Seeing & Healing.

All right, so if you are a regular attendee of New Culture Church, you probably noticed that Pastor Abbie is not here today. She's in Greece for the next couple weeks studying the life of Paul. While she's gone, we have two guest speakers today and next week. I'm thrilled to welcome Nathan as our speaker today. Nathan has been coming to our church since September of last year and has been an invaluable part of our community. So another warm welcome for Nathan, please.

All right, I'm going to go back in time to 2019. I went on my first ever mission trip. It was with YWAM, Youth with a Mission. I don't know if you're familiar with that organization, but it's a large missions organization. I went for a week to Mazatlan, Mexico. It was my first mission trip, so I was pretty excited. I was anticipating that I really wanted to see God move in a powerful way. I would read through the book of Acts and I would see all these amazing stories.

I thought to myself, maybe there's a chance I'll be able to see some really amazing things on this mission trip and see God move in powerful ways. So we did a lot of good service things. But there was one night when we went to a hospital and prayed over people. I was like, Lord, I really would like to see somebody get healed. That would be really cool. I had all this anticipation. There was a general sense of anticipation throughout our group. We went and we prayed for people. It was a nice time, but nothing particularly spectacular happened. I remember honestly feeling kind of disappointed.

But that was not the end of my missionary adventures, and I will continue the story. I want to dive into the book of Acts today. Acts chapter 3. If you have your Bibles, you can open up to that. Acts is full of wonderful passages that give us examples of how we live out the Christian life. I'm going to start with that, and then we'll return to my own journey with this.

Acts 3, chapter 3, verse 1. Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. The temple was massive. It was an amazing wonder of the world and there was incredible wealth there. So this was the perfect spot for a beggar to ask for money, to sit next to the gate where lots of wealthy people were passing by. This is honestly similar to what we see on State Street so often. Beggars congregate in that area because they know there are a lot of wealthy people passing through.

When I first moved to Madison, I was really struck with all of the beggars on State Street and homeless people because I had grown up in small towns where that just wasn't something you saw very much. When I first moved to Madison, I was like, oh my gosh, these are real people just out there on the streets. It was horrible. It was really disturbing to me. But over time, as I began to see those people over and over again, I started to become desensitized to it. I felt less of a drive to minister to them in some way because I kept seeing them over and over again.

Our tendency over time is to become desensitized. These are real people, real suffering people, and our tendency sometimes is to look away. We've all kind of been there. We're walking on State Street and we see a homeless person begging for money. We're just like, I hope they don't notice me. We just pass by or we might give them a little dollar and then be on our merry way. That's sometimes, unfortunately, a tendency in myself. But I think we need to pay attention to the example that Peter and John give us in this passage.

So let's carefully read verses 3 and 4:

Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, Look at us.

Acts 3:3-4

Look at us. Do we do the same? Do we acknowledge even the lowest of the low in society? Do we really acknowledge them and take notice? These people are made in the image of God. It's such a revolutionary idea we sometimes take for granted. The idea that everybody is equal. But really, this idea of being made in the image of God, no matter what your social status is, you are precious. What's so amazing is that Peter and John, in a society where beggars were considered the lowest of the low, take time to stop and they take notice.

The question is: do we do the same? I want to give you a few practical suggestions on how you can do this. Let's suppose you're walking on State Street and you see people begging or lying on the streets. It's heartbreaking. At first, I'd recommend just listening to the Holy Spirit and even if it feels uncomfortable, being willing to step out if you feel like the Lord wants you to. You can't interact with every single person you walk by, but really just be attentive to that.

If you notice someone, ask the Lord: should I interact with this person in some way? If you're nervous, you can start small. That's the good news. I'd recommend you shouldn't underestimate the power of a smile, of acknowledgement. Even if you don't have any money to give, if you're walking by and you see someone who's destitute and struggling, just waving and smiling is really powerful. So many of them are used to being completely ignored, but this is a simple way of demonstrating Christ's love. It's like saying, I see you. I see you in your pain, and you are a person of value. You're worth smiling at. You're worth waving at. So I'd recommend starting there.

Now, one thing that always comes up is: should I give them money if they ask for that? That's always an uncomfortable, awkward sort of thing. A friend told me something really smart, so I stole it. What she does is ask the Lord first: should I give this person money or not? I think there's no hard and fast rule. Sometimes it's like, okay, maybe it's not the wisest thing to give this person money. If you feel that's the case, just simply say something like, I'm not comfortable giving money to people I don't know. I really liked that phrase because it sort of took the pressure off and took the focus off of them and broadened it to a general principle. Then you can offer to give them a meal or something like that.

Another thing I've been doing, which I found helpful, is I keep some snacks in my car. Oftentimes, if you're at a stoplight, you see those people with signs. You can just real quick open your door and hand them something. Those are just simple things, but they can go a really long way.

That's just the start of working with people who deal with a lot of brokenness. But I can tell you I've gotten a little bit deeper and I've made friends with some of the people on State Street. It can be really discouraging. There's a lot of darkness there. I have befriended people and I have seen them continue the same destructive patterns of behavior. You want so bad to see them come out of that. You don't just want to give them a meal and have them go on their merry way. You want to care about them and see them set free, see them really getting out of whatever they're stuck in.

