How many of you are grandparents? We’ve always had a lot of grandparents at Redeemer. For years I’ve heard countless stories about your grandchildren. I’ve seen countless pictures of your grandchildren. I have only one thing to say to you now, and that is, I get it! I have now joined your ranks! As of last Monday, I’m a grandfather. Our granddaughter’s name is Ayla. So far, I have only seen her picture, but I can tell you one thing from having seen that picture. I have now seen the most beautiful baby in the world! And another picture that rivals it is one with her two adoring parents holding their newborn daughter.
We have had another wonderful week at Redeemer as we saw the kickoff of our Logos and JR EYC programs last Wednesday night. We had over 40 young people and many adult sponsors filling Gillespie Hall. I think everyone who participated felt God‘s presence and activity, and surely God must have been pleased at what took place here on Wednesday. It was a little taste of the kingdom of God.
Sometimes the kingdom of God breaks in even when we’re not prepared for it. Such was the case one day, long ago, in a synagogue. A woman happened to be in a synagogue at the same time that Jesus was present. She probably wasn’t aware that anyone special was in the synagogue, simply because she wasn’t aware of exactly who was around her, for she was bent over. She’d been like that for 18 years. St. Luke says she had a spirit of infirmity. We don’t know what he meant by that, although in that day all sickness was thought to be the work of evil spirits. Perhaps it was a spiritual problem that manifested itself in this physical ailment.
Physical sickness is always accompanied by spiritual elements of one sort or another. Our spiritual condition can cause physical problems. For instance, everyone knows it isn’t unusual for a person to get stressed and then contract a cold. Conversely, physical problems can cause spiritual dis-ease. When I’m physically sick I tend also to be a little grouchy. Body and spirit are intimately connected. Jesus noticed this woman who had a spirit of infirmity. He called to her, and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” St. Luke says she was immediately “made straight, and she praised God.”
The phrase “spirit of infirmity” is really interesting to me, because it captures so much more about what’s going on with this particular woman than if he had described her simply as infirm or bent over. It’s as if the woman’s infirmity defined her life. Not only was she infirm, but also she had about her a whole spirit of infirmity. When a person has a chronic problem, it’s easy to become focused on that problem, fixated on the problem. All of life may be viewed through the dark lens of the disease. As a result, the person then has two problems, the disease itself and the spirit of the disease that makes life seem so much darker than it is. When Jesus told the woman she was freed from her infirmity, he was saying that both her physical and spiritual enslavement were over.
We have anointing for healing every Friday morning at the 10 o’clock Mass and every Saturday night at the 5:30 Mass. People come to those masses if they’re seeking healing. It’s not unusual for people to experience healing. Sometimes they experience physical healing, sometimes mental healing, sometimes spiritual healing, and sometimes all three. One kind of healing can help to bring about another kind of healing. For instance, if your spirit is healed, that can help your body to heal; and if your body is healed, then your spirit and mind may more easily be healed.
One way we could describe the whole human condition is to say that we all have a spirit of infirmity; at least adult human beings have a spirit of infirmity. I didn’t see any of that spirit in my granddaughter’s picture or last week at logos! When Jesus said, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it,” I believe what he may have had in mind was that children usually haven’t contracted the spirit of infirmity that captures us as adults. We’re not able to be fully human because of our prejudices, our grudges, our lack of trust, our guile. Or perhaps our spirit of infirmity manifests itself in a fear failure, so we don’t do what God is calling us to do because of that fear.
In over 37 years of being a priest, I have had the great privilege of knowing many people who, by the grace of God, are well along the way of being healed of this spirit of infirmity that infects the human race, people who have had enormous obstacles, both spiritual and physical, that could have made them bitter and spiteful and hateful, who instead radiate joy and peace and love. I believe the Church is called to be a kind of hospital where the infirm are, little by little, through the grace of God, healed of this spirit of infirmity. We’re all infected, but, hopefully, we are all on the road to health and wholeness.
I wish I could tell you that I’m no longer infected, bent over by my self-centeredness, but I can’t tell you that, partly because anyone who really knows me knows I’d be lying! But I can tell you that I see that healing taking place in your lives, and that gives me hope!
If our children learn one important thing about the Church through their participation in Logos and EYC and Sunday School and so on, I hope it’s that the Church is not a country club for saints, but a hospital for sinners.
The Rev. Dr. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sunday, 25 August 2019