walking and leaping

"Recently I heard part of a radio broadcast in which they were talking about an extended version of the placebo effect. Researchers pondering on differing outcomes for people diagnosed with similar illnesses found that when medical workers believed that recovery was likely and gave people optimistic diagnosis, they were more likely to recover than when they were pessimistic about the outcome for the individual.

The reading from Acts we have just heard follows on from the story of Peter healing a lame man. Many of us heard the story as children and remember singing about the man who went “walking and leaping and praising God.” Was it something like this version of the placebo effect that had happened for the man who Peter had healed? Was Peter the first to have faith that together with Jesus Christ he could encourage the man sufficiently for him to be able to walk? We do not know how this healing occurred only that it did. This is indeed good. It is another way in which people are healed. Many major advances have been made in health sciences by people who were disturbed about early deaths or suffering, pondered the situation and were enlightened.

Sometime it is passages from the Bible which disturb us. Then it is particularly good for us to ponder the passages prayerfully. It may take weeks, months or even years to come to an understanding of what God is saying, or not saying through these particular words. Meditation, contemplation and pondering are about waiting patiently for answers. It isn’t always easy to be patient when we are disturbed by something. We want answers immediately but we may not be ready for the answers.

It is arrogant of us to ever assume that we know what particular passages of Scripture mean without pondering all possible implications and may well lead to us sinning. It is up to each of us to ask questions such as who wrote this, to whom, in what circumstances and why? We can also ask, do the words mean the same today, what were the cultural understandings at that time, how did they see God and Jesus?

We have been gifted with the ability to contemplate and meditate, to think and to feel and to ponder. We have the privilege of being called “children of God”. Let these things be a blessing to us, to our relationship with and worship of God and to our relationship with others."

REv Julianne Parker

(for full sermon see sermons page)