Sermon Text: Luke 8:40-56
Sermon Excerpt
For the last eight weeks we have been exploring the priorities of Jesus. This morning, we conclude our journey with what appears to be Jesus’ top priority: healing.
Did you realize that the Gospels contain three dozen different healing events? For those of you who appreciate statistics, healing lands in first place by quite a margin. Jesus is associated with 36 unique healing events, which is 50% greater than the priority that ranks second.
I have not had anyone approach me over the past seven weeks to suggest that any of Jesus’ priorities were great for him, but inappropriate or impossible for us. I suspect, however, that at least a few of you may be wondering about healing. Isn’t it significantly different from love or prayer or even treating children as precious?
After all, we are not Jesus. Just managing our own affairs is challenging enough most days without also acting as agents of healing or helping restore people to wholeness.
Could it be that . . . (read the full manuscript)
So What?
There are many ways that you can extend your healing touch, including:
- living with compassion,
- saying “yes” to strangers, and
- doing what you can.
What do each of these mean to you? Which do you find to be most difficult? How will you strive to live as a healer in the days ahead?