But when we come to pray for healing it seems that the intensity of our concentration on each word is higher and somehow we have a greater sensitivity to God's love expressed through the prayers and in the anointing and in the wonderful sacrament of the Eucharist, which was Jesus' continuing gift to us to make real his presence with us.
This evening I am reflecting with you on "healing in the light of Pentecost". The two are not very often related although they should be. Because healing simply has everything to do with Pentecost.
That is so because Luke presents his Gospel and then Acts as two volumes of one great story. The first volume of Luke's story of Jesus begins with the most amazing story of his birth and ends with his resurrection. The second volume begins with the ascension, followed in Chapter 2 by the coming of the Holy Spirit and concludes with the spread of the Word to Rome - the end or maybe the centre of the earth for the author.
In Luke's Gospel there are many healing stories. I counted about 19 references to Jesus healing people or organising others to do healing ministry. Jesus' ministry in Palestine was a healing ministry alongside a teaching ministry. Healing and teaching went together. That's in Luke.
Then when we come to the Book of Acts, on the first Pentecost the Holy Spirit fills the disciples with the very power of God. And the result is that they become like Jesus Christ through the workings of the Spirit. So as Jesus had a teaching and healing ministry, so do they. God's power at work in the world through the disciples in the person of the Holy Spirit continues the ministry of Jesus.
It's through Pentecost that there is a healing ministry at all. It's because of Pentecost that we have the Spirit and that we carry on the healing ministry that Jesus began. The Book of Acts, Luke's second volume, that amazing book of the first Christians, also has stories of healing. I went through the book and counted ten healing stories - where the apostles Peter and Paul and Philip and another ordinary disciple engage in this ministry.
And what kind of words do these Spirit filled disciples use?
". . . Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!"
". . . Tabitha, get up."
". . . Stand upright on your feet."
". . . (to the spirit) I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her."
And so the story of the Church being born has within it quite graphic examples of the Holy Spirit, the living power of God continuing the ministry that began when Jesus himself walked the earth. That is firmly established.
But the story continues. It has to continue with us. The healing power of the Holy Spirit, the healing power of God alive in human beings has not gone away - it is still with us.
And many have come to know that healing power. It hasn't always been in the spectacular way we read about in Acts, although there have been spectacular healings at healing services where I have presided. I'm not denying that there have - but they have been few in number.
What I would say is that there have been many more cases where people make real progress towards healing through regularly coming into the Lord's healing presence and accepting against the wisdom of the world that our God in heaven, who made heaven and earth, wants to heal us, can heal, and well might heal us, maybe in the way we expect, maybe not. But whatever way we do find healing it is a blessing from God and we receive it with thanksgiving.
It is also really important to look at another dimension of the healing power of God in light of Pentecost. The Spirit of God is just that - God as Spirit. And very often sicknesses that afflict our people are sickness of the spirit.
The examples of healing that I mentioned earlier from Luke and Acts were mainly examples of physical healing. It's often the case that even with serious physical illnesses, the impact can be on our spirit - on how we are facing up to that illness, and the effects it is likely to have on us, and to the future.
We can be paralysed by fear, immobilised by grief or depression and we can be very, very sick through a broken heart because of relationship or family breakdown. There may be deep seated memories which have affected us terribly through our subconscious mind. There can be stress causing issues at work or in our hearts and minds that damage us in all kinds of ways as they work outwards. These problems can and do have physical consequences which the Holy Spirit, through the love and mercy of God, can help to heal in a very real way.
Through the Spirit, our illness is brought into the healing presence of God and maybe that terrible memory or that troubled relationship is opened up to God's healing love. And this often happens.
It's against the wisdom of the world because today mostly we accept only what we can explain through reason and science. But because of Pentecost, God's healing power is not a matter of us working something out but simply asking for a gift from the God of grace and then being open to receiving that gift.
I'm so glad the Spirit came at Pentecost and I'm going to enjoy so much our celebration of the coming of the Spirit on Sunday because, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God's power at work today in the hearts and minds of men and women, the healing which God wants so much for us continues.
(Stories of healing can be found at: Acts 3:2-8; Acts 5:14-16; Acts 8:4-8; Acts 9:17-18; Acts 9:32-34; Acts 9:36-41; Acts 14:8-10; Acts 16:16-18; Acts 20:9-12; Acts 28;8-9.)
Healing services are a great joy for me because in them, those who have come to worship come with the expectation of being touched by God, or being nearer to God than before, and making themselves open to God's healing power at work in them. Really, that's how worship should always be and it can be. We should always come with the expectation of having a God experience when we come for worship.
". . . in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk."
These are powerful words, spoken confidently in the name of Jesus and they are received in faith - each time when the matter refers to physical healing, the person being healed has to get up. He or she has to act in faith which is not always easy to do. But in these cases they do act as Peter or Paul says and they are healed.