Bishop Michael Rinehart

Are any among you suffering? They should pray.
Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them,
anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up;
and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.

James 5:13-15

While rites of healing have long-standing use in the church which were continued in the churches of the Reformation, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) is the first Lutheran hymnal/service book to include a service for healing in the pew edition (ELW p. 276). The LCMS Lutheran Service Book (LSB) did the same. Why this new pattern? What is going on here? Are worship books pushing something into the congregations or vice-versa? 

I have watched with fascination how many congregations over the last ten years have been adding healing services either as a part of Sunday morning worship every once in a while, or as a separate service after worship or at a separate time. More and more congregations mention healing services in bulletins and newsletters. It seems the crafters of the hymnals were responding to something that the Spirit is already doing in the congregations. As Mark Strobel says, “Rites not only reflect what’s going on in the culture, they also shape the culture.”

But one still has to ask, Why? What is going on in our culture that these ancient rites are seeing such a strong grass-roots resurgence?

Healing rites became almost embarrassing in post-Enlightenment Western Christianity. They were perceived as superstitious vestiges of animism and magical religion, reminiscent of incantations. They all but disappeared. So why are they resurfacing now? 

Perhaps the rising cost of medical care and health insurance have caused us to think more holistically about healing. It may be that the increasingly impersonal way we deal with the end of life has caused us to yearn for a new definition of healing. Whatever it is, we seem to be returning to a more holistic understanding of salvation (which means wholeness), and reaching out for a more high-touch approach to faith and healing.

Let’s take a look at some practical then theological aspects of healing rites and ministries.

They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Mark 6:13

What do we put the oil in?

Taking oil to the hospital for rites of healing is best done in an oil stock. An oil stock is a small cylinder often with a ring attached, for slipping over the finger. Put cotton swab in it, along with some oil, screw the top on and you’re ready to go. A simple oil stock can be purchased for $25. One without a ring can be purchased of under $20. Almy carries a range of oil stocks that go up to $850.

Oil is often kept in cruet in the sacristy. You can take that along with you to the hospital (or the chancel), pouring a small amount of oil in your hand, however this may bot travel well, hence the stock. Oil is sometimes kept in simple one-dram oil vials for easy transporting.

Dip your thumb or forefinger in the oil and mark the sign of the cross on the forehead, laying on hands with prayer or a trinitarian blessing. Another option in worship is to get a small shell and put the oil in it. Impoverished Christian communities all over the world use oil for healing, baptism and confirmation without the benefit of expensive oil stocks. 

The important thing is that we offer the grace of God with the blessing of prayer, companionship, human touch, and compassion, as Jesus did and commanded his disciples to do.

When Jesus commanded his followers to heal the sick, he told them to not take money for it. Healing has been part of the Christian assembly since the very beginning. Not only is Jesus considered a healer, but also Peter and Paul.

The hospital visit is one of the basic tasks of the Christian community. In his apocalypse recorded in Matthew 25, Jesus commends the sheep on the right for, among other things, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger and visiting the sick. 

In some circumstances, anointing with oil and laying on of hands adds a tactile dimension to the hospital visit that can offer human touch, battle loneliness, and be an outward sign of an inward grace. 

The rhythm of the visit may be:

• Caring conversation
• Asking the sick (or his/her loved one) if they would like to be prayed for and anointed with oil
• Scripture
• Prayer
• Anointing
• The Lord’s Prayer
• More conversation

This visit should be simple and brief. In most cases, the sick need rest, so 30 minutes should usually be the maximum. 10-15 minutes is much better. A pastor or deacon may go alone, but it is much better if two or three can go, to bring a sense go the community wrapping around the sick. Some time for silent prayer is a good idea. The sole purpose of the visit is to facilitate a genuine encounter of the sick with the risen Christ.

ELW Pastoral Care designed to carry with you to the hospital. Are small as it is, the ultra-thin paper allows for its 576 pages. Even if you prefer to extemporize prayers, the many pages of thematically-arranged Scripture passages and prayers are an incredible resource. Additionally, there is a rite of Sending of Holy Communion for use in the assembly, and rites of Baptism and Holy Communion in emergencies or special circumstances. It includes Ministries at the time of death, including when life-sustaining care is ended. It has ministries at the time of death, including when life-sustaining care is ended. Marriage and other blessings are included. If you’re struggling for words, you can find thematically, arranged, prayers and scriptures or topics, such as organ or tissue, donation, anxiety, or apprehension, pregnancy, infertility, Adoption, foster care, missing person, military deployment, animals, and pets, missing persons what, sobriety, emergency, workers, loss of memory, mental illness, and much more. A Brief order for Healing can be found on page 136.

