2 Kings 5.1-14 & Mark 1.40-45 Just Words???: Cleansing
Just Words:
Cleansing
Scripture Text: Mark 1.40-45
INTRODUCTION
His name was Naaman. He was a leader; …a valiant-soldier; …a warrior. He was a great-man, who commanded the respect of everyone who knew him.
But, he had two-strikes against-him. As-a-matter-of-fact,…it’s absolutely startling that we know anything-at-all about him! The first-strike against-him was the fact that he was a foreigner… a Gentile. He was an Aramean and that meant – …as-far-as the Israelites were concerned ~ …that meant that he was an outsider; …Naaman was not one of God’s-people. It also-meant, that sometimes, his nation would-sometimes war with Israel ~ …so it’s absolutely-remarkable that he’s included in the Old Testament.
The other strike-he-had against-him, …the other-strike was that he was a leper. In the ancient-world, …leprosy struck fear in everyone. It was a terrible-disease. And-because they didn’t have a good-understanding of how leprosy was passed on ~ …the only thing that people knew-to-do, …was to fear-lepers and to force them to live in isolation from everyone else.
Apparently, Naaman was such a valiant-warrior, though, …that the King of the Arameans made-allowances for Naaman to continue as the commander of his army.
For the sake-of-time, I need to give-you-the-short version of Naaman’s story. But, I wanna encourage you to read the whole-thing in 2 Kings, chapter 5. But, Naaman was told to go to the Israelite prophet Elisha; …because, some-believed that Elisha might-be-able to-heal Naaman. He went. But, when he got there, Elisha didn’t-even come-to-meet him at the front-door! Elisha simply sent-word to Naaman, …to go-down to the Jordan River and dip-himself-in-the-water seven-times.
That’s it! Easy-skeezy! But, Naaman took-offense! He thought that Elisha was toying-with-him. He expected a show! He expected a lot of hoops to jump through. But, Elisha said to simply-go and dip-himself in the Jordan siete beces (seven times)!
Naaman threw a perfect fit! He was ready to storm-away ~ …except-for-the-fact that cooler-heads prevailed. His servants basically-told-him, “Don’t get so-bent-outta-shape!” If he’d been told to climb some mountain, he’d have put on his hiking boots. If Elisha had told him to hold his breath underwater for 3 minutes, …he’d have done it for 4. If Elisha had commanded him to burn his clothes and offer a bull on the altar-of-sacrifice, ….Naaman would have offered two!
But, since all-he-was-told to-do, …was to-dip in the Jordan seven times, …Naaman was ticked-off and just-about stormed-away. But, cooler-heads-prevailed.
And-so, Naaman went down to the Jordan, put one-foot-in-front of-the-other, …and baptized-himself, seven-times. And when he arose out of the water – after-that-seventh-dip – …when he stood-up out of the water the seventh-time, …his flesh was clean! No-more-leprosy! No-more disease, …no-more scabs and seething-sores. Healed. Restored. Given a new-lease-on-life! Naaman was beside-himself ~ …he said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel!”
It’s an incredible story of healing and transformation ~
…for not-only was Naaman’s disease cured,
…but-also, there was a healing-that-happened in his heart!
PAUSE 2
TRANSITION
Fast-forward about 700 years. Leprosy is still feared. It’s still a terrible-disease. If you contracted the disease, you were thrown-out ~ …out-of-town, …out-of-work, …out-of-the-family. Leprosy was such-a-terrible thing, for so-many-reasons!
And-so, you can imagine that any-leper who-had-gotten-wind of the things-that-Jesus was-doing ~ …driving out evil spirits, …healing people of fevers and illnesses, …even restoring the health of all-those-people in the city-of-Capernaum ~ …as-word-was-spreading throughout the country-side, …you-can-imagine that people-struck-with-leprosy heard-the-word. And, (as-the-old-saying-goes): hope springs eternal! These men and women who were treated no-better-than-trash ~ …cast out of the villages and cities, …made to scrounge a living, out-in the remote-country-side ~ …lepers throughout the land of Israel whose hearts and spirits had-been-crushed with despair, …you-can-imagine how they might hold-onto-a-hope! A hope, …a wish, …a prayer that someday, Jesus would pass-by-their-way!
In Mark’s Gospel, it’s-amazing-to-me, to-see how quickly-things took-off, for Jesus! In a matter of a few-weeks, …he’s gathered-disciples to follow Him, …He’s performed some pretty-might-miracles, …and His fame is spreading-throughout the land. In Mark, chapter 1, verse 39, …we find that Jesus is takin’ the message on-the-road ~ …going through Galilee preaching and teaching and healing and delivering. And, it was while-He-was moving through the land-of-Galilee, …between one-town and the next, …that’s-when Jesus had the encounter with the leper who begged Him to make him “clean”.
Now… I know that often we come to Scripture ~ …and maybe-even our approach to sermons is like-this-too; …but, sometimes our-approach is like we’re going to a museum. We expect to find some interesting-things. Maybe we’re a little-curious. Hopefully, we’ll-be “wowed”!
