Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
40 A man with leprosy[h] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41 Jesus was indignant.[i] 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.
I Really Don’t Want to Do That!
Have you ever had a really bad day? A really hard day where you have worked your fingers to the bone and you are exhausted both physically and mentally. And it takes all your will power just to get ready for bed. And then, just as you put your head on the pillow, A small voice comes to the side of your bed and says Daddy, I feel sick. These words just begin to sink in as he or she begins to prove it by getting sick all over your bed and your floor. As you desperately try to contain something that just will not be contained you grab the kid in a vain attempt to make it to the bathroom. And of course, it’s pretty much all over by the time you get there. And when I say all over, I mean all over! And the thought come to you, why they didn’t go there in the first place? Your spouse desperately cries for your help as she tries to deal with a mess you has just helped spread. And that small voice asks for you to hold her hair as she has to do it all over again. You are not the type of person who can watch someone get sick without the urge to join them. And the though that comes to mind is, “I really don’t want to do this!” But you turn your head and grab the kids hair and wonder if you will ever get back to bed. 30 minutes later the kid is back in bed, the mess is cleaned up and the soiled bedding has been put in the washer, and new clean sheets await, when you hear the kid start to cry again. Your wife has already made it into the bed before you and you’re the last man standing. Here we go again.
We don’t want to do it but because we love our kids we do. It has to be done. We might not like it but we do it anyway. It is our job. It part of being a parent. It is a expression of our love.
Life is full of situations where we are forced to do what we don’t want to. We have to pay taxes. We have to work to provide for our families. We have to show up for jury duty. That’s life.
In this morning’s scripture lesson, there is a part that I want you to hear again. 40 A man with leprosy[h] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41 Jesus was indignant
I wonder why Jesus was indignant. Then it hit me. Jesus was tired, worn out physically and mentally, and here comes one more guy to be healed. But this wasn’t family. He was a stranger. We would have turned him away.
My first job was as a bag boy at my home town grocery store called Woody’s. And the only day it this store was closed was Christmas. On Christmas eve, the store would close at 10:00PM and reopen at 6AM the day after Christmas. And I was one of the lucky ones to work on Christmas eve. And On Christmas eve, the store was slammed. I remember how tired I was. We closed the doors at 10 and it takes about a ½ hour to clean up close the registers. So it was about 10:45PM and I was dragging myself up the stairs to get my coat and meet my parents out back just in time to make the 11:00 service at my church. When a man came to the front door and pounded! Please he said, I need batteries! The manager called back sorry we’re closed. But All I need was one pack. I mentioned that I could go back and get what he wanted, but the manager said she was sorry but the registers were empty and there was no way he could even check out. Now I knew that if She really wanted to she could have made the sale happen. But as the man left dejected, she said that We deserved a Christmas too and he should have planned better. I remember this because I thought we should have made it happen, but I was just a bag boy. It wasn’t my call. We could have helped him but we didn’t.
On that Christmas eve I went to church feeling like scrooge and I remembered how I had toys without batteries in the past and I prayed He had found an open store. But back then, convenience stores were not all that common.
Jesus handled the situation better. 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.
Time and time again Jesus put God’s will above His own human needs. He set the example for us.
Ok, so what does this have to do with us? What about today? Well, here it is. Now that you are a Christian, Now that you are convinced that Jesus Died on the cross for your sins and he has saved you by His mercy, I can guarantee you that you either have already been called upon or you will be called upon to do something you really just don’t want to do.
Jesus said Pick up your cross and follow me! He didn’t say it’s convenient, or when you get a round to it. HE said Pick it up. Sure you don’t want to. He didn’t either but if our relationship with Him is truly important, if we truly love Him, we will do it. If not we have a real spiritual problem.
And As your pastor, I Know most of us don’t want to hear this. But the thermometer of our Spiritual Health is our Giving. Sure there are other indicators but the most basic and the most accurate indicator of our spiritual Health is our financial giving! Are you tithing? We know God expects us to. It is the minimum standard. Do we put our money where our mouth is? Or do we rationalize our lack of faith by saying God knows I’m on a fixed income. Or God knows we can’t make ends meet as it is. Or we do the best we can. Knowing in our hearts that’s not the truth.
But this is not a sermon about money it is about faith. Do we have the faith to believe God will see us through whatever he asks us to do? Money is the easy part. We can give money and it really will not effect our lives. I know because those who tithe know that somehow, there is always enough to get by and still tithe. God Himself guaranteed it. Malachi Chapter 4: Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
But that is only money. The real challenge is when God asks us to put our lives on the line. Become a missionary. Become a pastor, Risk rejection from your family and speak of your faith during a family gathering. Become an officer of the church. Give all that you have spiritually and physically not because a spiritual IRS agent will come and audit you threatening Great penalties, but because you Love the Lord. And you respond to this Love through devotion and if need be sacrifice, financially, physically or otherwise. And Yes God Knows that we really don’t want to.
Have you ever, had a kid that literally didn’t want to take their medicine? I have. They stand there and refuse. And you think of Mary Poppin’s singing, “Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.” But let’s face it. When a kid is sick and has a high temperature, you know that they have to take a fever reducer or they will be miserable. So as a parent we found a product called suppositories. Now, kid you have a choice, one way or the other you’re getting the medicine. Your choice! Guess what? Eventually they do choose the spoon full of sugar. God is much more patient with us. God will let us choose to be miserable even though he knows doing His will is a much better path for us.
Paul teaches us that faith without works is no faith at all. And eventually the consequences of our faithlessness will come and bite us in the rear. Matthew 25: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
Folks, this sermon is not meant to Guilt anyone into doing anything. But it is supposed to make us think and reflect on our relationship with the Lord. Are we willing to do what the Lord puts on our hearts even though we really don’t want to? Do we love the Lord enough to risk what He has given us in order to serve Him better? Or will we listen to the voice of sin giving excuse after excuse as to why we should decide it’s really better not to.
I have searched the Bible. Not once did God say, Moses, you don’t have to set my people free. Jonah, I’ve changed my mind, if it upsets you so much, you don’t have to go to Niviah. Jesus, My, Son, You don’t have to die on the cross. When God asks, He expects the answer YES! Even if it is something we would rather not do. Amen.
