Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
Do You Want To Be Clean?
Mark 1:40-45 February 16, 2003
There is nothing like a hot shower after you’ve been working hard and are covered in dirt and
carrying a layer of sweat. The water, pounding on your body, is both refreshing and renewing.
You come out of that shower feeling like new. We’ve all had that experience and we know how
good it can be.
But do you know that for some people, taking a shower is a luxury. There are many places
around the world where either water is scarce or bathing is strictly limited.
In the poorest villages in Haiti, in order to take a bath, you have to use fetid, soiled water,
because there is no source of clean running water in the villages. As a result, a bath could mean
infection and even death. In regions of Africa the drought has been so bad that most people only
get a trickle of water to use at the most and it isn’t wasted on bathing.
You know, sometimes when you are so blessed, you just don’t understand what it is like to not
have something most of us consider a basic part of life. That is what this short Bible story is
about today. Its purpose is two fold. First it is a call for the sinner to come clean. And second,
it gives us an example of how we ought to minister to those around us.
The story begins with, "Now a leper came to him.
Now Leprosy is a horrible disease. It begins with little specks on the eyelids and on the palms of
the hands. It spreads over the body and bleaches the hair white. It covers the skin with scales &
oozing sores.
But that’s just what happens on the surface. Down under the skin, leprosy eats its way through
the nerves. And soon the victim loses all sense of touch and pain. So, a leper can’t feel anything.
That means , the leper feels no pain. Now that might sound nice, but it is absolutely horrible.
Because without the sense of touch, a person with leprosy eventually damages his toes, fingers,
and feet. He will bump into objects, cut himself, get infections -- and not even notice.
As leprosy advances, a leper doesn’t even look human. No fingers. No toes. Many of them blind.
Ulcerated growth all over their face. Nobody wants to get near them, nobody wants to touch
them. A leper becomes utterly repulsive -- both to himself and to others. And in Biblical days,
there was no cure. Once you contracted leprosy, your life was over.
In order to safeguard the community, the Old Testament sets forth some very strict instructions
regarding those who had the disease. It was considered the worst case on being unclean and as a
result the person could no longer engage in any form of regular life. They could not worship in
the temple. They could not go to their home. The book of Leviticus lays out strict rules for
lepers. It says in Levitivus 13:
'Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall
cover his mustache, and cry, ’Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the
sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the
camp.'
The leper dressed like a mourner going to a burial service and he had to constantly cry out,
'Unclean! Unclean!' so no one would get too close. So imagine that as this leper walked down the
street that day, he was shunned. Little children looked at him, got scared, and ran away. Older
children kept their distance by throwing rocks at him and making cutting remarks. Adults walked
on the other side of the street, shaking their heads in disgust or just looking away.
A leper had to live in exile from the mainstream of society. He was excluded from the sacrifices,
religious festivals and worship services. In many ways, he was not only separated from God’s
people; he was separated from God.
As I read about this leper in Mark 1, I wonder. How long has it been since someone has shaken
his hand, patted him on the back, put an arm around his waist, hugged him, touched his cheek,
wiped a tear from his eye, or kissed him? The truth is, all those things were merely a memory as
he lived in the leper colony in his cave.
But one day he heard that Jesus was in town. Jesus, the one claiming to be the Son of God. The
one who heals the sick, makes the lame walk, and opens the eyes of the blind. And so, the leper
comes to him, and our story begins.
The Bible tells us that Jesus doesn’t come to the leper -- the leper comes to Jesus. Remember
now, this was an absolute violation of well known and understood rules and regulations
concerning lepers. He was supposed to shout, "Unclean!" to keep Jesus away! But instead he
runs to Jesus. And Jesus does not run away like all the rest.
And then he says, ÒI want to be clean.Ó Not heal my disease. But make me clean! He’s saying,
ÒI know it is my unclean state that separates me from God and his people.Ó ÒI want to be clean!
Ó
Now, of course he wants physical healing. But becoming clean is much more than just becoming
healed! And so the leper begs him, pleads with him, saying, "If you are willing, you can make me
clean." His words tell us three things about this leper.
