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Matthew 8:1-4: The Healing Power of Jesus

The following is the sermon that I delivered last Wednesday evening during the Lenten service at St. John United Church of Christ.

Lent85When Jesus* had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; 2and there was a leper* who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ 3He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy* was cleansed. 4Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’

- Matthew 8:1-4 (NRSV)

The season of Lent is known as a period of “self-examination, prayer, and fasting” as we recall the time Jesus spent in the wilderness before beginning his public ministry.

It is a time in which we can give ourselves permission to slow down in the midst of hurried lives to reflect on what it means to us to be Christian in the modern age.

Our passage this evening reflects on of the more astonishing claims of our faith: that Jesus can heal. This is a particularly important claim because even today we say that Jesus did not just heal those he came into contact with during his life, but that the healing power of Jesus remains with us today.

Healing can have many different meanings. Helen Doohan is a professor at Gonzaga University who considered stories of Jesus’ healing powers in an 1999 article written for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. She wrote:

The reasons for restoration to health and wholeness vary. Jesus has compassion for the widow who has no future without her son and so restores him to life. He frequently responds to the requests of those who suffer and offers a cure. At times, the request is silent, as in the case of the woman with a hemorrhage. Friends bring those in need for healing to Jesus and he responds to the obvious as well as the deeper need by physically curing the paralytic and forgiving his sins. Many colorful and dramatic episodes demonstrate how and why Jesus heals those in need.

The Gospels also indicate another reason for healing. The miracle tradition is a vehicle for Jesus’ teaching and an opportunity for the observers or onlookers to praise God for the wonderful signs. For individuals healed by the Lord, the miracle often leads to a response of discipleship. In these instances, the healings become a variation of the Gospel’s call episodes (Mark 1:16-20) as those restored to wholeness follow Jesus in faith.

The acts of healing committed by Jesus reflect the radical nature of his mission. I’m hoping that later this spring some of us in this church can join together and read Marcus Borg’s book Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. As I've mentioned before, Borg is a professor of religious studies at Oregon State University and a well known scholar on the historical Jesus. He reminds us that the healing stories “shatter the purity boundaries of (Jesus’) social world.” Jesus welcomed everyone to the table and that was a radical concept then and a radical concept now. People during Jesus’ time thought that lepers like the man whose story is recounted in this passage from Matthew where unclean and unworthy of God’s grace. It would have been shocking for people to see Jesus actually touch a leper. No one touched the unclean! Jesus did. And in the Sermon on the Mount that precedes this passage Jesus preached that those who were left behind and lost will be given the domain of heaven, be consoled, and inherit the earth. All of us who have been left behind and lost – and I’m sure that includes everyone here at one point or another in their lives – can be assured of God’s healing and grace.

“Immediately his leprosy was cleansed,” reads Matthew. It may well be that this story represents an actual miracle and that the illness of this man faded in an instant. I believe miracles happen. I also believe that in saying that the leper was cleansed we might also be reading that Jesus simply reordered human society by declaring a sick man clean – in effect he declares that the man has always been a child of God regardless of his lot in life. That is a powerful story as well. “Wholeness has more to do with fidelity to God than it does with health. The real sickness that needs Jesus’ healing touch is that of sin, isolation, marginalization, anxiety and lack of peace. The fullness of life that Jesus brings is the opposite: authenticity, community, integration, wholeness and peace,” wrote Professor Doohan.

We try and live out that message of “extravagant welcome” in the United Church of Christ with our belief in an open communion table and the inclusive nature of our church. Our denomination’s television campaign responds to that quest by telling people that “no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.” God is always calling us. Lent is just another opportunity to figure out what God is calling us to do. Let me suggest two ways of responding specifically to this passage in Matthew.

We know that there are people among our church and wider community that struggle each day with illness. Reaching out to those who are ill and reminding them that they are loved seems a basic duty of any Christian. Have you ever been sick and someone brought you chicken soup? Even that simple an act is a faithful response to God. When we are ill and tired we need to be reminded that we are still loved and valued. God places healing power with each one of us and the Gospels are filled with reminders that we are called to use that power.

Being disciples also means reaching out beyond our own comfort zone. We all know in principle that our churches are not clubs for people that look and act just like we do, but in practice our churches - no matter the denomination or theology – often become just that. God welcomes everyone into the Kingdom and we need to spread that message. A challenge we all face is to make sure each church is open and affirming – so much so that even the leper would be welcomed. Easter is the perfect time. Call your family. Call your friends. Invite them to celebrate our faith with us. Don’t be afraid to be an evangelist. We can share with people our own stories of how we have been healed through the transforming message that Jesus delivered.

Amen.

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