A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. Mark 1:40-45
40 days of Lent - about a loving God
Who are the players of this story . . . . .
Jesus, Leper, others around - Who are you in this story?
Have you ever been the leper? I was once the outcast
Grade school - age 12 first prayer
Jr. high school
Never cool
Everyone wants to be accepted - everyone wants to be loved
If there is a good thing about feeling this way - it makes you call out to God
What is the crowd doing in this story?
When the leper comes up, they give him a wide berth
Later in life I played the role of the crowd
Yucky he is touching a leper
I once stayed away from non Christians . . . . I was better than they were
I once kept my distance from those who did not believe just as I did . . . .they were misguided
When religious behavior gets in the way of spirituality, all sorts of bad things can happen - people can get hurt.
The family that came to the church for help the day that we were raising the trusses on the fellowship hall . . . .
Yucky he is touching a leper
One role that I really want to play in this story is the role of Jesus
I would like to have the compassion of Jesus
I would like to be the one who reaches out to the leper
God loves the marginalized
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us of this in his teaching
The good neighbor looks beyond the external conditions and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers . . . . .
Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity, It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the
true . . . . .
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King Jr.
But Pastor Jeff, I don't hate the lepers, I just don't want to touch them.
O that will work . . . ..
How about that cup of cold water thing . . . . . "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Mt. 10:42
Mission to Texas . . . . . poured concrete at a mission for the poor from across the border. Never met them, never touched them. Went into Mexico to sing at their churches. Never touched them, never got to know them
Religious behavior, but not spiritual behavior
Sometimes people need more than singing and concrete pouring
Something happens when we touch people
Jesus loved the marginalized
Luke 4
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went in to the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Proclaiming the gospel . . . . this day it is fulfilled in your ears
Proclaiming the gospel is not just about listing the path of salvation, it is not about telling, it is about showing the path of salvation in how we treat one another
If you want people to come to Jesus, you have to touch the lepers
If we are not willing to touch the lepers
This faith does not work. We are only fooling ourselves
Who are the lepers in your life?
The 104 acres behind us is for sale . . . . aids hospice and section 8 housing are going in. What will you do? Take pews out in the back two rows
Went to a district event last weekend
Jeff the pony tail man who led music at the conference in Marshfield.
Signs signs everywhere a sign
And the sign said "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said "You look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do"
So I took off my hat, I said "Imagine that. Huh! Me workin' for you!"
Who are the lepers in your life . . . .
In Westport, Jamaica, Liberia, in the Lees Summit hope house, at Spofford,
Maybe the person next door
Maybe someone that you just don't have time for
Maybe you don't know because you are only hanging out with the beautiful
If you want people to come to Jesus, you have to touch the lepers
Another tack on this story
The biggest healing is not that the leprosy is gone, it is the change that takes place in the life of the man . . . . he becomes a person of faith . . . .
The leper cannot contain himself, he tells others about Jesus in a way that others just want to come to him. When God gets a hold of a person, they cannot contain the joy. They tell everyone, and people want to know the source of the life change.
Is there leprosy in your life?
Is there something that is tearing you apart?
Reach out for Jesus, he is reaching out for you
He doesn't fix every earthly problem
But he can heal a broken heart and he alone can satisfy your soul.
Jesus can make you whole - reach out and touch him
Lets pray
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