Tuesday, February 14, 2012


Wholeness is a Sign of God’s Reign
Scripture: Psalm 30 read responsively and Mark 1:40-45
Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ February 12, 2012
Unity Presbyterian Church ~ Terre Haute, Indiana 

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 30 read responsively
This song may have been written to dedicate of Solomon’s Temple.  It gives thanks by contrasting images of loss with delight.  To the people of Jerusalem the temple was a sign of God’s reign among them. 

1I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
3O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
4Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.
5For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
6As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”
7By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
8To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication:
9“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!”
11You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Mark 1:40-45
To get a picture of this unusual healing, you need to know that Jesus did more than sternly warn the man to keep quiet about his healing.  There was real anger expressed by Jesus, but where it was directed we do not know: at the man, at the disease, at the way the sick were treated. We know that the situation made Jesus anger.  Perhaps because he wants to heal him but wants his message kept clear.  We as believers and seekers of Jesus message need to concentrate on the choice Jesus makes, even knowing the consequences. 

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. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Sermon
Did you notice that Jesus does not say, “Be healed!”  Instead he says, “Be made clean.”  This is more than just a healing story.  Like last week we need to hold tight to the message as we hear the story of another miracle.  Miracles are always a demonstration that the Kingdom of God is present in the person of Jesus Christ.  A person with any disease that was visible was rejected by society in Jesus’ day.  Biblical "leprosy" had a religious connotation. It was imagined that God used the disease as an instrument of divine punishment.[1] As such anyone visibly ill was considered religiously unclean. They could not worship with the community.  Anyone who touched them became ritually unclean as well. In some ways we do this still today.  People who have health problems that may be aggravated by their behavior, can then be blamed for their illness and rejected by those who might be expected to care for them.

An interesting side to this miracle is that the leper would have had to live away from people and suffered rejection by all.  By healing him, Jesus then becomes the one who must live away from the community and is ultimately rejected by all, even his friends.  Yet even with these consequences he chooses to touch the man and make him whole. Jesus deals with real people in concrete situations and confronts the root of the social condition that exacerbates the situation.[2]

God’s region affects how we live together as a people as well as our individual lives.  Who do we consider unclean, unworthy of God’s grace?  We too are called to touch the unclean and make them whole even if it risks our own being ostracized by society.  We live and work and sometimes worship in communities that would rather people just stay in their appointed places and not complain or make waves.   Servants of Jesus Christ have to be the wave makers for vulnerable people who need help. Wholeness is more than just a cure of one problem; it is a new way of living that connects us together.  Wholeness in the Kingdom of Heaven is for all people and all of creation. Wholeness is the sign that God reigns.  When we look at a problem’s causes, to bring wholeness to those who are suffering, we look beyond just individual behavior to the systemic connections that may have broken down. 

To understand a broken system let us consider what the connections are that can heal and bring wholeness.  All people need a safe place to live, food and water, meaningful relationships, care when they are sick, mental stimulation and spiritual nurture.  These are the basic needs all people have.  Perhaps there are some you would add.  What systemic connections provide for these needs?  An individual’s sources of income, family and friends, community and church can all be part of the wholeness in one’s life.  Loss in anyone of these can tear the fabric of a healthy life.   Churches have traditionally provided spiritual nurture, meaningful relationships and mental stimulation, but when there is a crisis in people’s lives the church family is often the first line of defense.  Jesus sees not only a man who is ill but a social network that has failed.  Are we surprised that he is angry and yet filled with compassion? 

My prayer for you is that  you will be made clean, made whole in union with Christ Jesus and become his hands bringing others into wholeness, into God’s reign. Amen.









[1] See the punishment suffered by Miriam in the Bible’s Book of Numbers 12:9 , also in 2 Chronicles, where King Uzziah was said to have been "Smitten" by God with "leprosy".
[2] See: http://www.simonbarrow.net/article5.html

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