As presented by Rev. Jonathan Mills, Pastor at Kanata Baptist
Church.
2009-08-16
Subject: Jesus brings healing in the context of Community. We are
called to reach out to those who are stigmatized and “outside the camp”
and show compassion, caring, and love.
Sermon Outline
A Healing Community 1
Scriptures:
1
2 Kings 5:1-14 1
Mark 1:40-45 2
Introduction 3
1)
‘Outcast’ Diseases 4
A) Jesus Heals the Man with AIDS 4
B) Leprosy and Skin Diseases 5
C) Leviticus: Determination of Clean, or Unclean 6
D) The Request: “Make Me Clean” (not “Heal Me”) 7
2)
Rediscovering Community 7
A) Germany: Alone, Isolated, Stressed 7
B) The AA Community 9
C) Jesus Touched Him 10
3)
Becoming a Community 11
A) The Value of Community 11
B) We Are God’s Community 12
C) The Story of Father Damien: Priest to Lepers 13
Conclusion
15
Prayer: 16
Scriptures1:
2 Kings 5:1-14
1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a
great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because
through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant
soldier, but he had leprosy.2
2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a
young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her
mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria!
He would cure him of his leprosy."
4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had
said. 5 "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a
letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten
talents [b] of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of
clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With
this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure
him of his leprosy."
7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and
said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this
fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is
trying to pick a quarrel with me!"
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his
robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have
the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel."
9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door
of Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash
yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and
you will be cleansed."
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely
come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave
his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and
Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?
Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in
a rage.
13 Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet
had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How
much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" 14 So he
went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of
God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that
of a young boy.
Mark 1:40-45
40 A man with leprosy3 came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you
are willing, you can make me clean."
41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. "I
am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him
and he was cleansed.
43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 "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." 45 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.
Introduction
In 1988, I attended a conference at Acadia University concerning how
the church should respond to those who were infected with HIV and
AIDS. At the time, AIDS was relatively new—and there was a great
deal of fear and uncertainty surrounding this deadly condition.
People were afraid of the unknown risks associated with AIDS and were
very concerned about having anything to do with those who were
infected. Could I contract HIV by talking to someone who has
tested positive? Could you become infected through incidental
physical touch? In the Anglican church, where they celebrate
communion with everyone drinking from a common cup, some refused to
take communion for fear that they might get AIDS. There was much
misinformation and those were fearful times.
Here's an example of a poster from that time – trying to help
people understand the facts.
Here is the face of AIDS today—one of the great pandemics of our
time. And one that is taking the developed world a very long time to
stop being so apathetic and commit time and money to stem the tide.
And so, in 1988 this one Anglican priest from Halifax, who was an
outspoken advocate on behalf of those who were dying of AIDS, came to
Acadia and spoke about the need for the church to reach out
compassionately to the victims of this terrible disease.
1) ‘Outcast’ Diseases
That was 20 years ago. A lot has changed since then – like the
development of a cocktail of medicines greatly slows the advance of the
disease and prolongs the lives of the victims. Additionally, we are
much better informed about the disease, how it is transmitted and what
people can do to protect themselves from infection.
What hasn't changed a whole lot is the stigma attached to HIV and
AIDS. Its victims may still find that—once the word gets out—that
their community rejects them, leaving them shunned and cut off.
Many suffer in silence. It is their secret that they must carry – a
great heavy burden.
A) Jesus Heals the Man with AIDS
And so it is that we come to our Scripture passage today, from
Mark’s gospel, where Jesus encountered the man with AIDS.
He had compassion on him and healed him.
Well, you will forgive me for suggesting such a revisionist view of the
New Testament. But not without good reason. Though the man
in the passage of scripture was suffering from leprosy, he might just
as easily have been HIV positive, or dying from AIDS.
B) Leprosy and Skin Diseases
Let's look at Leprosy for a minute. It may come as a bit of a
surprise to you that there may not have been any lepers in Palestine in
Biblical times.
The Greek word Lepra was used to describe various different kinds
of skin diseases and infections which are spelled out in detail in
Leviticus, Chapters 13 and 14. Based on the descriptions
found in these chapters,
Doctors today are able to identify a number of different skin
conditions including psoriasis, lupus, ringworm and favus.4
The symptoms listed in Leviticus aren’t really consistent with
the disease we know as leprosy (ie. Hanson’s Bacillus, or Hanson's
Disease) and so there is some latitude in our understanding of the
nature of the disease that this man had.
Modern translations will have a footnote indicating that the the word
commonly translated “Leprosy” refers to various different skin
diseases.
So, I would like to suggest that a person with AIDS might be a very
appropriate modern equivalent to the leper in this passage.
