From Hurt to Healing

From Hurt to Healing
On Wednesday, we will begin our Lenten journey with Jesus…Our theme for Lent this year will be “From Hurt to Healing.” I was sharing recently about this series with a friend of mine when she stopped me and said, “Wait a minute…You’re not Catholic…You do Lent?” She then spent a good 15 minutes trying to convince me that Lent was something that only Roman Catholics practice. Now, some of you may be thinking yourselves… “Yeah, we do Lent too?” Yes, Lent is a part of the Christian journey and no one denomination holds control over this practice. Now, one of the reasons that many people think that only the Roman Catholic Church practices Lent is because there are many rituals & symbols…And one of the things that our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers do very well is remember the rituals & symbols of the Church. This is something that we can certainly learn from and help us in our practice and understanding of faith…
So, what is Lent? Lent is the season in the church preparing for Easter. It is the 40 day season beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter. These 40 days do not count Sundays, as Sundays are recognized as “mini-Easters” or reminders of the hope that we know that we have through Jesus’ death & resurrection. Ash Wednesday & Easter Sunday bookend this season nicely as we are reminded on Ash Wednesday that we are indeed mortal beings and we were formed from dust and to dust we will return—ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Easter brings us through that journey as we remember and celebrate that Jesus has been raised from the dead and therefore, Jesus defeated death. What happens throughout these 40 days is joining Jesus on that journey.
Jesus’ journey ultimately culminates as Jesus is nailed to the cross and crucified and then Jesus does what no one thought was possible, Jesus rises from the dead—Jesus has been resurrected…But we can’t jump too far ahead here…because we need to make the journey before we can jump to the end. Just as Jesus’ journey ultimately takes him to resurrection, our journey this Lent will take us from hurt to healing.
I want to share a little bit about this series and how it came to be. Honestly, God and I have been arguing about this series for a couple years now. It’s been ruminating and forming for couple years as I’ve experienced the life of the Sheridan-Norway United Methodist Churches. I’ve spent a lot of time in churches and if there’s nothing else that churches share in common it’s that they are full of hurting people. The congregations of Sheridan & Norway are not different. As I’ve been here, I’ve heard some of these stories from you in private conversations and visits. And there are some of these stories that even those that you have known for years don’t even know. That’s what this series is about. Making that journey through our hurts to healing. For some these hurts are huge and will take more than 40 days to work through…There may be some of you who have experienced hurts that some can’t even begin to imagine…Some of you may have been abused, raped, attacked, been through tragic accidents, or some other deep hurt. These hurts are significant and not something to be dismissed or for you to be made to feel you just need to get over…Hopefully this journey will give you some of the tools that you need to confront these hurts and make the journey to healing…Now that is also not to say that those who may not have experienced hurts like that have not experienced hurts or pain. Each person’s hurts no matter what has happened are significant to each person and something to be addressed in order to make the journey to healing.
This series will address not only those of us who have been hurt or who have hurts, which will be most people, but also those who have hurt others. For those of us who have become offenders and have hurt other people…Because the truth is, we’re both people…victims & offenders…We’ll wrestle with those questions and struggles of what it means to be a victim & offender…
Our journey from Hurt to Healing will take us through a variety of emotions and ways to deal with them. We’ll begin by exploring shame and what it means to be ashamed; next we’ll explore guilt and the difference between guilt & shame and how to deal with both emotions; the third week of Lent we’ll work through anger—and try and understand the difference between guilt anger & shame anger; the 4th week of Lent, we’ll look at some responses to these emotions as we work through resistance & repentance; the 5th week of Lent, we’ll explore forgiveness—both being able to forgive and to ask forgiveness; the last week of Lent, we’ll look at justice & justification by faith which will ultimately lead us into healing & wholeness on Easter morning. Each of these topics are issues & questions & lessons that Jesus wrestled with & shared about during his life and we will make this journey with Jesus in mind.
For each week, there will be a time in our worship service together for physical acts to work through these emotions and hurts…sometimes it will be something that requires much action and others that requires some deep thinking. I would encourage you to engage in this during Lent. Be open to hearing from God as well as working through the hurts you have.
