February 15, 2009 at Saint Mark in Norman, OK
Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 + Psalm 32 + 1 Corinthians 10: 31-11:1 + Mark 1:40-45
“Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and he touched him.” If you had been there, you would have recoiled in shock, gasped, and some of us might have run away! This is astounding, unheard of, forbidden, and frightening! The holy, the healthy one touched the unclean one. Think of this! Do not take it for granted. You may have heard and read this story 500 times; but every time, if you get it, you cannot help but shudder, wonder, and be amazed. Simple as it is, this story is the summary of the whole gospel message. It’s not about leprosy. It’s not about Moses. It’s not about begging. It is about compassion, a hand stretched out, and a touch. This is about the Incarnation. It is about the meaning of Jesus Christ, his presence, his life, his mission, and it is about what happens to us and what we must do because of it.
It is the touch that matters. It is about the touch of God who through his only son responded in Godly compassion to our condition of alienation and brokenness and did more than touch our human nature. He entered into us: into our social leprosy of polarized racism, into our alienation, loneliness, and brokenness. This is compassion at its best. He did not look at us, wonder about our condition, or say: “Isn’t that a shame.” He touched it and in doing so, he became what he touched. As we shall soon remember in Lent, he became broken, alienated, and untouchable as even his friends fled from him in fear, doubt, and disappointment afraid that they might be associated or connected with him.
Notice in the last verses of this story what happens to him. Mark says: “It was impossible for him to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places.” It would be easy to think that this was because he drew such a crowd; but I would like you to consider that it might have been because he became what he touched – a kind of leper who could not enter the towns openly and remained outside in deserted places. In terms of those times, by touching that man, Jesus became unclean and would have been required to observe certain customs and rituals of purification.
I would like to propose to you that what this story is really suggesting is that Jesus traded places with that man who knelt before him. Jesus, the clean and holy one, took upon himself that man’s infirmity in order to free that man from everything that kept him from life and the relationships that nurtured his life. This is the Good News we preach. This is the Gospel, the whole story in five verses.
Because our wholeness and healing is the will of God, we have been touched and immediately made clean; at least in theory and theology. But, what about in reality? If it were really true, our likeness to the man in the story would go further. If it were really true, we would be a people who would “publicize the whole matter”, as Mark put it. At this point, we go deeper into this story to discover that it does not just tell us something about Jesus, his life and his mission; but it says something about us as well.
The living Word of God is not simply repeating stories about ancient times. The living Word of God continues to reveal what God is doing today. Divine Compassion still sees our need and still wills that we be “clean” so to speak. We are a people who are touched by the hand of God, a God who would trade places with us just to make us whole. But who talks about this? Who lives every day as though they were touched by God? Who lives in recognition that everyone around is touched by God? Who lives with the conviction that in compassion God has traded places with those around us? The fact is, and the Gospel affirms that when do live this way, people will be coming to Jesus from everywhere. Until they do because of our testimony and example, we might just as well stay outside in deserted places, and feeling as though we might be the first sign that we have not yet come and knelt before Jesus so that he can reach out and touch us with the wonder of divine compassion.