Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Sermon for 12 February 2012, Epiphany 6B


The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
St. Mark 1:40-45
God’s Masks, God’s Will
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, 12 February 2012
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, WY
(For a Lay Reader)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

            The sermon, entitled, “God’s Masks, God’s Will,” is based upon a portion of the Gospel according to St. Mark, the first chapter: And a leper came to him [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean."  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.  And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them."  But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

            Much has happened already by this point in the Gospel according to St. Mark. Nothing is mentioned of the Nativity of Our Lord, Christmas, but John Mark’s account begins with the preaching of John the Baptizer and Jesus’ subsequent baptism. In only two verses, St. Mark tells Jesus in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. Then, Jesus begins proclaiming the Gospel of God, calls the first disciples, heals a man with an unclean spirit, heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law, takes time to pray, and now, cleanses a leper.
            Our Lord has been busy doing what the Savior, the Christ, the Son of God has been given to do—and it’s only the first chapter! Chapter One concludes with the Scripture appointed for today:
And a leper came to him [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean."  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.  And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them."  But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
            And consider how this leper asks for help. He implored Jesus. He knelt. He said to Him, “If You will, You can make me clean.” This leper fully believes in the power of Jesus to heal his leprosy with a single word. He leaves his healing in the hands of Jesus, as this is evident with the words, “If You will.” We pray the same way to our Lord for physical blessings or requests, especially healing, with prayers such as, “Thy will be done,” or “according to Your good and gracious will.”
            Dr. Lenski writes, “This leper is willing, if Jesus so wills, to remain in his living death. Submissive faith can go no farther. This leper distinguishes divine temporal [gifts] from divine spiritual and eternal gifts. He knows that he is asking only the former [that is, a temporal gift], which God’s wisdom and love may withhold from us and often does; gifts like pardon, peace, spiritual consolation, and strength are always freely granted since it is without question God’s will that we have them. Who is able to say how this leper came to such a faith? But his case is one that shows clearly how the teaching of Jesus produced the most blessed spiritual effects.”
            Moved with compassion, Jesus takes action. He stretches out His hand and touches the man. This is unheard of! Doesn’t Jesus know how contagious leprosy is? Wasn’t He aware that there was no cure for leprosy at that time? Doesn’t He know that touching someone considered unclean made Him unclean as well? Couldn’t he see that this man was in an advanced stage of the disease? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Of course He did. But Jesus is no mere “nice man,” “great philosopher,” “good teacher,” or only a “wonderful example.” He is the Lord God in the flesh, maker of heaven and earth.
            God spoke the universe into being, out of literally nothing, with but a word. His touch, however, shows His care for the man—and that He knows leprosy can be healed by His divine authority. Often, but though by no means always, did Jesus touch those that He healed. He didn’t have to. He wanted to. And with the words, “Be clean,” the man is cleansed. God’s Word is powerful, living, and active. It does what it says. It delivers the very gifts it proclaims. Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
            It would be nice to have one like Jesus walking around today, healing instantly with a touch! Our Lord, two thousand years ago, is still light-years ahead of even the most futuristic, unbelievable medical practice of today. And yes, God still heals the sick today. Today, God works through means.

            (From Gregory Wiens) One afternoon while playing on a wooden picnic table, a 4 ½-year-old boy ran a splinter into his finger. Sobbing, he called for his father at the office. “I want God to take the splinter out,” he said.
            The father told him that his mother could remove it very easily. But he wanted God Himself to do it because when Mom takes a splinter out, it hurts. He wanted God to remove it “by Himself.”
            When the father got home an hour later, the splinter was still there, so the father proceeded to remove it, trying to teach the boy that God sometimes uses others to do His work. And that sometimes it is painful.
            A person once told Pastor of another son, this one fully grown, likely in his forties or fifties. This man had strayed from the faith in his youth, and joined a supposedly Christian congregation later in life. It wasn’t a Lutheran congregation. In fact, this particular congregation and its pastors either denied or contradicted some clear words from the Bible—some basic Bible teachings. When this man came down with a serious disease, he refused to see a doctor or take any medication, saying much like the young boy in the previous story, “I want God to heal me.” Just imagine. God provided for men and women to be trained as medical doctors and researchers, rediscovering the amazing healing properties of parts of God’s creation, and this man rejected them outright, ignoring God’s means of healing and caring for him!
            Gene Edward Veith gives further explanation in The Spirituality of the Cross: “God heals the sick. While He can and sometimes does do so directly, in a spectacular unmediated miracle, in the normal course of things God heals through the work of doctors, nurses, and other medical vocations. God [also] protects us from evil. This He does by means of the vocation of police officers, attorneys, judges—also through military vocations. God teaches through teachers, orders society through governments, proclaims the Gospel through pastors.
            “Luther pointed out that God could have decided to populate the earth by creating each individual and each generation separately, from the dust. Instead, He invented families. God ordained that new life come into the world—and be cared for and raised into adulthood—through the world of a man and a woman who come together into a family. Husband, wife, father, mother are vocations through which God extends His creation and exercises His love.
            “All of this simply demonstrates that, in His earthly kingdom, just as in His spiritual kingdom, God bestows His gifts through means. God ordained that human beings be bound together in love, in relationships and communities existing in a state of interdependence. In this context, God is providentially at work caring for His people, each of whom contributes according to his or her God-given talents, gifts, opportunities, and stations. Each thereby becomes what Luther terms a ‘mask of God’:
            All our work in the field, in the garden, in the city, in the home, in struggle, in government—to what does it all amount before God except child’s play, by means of which God is pleased to give His gifts in the field, at home, and everywhere? These are the masks of our Lord God, behind which He wants to be hidden and to do all things.

            And a leper came to him [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean."  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.  And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them."  But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
            According to Leviticus 14:1 and following, the former leper from our lesson is to show himself to a priest in Jerusalem. (Lenski again) “The first act on the part of the priest on the day the man presents himself consists of the physical examination plus the offering of two live birds….and the ceremonies connected with them….The second act follows on the seventh and eighth days and concerns two lambs….The first act restored the healed leper to the people, the second to his religious prerogatives in the Temple worship…” Thus, our Lord keeps the law and brings about healing.
            His stern warning for the man to keep silent catches us by surprise. Why is the man to keep silent? Aren’t we to tell the good news about Jesus? Yes, today, after Jesus’ Resurrection, we certainly are. But the time for Jesus’ persecution has not yet come. In His great wisdom, Jesus knew what the result would be if this leper told others. might be. And since the man did tell others, it came to pass in verse 45. Jesus could no longer openly enter a town. People expected miracles as if going to a magic show to be entertained. Instead, Jesus wanted them to hear the Word.
            Listen for the importance of God’s Word in this answer to the question from the Small Catechism following the Third petition, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How is God’s will done? God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.

            And a leper came to him [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean."  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.  And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them."  But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
            God continues to gather to Himself people like us. Hear the Word with gladness. Now, spread the news of Jesus openly. Boldly pray in Jesus’ Name for those that need physical healing, praying “Thy will be done.” Remember the submissive faith of the healed leper. And be comforted, that when you confess your sins saying, “If You will, You can make me clean,” Jesus always—ALWAYS—always answers that request for His divine spiritual and eternal gifts saying, “I will; be clean.” Amen.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.