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Living whole and healthy is the theme for our reflection. To be whole means to be physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually complete. To be healthy means to be free of disease or not showing or displaying any clinical signs of disease or infection. Jesus offered a holistic ministry to those who believed Him. In today’s Scripture reading, Matthew 8:1-13, we realise that there is no disease or physical condition that Jesus cannot cure. He cleansed a man suffering from leprosy and healed another who had been paralysed. In both scenarios, Jesus had made them whole and healthy again. The man who was cleansed of leprosy was separated from society because he was not whole and healthy. In Jewish culture, a person who suffered from leprosy was seen as unclean, therefore, he or she was separated from the community. There is a ritual and a process to ascertain that a person has truly been cleansed before he or she is considered clean, whole and healthy to be readmitted into the community. It is, for this reason, Jesus said to the man he cleansed from leprosy that “…go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Matthew 8:4. Jesus told the man to go through the ritual as prescribed by Moses Leviticus 14:1-32. The other man who was healed from paralysis, was a servant of a centurion who was a Roman soldier, therefore, he was not affected by any Jews laws. We are going to identify two important but interrelated factors that we need to know and practice in living whole and healthy.

Beloved in the Lord, the two important but interrelated factors needed for living whole and healthy are faith and action. Hebrew 11:1 defines faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1). Both the man with leprosy and the centurion approached Jesus with confidence in the hope that He will be the solution to their problems. They approached Jesus with the assurance that He will be the solution to their predicaments. Dear friend, apart from having faith in Jesus, their faith pushed them into action. The man with leprosy had faith and as a result, he took the action of coming to Jesus. In fact, we are told he “came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2). Because of his faith in Jesus and his action, “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. (Matthew 8:3) Similarly, the faith of the centurion made him take action on behalf of his servant. He came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. (Matthew 8:5-8). Jesus commended his faith and the servant of the centurion was healed. Dear friend in Christ, Faith is proven through action. Unfortunately, many of us Christians claim to have faith in Jesus but our actions do not draw us close to Jesus. Our faith is only in speech but not backed by action. Both the man with leprosy and the centurion did not sit down hopelessly, but out of their faith in Jesus, they took the action of coming to Him. If your faith does not draw you close or enable you to come to Jesus then you are likely to remain incomplete and unhealthy. If your faith does not compel you to pray and fast then you are yet serious about living whole and healthy. Faith and action towards living whole and healthy means coming to Jesus through prayer and the knowledge of His word through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Faith and action mean going to the hospital when you are sick, taking your drugs and most importantly trusting Jesus to make you whole and healthy through the power of the Holy Spirit. We experience His touch of healing when we put our faith and take the action of coming to Him.

Jesus summarised faith and action for a believer who desires to live a life of wholeness and health when He said that “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8). To help us better understand Matthew 7:7-8, let us illustrate with the following examples. For instance, if you are sick, faith is believing that Jesus will heal you and the actions are asking for healing through prayer, seeking healing by going to the hospital to be diagnosed and given a prescription by the Doctor, knocking is continuously taking your medicine and then finally the Lord will open the door of healing. Yes, it is possible for the Lord to heal you even at the first state of asking through prayer. All the same, your faith must produce an action of faith. Another example, Faith, trusting in Jesus for a job, action is asking through prayer, seeking is going around knocking at the door of prospective employers with your application and then the Lord will open the door of employment. Conversely, you will not find a job if you only have faith but sit at home or continually roam in prayer camps without roaming in town and going from office to office to drop your curriculum vitae or browsing through the internet to search for a job. One of the key problems of most African Christians is that we dwell on faith without action and expect results. The Lord is ready to touch us but He expects us to believe in Him and then take a step of faith in that in that area of our lives that we desire to experience wholeness and health. Shalom.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith and help us to always take a step of faith in living whole and healthy. Amen.