Changing a Leper’s Spots, Part 1

1:00 In fact, read the verse with me. A leper came to Jesus, beseeching him and falling on his knees before him and saying, If you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus down in the depths of his being feels deeply he's filled with compassion following that twinge of compassion please observe and I love this Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him you never touched a leper I hope all of you know the joy of being loved by those who touch you. We live in a strange time. We no longer touch people. It's not politically correct. I'm not talking about an inappropriate touch. You know that. Please.

1:56 I'm talking about an embrace that means something. Playwright Moss Hart tells a moving story in a fine little book titled created brooding. Listen to it. It's called Two Lonely People. We hurried on, our heads bent against the wind, to the cluster of lights ahead that was 149th Street and Westchester Avenue. And those lights seemed to me the brightest lights I had ever seen. tugging at my father's coat I started down the line of push carts I would merely pause before a push cart to say with as much control as I could muster look, look, look at that chemistry set or there's a stamp album or look at the printing press each time my father would pause and ask the push cart man the price. Then without a word we would move on to the next push cart. Once or twice he would pick up a little toy of some kind and look at it and then at me as if to suggest this might be something I like but I was 10 years old and a good deal beyond just a little toy. My heart was set on a chemistry set or a printing press. There they were on every push cart we stopped at but the price was always the same. And soon I looked up and saw we were nearing the end of the line.

3:34 Only two or three more push carts remained. My father looked up too, and I heard him jingle some coins in his pocket. In a flash, I knew it all. He'd gotten together about 75 cents to buy me a Christmas present, and he hadn't dared say so in case there was nothing to be had for so small a sum. As I looked up at him, I saw a look of despair and disappointment in his eyes that brought me closer to him than I had ever been in my life.

4:10 I wanted to throw my arms around my father and say, it doesn't matter. I understand. This is better than a chemistry set or a printing press. I love you, Daddy. But instead we stood shivering beside each other for a moment, then turned away from the last two push carts and started silently back home.

4:35 I didn't even take his hand on the way home, nor did he take mine. We were not on that basis. What a tragic line. We were not on that basis, nor did I ever tell him how close I felt to him that night, that for a little while the concrete wall between father and son had crumbled away and I knew that we were two lonely people struggling to reach each other.

5:07 I realize I've taken a little excursion from the story, the narrative, but it's worth our time. Don't forget in this busy, cold, windy world to touch the people you love. Please. He reached out and he touched him.

5:31 And then in a tone that is sublime and calm and confident, fellow katharisseti, just two simple Greek words, I'm willing, be clean. I pause here so you can feel what that man must have felt. For the first time, he's cleansed. Mark goes immediately to his favorite word, immediately. Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. I love it that it's in the passive voice. this Greek term, he was cleansed. His faith did not cleanse him. How wrong of these so-called faith healers to say when someone isn't healed, you just didn't have enough faith.

6:26 What an insult. This man has no faith. He doesn't even have fingers or toes or a name or dignity. He's helpless. and he was cleansed. Love that.

6:48 He was cleansed. He was cleansed. In fact, the leprosy left him. How could we explain it? I'm not able to explain it much further. Who knows but what he suddenly had fingers. who know what he suddenly felt his ears and his lips and his nose and his feet. He's whole.

7:23 Magnificent moment in the scriptures, and we race by them to go on to the end of the narrative, but we can't do that. This miracle has occurred. this divine power that is housed within the divine Son of God passes through him at the touch and the man is cleansed. He must have stood and looked at the Savior eye to eye.

7:52 And though the words are not recorded, the feelings are obvious. Surprising for his own ears, he listens to a stern warning. and a dismissal. Jesus doesn't turn around to gather a crowd. He doesn't ask others to come and stand in line and watch the healer. He isn't about that kind of thing. That's a twisting of what Scripture sets forth as an authentic healing, cleansing.

8:26 The changes came over the man instantaneously, and naturally his first thought was, wait till I tell the people I love. And Jesus says, don't do that. Look at his words. He sternly warned him, immediately sent him away saying, see that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer your cleansing. What Moses commanded as a testimony to them. What is that all about? I mean, when I put myself in this man's shoes, as I'm sitting in my study, going over this passage of scripture, I find myself standing up at my desk and going, this is great. You do a lot of strange things when you study all alone. And I am absolutely beside myself thinking how magnificent it must have felt. And Jesus says, don't tell anybody. Why would he say that? In fact, the word stern warning is the word for snort. Isn't that an interesting thing? Snort.