But I can tell you stories of people I've interacted with who have even manipulated me. Yeah, it's hard. It's very hard and it can be discouraging because you want to see these people improve, but sometimes it just seems like there's continuous struggle.

But this should not stop us from praying for God to do really big things. Despite the discouragement and despite the heaviness, we should not stop praying for God to do really miraculous things.

Can we pray for healing?

So after Peter says, look at us, let's read verses 5 and 7:

And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up. And immediately his feet and his ankles were made strong.

Acts 3:5, 7-8

When it comes to applying this to us, the initial question might be: can we do this? It's easy to get the idea that well, these were the apostles. They were extra special. Maybe healing like that is just a thing of the past. And there's another question: should we do this? Should we pray like this, a commanding prayer, where they're just like, in the name of Jesus, you're healed, and just pull them up? Should we do that? Maybe that's like a little too far.

I want to start with the question: can we do this? Does healing still happen today? There's nowhere in the scriptures that says those things passed away and that we can't pray for healing anymore. So then we can ask: are people being healed today? I can tell you, I'm a very skeptical person. For a while, I was like, I think healing's real, but there are like all these different stories. There are definitely some phony ones out there. So I really wanted to investigate these things for myself.

I spent some time in New Mexico and I had a pastor there. I was having breakfast with him and I was like, you know, I'm really wanting to explore more the gifts of the Holy Spirit and really experience God healing people. I think that'd be really cool. He was like, well, I'm going to Brazil at the end of December. Why don't you come with me? So I was like, okay, sure. I signed up. This was in 2022.

So I went. I was like, all right, God, if I don't see anything, you know, I'm not going to be mad at you. But it would be great if I saw you healing people in some way. I just would love to see that.

We're at this church and after the worship service and the sermon, they line a bunch of us up and just say, hey, anybody who wants prayer, you can receive prayer from us. It was rapid fire. I had a line of people and I was just rapid firing prayers for people.

There's somebody who came up to me and this was all through a translator. They were speaking Portuguese. I had to have a translator. I was very grateful for my translator. She was like, I have been suffering from debilitating headaches for the past six years. These were not average run-of-the-mill headaches. These were excruciating. She described it as radiating all the way back into her spine. It was pretty much chronic. It fluctuated in intensity, but she said that oftentimes it would get so intense that she wanted to bang her head against a wall.

So then she says, you know, I feel like God told me you are supposed to pray for me. And I thought, oh, she doesn't know who I am. But I was like, okay. So I pray a very simple prayer. I honestly don't even remember what I said exactly. I wasn't super confident, certainly not like Peter and John. I lay my hand on her head and pray and then I open my eyes and she's glowing with this huge smile and she's just saying it's gone, it's gone. And I was like, oh wow. I couldn't process it.

The scientist in me kind of kicked in and I was pulling out my phone, taking videos, taking notes, and like, let me get your number, because maybe it'll come back the next day and it actually won't be a real miracle. I mean, I couldn't believe it. So the next day, I text her and I'm like, is it still good? She's like, yeah. I was like, oh my gosh, I think that was a real healing. I think God actually listened to my prayers.

A month later, I contacted her and she said she was still totally fine. I'm an extreme skeptic sometimes. There's still a tinge of me that's like, maybe it came back still. I still wrestle with that, but I'm pretty sure that was a legitimate healing. It sparked something in me where I was like, we're oftentimes so hesitant to pray for big things that we don't. We're really afraid of disappointment, I think. We don't want to pray for someone's healing or something really big because well, it's just awkward if nothing happens.

Really my point here, in following the example of Peter and John, is to pray big and not small. Don't be afraid to pray big. Don't be afraid of disappointment. It's okay if you pray for someone and what you wanted to happen doesn't happen. It's okay to take that step of faith and sometimes if you keep doing it, you might be surprised. You might be surprised like I was.

One thing I want to mention too: God can heal you through doctors and through medicine. We're made in the image of God and we invent and create and engineer things, and I love that. God can heal through that. But I think oftentimes we're a little bit too quick, especially in the West where we have such tremendous access to health care. We're very quick to be like, oh, I'm just going to go to the doctor. But why not just pray first? You know what? Maybe God could just heal me just like that. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to be that kind of awkward weirdo who's praying for all these wild things that nobody believes will actually happen, because it might just happen. And when it does, there's just so much joy.

Let me read verses 8 through 10:

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Acts 3:8-10

When God does do those sorts of things, it's really awesome because it's a picture of our hope as believers in the end, at the resurrection, when God restores our bodies completely. It's like a little sliver, a little snippet.

Should we pray like the apostles?

But now I want to ask the question: should we do this in the way that Peter and John did, with this kind of commanding prayer where they're healed and you lift them up? Was that only for the apostles? It is true that in Scripture, the regular pattern you see is this kind of commanding healing prayer, where Jesus just commands healing and the apostles seem to be able to do that on command. Some will say that's the pattern in Scripture, so that's how we should always pray. Just, you know, in the name of Jesus, speak to the condition, be gone. You don't ask for it. You just command it.

