Leviticus 13:45-46 (RSV) 45 "The leper who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry, `Unclean, unclean.' 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp.
Mark 1:40-42 (NRSV) A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean
In Israel leprosy was the worst thing that could happen to you. You were declared unclean, and were forced to live among the stench, the resignation, and the hopeless suffering of other lepers. You were forced to wear a white shroud normally worn only by the dead. The leper who approached Jesus had been rejected by family and friends, and then it appeared that even God rejected him.
Leprosy reminds us that some pretty bad things can happen to us and the world can be a harsh place to live. The expectations at work can be unfair. Jobs can be deadly dull. Marriages become stale and just a shell of any real relationship. The tiny spot is malignant, there are bills to pay. In this harsh world, it is easy to develop a toxic faith, the assumption that God cannot or will not do anything about the harshness of life.
Jesus reached out His hand and touched the leper. He reached out through the stench, past the repulsive sight, past the taboos and all the advice telling Him to leave this man alone, and He touched him. Jesus touched him because the truth of God is a heart of compassion. You would not have known that just by looking at the man with leprosy. If that is all you saw, you might feel that God was unfair to let this happen. You might not have known this if you simply listened to what people were saying – stay away to protect yourself. That’s what everyone said. But everyone is not the truth of God. Jesus healed the man because the man left behind the resignation, the conclusion that said nothing could be done, the community who did not trust in God.
The leper gave Jesus the opportunity to heal him by kneeling, a sign of humility and willingness to receive whatever God chose to give. When kneeling is an act of the heart as well as knees we give God the opportunity to help us. The leper gave Jesus the opportunity to heal him by acknowledging the sovereign freedom that Jesus has, saying that Jesus has every right not to heal him if that is what Jesus chooses. If you will. Sometimes when we ask of God we ask like a drowning person, thrashing in water so hard for an answer that we resist any answer. But, here, there is no frantic thrashing in the water. There is simply openness and acceptance of whatever Jesus chooses to do. Jesus still seeks to touch us with the compassion of God, through another person or a moment of awareness. Give Jesus the opportunity to reach out and touch you with His compassion.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 13, 2000
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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