9:28 it's from the Greek term for getting angry it literally means to flare the nostrils in case you can't picture that remember the last time your wife was mad at you you'll get the idea right away I know when I see flared nostrils I got to go buy a dozen roses really quick just to make things good just having a little fun with you he says to him don't run out and spread the word. Go to the priest. What's that about? Well, before I answer that question, understand Jesus is guarding the timing of his messianic identity. It's not time to do so. Second, he's not interested in increasing the crowds. He's never interested in increasing the crowds.

10:21 He's most concerned that this cleansing, this miracle stand the test of an official examination. Leviticus 14, 1 to 57, tells you exactly what is involved, and you wouldn't believe the details they went through. William Hendrickson sort of summarizes it. The offering that the victim brings, who is now cleansed, consisted of two clean living birds. One had to be killed in its blood. The other bird had to be dipped and then released. The blood of the slain bird was then sprinkled over the healed man. In fact, seven times he was then pronounced cleansed. When the priest hear that it was Jesus who had so completely and instantly cleansed this man, they will receive the irrefutable testimony to Jesus' power and love. That's the point. But the 57 verses go into touching the earlobe, putting the blood on the fingers, going through a ritual that is extensive.

11:26 Jesus said, go to the priest, have all of that done. Let there be no question, because the man could say he's cleansed, but not yet have grown back the digits. Who knows? But he says, don't tell anybody. One wag has suggested that the surest way of getting the word out is to tell someone this is confidential. And I will tell you from very sad experiences, finding purity is easier than finding confidentiality.

12:00 Will you learn in your growing up years as a Christian to keep your mouth closed when someone says, this is confidential? Will you make yourself a promise before God that from now on, when someone says, don't tell anybody, that you won't tell anybody?

12:21 The church would be a much healthier place if the tongues would cease, meaning wagging tongues. but the man and oh my he just didn't quite get that clear did he begins with but appropriately he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around to such an extent here's the part of the reason Jesus could not any longer publicly enter a city but he stayed out in unpopulated areas and they were coming to him from everywhere.

13:00 Isn't that often the way it is? Here is a man of God, here is the Son of God who does this great work, has an aversion to enlarging his audience, and wouldn't you know it, people came from everywhere but they came for the wrong reasons. They didn't come for their soul to have surgery but for their bodies to be healed.

13:22 That's a real temptation for some preachers. A.T. Robertson puts it this way, some preachers are not so disturbed by the onrush of crowds. I would love to remove from every pastor's conference the mention of how big everybody's church is, how wonderful it would be to meet with a group of ministers who don't once mention the size of their membership. It means nothing. If size meant something, the cults are winning. through Jesus' magnificent ministry, people came from everywhere. In fact, Luke adds that he would frequently go to a quiet place to pray out in the wilderness to get away from the crowds. Well, the story ends, but not the application. I think there are two things I want to leave with all of you, and then I want to tell you a true story before I finish.

14:20 The first is this. Our need for relief is as crucial as the lepers need. Our need for relief is as crucial as the lepers need. If you're here without Christ, you need to know that your condition is considered by God unclean.

14:41 You're not told to shout unclean when you come into the presence of God's people. Of course not. God's grace has nullified that need but nevertheless you are just a soil deep within deep within all our hearts there's a cesspool of sinfulness as one wag put it if depravity were blue we'd be blue all over we're all depraved we're all sinners may we never forget that you're in pain healing can come only from the living God Your sinful forgiveness can only come from the living God. You fear the grief and the tragedy of death. The hope of resurrection can only come from God. You have the stigma of shame in your life. Relief and cleansing can only come from the living God. Our need for relief is as crucial as that leper's need.

15:40 The second thing I learned from this is our response to Jesus needs to be the same as the leper's initial response. If you are willing, you can make me clean. Anyone who comes to Christ through the cross can come in the same way. I acknowledge that I am a sinful person. I acknowledge that I am deep down inside, diseased with this sinfulness. In fact, the scripture says we are dead in trespasses and sins. And so I come to you Lord as a diseased and depraved sinner Nothing in my own hands can I bring that would in any way Ingratiate you and I come at your mercy Forgive me cleanse me take me I trust in Christ for that cleansing Now the story let me take you back to 1958 Okay listen up don't look for your keys Okay?

