Healings

1. Believing in persons or spiritual beings
2. Believing that certain facts are real
3. Believing!

I believe that demons are real. I don't believe in them. What I believe in is found in the Nicene Creed.

Peter's mother-in-law had a terrible fever; she possibly had malaria which untreated can and usually does cause death. This fever is deadly. Jesus lifts her up and heals her. We get to heal also.

Jesus goes outside the religious institution. The early Jesus movement was not a religion; it was a way of life. Even today we are are bound up and together through the trust in Jesus which is not a religion. Religion has priests who perform sacrifices to placate gods and goddesses, or intercede between the gods and goddesses and human beings. We have a priesthood of all believers, we can pray to God directly for ourselves and one another. We do not have a priesthood sacrificing animals to placate God, instead, we have healing. We have healing in place of sacrifices.

Everyone came crowding into Peter's small house free healing was taking place there. In their religion there were outsiders and insiders and these people were outsiders. In Jesus, everyone is an insider and everyone belongs. Healing is a sign of belonging.

Today there is a need for healing--spiritual healing, emotional healing, physical healing, financial healing. When someone loses their job the suddenly feel that they don't belong anywhere. They even stop attending worship services because they don't feel good enough. Death in their family, illness or any type of loss can make anyone feel like an outsider. It takes them out of the narrative of health and success.

Peter's house is filled with people who want to be healed, be included, belong and to be counted. In Jesus Christ we all belong and we share Jesus.

Jesus and the demon

Jesus casts out a demon. Demonic possession is a controversial issue. In C.S. Lewis' book The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape writes in a letter to Wormwood that there are two weaknesses that humans have, a disbelief in demons and an unhealthy interest in them. Horror movie characters, such as, Jason and Freddy are supernatural. They are portrayed as being really powerful and really smart. Watching these movies brings a pleasant thrill of ascetic terror. Good will triumph over evil in the end, We can allow ourselves the indulgence of being scared. The fearfulness and scariness of these creatures is boosted and their creators make them seem more powerful and brilliant than real demon are. Demons are not strong and not are really quite dumb. There is a connection between teaching the Gospel and casting out demons Demons recognize Jesus and calls him "The Holy one of God" in an effort to cast Jesus out by calling him by his name. Exorcists now and from ages past will try to engage in a conversation with a demon to learn it's name in order to cast them out. Jesus rebukes the demon and silences it. In fact, he says, "Shut up and come out of him." cutting the demon off in mid sentence. Christ is the most powerful. Jesus' power is more superior to demons. Demons are quite small but dangerous. It all depends on what you believe. There are three levels of belief:

1. Belief accepted in fact--I believe that....
2. Belief in someone or something...I believe in God.
3. To believe it's real--I believe Jesus, or I trust Jesus.

The Gospel is the a story of Jesus' victory over evil.It is a healing story. The whole synagogue was healed when the demon was cast out.

We are not spiritual heroes we are Lutherans. We do not have to depend on spiritual superstars. We are all counting on Christ's presence.