Sermon Central
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Servanthood & Father Damien
Contributed by Clarence Eisberg on Aug 4, 2022 (message contributor)
When visiting the Hawaiian Island many tourists will visit the island of Molokai. It has quiet charm, gentle breezes and a soft surf. Father Damien came to the island for a different reason. He came to help people die. He came there because leprosy came there first. No one knows how leprosy came to Hawaii but the first case recorded was about 1840.
While no one can trace the source of the disease the results are well known; disfigurement, pain, decay and panic. The government responded by depositing those with leprosy to a small part of the island surrounded on three sides by water and a tall mountain on the 4th. Colleen and I had the opportunity years ago to hike down the mountain to village.
The lepers lived there in shanties with limited food. Ships would drop off crates of food and hoped the sea would float the supplies to the land. The message was clear. You are not valuable anymore. But for Father Damian the message was different.
He wrote: “I want to sacrifice myself for the poor lepers.” He immersed himself in their world, hugging them, dressing their sores, burying their dead. His choir sang in rags and received communion with stumped hands. Because they mattered to God they mattered to him.
Somewhere along the way, through a touch of kindness or sharing of communion, the disease passed from member to Father Damian. He became a leper and on April 15, 1889 he died of the disease. Scientists now know the disease as “Hansen’s Disease” and have learned how to treat it. We no longer quarantine lepers to islands like Molokai.
Their lives were never the same once they contracted leprosy. When Father Damien brought the love and good news of Jesus, they were never the same again. They knew they had the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.
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