Name, in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ,

be strengthened and filled with God’s grace,

that you may know the healing power of the Spirit.

Amen.

ELW Occasional Services for the Assembly has 60 services and 200 prayers for worship. It is a larger edition that one would not need to haul off to the hospital. Like the ELW Leaders Ritual Edition for the altar, Occasional Services for the Assembly is large print for liturgical use. It has services I speak for welcome, farewell and Godspeed, anniversaries, installations, thanksgivings, chartering, leave-taking, dedication, debt retirement, opening and closing of an academic year, and blessings of hosts of things. A detail of the Service for Healing with ample rubrics begins on page 271, followed by many prayers and scriptures.

Receive this oil as a sign of forgiveness and healing in Jesus Christ.

Father in heaven, for Jesus’ sake,

send your Holy Spirit upon your servant, name;

drive away all sickness of body and spirit;

make whole that which is broken;

deliver her/him from the power of evil;

and preserve her/him in true faith,

to share in the power of Christ’s resurrection

and to serve you with all the saints now and evermore.

Amen.

OR

Name, I lay my hands upon you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

beseeching him to uphold you and fill you with his grace,

that you may know the healing power of his love. Amen.

OR

Name, I anoint you with oil in the Name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

I have found it important to stay for more conversation after praying and anointing with oil. The experience can have profound implications. The sick or the family may wish to talk about it. The Spirit works through these pastoral acts. Often the anointing itself generates an openness to new depths of conversation. While lingering can be a problem as stated above, neither can these visits be rushed. Read the room. They are an opportunity for koinonia, true Christian community to take place. They are an opportunity for the hospitalized and family to acknowledge of what is happening in their lives, to share with another, to have a genuine person-to-person encounter that addresses their deepest fears and loneliness. 

The Almighty Lord, who is a strong tower to all who put their trust in him, to whom all things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth bow and obey: Be now and evermore your defense, and make you know and feel that the only Name under heaven given for health and salvation is the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Who should anoint?

¹⁴Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

James 5:14

The Bible encourages the “elders of the church” to pray and anoint the sick with oil. The word here is presbyteros, which means elder. We’re not sure how the presbyters or elders functioned in the early church, but clearly the idea is that this should be done by trained church leaders. Why?

It may be hard to imagine, but an untrained can do emotional damage to a sick person. Thoughtless words can cut deeply, or just widen the gulf the sick feel between them and those who have no concept of what they are going through. It is vitally important that those who offer this ministry have some training. Without some reflection on the ministry of visitation and healing, comments like this could be (and have been) made:

• If you have enough faith, God will heal you.
• I know a guy that had that disease, but he died.
• God must have given this to you for a reason.
• God needed another angel in heaven.

Not everyone is gifted or called to this kind of ministry. Don’t think of your Congregation Council members as “elders.” They are leaders in the church, yes, but some have gifts of administration or leadership, and not necessarily help, service, compassion or exhortation.

One way to define elder or a deacon (servant) is someone with some experience and training in this kind of ministry in the church. Not a newcomer or recent convert to the church, however well-meaning, but someone who has been mentored in ministry. Someone who is mature. Jesus visited and healed the sick first, while the disciples watched. After some time of apprenticeship, he sent them out (Mark 6, Luke 10). 

The pastor is the best person to do the training, or to find the right people to do it. This is the pastor’s calling: to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4). The pastor is not called to just visit the sick, but to do so with an eye toward equipping others to do so. If we are not training others, we are not doing our job.

One of the best books out is Art Becker’s The Compassionate Visitor. Order it online and go through it with a small group of people who have passion and gifts for this ministry. Your local hospital chaplain may be a good resource as well.

In Houston, Community of Hope offers training for volunteer lay visitors (sometimes called chaplains) using the Rule of St. Benedict. Training is offered in 12 sessions, which includes prayer, spiritual reflection and practical training. Visit their website to find out more: https://www.christchurchcathedral.org/cohi/.

However you do it, just do it. Ministry to the sick and dying is not optional for the church. It is both a responsibility and a privilege. Those who care for the sick regularly will tell you: this ministry takes everything you have, and gives you immeasurable blessings in return.

