UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!
Yes, there once was a time that I was
unclean … impure … untouchable … separated
from my family …
cast out from my
community …
destined to
wander in the desert places.
It started with
a small rash.
I tried to hide
it but before long I was covered with open sores.
I suffered every
day with the searing pain of my leprous skin.
But it was
nothing compared to losing everything
and everyone I
ever loved.
Then one day … I
met a man named Jesus and everything changed!
Unfortunately
for Jesus … I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
A man named Mark
wrote a story about Jesus and me …
You’ll find it at
the end of Chapter 1... in verses 40-45.
This is what he
wrote:
A
leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus
stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made
clean!’ Immediately
the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he
sent him away at once, saying
to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the
priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to
them.’ But he went
out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in
the country; and people came to him from every quarter. (NRSV)
At first glance, this seems like a basic “healing” narrative. Leper
approaches Jesus. Jesus heals
leper. The only problem is that this is
not your basic healing narrative. This
passage crosses unjust social boundaries.
When
the leper comes to Jesus, he is begging but he’s not asking for healing. He is asking Jesus to make him clean. This is an issue of ritual purity. It isn’t about pain and suffering, at least
not physical pain and suffering. If it
was, the leper would simply ask for healing.
It is about isolation and
separation. It is about a system that
has expressly created isolation and separation.
The unjust social boundaries created by the ritual purity system allowed
some people, like the good Jewish rabbi Jesus, IN and kept other people, like
our “sinful” leper, OUT.
When
the leper comes to Jesus, he crosses that unjust social boundary. He should never have approached Jesus. He should have been shouting “unclean,
unclean” and should have kept his distance.
But he didn’t. Instead, he
presents Jesus with a choice and a challenge.
“If you choose, you can make me clean.”
“If
you choose …” can also be translated “If you are willing …” This is Jesus. Of course he’ll be willing … He has been
“moved with pity.” Some translations
say he is “filled with compassion.” Why wouldn’t this compassionate Jesus that
we all know and love be willing to heal this man and restore him to the
community? This encounter just isn’t as simple as “Leper
approaches Jesus. Jesus heals
leper.” Some footnotes say, instead of
pity or compassion, Jesus was “moved with anger.”
Why
in the world would Jesus be angry when he stretches out his hand, touches the
leper and says, “I do choose. Be made
clean.” Does anger make sense? Remember
this is an issue of ritual purity. Jesus
crosses an unjust social boundary when he stretches out his hand and touches
the leper. Do you know what happens when
Jesus, who is clean, touches the leper, who is unclean? There is a reversal of fortune. The
unclean leper is made clean through the healing of his disease … but at the
moment Jesus crosses that unjust social boundary and touches the leper, he becomes
unclean according to the ritual purity system of his day.
This
ritual purity system sounds like a harsh way of categorizing people. It didn’t start out that way. The core value in the purity system was
holiness … a gift of God … manifested by the wholeness of creation made in the
image of God. The pursuit of holiness is
a good and honorable journey unless it becomes a glorified way of determining
who is in and who is out by creating elaborate social structures with unjust
boundaries.
While we mock these ancient written laws
which define the boundaries of clean and unclean, we ourselves have unwritten,
unspoken purity laws with which to keep the “good” people in and the “bad”
people out. We often draw invisible
unjust social boundaries along cultural, racial, economic, sexual, gender,
generational, political and religious lines, just to name a few. Let’s face it: our unwritten boundaries tend
to make us feel safe because people who are different, people who don’t fit our
standards are implicitly encouraged to be compliant. Or they are explicitly rejected and
encouraged to leave.
Is it possible that Jesus was filled
with compassion for the leper and also moved by anger? I think it is. Is it possible that we will be confronted by
written and unwritten unjust social boundaries in our ministries? I think it is. Is it possible we will struggle with
compassion and anger just like Jesus did?
I think it is.
In
the end, I think it only matters that we stretch out our hand and we touch the one
we consider “untouchable.”
In
the end, I think it only matters that we know our own “untouchable” self and allow
Jesus to touch us!
That’s
the real miracle.
A Time of
Reflection …
Have you ever encountered unjust social boundaries? Which side of that boundary were (are) you
on? What feelings did (do) you struggle
with? Perhaps you live in a more subtle
environment. What are the unwritten
boundaries within your community? How are people welcomed or rejected? How do you know when someone is “IN” or “OUT?” What action have you taken? If you feel like you cannot reach out in your
situation, what stops you? If you were
to sit down with Jesus today … and you
can if you take this into prayer … what questions would you ask?
Perhaps
you could engage in Lectio Divina and explore where God is speaking to you in
this passage … Follow these simple steps and adapt them to fit your own needs
in prayer if you are unfamiliar with “praying the Scriptures”
Lectio (Read) Read the
passage slowly. Listen to the beauty of
the text as you pause between each sentence. Recall the word or phrase that caught your
attention as you read and say the word or phrase out loud. Let
the words sink deeply into your soul …
Meditatio (Meditate) Read the passage a second time and reflect on it. Where does this passage speak into your life? What is God calling your attention to as you meditate on your word or phrase?
Oratio (Pray) Read the passage a third time and respond to God’s invitation? How do you respond to God?
Contemplatio (Contemplate) Rest in God's gentle and holy presence. Stay with God in this space as long as you can and allow the love and presence of God to flow into you, to emerge from within you, and to surround you with peace. Amen.
Adapted from a sermon I wrote in 2009 © Cindy Serio
No comments:
Post a Comment