St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
425 Cleveland Ave SW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Phone: 330-455-0286
Fax: 330-455-9818
E-mail: office@stpaulscanton.org

St. Luke the Evangelist
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Canton OH

October 18, 2009
The Rev. Barbara L Bond

The Great Healer

Today we honor St. Luke, a writer of great skill, whose beautiful books, the Gospel that bears his name, and the Acts of the Apostles, have brought us not only incomparable information about the lives of Jesus and the apostles and of the early church, but also have broadened our understanding of God’s work in the world. Tradition tells us that Luke was a physician. I’m going to concentrate on his writing today, and thus we honor St. Luke the Evangelist, rather than St. Luke the Physician. Yet Luke’s proclivity towards healing is very evident in his writing.

Luke traveled with Paul and learned about the life of Jesus second-hand. He took an available source, the Gospel of Mark, and greatly enhanced it. The Gospel of Mark is but a sketchy outline compared to what Luke gives us.

Only in the Gospel of Luke do we have the beautiful stories about Mary: about Gabriel coming to see her with news of her pregnancy, of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the angels and the shepherds, the presentation of Baby Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem. We would have none of these stories without Luke. Luke also gives us beautiful canticles, lovely songs ascribed to Mary, Zechariah and Simeon: the Magnificat, the Benedictus, the Nunc Dimittis, gorgeous poetry that we often extract and sing for their own sake.

Only in the Gospel of Luke do we hear the beloved parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Both of these parables are about healing: in the first, a compassionate Samaritan takes care of someone who had been beaten; in the second, the prodigal son receives healing of relationship through forgiveness. Luke records six miracles and 18 parables not mentioned in the other gospel accounts, and he greatly enriches the story of Jesus’ journey towards Jerusalem. Beginning in Advent, we will enter the liturgical cycle of Year C, and we will hear much more from Luke throughout the coming year. Luke’s account of the Passion of Jesus is like no other. Healing again is prominent – because of Jesus’ trial, Pontius Pilot and Herod become friends (23:12). Jesus comforts one of the criminals who is crucified next to him who pleaded, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replies gently, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (23:42-43) Even on the cross, the Lukan Jesus continues his healing ministry. Without Luke, we would have had none of this.

Luke was a Gentile, writing for a Gentile audience, and he uses almost no reference to the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament. An exception is the Gospel reading we heard today, where Jesus reads from the Prophet Isaiah, and takes that mantel upon himself. Specifically, he took on a healing ministry: to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free. Jesus’ ministry was all about helping people – preaching hope to the oppressed, lifting their spirits, showing his concern, healing them of their afflictions, helping them to see the world in a new light. In Luke’s narrative, Jesus has a broad following, with many women partaking in ministry. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke writes about women having leadership roles in the early church. Luke delights in showing Samaritans as virtuous people – Samaritans in that society were not highly regarded, but in Luke’s telling, there is an egalitarian approach to all peoples. When we think of how our world has often been torn by conflicts because of race and other differences, we can learn much about healing a broken world from Luke’s egalitarian approach. We are all God’s children. If we could see through the eyes of Christ, and see the Christ in each other, much healing could come about in our society. Recovery of sight to the blind indeed!

Healing is a very broad concept, and our church offers a special sacrament to us, anointing and laying on of hands, to bring us comfort. Sometimes physical healing takes place through this sacrament, but that is not its emphasis, rather the healing of the whole person is desired. We have five healers in our congregation, three of whom are nurses in their day jobs, but that is not what makes them spiritual healers. Rather, all of them will tell you that they are just the conduit – they make the sign of the cross on your forehead with holy oil, they lay their hands upon your head and offer prayers for whatever you wish – for yourself, for someone you love – and the healing that comes to you is not from them, but from God. They are always available at our side altar during communion, but today four of them will be behind the altar rail, available to you after you take communion. Simply stay in place, and they will come to you, and you can feel the healing power of God.

AMEN