TOUCHING THE UNTOUCHABLE
Text: Mark 1:40-45
I will never forget a story that I had to read in College. It was called Bartelby The Scrivenor, and it was written by Herman Melville. In that story, through the eyes of the characters, we got to see a man who was a mystery simply because no one knew anything about him. Any time his employer tried to get close to him, he remained withdrawn and in his own words simply "preferred not to ..." In the end, he died and all that was known about him was his name.
When we read the story about the leper, we can see that he has a lot in common with Bartelby. We can also see the difference between the two in that Bartelby’s walls of withdrawal were built by himself whereas the leper’s walls of withdrawal were built by rules and regulations that were not of his own design. The rules that kept the leper on the outside of the community of faith were a part of Old Testament Law that was contained in the book of Leviticus. As a leper, he was automatically an outcast, socially, religiously and even family-wise. He was treated as a dead person even while he was still living.
Someone has said (Lamar Williamson, Jr.) that there are three parts to every miracle story, the problem, the solution, and the evidence of the cure. (Lamar Williamson. Interpetation: Mark: A Bible Commentary For Teaching And Preaching. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1983, p. 58). The leper in this miracle story obviously had a problem and needed a solution. At the end of the story we see the evidence of his cure as he was able to become a member of the crowd from which he had formerly been an outcast.
THE PROBLEM
The leper’s problem was that he was not happy because of his lifestyle. Obviously, the lifestyle of an outcast is not what anyone, except someone like Herman Meliville’s character Bartelby, would "prefer". The Leper in this miracle story had no say-so about how he was treated because of his condition. Leviticus 13:45-46 gives us the background for how he was regarded as an outcast. "The Law protected the community from contamination. It also declared a leper clean once he/she was healed," (Richard Carl Hoefler. There Are Demons In The Sea. Lima: The C.S.S. Publishing Company, 1978, p. 63). God created us to be involved and to interact with one another (Ephesians 4:25, First Corinthians 12:26). We are the keepers of our brothers and sisters (Genesis 4:9). We are supposed to love our neighbors (Luke 10:27). The one thing the leper wanted that he did not have was to belong, to be included and allowed to participate in the life of the community.
Having had enough, it seems, the leper one day boldly defied the rules for lepers. It has been said that the actions of the leper could be described as violent (R. C. Hoefler, p. 54). His violence was not a violence as we of the think of violence---the use of physical force. His violence was a "violation" in that he violated the boundaries that were set for lepers. He crossed the boundaries that lepers were not supposed to cross. He boldly went where lepers were forbidden to go because he wanted to be healed. He wanted to belong, to be included and to be involved in the life of the community instead of having to be treated as though he were dead.
Imagine what it would feel like if you were outcast or ostracized because of a disease that you had. As someone has observed "Many times the real pain of a person who suffers comes not from a disease or a handicap, but from the attitudes of those around him" (Hoefler, p. 56). Although it may not be intentional or thought of as intentional because we are most of the time not on the receiving end, "Our thoughtless reactions to other’s afflictions separate us from them. ... In some cases it is a fear of contamination. We fear that we might catch what they have, so we are reluctant to shake hands with them or avoid touching anything in the room. ... We do not want to be around afflicted people because they depress us. We visit them out of a sense of duty. The afflicted person can sense this and is hurt by it" (Hoefler, p. 56).
There are some people that we might consider to be a freak because of their disfigured appearance. Consider the story of John Merrick who was known more by his disfigured appearance and labeled as the "Elephant man". "John Merrick was born in Leicester, England in 1862. He suffered from a severe bone and skin disorder that progressively disfigured him grotesquely. At three, he was abandoned by his mother, who deposited him at a workhouse. He was rescued from there only to spend most of his life being exploited in a traveling circus exhibit that featured him as a freak---"The Elephant Man".
