Morning, everyone.
My thanks to Tommy, to you, Dan, Lisa, Deborah, for having me.
My thanks to all of you for letting me join you.
I realized this morning that this is the first time in over a year
that I've actually been in an in-person service.
So it's really great, actually. It feels very special.
And I've been thinking a lot about what it is that I get to do here,
what I get to experience here when gathered with people in person
that you can't do on Zoom.
And so I'm very excited to be here this morning.
For our passage this morning, I think it's important to start with the big picture.
So for those of you who attended the Easter vigil service of last weekend here
or at another church,
that service highlights God's loving pursuit of us over and over again.
The readings from Genesis and Exodus remind us
of God's great acts of creation and recreation,
that God makes all things new,
even when sin and the forces of evil do their worst.
The readings from Ezekiel remind us
that God's salvation is so beyond our imagination
that even what is dead beyond dead can be made alive.
We can be reborn and given new hearts.
The readings from Isaiah and Zephaniah remind us
that God's intention to dwell closely and intimately with his people,
as at the beginning in the garden,
that with the people he loves, created, and redeemed,
will not be thwarted.
The reading from Genesis about Abraham going to sacrifice his son
points to God's son dying for us.
All things made through Jesus will be made new through Jesus.
And so when Jesus came onto the scene and began his ministry,
he came into this long history of deep and powerful experiences with God,
experiences that had created clear expectations of salvation
and deliverance among the people of Israel.
And the world Jesus came into was one where his country was occupied by foreign invaders.
It was a world of food insecurity, of violence, heavy taxation,
and of rigid class layers.
Oppression and injustice worked in lots of different directions.
And it made the people groan.
And the whole nation waited eagerly for the long-awaited Messiah.
Jesus' whole ministry was everything everyone dreamed of, longed for, and hoped for,
but nothing what so many expected.
Jesus was a king coming to bring a new creation, a renewing of all things.
Wherever the king was, the kingdom came too.
Everything, everything Jesus said and did had transformative impact.
The kingdom came in direct and unflinching conflict with the kingdom of darkness,
evident in the forgiveness of sin, the healing of people,
the raising of the dead, and the driving out of demons.
The kingdom came in power against darkness,
but came in gentleness for us,
setting us free and restoring us to close relationship to God again.
God's shepherd was stopping at nothing
until every last sheep was back in his arms.
Our passage this morning slows down the speed of this narrative
and zooms in on one moment in the ministry of Jesus.
This moment is one of a few moments that Mark shares in the first part of his gospel
to show that Jesus is bringing the kingdom on earth and in real time.
Jesus calls his first disciples.
He heals a man with an unclean spirit right in the middle of a church service.
He heals Peter's mother-in-law,
then heals the rest of the city's worth of people who are sick or oppressed by the demonic.
And then after healing the man with leprosy,
he goes on to forgive the sin of a man with paralysis
and heals him so he can walk home.
The kingdom is arrived.
So I want to look at a few things in this particular moment
that Jesus has with the man with leprosy.
In particular, I want to look at the man,
I want to look at what we can learn about Jesus,
and I want to look at the healing that the man received.
So I want to start with a story.
I realized as I was writing this,
this is over 20 years ago,
which I can't believe.
But over 20 years ago,
my wife and I lived and worked in Nepal,
and we were on one of these treacherous bus rides
from Pohra, where we live,
to the capital, Kathmandu.
And we stopped at a rest stop
where everyone was to get off
and buy refreshments
and use this ferocious bathroom.
And we bought our refreshments,
and we turned around,
and there was this young guy standing in front of us
with a very advanced case of leprosy.
I'd never seen this before in my life.
I didn't know much about leprosy.
I didn't know it was called Hansen's disease.
I didn't know anything about how it was transmitted.
But he was standing there,
and it was very difficult for me to look at him.
He was very, very disfigured.
I'd never seen anything like it.
And he kept turning and spitting,
which freaked me out every time,
because I thought,
I'm going to get leprosy.
Of course, you can't get leprosy like that.
But I didn't know this.
It was an overwhelming experience.
What I did know,
and I knew enough about his status
as a person with leprosy in Nepal,
that he was feared,
that he was an outcast,
rejected by his family and his community,
pitied by some,
and by others assumed
to be under some kind of divine judgment.
In the Nepali context,
it would have been bad karma,
payback for something he did in a past life.
So some would have thought he deserved this.
But it wasn't just his physical deformity
that struck me.
It was that he carried about him
the sense of,
I know what I am.
I know I am hideous.
I know I am this thing.
And I know how you feel about me,
just looking at me.
Unfortunately, I felt it was hard.
And when I read this passage,
I realized that this would have been the same
for the man with leprosy
that Jesus encountered.
And in addition to all the unsightliness
of the effects of the disease on him,
the law,
in particular Leviticus 13,
required a person with leprosy
to let their hair hang loose
and not cover their head,
and to cover over any facial hair
as signs of mourning.
And they were,
on top of it all,
whenever they came close to other people,
call out,
unclean, unclean,
to announce that they were coming
and they were unclean
so that people would be aware.
They were to wear these Old Testament
signs of mourning
because they were considered
ritually dead.
That is, cut off from the life
and practice of Israel's worship.
And, in effect,
cut off from God.
And they had to keep calling out
this stigmatizing label
every time they came close
to other people.
People with leprosy
had, by law,
to live away from others
outside of towns and villages.
They couldn't work
and they were dependent
on the charity of others.
There was a great deal of shame
with leprosy,
which went way deeper than
I've done something wrong
to a sense of
I am inherently wrong.
