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¶
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Theological
Introduction |
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Baptism witnesses to God's gift
of salvation, in which he gathers people into the new
creation in Jesus Christ. Baptism points to the way in
which God in Jesus Christ is overthrowing an order of life
corrupted by sin and death and bringing to birth a renewed
creation, a creation alive with the healing presence of
God's Spirit. Baptism is a sign of individual and corporate
forgiveness and renewal within the life of the baptized.
That life proclaims not only the risen power won by Christ
for us in his resurrection and exaltation, but also our
identification as human beings with the constraints and
suffering borne by Christ in his incarnation and on the
cross. |
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With the incarnation of Jesus,
God begins the renewal of our alienated, weakened and
fragmented human condition (Romans 8.3,4). In St Matthew's
Gospel Jesus' baptism expresses his solidarity with us in
our weakness (Matthew 3.14,15) and his healing ministry is
seen as the outworking of the suffering servant who 'took
our infirmities and bore our diseases' (Matthew 8.17). The
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ promise both the
judgement of all that is flawed in human life and the
recreation of our humanity. A powerful biblical image
portrays the sufferings of the Messiah, of the creation,
and of God's people, as the birth pains that herald the new
age in which peace and righteousness reign (Luke 12.50;
John 16.21; Romans 8.18-30; Colossians 1.24; Revelation
12). The Christ, the anointed one, is clothed with the Holy
Spirit to bring good news to the afflicted and to proclaim
the day of the Lord's favour (Luke 4.18-21). |
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It is apparent in Scripture that
the physical, emotional, social and spiritual well-being of
human beings are closely interconnected. Christ's work of
reconciliation extends beyond the purely personal and
relational to the social order and the whole creation (cf
Colossians 1.15-27). The Gospels use the term 'healing'
both for physical healing and for the broader salvation
that Jesus brings. A common New Testament term for sickness
is 'weakness' (asthenia) (Luke 5.15; 13.11,12;
John 5.5); it carries broad associations of powerlessness
and vulnerability, including human vulnerability in the
face of the dominion of sin and death (Romans 5.6; 8.3). As
Christians face weakness, they receive God's grace,
expressed sometimes in an experience of healing and
sometimes through the strength that comes in the bearing of
weakness (2 Corinthians 12.9). |
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Furthermore, the New Testament
also presents us with a picture of Christians in a running
battle with forces of evil that are external to us but bear
heavily upon our lives. Although the principalities and
powers (Ephesians 6.12) are not always forces of evil, they
can have an impact on the social and political order; the
evil one not only brings temptation but takes people
captive (Gospels, passim); the power of idols
enslaves consciences (1 Corinthians 8); and pagan
sacrifices are offered to demons with whom we must not be
participants (1 Corinthians 10). This series of
pictures, while not absolving us from personal
responsibility for our actions, also strongly implies that
without the grace of God we are at risk of being in the
grip of an array of forces beyond our powers to resist or
break. Yet there is victory in Christ, and we also learn
that, in the final analysis, 'an idol is nothing in the
world and there is no God but one'
(1 Corinthians 8.4); and that victorious
discernment categorizes all forces of spiritual evil as
provisional and counterfeit. Their 'power' lies in their
impact on us, and their 'reality' therefore is shadowy and
interim only. But we nonetheless need deliverance from that
power, and the language of healing and wholeness is
entirely appropriate to that process. |
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Acts of healing in the Gospels
are intimately related to the restoring of individuals to a
place of worth within the social order (cf Mark 1.44;
5.15-20; 6.32-34; Luke 13.10-17). 'By his wounds you have
been healed' (1 Peter 2.24) makes powerful links between
human pain and vulnerability and the saving impact of
Jesus' own suffering. The same interconnectedness is
present where Scripture speaks of God's image in us to
point to the way human life is marred and threatened by the
impact of evil and is restored by the new creation in
Christ (Romans 3.23; 2 Corinthians 3.18; Ephesians
2.13-16). |
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Healing, reconciliation and
restoration are integral to the good news of Jesus Christ.
For this reason prayer for individuals, focused through
laying on of hands or anointing with oil, has a proper
place within the public prayer of the Church. God's
gracious activity of healing is to be seen both as part of
the proclaiming of the good news and as an outworking of
the presence of the Spirit in the life of the Church. |
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Such prayer needs to be
sensitive to a number of simplifications or
misunderstandings. It should not imply a simple link
between sickness and sin; Jesus himself warned against the
direct association of disability and sin (John 9.3). The
receiving of forgiveness and the act of forgiving others
may open the way to healing and wholeness. Prayer for
healing and strengthening should not involve the rejection
of the skills and activity of medicine which are also part
of God's faithfulness to creation (cf Ecclesiasticus
38.9-12; Psalm 147.3). Prayer for healing needs to take
seriously the way in which individual sickness and
vulnerability are often the result of injustice and social
oppression. Equally importantly such prayer should not
imply that the restoration of physical wholeness is the
only way in which Christ meets human need. Healing
has always to be seen against the background of the
continuing anguish of an alienated world and the hidden
work of the Holy Spirit bringing God's new order to birth.
It is a way of partaking in God's new life that will not be
complete until it includes the whole creation and the
destruction of death itself. |
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¶
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Introductory Note |
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These forms of service are
intended to recognize the links between prayer for healing
and the wider celebration in the Church of
reconciliation and renewal in the gospel of Jesus
Christ. |
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The first is a service most
suitable for a diocesan or deanery occasion. |
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The second, the Laying on of Hands with
Prayer and Anointing at a Celebration of Holy
Communion, is intended for occasional use, when
appropriate, as part of the regular liturgical life of a
parish. |
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The third, Prayer for Individuals in Public
Worship, is primarily intended for use in churches where
such prayer for individuals is a regular feature of
Sunday worship. |
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The fourth, Ministry to the Sick, is
intended for use in the sickroom, whether in hospital or at
home. |
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The fifth comprises prayers for protection
and peace for use with or by individuals at
need. |
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Those who come for prayer with
Laying on of Hands and/or Anointing should make careful
preparation. They may receive the Laying on of Hands on
behalf of others who are not present as well as for
themselves. |
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Where prayer is offered for
those who will minister to others, this should be
seen as prayer for the grace and discernment of the Holy
Spirit, as well as prayer for healing. All who minister to
others in need should have careful regard for the duty of
confidentiality which this privilege brings. As part of
their preparation, those who minister need to be ready to
recognize where specialist skills may be
required. |
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If a need for a more particular
ministry of exorcism or deliverance is perceived,
then the bishop's instructions should be followed and his
authorized advisor consulted. |
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