Commendation of the Dying

Salvation is complex. It is not just physical; not just spiritual; not just emotional. It involves the whole person. Salvation is shalom: peace and wholeness. Healing is restoration of wholeness. The church offers care not cure.  Jesus offered healing to many of those he encountered. He even raised Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus. 

But Lazarus eventually died. Most likely, he died of a disease. All earthly healing of sickness is temporal. Our bodies heal time and time again, whether naturally or miraculously, but death is not cancelled, just postponed.

Mary anointed Jesus before his burial. The women went to the tomb on Easter with spices they had prepared, to anoint his body even after death. The ultimate healing is the promise of resurrection in Christ, not the temporary healing of today’s malady.

What Kind of Oil Should be Used?

Olive oil is the healing oil of choice in most communities throughout all of Christian history. Oil is important in antiquity, and today given that the price per barrel is going through the roof. In the first four centuries, oil was a drink. My grandparents considered castor oil or cod liver oil to have “healing” properties. Olive oil was also the light bulb of the day, used to fuel lamps.

Chrism (χρῖσμα, Greek for “anointing”) is a mixture of oil (often olive oil) and balsam (oily resin from various fragrant plants such as myrrh, frankincense, pine, cedar, etc.). The oil is blessed and used for healing, baptism, confirmation and commendation of the dying.

Why Oil in Baptism and Confirmation?

Being anointed with oil signifies being set apart for a special purpose. In the Hebrew Scriptures, prophets anointed kings and queens with oil at their coronation. They were being set apart as royalty. Prophets were anointed.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
 because he has anointed me
 to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
 and recovery of sight to the blind,
 to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Luke 4:18-19

In Holy Baptism we are set apart for a special purpose as well, God’s purposes.

The prophets also anointed priests. In baptism we are also made priests. 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…

I Peter 2:9

In Texas, an analogy that might be more appropriate is that of branding. In baptism we are marked with the sign of the cross on our foreheads as the pastor says:

Child of God, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.

To be oiled is to be christened. The oil is called “Chrism.” To be baptized is to put on Christ. To be confirmed is to commit ones life to Christ, to affirm ones baptism, and to place ones trust in the Christ, the anointed one, who calls us to be set apart for God’s purposes.

A Theology of Healing

The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.

James 5:15

This is a loaded passage. The use of the word save (sodzein) alone makes this an interesting passage. Salvation is associated with prayers for healing and laying on of hands. And forgiveness. And being “raised up.” These are challenging theological concepts that are worth some consideration.

In the early church there were basically three options for a sick person:

1. Magic
2. Miracle
3. Religion

The lines between these three were often blurred. Most early monasteries had herb gardens. In the New Testament Jesus used touch, prayer, mud, spittle, water, and oil. 

Jesus also tends to tell the sick that their sins are forgiven. This can be theologically problematic: What is the relationship between sin and sickness? Certainly we can’t deny that there is some relationship between illness and sin. A corporate chemist allows a known poisonous substance is in a product, but the company decides that the cost of lawsuits is less than the cost of pulling the product off the shelves. Sin can lead to disease. Behavior has consequences. 

But Jesus is very clear that the man is not blind because of anyone’s sin. Not all disease is the result of sin. For Jesus, sickness is not punishment for sin. When physical healing does not happen it does not mean that God has withdrawn all support. In fact, many people experience a heightened sense of God’s presence in illness. 

Christopher Grundman, a professor at Valparaiso Univeristy has two doctorates from Tübingen. He has served as a hospital chaplain in Caracas Venezuela, India, and Germany. He asks even tougher questions that we must confront: Modern medicine is a blessing. If modern medicine had not emerged from superstition, if it had not developed into the hard core science there would be much more suffering than there is today. Just consider anesthesia. Emancipating medicine from religion was an indispensable part of this development. So, do healing ministries take us back to the dark ages of magic and spells? Do we want to return to a day when incantations were the best remedy for what we would now call an appendicitis? 

In the Pentecostal tradition churches abroad use healing in as a means of church growth. There are 10,000 healing ministries in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1910 Mary Bakker Eddy was healed and Christian Science was born. When we deny disease and pain, valuable lives get sacrificed to the fanatical ignorance of so-called healers, who turn ministry into public entertainment – people determined to prove God right at any expense. A traditional Christian approach to the ministry of healing must be stripped of superstition on the one hand and of religious entrepreneurialism on the other.