First of all, he knows he can’t heal himself or make himself clean. He probably has never even
heard of a leper being cured. For years he has lived with no hope at all. He’s absolutely helpless,
and he knows it.
Secondly, there is a faith in Christ’s power. He says, 'You can make me clean.' He believes with
all his heart that Jesus is the one person in all the world who can cleanse him. And notice it’s not
just, 'You can heal leprosy', but 'You can do it for me.'
Thirdly, there is a submission to God’s will. This leper says, 'If you will, you can make me clean.'
He had no idea if Jesus was willing or not. But his request showed a certain level of spiritual
maturity. No doubt this man desperately wanted to be clean. Yet he left it in the hands of the Son
of God. He makes no demands. And in fact he has no basis for his request, other than Jesus’
mercy and goodness.
And what was the response of Jesus to this man’s cry for help?
'Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him,
‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he
was cleansed.' (Mark 1:41)
Jesus granted the leper’s request. Not slowly or in stages over a number of days, but right then
and there the leprosy left him.
The amazing thing about this story is in how Jesus reacted to the man. It says Jesus was 'moved
with compassion.' It wasn’t just that Jesus looked at him and said, 'You need something, I’ve
got it. Come here. OK, now you’re better.' No, the word 'compassion' suggests a depth of
feeling. What that means is that Jesus hurt, when people around him hurt. It bothered him to see
people suffering and in need. It touched his heart when someone came to him and said, 'Please
help me.'
Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get beyond this point. I know it’s easy to say, 'Yes, Jesus
cared. Of course, he cared.' But don’t take it for granted. Think for a moment about the other
religious leaders of that day -- the Pharisees, the priests and Levites -- and how they were much
more concerned about being religious than they were about caring. In story of the Good
Samaritan, Jesus painted a picture of the typical attitude of his day.
But it’s not just his day. Think for a moment about us. Let’s be honest. It’s so easy not to care.
We see so much suffering, so much pain. And it’s easy, if we’re not careful, to build a shell and
shield ourselves from the suffering around us, to become hardened and callused. That’s one
thing Jesus refused to do.
The Hebrew writer talks about how significant that point is: 'For we do not have a High Priest
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The fact that Jesus cared about people while he was on this earth gives us the assurance that he
cares about us right now. And what was the result of Jesus’ touch? Verse 42: "Immediately the
leprosy left him and he was cleansed."
Notice that there are two results: Jesus healed the disease and he cleansed the leper. He healed
him -- that’s physical. And he was cleansed -- that’s spiritual. This man wanted to worship God,
and Jesus gave him the ability to do that. He wanted to be a part of God’s people, and Jesus gave
him that. He wanted to be able to touch others, to have a close relationship with the people of
God, and Jesus made that possible.
You know, we talk a lot about being the body of Christ. And here is where theology meets
practice. It begin when we come to Jesus like the leper and ask him to make us clean. This
morning we witnessed the beautiful profession of faith and baptism of two of our friends. Zelda
and David are truly beginning a deeper walk with our Lord this morning. They went into the
waters and ask Jesus to clean them inside and out and they came out of the water a new
creation. And the rest of us, even as we watched, asked Jesus to renew our own baptismal
vows. We asked him to shower us afresh with his spirit. And we can do that, and know we are
clean because John tells us so, He says
'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.' (I John 1:9).
Jesus still has the power to cleanse and then send us out as his body. And what does he send us
out to do. He sends us out with his compassion to reach out to those in need. To touch peoples
lives and bring them home so they too can be clean.
We may not know any lepers, but we do know people who are lost and forgotten. We know
people who have been engaged in sin and are far from God. We know people who are
stigmatized and feel God doesn’t care about them anymore. People who have been hurt by cruel
and painful prejudices. And we are sent out to share his love and invite them to be cleaned.
