Johnny take a dive with your sister in the rain

Let her talk about the things you can’t explain

To touch is to heal

To hurt is to steal

If you want to kiss the sky 

Better learn how to kneel

- U2’s “Mysterious Ways”

A couple Sundays ago, I was walking into the 9 am service at my church (I typically think of the 9 am service as the “grown up” service, because the people that go to that service no longer care about sleeping in.  Since I’ve turned 30, I’ve become “those people”.  I’m also contemplating taking a bus to work periodically.  I think this is my mid-life crisis.), minding my own business, saying hi to some friends, and looking forward to being just another “seat filler” for the service.  (I spent my time doing some ministry work earlier this summer, I was ready to just sit back and hear about God!  Cut a 30-year old some slack, okay?)

Anyway, no sooner did I take two steps in the building when I felt a tap on my shoulder.  The tap was from one of the pastors at my church.

Pastor:  Hey Jim, morning!
Me:  Oh, hey pastor!  How’s it going?

Pastor:  Great!  Hey, by the way today’s service is going to be a healing service and we need people to pray and heal people during the response time.  Can you come up and help heal people?

Me:  Oh, yeah, sure, no problem!  

Healing services are not regular occurrences at my church, and I was caught quite off guard.  I’m also a man of my word and knew that I’d be up at the end of the service praying for healing whether I was comfortable with it or not.

I’m going to go ahead and pause here for a second.  This is the point in the story where my non-Christian & hipster-Christian readers are rolling their eyes and thinking ‘wow, I didn’t know that Jim was that hardcore/crazy!’  By the way, if you’re not sure if you are a hipster Christian, look down and see if you are wearing a V-neck T-shirt.  If there is definite V, you’re a hipster Christian.  Bonus points if you created a V-neck T-shirt out of a standard old boring round T-shirt (many thanks to Stuff Christians Like author Jon Acuff for the tip!).  Anyway, for those readers that have just written me off as nuts, I understand.  I went through the same roller coaster of emotions as I sat down and the service began.

Unfortunately, cheesy, greedy televangelists and charlatans have done a great job in skewing the way we see “healing” in the church.  When I think of healing services, I instantly think of a southern, sweaty pastor wearing an atrocious shiny suit (definitely no V-neck T-shirts in his wardrobe!).  He calls the crippled out of of the audience, places his hand on their forehead, shakes them violently and ‘voila!’ they are healed.  Of course, don’t forget to send your money in to the address at the bottom of the screen, so you, too, can be healed!  I’d wager a bet that you think of the exact same image.

The thing is, I DO believe in a God of miracles.  I believe in a God that parted the Red Sea, that rescued His chosen people from Egypt.  I believe in a God that allowed young David to slay the giant Goliath.  I believe Jesus was born of a virgin, turned water into wine, fed a crowd with a loaf of bread, and walked on water.  I believe Jesus died on a cross, with the weight of an entire world’s sin on his shoulders, and was resurrected from the grave.  I believe this ultimate miracle happened because God loves us so deeply and justly He needed an epic sacrifice so we could be restored to him.  I believe this God created the world, and even time itself.  So why is it so difficult for me to believe the same God can heal someone’s bad back, or anxiety, or even cancer?  

The sad truth is, I’ve allowed sinful, fallen people shape my perception of who God is and the miracles He works.  The scary truth is, I’ve also been the person who has ruined other’s understanding of who God is. How many times have I destroyed someone’s perception of who God is because my actions, thoughts, and deeds aren’t true to the true character of God?  

So, during the response time I went up and I prayed for people.  I was nervous, I felt a bit uncomfortable, but I also could sense God’s presence.  And his presence gives me boldness.  So I prayed.  I prayed over a hurt back, and a busted knee.  And I honestly do not know if God chose to heal those people in that moment or not.

But, I do know this - during the course of that service, I was healed from the damage inflicted by those sweaty, charlatan televangelists.  I gained a new understanding and appreciation of the power and mystery of my God, and will be forever changed because of it.  

Sounds like a miracle to me.