16:40 Just listen to the story. I was on the island of Okinawa wearing a Marine Corps uniform, playing in the 3rd Division Band headquarters company at Camp Courtney. I was surrounded by other Marines. During that time, we lived 48 to a Quonset hut, and there were five or six Quonset huts in our area that would house this 3rd Division band. One afternoon, Captain Birch, our conductor, announced to us, Tomorrow morning I want you to dress in your best. That meant dress blues. Bring your red pouch, in which the music would be put. And to all of you who play brass instruments, bring an extra mouthpiece.

17:27 The first part of his announcement was common, but the second part was surprising. An extra mouthpiece. Didn't tell us why. I play clarinet and so it applied to those who play trumpet and trombone and tuba, other brass instruments. The following morning we mustered out around 630 and at 0700 we climbed in the back of a large transport truck which took us wherever we went for our concerts. We drove for miles, it seemed like well over an hour, up beyond Nago, way up into the hinterland of the island where there were no people, that is not much population. We drove to a dirt road and finally there was no road. We roughed our way over this until finally we came to a spot where a very friendly man met us. It was at that time, Gatton Burch called us all together and announced we were going to play the concert at the leprosarium.

18:28 On the island of Okinawa, there was, perhaps still is, a place where the lepers lived. A chill went up my back. I had never seen a leper before, nor since, I might add. But we made our way as a group to the dirt area. There was no platform. There were improvised stands they had put together for us to place our music on. and little by little coming from huts and among the trees were broken people. All of them bowed low, most of them with no hands. Some stumbling along with part of the foot, some on crutches with no foot, no feet. For many their ears were gone, their lips were gone, they looked like living skeletons with skin wrapped around them. Captain Birch leaned over and said to us, all right men, this is the only concert they will have ever heard you play like you mean it.

19:37 Okay? And did we ever? I don't know that we ever played a better concert. We played for almost an hour, and as we would finish our pieces, They tried to applaud and couldn't, so they stomped their feet in the dust. They're sitting on the ground, and they just kind of stomped their feet, one after another. Well, we finished, and they wanted an encore, so they really stomped their flute. And we played an encore piece, and they wanted another, and finally. By the way, one of our trumpeters dropped his mouthpiece and was glad that Captain Birch had said, bring another one. You don't want to put that one back in your mouth. We finished. We had arrived there and there was all kinds of talk on the truck, as you can imagine, a bunch of Marines.

20:32 But when we got back on that truck, we were as silent as a nunnery. I mean nobody said anything. So we're riding back, hour more back, and I'm thinking on the way,

20:52 oh man, this is my moment. So I just decided to say it. I said, guys, listen up. We're all a bunch of lepers. Well, if you think there was silence before I made a statement like that, they looked at me like I was from another planet. And I said, you all know where I stand on this, but let me tell you, you've been denying it, virtually every one of you, since we met. And I want to tell you, down deep inside, we're all diseased. And there's no way to be cleansed. Those dear people we just played our music for. They would love to know there's a way to be cleansed from that, but I'm telling you there is hope for us. The only one who can cleanse us from our leprosy is named Jesus Christ. When we get back to the Quonset hut, I'll be glad to meet with any of you that want to know more about it. And I stopped. Well, I didn't know if they were going to throw me under the truck or what. I can tell you, nobody said anything. We got back, four of those guys came to talk, and two of them that afternoon trusted in Christ. That doesn't sound like much, but two out of 48 in a hut is a revival in the Marine Corps, okay? Two out of 48 is not bad.

22:16 They began to grow, and they told me by the time I left the island, they would never forget What turned them around is the realization that they are diseased within. Many of you have lived your life and never acknowledged that you are down deep, unclean, until you acknowledge that you have no reason to seek someone who can cleanse you. And I urge you, just as I did my buddies on the back of that truck, trust in him. The only one who can bring you cleansing. I'd like us to bow our heads. Now just sit quietly for a moment. Are you absolutely certain, are you absolutely certain that if you died tonight, your home would be heaven?

23:05 That you would see the Lord face to face and he would welcome you into his home, which he has prepared for you? If you're not sure of that, a simple, simple prayer will do it. Heavenly Father I acknowledge that I'm unclean I can't clean myself up and my sinfulness overwhelms me and I come today to your son Jesus and I would like to transfer my uncleanness and receive his righteousness thank you for coming into my life Lord Jesus may we stand together for the closing prayer dear father thank you for speaking to us in terms that we can all understand forgive us for the wasted years trying to hide our leprosy ignoring how unclean we are Thank you.