I said that this was has been a series that I’ve been arguing with God about for 2 years…I’ve heard God calling about this and I’ve ignored it…Until the call became so loud that I just couldn’t ignore it anymore. Why did I ignore it? Well, because I can’t ask you to do something that I’m not willing to do myself and I haven’t been willing to go on this journey. In preparation for this series, I’ve already begun the journey from hurt to healing and I’ve been taking an inventory of sorts of those things that have caused me pain and taking a look at how those hurts affect the way that I act and react. I fully understand that this is a journey that will be very difficult for some. It will take energy and focus and admitting some things that may be very difficult to admit. I understand completely. If you need to process through anything as we go along, I am happy to work with you on that…Or you may want to find a friend to talk through things with. However you choose to take this journey, know that you are not alone with it. There are others in the congregation who are journeying, I am journeying, and of course we join Jesus on this journey.
Whenever you go on a journey or a trip, you have to prepare by packing and getting directions and of course ultimately knowing where it is that you’re going! Well, that’s been all mapped out for us and the packing will be done next week. Next week, we will pack our suitcase of the burdens that will keep us from going on this journey. You may want to bring in an object or you may want to write some things down. Whatever it is that keeps you from going on this journey with Jesus…Maybe you’ve found something that helps with the hurts that you have—maybe you’ve turned to alcohol in order to mask the pain…Maybe you escape from the world through TV…Maybe you put on a happy face when you leave the house, but at home you are anything but happy…Whatever it is that keeps you from going on this journey, bring next week and we’ll place it in our suitcase in order to go on this journey.
Why is this series so important? Everyone has hurts that they have experienced—some that seem more difficult to others, but all are important because they are our hurts. Those hurts and that pain affects how we live our lives and how we treat others. For example: If you have constantly been left by people that you love, it may create a fear of abandonment in you and you no longer get close to anyone because they’re just going to leave anyway…Or someone with red hair may have done something to you and you are rude to all people with red hair…Sometimes our hurts so affect the way that we act that we become just like the person or people that hurt us.
Jesus died for both the victim & the offender….that’s part of the foolishness of the cross that Paul talks about in his letters. When Jesus was on the cross, he forgave the soldiers who put him there, because they didn’t know what they were doing…he forgave Peter who denied him 3 times…Jesus suffered and died and was ultimately resurrected. Jesus has taken this journey from hurt to healing…
Maybe this morning, you’re feeling like the leper from our Gospel lesson…Wanting to be made clean, to be made whole. The leper risked much by going to Jesus…The leper knew that he was declared unclean by the law…he was damaged goods…he was outside of all of society…and he cried out to Jesus, begging to be made clean…That’s where our journey begins—kneeling and begging Jesus to be made whole and to be healed…This was a huge risk for the leper because he knew just where he stood in society and he was not allowed to approach someone like Jesus—a rabbi? The Messiah? And yet at great risk to himself and to Jesus, he came…He came begging to be made whole…
And Jesus took great risk as well because as the leper begs him to be made whole, Jesus touches this leper’s hands…Jesus becomes unclean in order to make this leper whole…That’s what Jesus does for us as well—He is willing to become unclean for to make us whole…Jesus is willing and ready and able to take on our burdens and our hurts in order for us to be made whole. Are we willing to risk sharing those with Jesus? That’s a decision that each of us will have to make…I can tell you for me that some days are easier than others. There are times when I’m like the leper and I throw everything aside and I come to Jesus on my knees, begging to made whole…And then there are times when I want to come to Jesus for nothing more than a handshake and an acknowledgement…But Jesus wants us to come with reckless abandonment…to die to ourselves and the pains that we have and be raised with Christ and to be healed.
The leper poses a question to Jesus—do you choose to heal me? And Jesus answers, I do choose! That’s the answer that Jesus gives us as well…I do choose to make this journey with you, I do choose to make you whole, I do choose you! Jesus chose us, why don’t we put our full trust in Jesus?
So, this Lent let us journey with one another, with our friends & family, and with Jesus…Because Jesus chooses to make us whole…