It begins with us, and then moves out into the world. What do you say. Are you ready? Then
let Christ come in and clean you up so he can send you out. Amen. Let us pray:
Mark 1:40-45 February 16, 2003
There is nothing like a hot shower after you’ve been working hard and are covered in dirt and
carrying a layer of sweat. The water, pounding on your body, is both refreshing and renewing.
You come out of that shower feeling like new. We’ve all had that experience and we know how
good it can be.
But do you know that for some people, taking a shower is a luxury. There are many places
around the world where either water is scarce or bathing is strictly limited.
In the poorest villages in Haiti, in order to take a bath, you have to use fetid, soiled water,
because there is no source of clean running water in the villages. As a result, a bath could mean
infection and even death. In regions of Africa the drought has been so bad that most people only
get a trickle of water to use at the most and it isn’t wasted on bathing.
You know, sometimes when you are so blessed, you just don’t understand what it is like to not
have something most of us consider a basic part of life. That is what this short Bible story is
about today. Its purpose is two fold. First it is a call for the sinner to come clean. And second,
it gives us an example of how we ought to minister to those around us.
The story begins with, "Now a leper came to him.
Now Leprosy is a horrible disease. It begins with little specks on the eyelids and on the palms of
the hands. It spreads over the body and bleaches the hair white. It covers the skin with scales &
oozing sores.
But that’s just what happens on the surface. Down under the skin, leprosy eats its way through
the nerves. And soon the victim loses all sense of touch and pain. So, a leper can’t feel anything.
That means , the leper feels no pain. Now that might sound nice, but it is absolutely horrible.
Because without the sense of touch, a person with leprosy eventually damages his toes, fingers,
and feet. He will bump into objects, cut himself, get infections -- and not even notice.
As leprosy advances, a leper doesn’t even look human. No fingers. No toes. Many of them blind.
Ulcerated growth all over their face. Nobody wants to get near them, nobody wants to touch
them. A leper becomes utterly repulsive -- both to himself and to others. And in Biblical days,
there was no cure. Once you contracted leprosy, your life was over.
In order to safeguard the community, the Old Testament sets forth some very strict instructions
regarding those who had the disease. It was considered the worst case on being unclean and as a
result the person could no longer engage in any form of regular life. They could not worship in
the temple. They could not go to their home. The book of Leviticus lays out strict rules for
lepers. It says in Levitivus 13:
'Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall
cover his mustache, and cry, ’Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the
sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the
camp.'
The leper dressed like a mourner going to a burial service and he had to constantly cry out,
'Unclean! Unclean!' so no one would get too close. So imagine that as this leper walked down the
street that day, he was shunned. Little children looked at him, got scared, and ran away. Older
children kept their distance by throwing rocks at him and making cutting remarks. Adults walked
on the other side of the street, shaking their heads in disgust or just looking away.
A leper had to live in exile from the mainstream of society. He was excluded from the sacrifices,
religious festivals and worship services. In many ways, he was not only separated from God’s
people; he was separated from God.
As I read about this leper in Mark 1, I wonder. How long has it been since someone has shaken
his hand, patted him on the back, put an arm around his waist, hugged him, touched his cheek,
wiped a tear from his eye, or kissed him? The truth is, all those things were merely a memory as
he lived in the leper colony in his cave.
But one day he heard that Jesus was in town. Jesus, the one claiming to be the Son of God. The
one who heals the sick, makes the lame walk, and opens the eyes of the blind. And so, the leper
comes to him, and our story begins.
The Bible tells us that Jesus doesn’t come to the leper -- the leper comes to Jesus. Remember
now, this was an absolute violation of well known and understood rules and regulations
concerning lepers. He was supposed to shout, "Unclean!" to keep Jesus away! But instead he
runs to Jesus. And Jesus does not run away like all the rest.
And then he says, ÒI want to be clean.Ó Not heal my disease. But make me clean! He’s saying,
ÒI know it is my unclean state that separates me from God and his people.Ó ÒI want to be clean!
Ó
Now, of course he wants physical healing. But becoming clean is much more than just becoming
healed! And so the leper begs him, pleads with him, saying, "If you are willing, you can make me
clean." His words tell us three things about this leper.
