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Sunday, May 25, 2014

“Hello My Name is…Yahweh Ropheka… (The Lord Who Heals)”

May 25, 2014
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Sermon Series on “The Names of God”
Sermon 20 of series-
“The Sacred Names of God: Yahweh Ropheka”
1 Peter 3:13-22 Common English Bible (CEB)
Acts 17:22-31 Common English Bible (CEB)
Sirach 34:19-20 Common English Bible (CEB)
  (2011-09-01). Names of God Bible (with direct verse lookup),
The (p. 100). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.


Let us pray… (Pray for God’s illumination of our hearts, minds and souls.)
The Lord’s eyes
are upon those who love him.
    The Lord is a powerful shield,
    a strong support,
    a shelter from the heat,
    a shade from the midday sun,
    a guard against stumbling,
    and a help against falling;
one who lifts up the spirit,
    one who gives light to the eyes,
    and one who gives healing
    for life and blessing.
(Sirach 34:19-20)
As we continue our journey of learning about and praying in the Sacred Names of God, we have come to a name we, as people of God, have prayed in so many situations throughout time and space. This name is close to the “broken hearted”. It is a name that gives you another glimpse of who our Multi-Faceted God is. It is the name Yahweh Ropheka…the Lord who Heals…

The Names of God Bible tells us that:
“The Hebrew word rophe means “heal,”“cure,”“restore,” or “make whole.” Shortly after his people left Egypt for the Promised Land, God revealed himself as Yahweh Ropheka, the LORD Who Heals. The Hebrew Scriptures indicate that God is the source of all healing.
The verb from which rophe is derived occurs sixty-seven times in the Old Testament. Though it often refers to physical healing, it usually has a larger meaning as well, involving the entire person. Rather than merely healing the body, Yahweh Ropheka (yah-WEH ro-FEH-ka) heals the mind and soul as well.
The New Testament reveals Jesus as the Great Physician, the healer of body and soul, whose miracles point to the kingdom of God. According to Jesus, sickness is not necessarily caused by sin on the part of the person who is ill. Rather, it can result from living in a sinful, fallen world.”
Throughout the bible we hear of God’s healing power of both body and soul. The LORD Provided Manna and Quails for the Israelites to Eat soul that their hungry bodies would be healed of that hunger… The LORD Provides Water for the Israelites from a Rock so that their thirst could be healed by cool water in the desert…The LORD Provides Healing for all of humanity through His Son, Lord Jesus Christ so that humanity’s body and soul would be fed and healed of sin… It is this healing from God that we proclaim to the world. Yahweh Ropheka is the healer of all of our ailments…He is the healer of what we cannot go to a physician to be healed of…we need the Great Physician to heal us from our sin. It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we are healed. So…what do we do with this joyous news? What do we do now that we have been prescribed with the right medication for our souls? 

The 1st Peter I read this morning gives us a view of what we should do with this information. It tells us how we can obtain the prescription and how others can do the same. This healing not only heals us from sin but also brings us closer to God than we can do on our own. It tells us that we should share this Good News with others, especially when they ask about the joy we have. But it also tells us that we shouldn’t try to “beat them over the head with the truth” as some do but to do so in respectful humility. We need to share the truth in love. There may also be times when we suffer because we are so “on fire for the Lord”. You know those times when our family may not talk to us because they think we are “holy rollers”…those times when people may call us “Jesus freaks”…those times when people may talk bad about us because we are so dedicated to the Gospel of truth, God and our Savior… We can’t let that stop us. We need to even be glad about it. God cared so much about humanity’s health that Jesus even went and preached the Gospel to those in prison…in Sheol.

We need to make God known to all those around us. Paul spent his life devoted to making God…Yahweh Ropheka…the Great Physician… known after his conversion on the road to Damascus. Let me read one of those account to you. It is found in Acts 17 verses 22-31. Paul was a very bold and wise speaker. Listen to what he had to say to the people of Athens…
Acts 17:22-31 Common English Bible (CEB)
“22 Paul stood up in the middle of the council on Mars Hill and said, “People of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. 23 As I was walking through town and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown God.’ What you worship as unknown, I now proclaim to you. 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples made with human hands. 25 Nor is God served by human hands, as though he needed something, since he is the one who gives life, breath, and everything else. 26 From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God made the nations so they would seek him, perhaps even reach out to him and find him. In fact, God isn’t far away from any of us. 28 In God we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29 “Therefore, as God’s offspring, we have no need to imagine that the divine being is like a gold, silver, or stone image made by human skill and thought. 30 God overlooks ignorance of these things in times past, but now directs everyone everywhere to change their hearts and lives. 31 This is because God has set a day when he intends to judge the world justly by a man he has appointed. God has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.””

The altar to an unknown God that Paul saw in Athens shows the plight of the pagans…and some people who call themselves Christians today. They have an idea of who God is but they have no experience of who God is. We, as a church, need to reveal the way that the world might come to a personal relationship…to personally come to know God, through His Son, Lord Jesus Christ.

You see the world…the non-Christian…humanity…worships some unknown god. It may be power and position that they worship. It may be possessions that they worship. It is anything other than the God of our salvation. Yet within our hearts we really we want to know God. We want to be healed of our infirmities that our worldly god just can’t heal us from. It is within and through our risen Lord that we come to know the unknown God. The prescription that we need is to repent of our sins and trust in the Living Christ.

We live in a world that is broken and torn. We live in a world that is full of open wounds that need to be healed. God uses us to be that healing balm that the world needs. But in order to be that conduit of healing we need to be willing to be and to go where God wants us to be and go. Yahweh Ropheka is looking for a few good men and women who are bold enough to take on the task of healing and restoration in His name. Yahweh Ropheka…our Great Physician…wants us to share our witness to those who are hurting and need a healing in their lives…to tell them that their unknown god is revealed in Christ. Yahweh Ropheka…our Great Physician…wants us to make Him known through our words and actions, giving healing and restoration to those who are in need. Yahweh Ropheka…our Great Physician…wants us to understand that Christ will make himself known to us through the Holy Spirit…giving us the boldness of Paul to share the Good News…the power of Peter to proclaim the gospel of peace.

How will you answer the call to action and healing? How will we become that healing balm? Where is there a need for healing in our lives and in the lives of those around us? Perhaps…as we look inside…we can find healing and restoration for our souls. Maybe, just maybe, as we are healed we can spread that healing save with those around us. Then…maybe then…we will have healing and wholeness as a people and as a nation. But it begins with you and me…
Let us pray…
Yahweh Ropheka, the LORD who heals me, the Great Physician, we want to experience your healing grace in our body and our soul. Please work in us and through us. As you heal us, please let us glorify you by bringing the knowledge of your healing power to those in need. Increase our faith and show us how to pray. Embolden us, by Your Spirit, to put our faith to work by praying for others so that they have healing in their souls and body’s. May your name be lifted up throughout the world as people come to know Your love and healing power by our prayers of healing.

Amen!

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