According to the Levitical law, they were declared to be ‘unclean’, and
so they were sent to live alone “outside the camp.”5
C) Leviticus: Determination of Clean, or Unclean
If you read the passages in Leviticus carefully, you will see
that there is more emphasis on the determination of whether something
is considered clean or unclean. Very little time is spent proscribing a
cure for the disease because it wasn’t widely believed that one could
be cured of these things—except by a miracle of God.
Instead, the focus is whether the individual was allowed to remain in
the community – or whether they would be declared ‘unclean’ and have to
remove themselves from the camp.
Even though they did not have what we might call ‘true leprosy’ the
result was the same: the declaration of being “unclean” with all its
consequences.
The great tragedy of the disease, wasn’t necessarily the disease
itself. It was being cut off from the community. To be
ostracized, shunned and rejected.
D) The Request: “Make Me Clean” (not “Heal Me”)
Look carefully at what the leper says to Jesus in verse 40: “If
you are willing, you can make me clean.”
We typically think about this interaction between Jesus and the Leper
as being primarily a story about physical healing.
But this man doesn't say; “If you are willing, you can heal me.”
Rather, he says; “...you can make me clean.”
He is not simply talking about the disease – he is asking to be
restored as one who is clean – one who can freely walk among his
people, and return to the community from which he came.
And Jesus said: “I am willing. Be clean.”
2) Rediscovering Community
Most of us have experienced times in our lives when we have been
cut off from community.
A) Germany: Alone, Isolated, Stressed
When my wife, Jan, graduated from University with her degree in
Education, with a German major, she was given the opportunity to
work in Germany as a High School teacher. We ended up living for
8 months in this quiet village SW of Stuttgart—Weil der Stadt. We were
young, and did not have any children yet, and it seemed like a
fantastic way to broaden our experience of the world. That is exactly
what it turned out to be. We arrived in August of 1989.
Just a few months later, the Berlin Wall cracked and eventually
came crumbling down.
Sounds great, and in many ways it was. But, those first two months, for
me, were very difficult. Despite having German ancestry way back, I had
very little background in the language.
I experienced culture shock. Soon, I was a virtual prisoner in
our apartment—after a few tentative attempts to 'blend in' that went
badly.
I experienced the loneliness, isolation and stress of being cut off
from community.
I was fortunate.
My landlady phoned around and managed to get me work in a local
factory—and a German man befriended me and patiently helped me to gain
confidence in everyday conversation.
My experience brief and did not have too great an effect. For many,
isolation can put them in a situation of great risk.
B) The AA Community
Let me tell you the story of Dawn Weiss—a woman who was going
through a very rough time in her life.
Dawn, who was a recovering alcoholic, had moved to Tennessee after the
California earthquake of 1994. She got a job as a waitress and enrolled
in school. But she had never confronted the stress of the
earthquake, of moving, of leaving loved ones.
One night, she felt ready to give up. She prayed for help, but it
didn’t make her feel any better. Not knowing how to cope with
everything, she found the urge to drink was overwhelming. So she
decided in her heart that that’s what she would do – after work, she
would have a drink … even though it would lead her down a road to
self-destruction.
She arrived at the restaurant, put her uniform on, and got to
work. Then she noticed something strange; Just about every single
customer in the restaurant was wearing a button that said,
“I am a friend of Bill W.”
Bill W. is one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, and calling
yourself ‘a friend of Bill W’ is one ways that AA members discreetly
recognize one another. As it turns out, and to Dawn’s amazement,
there was an Alcoholics Anonymous convention in town that weekend.
The restaurant was crammed full of recovering alcoholics.
After Dawn revealed her own struggle with addiction, a group of
customers offered to stay with her all night and protect her from
drinking.
Dawn had prayed for help, and God sent her a whole convention of people
who understood her problem.6
C) Jesus Touched Him
When God wants to heal us – he usually does it in the context of
a community. And so it is that Jesus welcomed this man back into
community with these words: “Be Clean!”
But notice what happens just before he says those words: “Filled with
compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.”
As radical as it is that this man’s illness was cleansed by Jesus –
even more dramatic to this story is the touch! Jesus reached out
and touched him.
If an individual touched a man who had an illness of this nature, he
would be declared ‘unclean.’ Jesus himself, was at risk of being
cut off from his community; Unable to worship at the temple; to
teach in the villages, or move among the people.
But the touch of Jesus had the opposite effect.
Instead of causing him to become unclean, it caused the leprous man to
become clean … and he leapt for joy -- and told everyone about what
Jesus had done.
The power of touch.
3) Becoming a Community
A) The Value of Community
I think the healing of the leper is a story about community, much more
so than it is about disease. It shows us how freely Jesus is able
to restore us to community.