"Toward the end of his life, Merrick was befriended, given a home, and treated with respect by a fashionable London surgeon, Sir Frederick Treves. Treves introduced Merrick to Leila Maturin, a widow, who was the first woman to smile at Merrick and touch his hand and speak to him. Gradually, others, including the Princess of Wales, and actresses, looked beyond his loathsome flesh and discovered a real human being with feelings and desires. Through their caring, a man considered nothing more than a horrible freak emerged to become an intelligent, gentle and dignified human being". (Dr. William P. Barker. Ed. Tarbell’s Teacher’s Guide. 87th Annual Volume. Elgin: David C. Cook Publishing Co., 1991, p. 31). One can only imagine what it must have been like for John Merrick.
I never will forget hearing the testimony of a pastor whose experience I heard on tape one day in class, when I was in seminary. I do not remember the pastor’s name. But, I can recall most of what he said when he gave the testimony that I am about to share with you. He said, "When I first started out, I wanted to be a great preacher. Someone whom people revered and thought of highly. As I got older and wiser, I began that people don’t want just a good preacher. They want a pastor. One day this hope became evident to me as I went to see an AIDS patient in the hospital. When people came to see him they stayed at the edge of the room near the door. One preacher even said a prayer from the door. But, when I went to see him, I went over to him held his hand and said a prayer. He cried, because that was the first time anyone other than medical personnel had touched him since he had been in a hospital." The point of this story is that whether one is a preacher or not, people who are hurting and/or sick want others to be pastoral to them. Pastor is a metaphor for a preacher who looks after his/her congregation just as a shepherd looks after his sheep.
THE SOLUTION
The leper knew that Jesus could help him. Someone (R. C. Hoefler) has noted that the way that this man worded his request was premised with a clue word, "if." "If you are willing, you can make me clean." (Mark 1:40 NIV). Notice how this leper went to Jesus the only way that could, just as he was. Notice also how Jesus answered him and showed him compassion, "I am willing ... be clean" (Mark 1:41).
Charlotte Elliott who wrote the hymn, "Just As I Am" wrote the words of this hymn when she realized that there was no other way that she could go to Jesus, but as she was. "Charlotte Elliott was born in Clapham, England, on March 18, 1789. As a young person she lived a carefree life, gaining popularity as a portrait artist and writer of humorous verse. By the time she was thirty, however, her health began to fail rapidly, and soon she became a bedridden invalid for the remaining years of her life. With her failing health came great feelings of despondency. In 1822 a noted Swiss evangelist, Dr. Caesar Malan, visited …" and gave counsel to "… Miss Elliott about her spiritual and emotional problems, Dr. Malan impressed upon her this truth, "You must come just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Throughout the remainder of her life, Miss Elliott celebrated every year the day on which her Swiss friend had led her to a personal relationship with Christ, for she considered it to be her spiritual birthday. Although she did not write her text for this hymn until 1836, fourteen years after her conversion experience, it is apparent that she never forgot the words of her friend, for they form the very essence of this hymn.
"Though Charlotte Elliott lived to be eighty-two years of age, she never regained normal health, and she often endured seasons of great physical suffering. … Miss Elliott wrote the text for "Just As I Am" in 1836. It was published that same year in the second edition of The Invalid’s Hymn Book, a collection which contained 115 of her original works. She wrote this hymn with the desire that it might aid financially in building a school for the children of poor clergymen that her own pastor brother was trying to build in Brighton, England. Miss Elliott felt so helpless in her desire to aid the parishioners in this worthy project. Interestingly enough, this one hymn from the pen of the clergyman’s invalid sister brought in more funds than all of his bazaars and projects combined. The brother himself has left these words, "In the course of a long ministry, I hope to have been permitted to see some fruit of my labors; but I feel more has been done by a single hymn of my sister’s."
… It is said that after her death more than a thousand letters were found among her papers from individuals around the world, expressing testimonials for what this one hymn had meant in their lives.
