lectio divina:: mark 1

when I was in high school, maybe junior year, my pastor marvin invited me to be a part of a class that he was teaching. the class was for his “star-kids” and he was teaching them how to prepare and deliver a sermon. the class didn’t last long, because the “star-kids” didn’t take it very seriously, and he didn’t seem to have the time for it; but I found it fascinating while it lasted.


I really only remember preparing 2 sermons- our first one was to be on mark 1. we had to read the passage, use any study materials that we could find, and talk on the section that we found to be the most meaningful. there was about 8 boys in the class, and they all picked different parts of the chapter. I chose the section in Mark 1:40-45, where jesus heals a man with leprosy; and it became my very first sermon. I still remember it well-


I talked about the parallels between sin and leprosy. I didn’t know much about the disease (I still am not an expert,) but I knew enough. I made the following points.

:: sin is like leprosy because it destroys. leprosy eats away at flesh, but sin eats away at our soul.


:: sin is like leprosy because it isolates. lepers were isolated in leper colonies and were not to be touched because leprosy was thought to be highly contagious. sin isolates too. it makes us hide. it makes us numb; it makes us avoid community and contact with others.


:: sin is like leprosy because it warps. leprosy left a person disfigured and gross, and sin makes our hearts disfigured, warped and perverted.


:: sin is like leprosy, because there is no cure. you can’t make it go away. once you have it, you have it until it completely destroys you.


and then I talked about the leper himself. he lived in isolation. he was deteriorating right in front of everyone’s eyes. he had not been touched by another human being in a long, long time. the leper says something to jesus that I still find heartbreaking. in verse 40 he gets on his knees and says to jesus, “if you are willing, you can make me clean."


in a sense he says, “jesus, I can see why You wouldn’t want to touch me. I can understand why You would want to avoid me. but I believe that if you would just touch me, I would be made whole again.”


the reason that I chose this section, and why I found this so heartbreaking is that I was a brand new Christian at the time; and Jesus had just rescued me from a condition that was eating away at my soul, and I was the leper. I could relate. I said the same thing to Jesus, just months earlier. just like the leper, I said, in a sense, “jesus, I can understand why You wouldn’t want to be near me. I know I'm gross. but I believe that if you would come near me, that I would be healed and whole again.”


jesus’ response to the man still brings tears to my eyes. it says, “filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "be clean!" immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.” jesus was willing to touch a leper when no one else would; and jesus was willing to come near me- even though both the leper and I were gross and unworthy.


and that led me to my last point:


:: sin is like leprosy- because the only cure for the both of them is jesus.


I would love to say that my message sparked revival through the preaching class, but honestly, "the star-kids" in the class giggled and passed notes through the whole thing. maybe God was secretly preparing me to work with junior highers.


my pastor did ask me to give my message to our youth group- and they didn’t seem all that impressed either;
but I was impressed.
not with myself, but with the compassion and grace and love of jesus.
so whenever I start to think I’m something special, I remember that leper, and that 17 year old kid from modesto- both who were healed by a touch from the Messiah.


God is love.
-rev-rob