Calvary United Methodist Church April 13, 2014 SERVICE OF ANOINTING FOR HEALING AND WHOLENESS Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks Children s Sermon Matthew 7 & Revelation 3 Good morning! Happy Palm Sunday to everybody! Good morning! I bet somewhere in the next seven days you are going to do something at your house called an Easter egg hunt. Yes? Wake up on Easter morning looking for eggs and stuff? Yesterday here at Calvary there was a huge Easter egg hunt. There were literally hundreds of people here. There were dozens and dozens of kids and there were thousands of eggs. You couldn t step anywhere without stepping on eggs. In fact, if you step on eggs, the best thing to get it off your shoe is a palm branch, of course. That is why we hand out palm branches on the day after the Easter egg hunt. No, that s not right! There were eggs to be found and of course, in true Methodist fashion, there was this enormous feast of cookies and other Easter goodies. This we do for our community, which means we want people from all around to come here and to be part of what goes on here and we want to welcome them. So right inside every door that you come in this building is this big mat that says Calvary Church Welcomes You and then out in the square there is this enormous round desk that we call, it is a certain kind of center, do you know what it is called? (The wel-
come center.) It is called the welcome center and there is this enormous banner that hangs over it in case we forget what to call it. And in the middle of every worship service we always pause for a moment and invite people to turn to one another and welcome each other. I would bet somewhere in your house or right outside your house there is a mat that says Welcome on it. Am I right? How many of you have a welcome mat? (noise) You are all fibbing, I know it! I know it! It is a mat with the word Welcome on it, but the question is, what does the word welcome really mean, Because it can be used a number of different ways. Let s talk about the different ways you can use the word Welcome. First of all, it can be a greeting. Anybody here every go into a Moe s Southwestern Grill? If you go into a Moe s Southwestern Grill, everybody in the entire store has been trained, apparently very extensively, every time the door opens and someone walks in, everybody stops whatever they are doing, looks at the person who just came in the door and they scream Welcome to Moe s! I am serious. They do that! And what they are really saying with that greeting is, it is kind of a simple idea, what they are really saying is Hi, you are at Moe s. When people say Welcome to Calvary I think what they are actually saying is Hi, you are at Calvary.
We use it as a greeting and when the word Welcome is used as part of a greeting, it simply means Hey, you are here. Not really very impressive, not terribly friendly. Sometimes, however, the word Welcome is used in a way to grant permission to do something. When you go to the library at your school or when you go to the public library, you are welcome because it is a public place and you are also welcome to take a look at the books. And if you know the process and you sign in, you are welcome to check out books. When people come to church they are welcome to check out our church. That is how the church welcomes people. So, when the church uses the word Welcome and the library uses the word Welcome as a way to grant permission, it means, Hey, it is okay that you are here. Do whatever it is that we permit you to do here, which in this place as you can guess is pretty much almost anything that glorifies God.
But, there is a meaning to the word Welcome which goes way back because the greeting thing and the permission thing, well that s okay, that s kind of what welcome means today. But a long time ago, centuries ago, the word Welcome was actually spelled Wilcuma and it meant something very different. Rather than a greeting or permission to do something, wilcuma was actually the word used to describe a person whose arrival brings joy and the word welcome really meant all is well when they come. And there have been people, I am guessing, in your life who you have been waiting for them to show up, whether it be somebody who is coming in to visit or somebody that you have been waiting for and when they show up it is like Alright! Everything is cool! We can go on with stuff! because that person is here. When Welcome is used as it was originally intended and when it means one who brings joy it literally means Thank God you re here! Thank God that God has brought you together, brought us together and given us this time together. And that, Brothers and Sisters, Children, is really the meaning of Palm Sunday. Thank God you are here! All is well when Jesus comes. Jesus is the original Wilcuma, the original reason of welcome.
