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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