Grundman offers us several principles to consider:

1. Healing is a universal phenomenon, not just Christian. It is a vital expression of life and living systems. It cannot be monopolized by either science or the church. Ergo, it is not a mark of the church. Not a sacrament.

2. All healing arts are prone to misconceptions and distortions. While superstition can attribute illness to the wrath of angry ancestor or the working of spirit, science may reduce the complex phenomenon of illness to a simple diagnosis: bacterial infection. Science can reduce life to nothing more than a functioning system. 

3. Healing is not a condition for salvation. Healing is a potential encounter with salvation (wholeness). Healing can become an encounter with God when the Gospel is proclaimed. A principle of incarnation is that salvation is incorporeal. Neo-Platonism encouraged spiritualism. Tertullian understood it differently. Caro cardo salutis: The body is the pivot of salvation. Salvation apart from the body is incomplete.

The more desperately sick people come to the church with expectations, the greater the danger of disappointment, depression and other maladies. A misunderstanding of our theology of healing can compound the problem. It is important that services of healing be accompanied by sermons that are sound theologically, and that proclaim the gospel of grace and eternal life.

People will wonder: What if nothing happens? Well, something will happen. It m not be what I want, but something will happen. The grace in healing is not about magical powers. It is about turning to God as the source of life and hope. It is recognizing our mortality, our utter dependence on God. It is an encounter with Truth. 

The cry of faith is the cry of grace. There is nothing in heaven or on earth that can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s love or approval. Illness is not a sign of God’s abandonment. But illness can cause us to turn with our entire being to the one who loves us with an everlasting love. 

Some History of Healing in the Christian Assembly

While James tells the sick to seek out the elders of the church to lay on hands and anoint with oil, he gives us no liturgy. We have no information from James or the early church to know about any specific rites or prayers that might have been used.

We only know it was happening. We do, however, have prayers for blessing of oil for anointing. Early writings say the anointing with oil should be used with those who have fever, are shivering, or who feel any need of wholeness in body, mind or spirit. 

There is growing evidence that there was widespread use of women as deacons for the anointing of the sick. But by the 8th century, the blessing of the oil is only an episcopal function of a nearly all-male clergy. By the 8th century, only bishops could bless oil. And only priests could anoint. Lutherans would ultimately reject this special “power” for a bishop. Any pastor is authorized to bless whatever needs to be blessed (set apart for a special purpose): oil, water, buildings, council members.

In the first four centuries many people were anointing with oil. Use of oil became very controlled by the 13th century. After the Carolingian reform of the 8th century, lay anointing was allowed, but only in emergencies. Because it is considered a sacrament conferring forgiveness of sins, in the Roman Catholic Church today, only priests are allowed to anoint with oil.

In the first four centuries, anyone who was sick was a candidate for anointing. From Pope Innocent I to the to the Scholastic Period (13th century) anointing was exclusively received by the dying. It became extreme unction. Last rites. Some have suggested that during the Plague, priests were anointing but people died anyway, which can be somewhat embarrassing, so the use of oil for the sick was curtailed. Anglican priest Lizette Larson-Miller says, “There was this piling up of the sacraments at the end of life.”

By 1519 Luther wrote A Sermon on Preparing to Die, encouraging the dying to confess, be absolved and receive the sacrament of extreme unction and die cheerfully. In 1519, Luther still held anointing with oil at the time of death in very high regard. He saw it as a “visible sign” and “promise” of the gospel. Later that year, in a letter to Spalatin, Luther decides there are three sacraments, Baptism, Communion and Penance.

The Council of Trent (1545-1563) affirmed that the Sacrament of Anointing was instituted by Christ and attested to by James. The person to anoint was the priest and only priest. There was a reform however, in that anointing was now not just for dying. It was to be made available to any sick, and it was repeatable.

Closing Thoughts

Today, and probably always, illness can be extremely isolating. It seems people don’t have time for the sick. At one conference, Martin Marty asked us the question, “What do I have to do today that is more important than visiting with my friend who is dying of cancer?”

Liturgy can make us feel less alone. We are drawn into community, a fleeting commodity these days. We experience touch. Music and architecture elevate us. Again Martin Marty: “Elevation is the service of the service.”

Good liturgy induces an altered form of consciousness. Illness does too. Liturgy can disrupt the everydayness of life. Silence is a liturgy of disruption.

Let us not abandon the opportunity to bring healing into people’s lives through liturgy. Let us offer the comfort of Christian community to those who are isolated by illness or hopelessness, that they may know God’s healing grace.