To be honest, I'm not sure if that's actually right. I'm not sure if you should always pray like that. But I do think sometimes God does give special faith in certain scenarios. I've heard of stories where people just somehow knew that this person was going to be healed. So they had that kind of boldness to just be like, in the name of Jesus, you know, be healed. But sometimes maybe our faith isn't so strong, and I think it's okay to ask. There's no magic formula.

Another thing I want to mention is we sometimes have this idea that the apostles were like superheroes, where they could go out and heal anyone with just a touch of their finger. I think sometimes God gave them that ability, but ultimately their power came from God. They weren't just superheroes that could do anything.

In fact, in 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 23, Paul tells Timothy:

No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

1 Timothy 5:23

And part of you is just like, Paul, you were healing people right and left in Acts. What's the deal here? So I think that sometimes we don't read the text carefully enough.

There's a lot to think about here and we can't cover everything. If you're interested in this more, I'd really recommend a book called A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles by J.P. Moreland. There's also a really good documentary called Send Proof by Elijah Stevens. If you're skeptical, I just love to talk with you more. I spend a lot of time researching this kind of stuff. I think that definitely God heals people. This stuff is real. Even if you're not a believer, I just challenge you with the idea that God is real and active in the world, not just some philosophical idea.

Why won't God heal me?

But now I want to turn to the question we all ask: why won't God heal me? While yes, we can find all these stories of God healing people and it's encouraging, there are a lot of us probably in this room who have things you're struggling with, whether physical or emotional or spiritual, and you're struggling and wanting real healing from that. And you are not healed. And you ask the question: why not me? Is it because I don't have enough faith? Is it because of something I did? Is it always God's will to heal me? Does he even see me?

Those are all questions that are really great to delve into, and we'd probably need a whole extra sermon to talk about faith and what faith is. I think sometimes we think of it as just mere psychological certainty, but it's a lot deeper than that. But I really, at the end of the day, I can't answer why you have not been healed of whatever is ailing you at the moment.

But I think we can learn a lot from this story with the lame beggar. We can get caught up in the excitement of the story where he's healed and it's amazing, but we forget that this man was lame from birth for forty years. Forty plus years. Can you imagine that? Not being able to walk. Having to beg. Having to have someone carry you to the temple day after day after day.

One thing I was listening to about this story, they pointed out something amazing. This man was old enough to be around at the time when Jesus was around. Jesus was healing people. His news was spreading around. Jesus went to the temple. I think it's not unlikely that maybe Jesus walked past him. Jesus didn't heal everyone. He had crowds constantly coming after him, and sometimes he just had to get a break. He had to escape off to the mountains to pray.

But here's this man, forty years, and probably heard of Jesus, and he had every reason to think to himself, God has forgotten me. But with this story, when you see this lame man getting up and praising God and just being so overjoyed at being healed, we see that sometimes we don't see the full picture. We don't see the full picture. I don't know why you haven't been healed right here now of whatever you're struggling with. But I know that it's not because God has forgotten you. It's not because God has forgotten you. So I want you to keep seeking him. Just keep seeking him.

Though we aren't promised perfection in this life, we can look to the future resurrection where one day we will have new resurrection bodies that don't get sick, that don't have issues, that don't have mental health issues. That's an amazing, amazing thing.

Closing

One thing that's so important is that we really don't want to make the focus on the miracles. We want to make the focus on Jesus. So often people get caught up in miracles, when really the miracles are meant to point us to Jesus. Peter and John, they have to be like, whoa, whoa, don't give the praise to us because the power isn't in us. It's in Jesus.

I just want to close by creating a space for us to pray for healing. If you feel like you would like a big prayer for healing, not a small one, a big prayer for healing, that God might do something really significant and incredible. Both Jackie and I are going to be in the back and we'll take some time for you to come back and we can pray over you. We're creating space for God to work. But know that no matter what happens, God is in the process. He is in the process of healing you. The story might not look like what you think or what you want. Maybe you want instant healing, but sometimes God has to take us through a process and through a story. We may not understand that full story, but we know the ending. We know the destination. So in faith, we can come to Jesus and listen and see what he's doing and press into that.

We're going to transition now to a time where you can slow down and if you feel like you want prayer for anything, you can come to the back. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you see us just as Peter and John saw the lame man. Father, Lord, you see us even better and you acknowledge us. In you we are fully seen, fully known, and fully loved. Lord, I just pray that you give us eyes to see you and to see others the same way that you see them. Let us be able to see others in your image, Lord.

In every interaction that we have, I pray that you empower us and you give us courage and boldness to step out in faith. And God, we also thank you that you listen to us and to our prayers, to the thoughts we have, to the whispers in our hearts. Father God, nothing goes past you and you listen to every cry of our heart. So Lord, I just pray for greater faith. I pray that we approach your throne of grace with boldness and big prayers.

And Lord, whether we're interacting with others by seeing and acknowledging them or listening to their stories and praying for them, I pray that our declaration is in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Father God, we do all of these things in your name and for your glory, and that you be glorified through it all. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.