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.