And you know the story of how Jesus was first welcomed into a big city called Jerusalem. Jesus came to the city and he was riding on a (donkey) exactly right! And a big crowd gathered to welcome him, probably larger than this gathering here this morning and some people pulled branches off nearby palm trees and they waved them around, just like these people are doing. Ah! Caught you, didn t I? They waved them around. That is the lamest greeting I ve seen. All of them pulled out their palms and they waved them around. And then because they were an older group they put their palms down. And what they did was they put the palms down on the ground and they covered a road like a giant welcome mat. Others held their palms up high waving in celebration, obviously that was the younger of the group. Each voice was lifted up, shouting at the top of their lungs. Now, I was going to have you do a welcome to Moe s style greeting, but I can already see that you are exhausted, so we ll let that pass. And they all said the word Hosanna! which is kind of another way of saying Thank God you re here, because Hosanna in the language that was spoken at the time literally meant God help us! Lord save us! And when Jesus came it was like saying Thank God you are here! Blessed is the one who comes to bring joy! Hosanna! Welcome! He wasn t just welcomed then, though, thousands of years ago in a place far away. He can be welcome here today if we open the doors of our hearts to let him in to bring us joy and there are several passages which are very familiar to some of us older people that remind us that we have to keep welcoming Jesus because he is the one continues to bring us joy. Think of these words from Matthew 7: Simply saying ask and you will receive. Seek, look and you will see. Can you knock on the platform for me? Knock on the door and God will open it. We aren t perfect, but we know how to care for each other. God, however, is perfect. He s anxious to give you and me every good gift and all we have to do is just ask. That s what it means for us to knock on God s door. But then there is another passage that talks about Jesus always knocking on our door
from Revelation 3: Stop. Look. Listen. I m standing right outside the door of your heart, your soul, your life. I m knocking. Go head. (Knocking) And I m calling your name. Can you hear my voice? Will you open the door and welcome me? Will you let me be the one who brings joy, because if you let me in, I ll help you rearrange your whole life. God and I will work with you to make all things right. Welcome the one who brings joy. That s really the meaning of Palm Sunday and I happened to come across something the other day that I thought I needed to have for right outside my office. It is a welcome mat that has palms all over it. I did not get one of these for each of you. But, remember how I told you that at your house already I would almost guarantee you there is a mat that has the word welcome on it? Every time you walk over that mat, every time you see the word welcome and this is why a lot of people take their palms and they put it on their front door, every time we think about Jesus coming in to the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we think about Jesus, can you knock again for me on the platform, Jesus knocking at the door, waiting for us to let him in. Thanks for sharing in our time this morning. Anointing for Healing and Wholeness There is an exercise that speech therapists use with stroke victims. They take twelve simple objects, a key, a book, a spoon, and they lay those objects on a table and then they place pictures of those exact objects in another section of the table. And the patient is simply asked to pick up the spoon, the book, the key and place it down on the photograph of the corresponding object. My brother got 10 right on Thursday. He got nine right though the week before. Maybe next week 11. Every single one of us is broken, battered, wounded, scarred, grieving, suffering. It is different for every one of us. No two bring the pain that you have to the Lord, no two of us share that knowledge of what it must be like to walk in the shoes of another, and therefore, every single one of us has to decide for ourselves what healing really looks like
in life. If Christ is the one who brings joy, who comes as wilcuma, the one who is to be welcomed, as the one who bring us wholeness and healing, then we can t count it with numbers like 9, 10 and 11 objects on a photograph. We have to find the way for the joy to come when we stop increasing in our scores of rehabilitation and getting better; when our bodies don t get better and don t recuperate; when we have difficulty shutting out the fears and the failures and the same of the past; when we decide what it is that our dis-ease truly is. Then we have to allow God to help us see how healing may happen and it may not be the kind of healing that is so obvious and evident to the people around us. You and I may have to be the ones to say I am being healed. Yes, my body is still broken. Yes, my spirit still lingers in turmoil and chaos. Yes, I still grieve. But I know joy. I know healing and I know that my redeemer lives. That is something only you and I can decide for ourselves. In this liturgy of anointing for the gift of healing is a very personal thing. It is not a one size fits all. God s grace is big enough to cover us all, but where it belongs in our hearts and lives, you and I have to decide that and that is what this is about. It is an opportunity for you to come forward and receive a simple touch on your forehead and your hands inviting God to find that place where you hurt the most, where your grief is the deepest, where the wound bleeds most profusely and God will find it. That s God s promise to you and to me. The service for the Anointing for the Gift of Healing is an insert in the bulletin. We invite you to turn there and share in a Psalm of Healing. PSALTER OF HEALING Psalm 103 One: O my soul, bless the Lord. Let all that is within me praise his holy name! ALL: O my soul, give thanks to God. Count every blessing and rejoice. One: He forgives your sins every one. He heals your diseases and brings wholeness to your being. He saves your life and redeems you from condemnation. He crowns you with love and mercy and makes a home for you in paradise. He wraps you in goodness and welcomes you into his eternal glory. He renews your youth and you are lifted up on the wings of an eagle.
