Reflections...

A sermon preached on Sunday, 28th January 2007 at Kowloon Union Church by Rev. Hans Lutz on Mark 1:40-45. The Bible readings for that day were 1 Kings 17:17-24, Hebrews 1:1-4 and Mark 1:40-45.


I
The healing of illnesses through the power of Jesus Christ occurs to this day. We hear of occurrences in China where people have been sent home from the hospital because the doctors could not help them anymore. And then – maybe through the prayer of a single Christian – the sick person regained health and a whole village embraced the Christian faith in response to what they had seen.

In Hong Kong, where we have an elaborate medical system, healings by faith may be less spectacular, but they nevertheless happen.

But of course, the opposite occurs too: That despite the prayer of whole communities a person loved and respected by all is taken away from the midst of an active life.

This reminds us that the mission of Jesus is wider than the healing of people. He has come to proclaim the kingdom of God. Accordingly the church is not a health organization, but God’s people proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Lord. Healings are important, but they point to something much bigger, i.e. the renewal of the whole creation.

II
In Mark 1 and 2 the evangelist tells in succession of four healings performed by Jesus which attract people from all over Galilee.

Among many others a leper came forward. Lepers at the time of Jesus were subject to harsh regime. They had to wear torn clothes and let their hair hang loose. They had to warn healthy persons by shouting “unclean, unclean!” and had to live away from the community.

To this day leprosy exists, although it can be cured at the initial stage. But today AIDS has taken over from leprosy as the most feared illness. Today HIV positive persons and those with AIDS tend to be stigmatized and excluded from the community and be discriminated against.

On that day the leper approached Jesus. He knelt down and asked for help: “If only you will, you can cleanse me”. This man had absolute confidence in Jesus. He trusted that Jesus had the power to heal him. He was humbly aware that everything depended on his willingness to act. The leper had faith, even though he may have not had a full grasp of who Jesus is.

III
Jesus took pity on him, stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him, “I will, be clean.”

You may have seen from your Bible that some manuscripts read: Jesus became angry. Because this is less easy to understand, it may be the original version. Some scholars explain that Jesus’ anger was directed at the illness as something against God’s will. I would rather think that Jesus was indignant at being cast into the role of faith healer by people who paid little attention to his overall message.

Immediately the leprosy left the man and he was clean.

Jesus then drove him away immediately and warned him sternly not to tell anybody. The leper was to show himself to the priest and to tell his fellow-men that he was clean, but to keep silent about who had healed him.

Jesus did not want to be put into the role of faith healer and miracle worker. His mission goes far beyond this. The full implications of his mission were still hidden und were to be revealed only at his cross and in his resurrection.

This has implications for our prayer for health. No doubt health is very important. But we Christians cannot ourselves to praying for health alone. When praying for the sick and with the sick we must include what God offers to us beyond health, namely salvation. Jesus has advised us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all other things shall be given to you.”

IV
The leper did not heed the advice of Jesus. He made public what he had experienced and spread it far and wide. Jesus could not show himself in the towns any longer. He stayed in the open country. Even so people kept coming to him.

V
There was a time when scholars had a tendency to explain the stories of healing away. They were somewhat an embarrassment to them. Behind their efforts was a legitimate concern. For many scientists and people with a scientific mind, healings and other extraordinary things are difficult to accept. The scholars did not want them to become obstacles to accepting the faith.

Against this view I would like to say two things:
1. Jesus – as the letter to Hebrews says – is God and sustains the universe by his word and power. He can transform the world that exists. Those who are united to him in faith share in Christ’ creative power and can become instruments of transformation like the prophet Elijah who called the son of the widow back to life.
2. To me personally a faith which would be confined to spiritual things only is anaemic and incomplete. We ought to be alert to Christ’s power to share in the transformation of the world. A prominent Christian, Christoph Blumhardt, put it like that: “We cannot hope for eternity only. The coming of Jesus Christ gives us the courage to say: Here on earth misery will come to an end! Here on earth God will reveal the justice pleasing to him! Here on earth he gives us his gifts and power! Here on earth you shall become happy!”