I pretty much can say this
with certainty that Estee Lauder wasn’t around 2000 years ago. And so probably at the time of Jesus, you
know they didn’t have all these skin creams and salves and all these spas and
all those beautiful places to keep us looking beautiful and keep our skin nice
and glowing and soft and everything.
Probably the leprosy that’s
talked about in the reading again tonight was more like probably psoriasis or
itchy scaliness. We always think of it
in terms of leprosy you know, Father Damien and the leper colonies where
fingers are falling off and it’s really a deep physical wound. So most likely it was something like that. A skin blemish. Maybe there were some scars or something or
pus on the body or the face, that type of and image. But whatever it might have been, in that
culture and society any type of physical illness or disease or sickness somehow
they in their minds said that’s because the person has sinned. And so they went through this elaborate
process of trying to bring them, the person back to the community. Because you had sinned then you were
ostracized, put outside the community.
Notice in the first reading,
if the person had this leprosy they had to go around shouting, “Unclean,
unclean” so that nobody would touch them in fear that they might catch the
blemish. So they were cast outside. The reading said they were outside the camp. Most likely it probably the town dump that
they had to dwell apart. So it really
was ostracizing them from the community.
And notice the man in the
gospel. He comes up to Jesus and says,
“If You will You can make me clean.” He
doesn’t ask to be cured. He asks to be
admitted back to the community. Not to
be ritually unclean. That’s why He tells
him then, “Go and show yourself to the priest”, that will be proof that you’re
welcome back to the community.
Notice too, Jesus, and
there’s a beautiful word there in the gospel, our English translation doesn’t
do it justice. Moved with pity, Jesus
stretched out his hand. Now go back to
the original text. Mark’s gospel is written in the Greek. And the word for moved with pity is a great
Greek word call splunknitzomai. You all
say that. Now say, “what am I
saying? Splunknitzomai in the Greek
means your whole self, it’s not just your mind, but everything within you, your
body, soul and spirit literally your bowels move with compassion. It really goes through you. I’m not taking about diarrhea okay? But in other words your whole body is moved
with care, with concern for this sick person.
That’s a much, much deeper understanding than saying, “He was moved with
pity.” It’s the heard, soul, the mind,
everything in Jesus felt for this person.
He stretched out His hand and He touched him. So even the physical gesture of touching this
man would render Jesus unclean. That’s
how they worked it. So this man had to
be ritually made clean, go to the priest, then he could come back to the
community.
The last two Sundays,
including today have all be talking about the healing stories of Jesus. What’s Mark trying to tell us. That Jesus is coming to announce the kingdom
of God and God’s kingdom is for all peoples, especially those who are
considered unclean, those who are outcasts, those who for whatever reasons have
been cut off, shamed, made to feel less than whole, unwelcome. God’s love is there for everybody and Jesus
comes to announce this kingdom. This
kingdom of God, this whole beautiful God surrounding love. No person is outside of God’s love and
healing touch. That’s the point of these
last three Sundays.
What does that mean for
us. I was thinking about it in this
way. You know probably everybody in this
church is going to suffer. Maybe you
have already. Physically, mentally,
spiritually, emotionally. Suffering is
part of our human condition is it not?
When suffering come to us in any of those ways a lot of different things
take place in our lives. It can overtake
us. It can separate us from those
closest to us because what happens so many times when we are suffering
physically, emotionally? People say who
are depressed, they don’t feel they’re worthy.
They perhaps feel ashamed. They
feel cut off. They feel like they can’t
socially be around other people. All
those things begin to do. We begin to
doubt our self-worth, our goodness, who I am.
Or perhaps we even say, “Why me God?
Why am I going through this pain, this hardship, this difficult?”
You know the spiritual
suffering of people wanting to get closer to God. When you go into the spiritual life sometimes
we can go through what we call a dryness, where you pray. You try to do all the right things and yet
God doesn’t seem anywhere present to you.
You don’t feel the presence of Jesus’ love and thoughtfulness
within. You just think why even do
it? What’s the reason? I’m getting nowhere. Any of the great mystic and the saints of the
church, Mother Teresa, have all gone through that spiritual dryness. It can last weeks, months, even years. So that’s when faith really is put to the
test. When we don’t feel it, yet we have
to trust God You’re love is there surrounding.
Many times too I’ve noted
when you see somebody who is sick, maybe it’s been an extended illness, and
those of us who are healthy, don’t you and I sometimes shun these people? We don’t feel comfortable around those who
are weak and vulnerable and sick and suffering.
Ever notice when you go into a hospital or to visit someone in a nursing
home. Especially sometimes in those
nursing homes, when you walk into them and you see all these older people
sitting their in those wheelchairs, and they’re just slumped over, and they’ve
got them strapped in so they don’t fall out on the floor. And you don’t know what to say. There isn’t anything you can do and you
almost feel like you’re out of place there.
So we avoid them don’t we.
Emotionally. Perhaps even
physically.
Sometimes too they are a
bother to us. It takes a lot of energy
doesn’t it to be with somebody who is sick and suffering? It takes a lot of energy sometimes just to
sit there and do nothing. Ever been
there? Sit there with somebody who is
sick. Or you’re in the hospital room and
they’re unconscious and you see the machines keeping them breathing. And after half and hour you feel drained. You begin to wonder, “Why am I even
here? Why go back, they don’t even know
if I was here or not.” Have you ever
been with someone who has Alzheimer’s?
They don’t even know who you are.
You might as well be the man in the moon. Yet you go.
What’s all this trying to
say. I believe this is what our gospel
is trying to say to all of us somehow.
We take the sufferings, the hardships, the pain, physical, emotional,
spiritual, mental. You link it up with
the cross of Jesus. That’s the only way
it begins to have some redeeming factor.
By itself it’s terrible but when you and I take that and we say, “Lord
Jesus, I need You to walk with me. You
can make me clean. You can bring me your
strength. You can bring me some measure
of purpose to this. You can redeem it
for me. I give it to You and I entrust
it to You.”
It may not change externally
what’s going on but deep down in your heart and in your soul you will know that
the Lord Jesus is present with you.
That’s why the idea of the
image in the gospel of Jesus touching is so important.
I remember two or three
months ago going up to Unity Hospital to anoint a man that the family thought
was dying. He was unconscious. And as the family gathered around I told them,
I said, “Okay, now all of you lay your hands on your husband, on your dad. Touch him.
Let him know, even maybe he can’t respond, he can sense your touch. I’ll do the anointing with oil, I’ll say the
prayers but you touch him.” I got back
home. Less than two hours after I got
back home the wife called and said, “He woke up. The doctors don’t know what’s going on.” The man is today walking around. Not because of me but because of the power of
Jesus and because of the love and the concern of those who touched him with
their love.
So that brings it back to us
tonight. Wherever you go tonight and
throughout this week, whether it be someone who is suffering from cancer or
just a cold, or someone who is going through depression, or someone who needs
someone to talk to, someone who’s lonely or afraid or frightened, no matter
their age or whatever is going on in their life, you and I can touch them with
Jesus’ gentle love. Sit with them. Hold their hand. Laugh with them. Cry with them. Be just as vulnerable as they are and there
will be a bond that will come and the unspokeness of it, by your presence
something wonderful will happen.
That I think for you and for
me is taking all these gospel readings and you and I then may be the only
gospel that somebody will read, because you and I will bring Jesus in His
healing love.