Hope Now: 27 Days to Peace, Healing, and Justiceনমুনা

Hope, peace and healing are "incarnational"

Jesus said, “When you enter a town and are welcomed ..." (Luke 10:8 NIV) The first step may sound too simple. They must arrive. They must show up first. I have come to realize that for most things in life, including ministry, you must show up.

It’s not more complicated than what Jesus did as recorded in John 1:14. John says the Word became flesh. The Word became incarnational. Jesus showed up. He broke into human history in a town called Bethlehem. That’s precisely what these disciples were to do: they were to enter a town. They were to show up.

Hope, peace and healing begin with us showing up.

Jesus said, “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you" (Luke 10:8 NIV). Showing up is the first step. What follows is to engage with the people you meet. There’s nothing quite like sharing a meal. Engaging new friends while sharing a meal provides opportunities for conversation and for getting to know one another. Showing up and engaging new friends opens the door for healing. Hope, peace and healing begin with engaging people you meet.

Jesus said, “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you" (Luke 10:9 NIV) Now, if the commissioning of the 72 were a movie, this is the part in the plot where you’d find a twist. As I read the passage in Luke 10, I was awakened by the fact that the harvest is plentiful. I saw the need for more workers, and I understood the need to pray and ask the Lord to send out workers. Then the Lord commissioned the 72 with specific instructions.

All seemed sequential and logical until I came to this section of the story. This is the part I didn’t expect in a commissioning of 36 teams of missionaries. The first half of this story seems to be about sharing the Gospel, making disciples and perhaps even starting churches if needed. But that’s not all the disciples were to do. In fact, more is said about healing than making disciples.

The disciples were sent to reverse the physical effects of evil with the power delegated to them. They were there to deliver hope and healing.

The word for healing in New Testament Greek is therapuo, meaning “therapy” or “process.” The word used in Luke 10:9 by Jesus lends itself to a process of healing rather than an instantaneous or miraculous healing.

Hope, peace and healing is a process. Serving comes before preaching. Healing comes before evangelism. Holistic ministry comes before church growth.

Questions for Reflection:

• How does healing open opportunities for sharing the good news?
• Have you ever experienced healing in your life or in the life of another person? If so, how did hope and peace emerge?