoint is quite different.

The Biblical answer is that the brokenness we experience is caused not by a blind, pitiless universe but by our being disconnected from the source of all life and wholeness, God.

Because of our disconnection from God through sin and rebellion, we experience brokenness of all kinds.

Tragic brokenness.

Painful brokenness.

But not hopelessness.

Yes, people do feel completely hopeless.

Many times.

Sometime overwhelmingly so.

But not because there is no hope.

They experience hopelessness because they have either not known the hope that is found in Jesus, or they have not continued to remain connected to this hope.

There is hope!

Not in ourselves or in our world.

It is to be found in Jesus.

Jesus is God’s answer to all the pain and suffering that all people everywhere have experienced.

The God we were disconnected from has chosen to enter into our pain and suffering and do something about it.

Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

(blank)

In dying, Jesus opened up a pathway to God for us, so that we could be reconnected to the only source of real life and real wholeness.

How? Through repentance and humbling ourselves before God.

Through faith in Jesus.

Through acceptance of him as our Lord and Saviour.

When Jesus enters into our lives, he cleanses us from all unrighteousness and gives us a new direction and a new reason to live.

He forgives our sins and begins the internal healing process.

However, this healing process only continues if we stay connected to him.

John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

(blank)

This is why it is so important to stay connected to him and to continually reconnect to him.

How do we do so?

Let’s turn to the passage that was read by Derek earlier, James 5.

Healing Through Connection to Jesus

The book of James in the Bible is a straightforward, no-nonsense kind of book.

James, the brother of Jesus was a leader in the church in Jerusalem and so the book was written from the perspective of Jewish Christianity.

He deals a lot with wisdom, doing the right things, faith, submission to God and living as God calls you to live.

He begins his book talking about joy as the Christian response to trials and temptations.

And in v5, he says if we lack wisdom, we should ask God.

“who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

For James, faith is wrapped up in trusting God to provide what we need and following him in our actions.

In other words, pray, and do what God commanded us to do through Jesus Christ, remaining connected to him.

In Chapter 5 suffering again makes an appearance.

V7-11 is about patience in the face of suffering waiting until God brings about final justice.

Job is given as an example of perseverance in the face of suffering.

Then in v13 he speaks again of suffering and the appropriate response of believers.

(Read v13) (blank)

When in trouble—pray.

Prayer is the most natural and logical response of a believer in God in the face of suffering.

Talking to the only one who can actually make a difference.

Underlying this command is the belief that God is sovereign, that he is powerful, and that he loves his people and wants to act on their behalf.

All of these truths are amply taught in the rest of scripture.

So if they are true, when in trouble, pray.

When things go well—Praise!

Just as prayer is the most natural response of a believer in God when in trouble, praise is the most natural response of a believer in God when things go well.

Scripture sees God as the giver of all good gifts.

In fact, in 1:17, James says; “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

So it is only natural to give God all the glory when things are going well.

If it’s a good gift, it by definition, has its origin in God.

Did you notice that James says, “sing songs of praise”?

Obviously, we can praise God many different ways.

I can do so in prayer.

Here we have evidence that worship and praise in song form was a practice of the early church.

The Psalms would have likely been a big part of their worship.

Then we come to v 14 (Read).

(blank) Again, it’s straightforward.

When you are sick—call the elders for anointing and prayer in the name of the Lord

Here we again have a time of trouble, but this time it’s specifically a health issue.

According to James, the first inclination of a believer when health issues arise is to call on the name of the Lord.

Why?

Because they didn’t have a medical system back then and that was their only option?