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Though none of us deserve it, God wants to help us. Jesus did what the law could not do. The law protected the community from contamination as mentioned earlier. But, Jesus as he defied the law’s ban not to touch those who were lepers. He reached out and touched the untouchable. That is how great God’s love is for us. "On the surface it may appear that, that by touching a leper Jesus is breaking the law, but in reality he is breaking through the law to create a new way of life for us" (R.C. Hoefler p. 64).
"In the annals of Switzerland, Arnold van Winkelreid is honored in a song and story as Switzerland’s most famous hero. At the battle of Sempach the Swiss army faced the Austrian knights. The Austrians stood as a solid wall of flesh against the Swiss. Again and again the Swiss attempted to break through the Austrian ranks but to no avail. Finally, Winkelried cried out to his companions, "Follow me. I’ll make a bridge for you to victory." He threw himself upon the spears of the enemy, gathered as many of them as he could into his arms, buried their points in his own body, and, pulling the knights forward and downward, fell himself, pierced through and through. But his massive body formed a human bridge through the Austrian ranks and the Swiss army literally marched across the body of their fallen hero to certain victory.
So the law stood before us a barrier -- an impossible barrier that we could not get over, around, or under. Then Christ came and placed his body on a cross, took the guilt of our sins into his own body, and thus formed a bridge through the law that we might enter into the Kingdom as clean and renewed children of God" (R. C. Hoefler p. 64).
60% of India’s 24 million Christians are Dalits otherwise knows as untouchables. (Foster Letter 8/10/05)
TOUCHING THE UNTOUCHABLE
I have served as a volunteer Chaplain for the Havelock Police Dept for many years. Still, I will never forget my first night out with them. I was completely green and had no idea how to act. I was trying to follow the lead of the other officers. We were called to the parking lot of a store in the "red-light" district. The store dealt exclusively in pornography. The owner was a flamboyant homosexual man who was on drugs as well. Next door to the store was a topless bar whose owner was a flamboyant heterosexual. These two men had argued and fought in the parking lot. The gay man’s necklace had been torn off and thrown into the bushes.
After the officers got the situation calmed down, we were all standing around the gay man. His necklace had been found and returned to him by one of the officers. He was overjoyed and tried to shake the officer’s hand. The officer turned away from him and left. He tried to shake the next officer’s hand and he too, turned away and left. One by one, nearly 10 officers snubbed the gay man.
I was the last one. I had been following the officer’s leads all night. This time I followed the lead of the Lord. I shook his hand, and I could see in his eyes that he didn’t see a Police Chaplain. He saw the love of our Lord.
Jesus touched the untouchable. Shouldn’t we?
Source: From a sermon by Carl Greene, "It Is A Love Story" 2/17/2009.
I recently read an article by Jill Carattini where she told this story: “A nurse named Melanie was on her way to work when something in the trash bin caught her eye. She was immediately taken with the possibilities in the discarded treasure. It was a cello, slightly cracked in several places, but nonetheless a discard of character, a piece charming to the eye. Her boyfriend, who is a cabinetmaker, also saw the cello’s potential. Together they thought it could be turned into a beautifully distinctive CD holder. The discarded cello was indeed old and it had been abandoned, though authorities are not sure why or how it ended up in the trash that day. But a most shocking revelation to the nurse (and arguably to the thief as well) was the fact that it was not merely an old cello. It is one of only 60 like it in the world made by master craftsman Antonio Stradivari in 1684. The 320-year-old masterpiece, valued at 3.5 million dollars, was stolen from a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra just weeks before it sat rescued in Melanie’s apartment with dreams of becoming a CD holder. In the music world ‘Stradivarius’ is an untouchable description. Neither scientist nor musician understand the difference between the ‘voice’ of a Stradivarius versus the voice of modern violins and cellos, but the distinction is real — and costly. They are the most sought after musical instruments in the world, works of art in their own right, coveted by collectors and players alike. To be in the presence of a Stradivarius is to be in the presence of something great — whether it is recognized or not.”
The thief put it on the trash pile, and even Melanie did not see...
THE RISK OF EVOLUTIONARY DETERMINISM
When nature, including the human being, is viewed as the result of mere chance or evolutionary determinism, our sense of responsibility wanes. In nature, the believer recognizes the wonderful result of God's creative activity, which we may use responsibly to satisfy our legitimate needs, material or otherwise, while respecting the intrinsic balance of creation. If this vision is lost, we end up either considering nature an untouchable taboo or, on the contrary, abusing it.
WHAT ARE YOU PREPARED TO DO?
In the movie The Untouchables, Eliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner, is frustrated because he cannot bring down Al Capone. So he asks for a street wise Irish beat cop, played by Sean Connery, for his help. The Irish cop agrees under one condition. He said always be ready to answer the question "What are you prepared to do?" He told Ness, "If he sends one of your to the hospital, send one of his to the morgue!"