First of all, he knows he can’t heal himself or make himself clean. He probably has never even
heard of a leper being cured. For years he has lived with no hope at all. He’s absolutely helpless,
and he knows it.
Secondly, there is a faith in Christ’s power. He says, 'You can make me clean.' He believes with
all his heart that Jesus is the one person in all the world who can cleanse him. And notice it’s not
just, 'You can heal leprosy', but 'You can do it for me.'
Thirdly, there is a submission to God’s will. This leper says, 'If you will, you can make me clean.'
He had no idea if Jesus was willing or not. But his request showed a certain level of spiritual
maturity. No doubt this man desperately wanted to be clean. Yet he left it in the hands of the Son
of God. He makes no demands. And in fact he has no basis for his request, other than Jesus’
mercy and goodness.
And what was the response of Jesus to this man’s cry for help?
'Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him,
‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he
was cleansed.' (Mark 1:41)
Jesus granted the leper’s request. Not slowly or in stages over a number of days, but right then
and there the leprosy left him.
The amazing thing about this story is in how Jesus reacted to the man. It says Jesus was 'moved
with compassion.' It wasn’t just that Jesus looked at him and said, 'You need something, I’ve
got it. Come here. OK, now you’re better.' No, the word 'compassion' suggests a depth of
feeling. What that means is that Jesus hurt, when people around him hurt. It bothered him to see
people suffering and in need. It touched his heart when someone came to him and said, 'Please
help me.'
Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get beyond this point. I know it’s easy to say, 'Yes, Jesus
cared. Of course, he cared.' But don’t take it for granted. Think for a moment about the other
religious leaders of that day -- the Pharisees, the priests and Levites -- and how they were much
more concerned about being religious than they were about caring. In story of the Good
Samaritan, Jesus painted a picture of the typical attitude of his day.
But it’s not just his day. Think for a moment about us. Let’s be honest. It’s so easy not to care.
We see so much suffering, so much pain. And it’s easy, if we’re not careful, to build a shell and
shield ourselves from the suffering around us, to become hardened and callused. That’s one
thing Jesus refused to do.
The Hebrew writer talks about how significant that point is: 'For we do not have a High Priest
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The fact that Jesus cared about people while he was on this earth gives us the assurance that he
cares about us right now. And what was the result of Jesus’ touch? Verse 42: "Immediately the
leprosy left him and he was cleansed."
Notice that there are two results: Jesus healed the disease and he cleansed the leper. He healed
him -- that’s physical. And he was cleansed -- that’s spiritual. This man wanted to worship God,
and Jesus gave him the ability to do that. He wanted to be a part of God’s people, and Jesus gave
him that. He wanted to be able to touch others, to have a close relationship with the people of
God, and Jesus made that possible.
You know, we talk a lot about being the body of Christ. And here is where theology meets
practice. It begin when we come to Jesus like the leper and ask him to make us clean. This
morning we witnessed the beautiful profession of faith and baptism of two of our friends. Zelda
and David are truly beginning a deeper walk with our Lord this morning. They went into the
waters and ask Jesus to clean them inside and out and they came out of the water a new
creation. And the rest of us, even as we watched, asked Jesus to renew our own baptismal
vows. We asked him to shower us afresh with his spirit. And we can do that, and know we are
clean because John tells us so, He says
'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.' (I John 1:9).
Jesus still has the power to cleanse and then send us out as his body. And what does he send us
out to do. He sends us out with his compassion to reach out to those in need. To touch peoples
lives and bring them home so they too can be clean.
We may not know any lepers, but we do know people who are lost and forgotten. We know
people who have been engaged in sin and are far from God. We know people who are
stigmatized and feel God doesn’t care about them anymore. People who have been hurt by cruel
and painful prejudices. And we are sent out to share his love and invite them to be cleaned.
It begins with us, and then moves out into the world. What do you say. Are you ready? Then
let Christ come in and clean you up so he can send you out. Amen. Let us pray:
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