The bible is a book about community.
In the Old Testament, community came through family – through Abraham’s
ancestry. “The Children of Israel.”
There are some very tedious passages of scriptures which go like this:
Matthew 1:12-15 Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the
father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the
father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of
Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud, Eliud the
father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of
Jacob, and so on.
It does not make very compelling reading, but it was extremely
important because it gave the people a sense of belonging -- a sense of
extended community.
The New Testament expands outside of the Jewish ‘family’ lineage, and
extends God’s community to include those who are not a part of the
direct blood line. God’s love extends beyond all barriers and
boundaries and gives us our sense of belonging – through faith.
B) We Are God’s Community
1 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who
called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you
were not a people, but now you are the people of God...”
In the same way that the leper is welcomed into community through the
touch of Jesus, the rest of us are reconciled with God and brought into
the community of faith.
So look around you.
Here are your brothers and sisters. Here are your family members
– your neighbours – the people of God, of which you are a part.
That’s why I love to shake hands with people after church on Sunday:
it’s touch! It’s community! You are a gift of God to me –
as I hope to be God’s gift to you.
C) The Story of Father Damien: Priest to Lepers
I wonder if any of you have heard the story of Father Damien7. If you
haven't heard about him, it is likely you will, since the Roman
Catholic church is set to designate him as a Saint on Oct. 11th this
year. In 2005, the people of Belgium voted Damien as “The Greatest
Belgian” of all time.
Who was this man?
Father Damien was a Belgian priest who was called to be a
Missionary to Hawaii. If you’re going to be a missionary, wouldn’t we
love for God to call you to go to Hawaii!
right?
In 1865, Father Damien began his work in a Catholic mission in North
Kohala. There was nothing extraordinary or noteworthy about his work in
those first few years. But then, his attention was drawn to the plight
of the people on the island of Molokai.
It was a Leper colony. They didn't know much about the disease, but
they were determined to stop it from spreading—so, anyone who was found
to be sick with Hanson's Disease (Leprosy) was sent to a remote part of
Molokai from which there was no escape. They were basically left there
to die, and they lived in appalling conditions.
The Bishop knew that the Lepers of Molokai needed of the help of the
church—but he also knew that sending someone there was likely to be a
death sentence.
Father Damien asked if he could go and serve the people of Molokai.
He began his work there on May 10, 1873.
Father Damien set about to serve the people. He built a church, built
homes, dressed their wounds, helped address the social ills that had
plagued the community, and served the lepers with his whole heart.
6 months after arriving, he wrote to his brother in Belgium: “...I make
myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.”
In 1884, he records in his diary a turning point. As part of his daily
hygiene, he would soak his feet in hot water. On this one evening, he
realized that he did not feel the heat from the water. He poured a drop
of boiling water directly on his foot and there was no pain.
He had contracted leprosy.
For 11 years, he would greet the people on Sunday morning saying; “My
fellow believers.”
But this Sunday he began, “My fellow lepers.”
He had in every way become one of them.
Five years later, at the age of 49, leprosy would claim his life.
Conclusion
While we do not venerate individuals as “Saints” in our tradition,
Father Damien's life is one to be remembered and celebrated. He gave
his life in the service of Christ – caring for a group of people the
world had rejected and discarded.
His life is inspiring because he looked beyond the immediate
circumstances and saw people who needed to be loved, cared for, and
welcomed into God's redeeming family.
He didn't see lepers. He saw people.
And he gathered the outcasts of Molokai and built a community—and while
their physical bodies were not healed, their community was healed. They
experienced welcome, warmth, acceptance and hope. They learned of the
Love of God, and were redeemed into the Kingdom of God.
Father Damien, as you would expect, is viewed by Catholics as the
spiritual patron for Hanson's Disease. He is also the patron for HIV
and AIDS patients … and outcasts.
It's too easy to write people off – to stigmatize those with whom we do
not wish to become involved.
These are the very people that moved Jesus' heart with compassion ...
like this first century man who was considered unclean.
Rather than erecting walls to keep people at arm's length, or to keep
ourselves isolated from their contamination—perhaps it is time for us
to remember that the ministry of Jesus was to the least, the last and
the lost.
That's our calling too.
Prayer:
God change our hearts.
May we not see with eyes that see only the outside – were our judgments
and prejudices put people into categories … and where there is great
risk that some will be written off as unworthy of your love and care.
That's not the way of Jesus.
Forgive us for judging others. Forgive us for being indifferent to the
needs of those who are sick and dying – particularly for those in our
world who are dying with AIDS. They are people made in your
image—people you love and are compassionate toward.
Move us to compassion. Move us to care.
Move us to read the least and the last and the lost, for the sake of
Christ, Amen.
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