Later in the movie, the Irish cop is shot by one of Capone’s men and Ness finds him barely alive and in a pool of his own blood. With his dying breath, he grabs Ness by the tie and says, "What are you prepared to do?"
Story: In a historic move to liberate themselves from 3,000 years of oppression, thousands of Dalits or “Untouchables” conveged on Dehli to renounce Hinduism.
Although Dehli authorities attempted to block the rally last November (2001) by withdrawing permission to use the planned venue and detaining Dalits travelling to the city, still they came.
Dalit leader Ram Raj declared nothing would stop this event. They had waited too long.
At the last minute, organisers relocated the rally to a compound named after the famous Dalit champion Dr. Babashaheb Ambedkar.
Ambedkar rejected Christianity, because he observed: ’Indian Christians, like all other Indians, are divided by race, by language, and by caste. Their religion has not been a sufficiently strong unifying force to make difference of language, race and caste mere distinctions. ’
Although a much smaller venue, it was highly significant. Last century, Ambedkar had led thousands of Dalits to a caste-less Buddhism, after experiencing rejection from the Christian church.
The 100,000 at the rally also planned to embrace Buddhism. As the crowds chanted “All humanity is one! All are equal” Ram led them into a dramatic ceremony as they converted to Buddhism.
They had rejected Christianity because sadly the caste system has infected the church in India since its inception. India’s first Protestant church contained a wall separating different castes.
It said to Untouchables who came to Christ that they were still Untouchable.
(taken and adapted from “India’s Biggest Mutiny” by Debbie Meroff in the Parish Magazine of All Saints, Faringdon with St. Mary’s, Little Coxwell March 2002)
THE POWER IN TOUCHING THE UNTOUCHABLE
Jesus, the Christ, is still in the business of touching the untouchable! You may feel like you are too dirty or too wicked for Jesus, the Christ, to touch you with His forgiveness today!
As an illustration, you may remember the move enitled "The Elephant Man," based upon the true story of a man living in London during the 19th Century! Joseph Carey Merrick (1862 - 1890) was terribly disfigured by neurofibromatosis. His own family rejected him because of his hideous appearance! Sir Frederick Treves (1853 - 1923), a prominent British surgeon found Joseph working in a circus as a sideshow freak! Dr. Treves, in August 1866, brought Joseph Carey Merrick to a London hospital and began to treat him as a person instead of some sideshow oddity! He provided books for Joseph and soon discovered that he was a kind, intelligent person. Joseph Carey Merrick lived in that London hospital until his death!
After a newspaper reported on Joseph’s progress, Dame Madge Kendal (1848 - 1935), born: Margaret Shafto Robinson, a talented English actress and theater manager - a beautiful woman of high society - and, also, a committed Christian, came to visit him. On one visit, she presented Joseph Carey Merrick with a copy of William Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet." He felt like an ugly beast cowering before a fairy princess. He was at such a loss for words that he opened the book and began to read. His voice was squeaky and broken as he read the words from the Second Act: "See! How she leaned her cheek upon her hand that I might touch her cheek." As he read that line, Dame Madge Kendal slipped quietly into the seat beside him! She responded with the words of Juliet that she had memorized from her years in the theater. Joseph read and she recited the rest of the act together! When it was done, Dame Madge Kendal leaned over...
GETTING WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER
"Celente, who is CEO of Trends Research Institute, has the best track record in the professional forecasting industry, so when he speaks people listen. He was almost alone in predicting well in advance the 1987 stock market crash, the 1990 collapse of the Soviet Union, and the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis. More than a year ago, in November, 2007, he told the UPI that the following year would be known as 'The Panic of 2008,' adding that 'giants would tumble to their deaths,' as indeed happened with Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and other untouchables. He forecast the sub-prime mortgage collapse and a massive 90% devaluation of the dollar from a failed rescue effort."
"Celente [has] forecast ... a social and political revolution sparked by the economic devolution. He predicts food riots, accompanied by a tax rebellion. We may see this as early as April 15th, 2009. He says that by 2012 America will be an undeveloped nation, marked by squatter rebellions by those who refuse to give up their homes or else take over the homes of others. 'There is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of what we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we're going to see many more.' Christmas as a retail bonanza will be a distant memory, reflecting a situation that he says will be 'worse than the Great Depression,' because the so-called safety net will collapse.
"As a forecaster of sociological change, Celente warns that 'there's going to be a lot of crime' at all levels 'worse than in the last 1929 Depression' and that the growing wealth gap between the rich and the middle class will threaten social order because the middle class everywhere in the world will become a revolutionary class using knowledge, resources, and skills 'to shape transnational processes in their own class interest.' He warns, 'There will be a revolution in this country, and we're going to see a third party in response to the bloodless coup by Wall Street' supported by 'a huge underclass of very despe...
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