ALL: God makes everything come out right; he puts victims back on their feet. He showed Moses how he went about his work, opened up his plans to all people to see. God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered. He s rich in love. One: The Lord doesn t endlessly nag and scold. He refuses to hold grudges forever. He doesn t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. ALL: As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins. As parents reach out in mercy to their wayward children, God reaches out to bring us home. One: He knows us inside and out. His hand formed us from dust and he knows that we shall return to dust. Like spring flowers, we grow and blossom in the sun. But when the storm comes, we are bent low and frail. We cannot stand against the tempest. ALL: God s love always was and always will be. He is eternally present to all who stand in awe of his power and majesty. The Lord will make everything right in his time for those who follow his Covenant ways and choose to do his will. One: So bless the Lord, all creatures in heaven and on earth. Praise him with obedient souls and humble hearts. ALL: May the people of the covenant bless the Lord in all times and places. Praise his holy name. OUR CONFESSION One: Jesus said, Ask, and it will be given; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. MANY: For everyone who asks receives. Those who seek find. If you stand at the door and knock, you will be welcomed into God s presence. One: Friends in Christ, God knows our needs before we ask. Our Master did not simply share a message of hope. He did not speak of salvation as a remote possibility. He delivered the gift of grace in person. As we remember the story of His Passion and sacrifice, let us be mindful of our sinfulness. MANY: If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, forgiving us and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. One: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. MANY: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. ALL: Thanks be to God!
FOR THE HEALING OF OUR BODIES One: To share in the healing of a broken world, we must be made whole in heart, mind and body. From dust we have come. To dust we shall return. O Lord, you have breathed life into the fragile vessels of our bodies. By your blessings, we have enjoyed days of health and strength. By your mercy, we have endured and persevered through days of pain and suffering. MANY: We lift before you our physical infirmities and our desire for material comfort. We are impatient with our limitations. We are constant in our cravings. Touch us with the creative power of your Spirit. Strengthen us with a joy that does not grow weary with the passing of our days. Grant us courage to meet the trials of suffering with the blessed assurance of our faith in Christ. (We pray for the healing of our bodies & those with afflictions & physical challenges.) FOR THE HEALING OF OUR MINDS One: Come. Follow me. Jesus extends an invitation to all to walk with him. No one is excluded from the fellowship he offers. Yet we must choose to follow. Like the disciples who abandoned him, we too have left his side. We have chosen safety over sacrifice, comfort over confrontation, and self over service. MANY: In pride and arrogance, we have betrayed our Master. In selfishness, we disregard the needs of our neighbors. Grant us clarity of vision and the mind of Christ, that we may choose obedience. (We pray for purity of thought & faith that our minds may be opened to a new vision. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we ask for eyes to see the presence of Jesus in the face of all God s children. May we have ears to hear the cries of the forgotten and the oppressed, the lost and the lonely.) FOR THE HEALING OF OUR HEARTS One: Jesus told his friends, This is my command. Love one another the way I loved you. God s love is changeless. Our ability to love one another, however, is flawed and fleeting. Unwilling to share what has been freely given, we deprive others of the touch of our caring Creator. MANY: We are unconvinced of God s love for us. We are uncommitted in our love for others. Our hearts are broken. Our compassion is gone. Yet the Lord is steadfast and patient, ready to receive us and grant us the grace to embrace and be embraced in the arms of the Good Shepherd.
(We pray for those who have wounded us & those whom we have wounded. We pray that the Word of God would be written anew upon our hearts. We pray that the love of Christ would affirm our worth in his Kingdom. ) FOR THE HEALING OF THE HUMAN COMMUNITY One: Christ comes to Jerusalem to pour himself out for all. Everyone who believes is healed and recreated in his image. God does not discriminate; he values each one of us. In the cross of Christ, he calls us to be ambassadors of the Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven. MANY: Jesus reaches out to the sick and lonely, the widow and orphan, the sinner and the saint. May we commit to being agents of healing, welcoming others with the redemptive and reconciling touch of Christ. May we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. May we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. (We pray for those who are estranged from us. We pray for our brothers and sisters gathered here this morning. We pray for our community, our nation, and our world, that the peace of Christ may reign.) One: O God, source of healing and wholeness, we give thanks for this symbol of anointing oil. Pour out your Spirit upon us as we open the gates of our souls, that we may join those who cried out, Hosanna! Save us! Grant us healing, that we may rejoice in the depth of your commitment to us. Grant us faith, that we may understand the breadth of our responsibility to one another. This we ask in the name of Christ, who taught us to pray... THE LORD S PRAYER AN ANOINTING (The act of anointing marks those who are prepared to receive a gift from God). As the following hymns are sung, those who desire to be anointed by the pastors are invited to come forward to be touched on the palms of your hands and forehead. You may also kneel at the altar rail for the laying on of hands by our Stephen Ministers and Communion Stewards, symbolizing the healing touch of Christ.) Just as I Am Heal Us, O Lord, and Hear Our Prayer (edited) (tune: Amazing Grace) He Touched Me Precious Lord, Take My Hand (v. 1 & 3) Spirit Song