But, I think-that when we come to Scripture, …we should bring-our-heart with-us. Bring your emotions, …bring your questions, …come to the Scripture with your heart laid open and let God speak directly into the confusion, …the despair,…the disappointment with others, ..the disappointment with yourself. This is not a museum ~ …where the Word of God is a relic contained safely-under-glass! This is not a laboratory ~ …where our emotions and life-experiences have been sanitized and covered-up by layers of latex! No!... This is a sanctuary ~ …where it’s safe to open our hearts and lives, …and let the Spirit of God speak to us, right where we’re living.
But, I’ve gotta tell ya… I can’t do that for you! You have-to-come with an open-heart. You have-to resist-the-temptation to leave-your-baggage at-the-door. You have-to bring-it-in, …lay-in-on-the-table, …and listen for-what God wants-to-say, to your-heart-and-life!
And-I-think there’s great-potential… I-think there’s great possibilities with this passage. No… none-of-us are suffering the tragedy of living-with-leprosy. But, there are many of us who have been beaten-down by the circumstances of life ~ …things-beyond our-control. Many of us are struggling with loneliness-and-despair ~ …it seems-as-though we’ve been tossed to the way-side, …thrown-out and forced to wander in the wilderness. Many of us often feel as though we have one-last-hope ~ …and we hope-beyond-hope that Jesus will come through for us! And-so, maybe you can connect with the leper at some level.
BODY
There’s a couple-of-words that leap-off-the-page… …words that speak to our hearts. The first word is: “compassion”.
I. Compassion
Compassion… Jesus had compassion on the poor-guy! Mark says that Jesus was “filled with compassion”, …and-that because of this great, over-whelming compassion, …Jesus reached-out and healed-the-man!
Now… if you were one-of-the-people-in-the-crowd, …if you were one-of-the-gaggle following-Jesus from one-town to the next, …the first-thing you would-have-noticed was the man’s begging!.. How-dare-he!?! ~ …making-such-a-ruckus; …causin’-such-a-scene!...
But, the man begged because he was desperate. The man begged because his disease had destroyed his life. The man begged because all-things that fill-life with goodness and meaning – …family, friends, home, neighbors, work, etc. - …all-those-things had been stripped-away from him The man begged because he desperately-wanted to be cleansed so that he could go-back-to life and living.
Leprosy was a death-sentence and he did not want to die like this! He didn’t beg as-a-way to manipulate or convince or twist-Jesus’-arm into-doing what he asked for. The man did not beg as-a-way to-get what he wanted. The man didn’t beg because Jesus didn’t care ~ …No, …the man begged out of desperation!
No-doubt, …you’ve been there before. Desperate. Nowhere to-turn. Confused-about what-in-the-world you’d-done to get you in this terrible place-in-life!
Jesus had compassion! That word, ‘compassion’, is a strong word. It tells-about a powerful-connection between Jesus and the leper. Compassion was the basis of Jesus’ action. Compassion motivated Him to heal the poor-man’s-skin-disease.
His compassion gives hope that He cares for us, as well. He may or-may-not do what-we-beg Him to do. But that does not take-away His compassion. He loves us; …and He feels for us; …and He’s saddened by the things-in-our-lives that tear-us-down and destroy us. We don’t need to beg, in-order-to get him to care; …and it’s His compassionate-love for us that’s so-much-more-important, …than whatever-action we wish He’d perform on our behalf. There may be reasons beyond-what-we-can-see, …reasons why He doesn’t restore our health; …or take-away that ‘thorn-in-the-flesh’ ~ …there may-be reasons beyond-what-we-can-see.
But, we never need despair, that He doesn’t care, for us!
He loves you.
He is filled with compassion for you!
II. Results
Now, that leads-us-to the second-thing that is startling in this passage. If-I-asked-you-to-guess, …you’d probably say that the second-thing is that Jesus healed the man. And you’re-right! Healing is a pretty-incredible thing. But, I wanna encourage us to-broaden our scope. I want us to look at the results ~ …and keep-in-mind all this stems from Jesus’ compassion.
Out-of-compassion, Jesus healed the man. His skin was cleansed. His health was restored. He was-given a new-lease on-life! And-that was an awesome-thing!
But, I want you to notice the second-result. After Jesus had compassion on the leper; …and-after Jesus touched the man and healed him of leprosy; …after his skin was cleaned and restored ~ …what does the man do?
[He went, and began to freely spread the news!] And-there’s-a-part-of-us that says, “Amen!” “That’s what you’re supposed to do!... “When God does something-incredible in-you-life, …we need to get-out-there and spread-the-news! “Good-job!... Mr. Former-Leper, now-evangelist! Good-job!”
But, there’s a problem with this. The problem is that Jesus gave him specific instructions about what he was to-do, …and what he was not to-do!