There is something wrong with me.
That's what shame says.
So the man who came to Jesus
with his disease
and all the woundings
of rejection,
shame,
and isolation
came with that
and every sense
that he was cut off from God
in an irreparable way.
The man comes on his knees
and he implores Jesus to help.
But I want you to notice
what he says.
He says,
If you will,
you can make me clean.
The man knew
that Jesus had the power.
He had the ability
to heal him,
to take away his disease
no matter how badly
it had eaten into his body.
But he wasn't sure
that Jesus was willing.
If Jesus is the man of God
that everybody says he is,
then surely
he would not want to do
something like this
for a leper,
someone who is unclean.
The man had faith
that Jesus could,
but not that Jesus would.
And yet,
he came with whatever faith
he did have
and he came with desperation.
The next thing we read
in this passage
is things that Mark tells us
about Jesus
and his response.
And we learn a lot
about what Jesus is like.
And it's worth focusing
on three particular things.
What Jesus felt,
what he did,
and then what he said.
So what did Jesus feel?
It's the first thing
that Mark describes.
Compassion.
The ESV uses the word pity.
Jesus' response
to the man with leprosy
in front of him
with all his disease
is a visceral,
heart-level,
overwhelming,
emotional love.
That's what compassion is.
We should hang on to this
because this is how Jesus feels
every time
for every one of us.
Jesus' actions.
The next thing Mark describes.
Jesus does the unimaginable.
He crosses
the social distance requirement,
maybe pun intended,
and he touches him.
His disciples,
like I freaked out,
would have entirely freaked out.
Jesus was doing
the unconscionable.
And according to the law,
anyone who touched
someone unclean
became themselves unclean.
But perfect love
and perfect holiness
are one and the same.
And when the Son of God
touches someone unclean,
the Son of God
doesn't become unclean,
but his touch,
the very touch of Jesus,
drives out uncleanness.
Jesus.
And then Jesus' words
with his hands on the man.
From that place
of overwhelming love,
Jesus speaks and says,
I will be clean.
These words are even more
striking in the Greek,
which are each
their own words.
Fellow,
katharisteti.
It's an emphatic,
intense expression.
Jesus' words
convey to the man
with an intensity.
He is willing.
You are worthy
of this healing.
I will do this.
And be clean.
Jesus is entirely
opposed to what's
happening to this man.
And he speaks
strong words
of newness
and life
and ultimately
new identity.
Mark reports
that the man
is healed immediately.
One of Mark's
favorite words.
The man's physical
condition is renewed.
His status of unclean
reversed
to that of clean.
The man no longer
had to wear signs
of mourning,
no longer had to
live away from others,
no longer had to
call out unclean
to announce himself
wherever he was,
and he was no longer
cut off from God.
He could return
to his family,
his community,
he could work again,
share meals,
and join with others
in gatherings
of worship.
Now Jesus tells
the man not to tell
anybody about this,
and for good reasons,
and that's probably
another sermon,
but the next part
is important.
Jesus tells the man
to go show
the priest
and to offer
for his cleansing
what the law,
Leviticus 15
specifically,
prescribes.
And this is not
just Jesus
upholding the law.
This is Jesus
using the established
practices
that would allow
a religious authority
to pronounce
his new cleanness,
his new identity,
his new restored status
within the community.
Adding to his
physical healing
was an emotional
and inner healing
from shame.
A social
and financial healing
as the man
re-entered
community life
and worship
and began
to work again.
So a couple
takeaways for us.
First,
what do we learn
about what Jesus
is like?
The way Jesus
felt towards
the man
in today's passage
is how he feels
about you
right now.
Whatever you have
done,
whatever has been
done to you,
whatever you feel
makes you
unacceptable
or even cut off
from God,
Jesus feels
an overwhelming
emotional love
for you
and you are not
cut off.
In fact,
when the man
encountered Jesus,
God the Son,
in all his disease
and all the shame,
he found he wasn't
actually cut off.
The Son of God
reached across
the barrier to him
with love
and touched him
and spoke those
words that healed
him and gave him
new life.
Second,
we all struggle
at some point
to believe that
God is able
or powerful enough
to handle the big
things that come
at us.
And we all struggle
at some point
to believe that
he is willing
to provide
or protect
or heal us.
And in this
passage today,
the moment
that Jesus has
with this man
shows us that
Jesus is both
able and
very willing
with an intensity
to do both,
to help us.
And lastly,
experiencing Jesus
like this is
something he passed
on to the rest
of us,
to his followers.
It's something
that should be
normal for us
as a church
and believers.
And this is
worth going after.
And I want to
encourage all of us
to keep coming
to Jesus
with whatever
faith we have,
with all our
desperation
and the rawness
of it
and seek him
and the newness
of life
that he wants
to give us.
Let me pray
for us.
Lord Jesus,
you know that
we are frail
and made of dust
and so much
of what can
come at us
in this life
that is hard
and dark,
that is broken,
unjust,
oppressive,
and evil
is more than
what we can
handle.
And we know
we need you.
Help us believe
that you are able,
that you're big
enough for it
and help us believe
that you want to,
that you're willing
to step in
and help.
Help us keep
showing up.
Help us keep
our hearts set
on this vision,
this picture of you
that you just long
to do for us
what we can't do
for ourselves
and give us
fullness of life
in every way.
So Lord,
in this season
of Easter
where we remember
and celebrate
your resurrection,
your victory
over death
and sin,
renew our faith,
deepen our faith,
and renew our
showing up to you
for the things
we need.
And we thank you.
Amen.