"The tune, "Woodworth," composed by the well-known American gospel musician, William B. Bradbury, was first used for the hymn, "The God of Love Will Soon Indulge." Years later another American gospel songwriter, Thomas Hastings, wedded Bradbury’s tune with Miss Elliott’s text. … Its message is one that we as believers need to be reminded of frequently-that our eternal standing and peace with God depend solely on Christ’s merits and not our own". (cited from Osbeck’s 101 Hymn Stories. Contained on Bible Library Suite, Ellis Enterprises Inc., 2000, disk 1).
Though none of us deserve it, God wants to help us. Jesus did what the law could not do. The law protected the community from contamination as mentioned earlier. But, Jesus as he defied the law’s ban not to touch those who were lepers. He reached out and touched the untouchable. That is how great God’s love is for us. "On the surface it may appear that, that by touching a leper Jesus is breaking the law, but in reality he is breaking through the law to create a new way of life for us" (R.C. Hoefler p. 64).
"In the annals of Switzerland, Arnold van Winkelreid is honored in a song and story as Switzerland’s most famous hero. At the battle of Sempach the Swiss army faced the Austrian knights. The Austrians stood as a solid wall of flesh against the Swiss. Again and again the Swiss attempted to break through the Austrian ranks but to no avail. Finally, Winkelried cried out to his companions, "Follow me. I’ll make a bridge for you to victory." He threw himself upon the spears of the enemy, gathered as many of them as he could into his arms, buried their points in his own body, and, pulling the knights forward and downward, fell himself, pierced through and through. But his massive body formed a human bridge through the Austrian ranks and the Swiss army literally marched across the body of their fallen hero to certain victory.
So the law stood before us a barrier -- an impossible barrier that we could not get over, around, or under. Then Christ came and placed his body on a cross, took the guilt of our sins into his own body, and thus formed a bridge through the law that we might enter into the Kingdom as clean and renewed children of God" (R. C. Hoefler p. 64).
THE EVIDENCE
The Bible says that "immediately his leprosy left him" (Mark 1:42 NIV). This was his body’s response to the healing touch of Jesus. Then he broke the law. Jesus told him to go and show himself to the priest, offer a sacrifice as instructed by Moses who wrote the law. It was supposed to be a testimony to the priests. But, notice what the leper did in response to Jesus’s instructions. He failed on two counts. First, he failed to show himself to the priest. Notice the word "instead." Secondly, he did not remain silent as Jesus had instructed him to do.
In disregarding Jesus’s instructions, he hindered Jesus’s mission. He hindered Jesus’s mission to preach the gospel openly as Jesus had to remain outside in lonely places (Mark 1:45). This same scenario was true with a lot of the places that he went to, to preach. Though Jesus performed the miracle that healed the leper, he did not want to be known only as a miracle worker (L. Williamson p. 62). In disobeying Jesus’s command to be silent, he in a sense, made Jesus an outcast in that he was unable to show himself in the midst of people (R. C. Hoefler p. 67). This insistence of Jesus to keep silent is what scholars call the "Messianic secret" wherein Jesus wanted to keep His identity concealed enough so that he could preach the word in as many places as possible.
We hinder the mission of the gospel of Christ today, though not with our bragging about who He is and what He has done. Instead, we sometimes hinder His mission today with our silence at the times that we should telling others what Jesus has done for us. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says that "there is a time for every thing and a season for every activity under heaven" (NIV). Ecclesiastes 3:7b says that there is "a time to time to be silent and a time to speak" (NIV). Jesus was telling the leper that then was the time to be quiet. He is telling us today that now is the time to witness about who He is and who we are as the children of God. It seems that sometimes we heed the requests of the Pharisees when they told Jesus to tell His disciples to be quiet (Luke 19:39). But, if we do keep quiet, "the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40). This saying is proverbial, and not to be taken literally, but to make the point that the coming of Christ and the truth that he reveals that sets men free is too great to be concealed.