He was not to tell anyone about what had happened to him. Jesus didn’t mince-words, here ~ …He spoke plainly. Mark tells us:
“Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ‘See that you don’t tell this to anyone.’”
Instead, the-man was supposed to go to the Temple, …and show the priest and to offer the appropriate sacrifice (of thanksgiving).
Now-I’m-guessing-that, for-many-of-us, this is most-perplexing! Why would Jesus tell him to do this?
More-to-the-point, …why would he tell the man not to say a word about it!?!
Well, let’s consider the first question ~ “why tell-him to-go to the Temple (and show himself to the priest and offer the sacrifice)?”
Well, the answer to that question is really-pretty-simple: According to the Law-of-Moses, that’s-what you’re supposed-to-do!... Remember, Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. So, in-all-of-this, Jesus is telling the man to be obedient. Show-yourself to the priest, …offer the sacrifice, …go-home. This-isn’t-just “jumping through hoops”. Rather, as Jesus says, it will be a testimony. If the man healed-of-leprosy had-done-this, …his actions would-have-left a powerful-witness for the priests. But-instead, he took-matters into his own-hands, he did as he saw fit; …and-so-far-as-we-know, …this man never went to the Temple, …never showed-himself-to-the-priests, …never made the sacrifice-of-thanksgiving.
As-a-result, …an opportunity-was-missed, …the priests never-saw, …and it created problems for Jesus because the religious-authorities thought He was a religious-law-breaker!
Whether you think it’s-a-big-deal, or-not, …taking-matters-into-our-own-hands ~ …rather-than listen to-what Jesus tells you to-do ~ …it creates problems, …and it interferes with what God does want done!
I’m sure that there are still-some-of-us wondering, …”What’s wrong with going throughout the countryside and speaking freely, telling others what Jesus had done for him? “Aren’t we supposed to tell others about Jesus and what He’s done in our lives?”
Do you remember earlier stories in Mark’s Gospel ~ …the times-when Jesus cast demons out and-then refused to let them tell who He was? It almost sounds as though Jesus wants his identity to remain a secret. But, maybe that’s not the case. Maybe He wants to control ‘how’ others come to see who He is. Maybe he didn’t want his identity revealed by evil spirits ~ …after-all, how reliable are they!?!
In-the-case-of the man healed-of-leprosy, …maybe Jesus doesn’t want to-be-known simply as a miracle-worker. Maybe He wants His mighty-works to speak for themselves. Maybe He wants people to draw their own conclusions. Maybe He wants to-tone-down the celebrity and “rock-star” hysteria. …Jesus wants to reveal-himself on his own terms, so that people make a decision for themselves ~ …not based on hype, but on observation and personal experience.
If the man had-gone to the Temple, …shown-himself to the priest, …offered the appropriate-sacrifice ~ …all-of-this-would’ve spoken-volumes to the priests ~ …and-don’t-forget, …Jesus wanted this to be a testimony to-the-priests!
Leprosy doesn’t-just heal-itself. For the man-to-come and show-himself-cleansed ~ …it would-have-been-seen-as a wonderful and a remarkable-thing! And they would’ve sought Jesus out.
But, because the man-didn’t-obey, …the priests never-saw, …their curiosity wasn’t piqued, …and they didn’t try-to-find Jesus on-their-own!
On-the-one-hand, …I understand when you get excited about what God’s done; …and, …He does want us to share with-others. But, He wants us to pay-attention to the direction, …or the opportunities, …or the-ways He wants us to respond to His amazing grace! We may get all-torqued-up about an-idea, …and it may sound really-good, …but, is God in it? Maybe He wants you to do something a little-different ~ …something that will have bigger results.
The question that we have-to-consider is not whether we should share-our-faith; …or whether we should tell-others the good-things that God has-done in our lives.
Rather, the question we have-to-consider is ~ …whether we understand-it, or-not, …whether we see the big-picture, or not ~ …the question we have-to-consider is: am I doing what Jesus tells me to-do; …or am I taking things into my own hands, and doin’ what I wanna do!?!
It’s a matter-of trust. It’s a matter-of obedience. It’s a matter-of letting-go our-impulses, …and letting-God have His way!
CONCLUSION
Look… The leper got what he hoped-for: …his skin was cleansed of the plague-of-leprosy. He could go back to life-and-living, …family-and-work, …friends-and-neighbors.
But, His disobedience showed that there was need-for-a-deeper-work ~ a cleansing in His heart.
I have no-question that he wasn’t thrilled-to-death. I have no-question that he was grateful for what Jesus had done. I have no-question that there may have been some who heard him tell his story, …there were probably some-of-them who eventually-came to Jesus for help, as well.
But, the question is: was his heart on the same-page as Jesus? Did he listen to what Jesus told him to do; …did he avoid what Jesus told him not-to-do; …did he trust himself – his ideas, his thoughts, his impulses – …did he trust himself more than he trusted Jesus to direct his path?
Do you?... Do we need a deeper-work of heart-cleansing?
