The sermon for January 22 was based on Matthew 8:1-13.  

There was a leper in the Gospel reading. Did you hear what he had the audacity to do? He dared to approach almighty God. He came to Jesus and bowed down before Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." [2] What bold courage, what daring, what bravery! No, all those descriptions are inadequate. What shall I call it; with what rich word shall I endow this leprous man? There's only one that will do: and that word is "faith." He was a leper of extraordinary, earth-shaking faith.

Consider the fact that Jesus is God and, as God, is holy to an infinite degree. Now imagine you are the leper, and play his part. What thoughts are wrestling in your mind? You are disgusting, sickening, perhaps as white as snow but as impure as dung according to Jewish law. You know your place: far, far away from normal people without leprosy. Veil your face, conceal your skin, get way, way, way back. You are far worse than an ordinary outcast; you are an untouchable monster.

Jesus has been standing far above you, preaching the Sermon on the Mount. The "Amen" has been said; He's coming down and the crowd is swarming round about Him. In your one ear the Law barks, "Unclean, unclean," and in the other the demons growl, "Unworthy, unworthy!" But there is another Word you have heard. You have heard the Word that says Jesus is the Messiah and the Friend of sinners; the Word that says He is kind, good, gracious, and loving; the Word that promises He will shun no one and embrace everyone. The Law barks, "Unclean," the demons growl, "Unworthy," but the Word of that Man beckons, "Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." [Mt 11:28] So you come, you kneel, you pray-with a faith that has overcome all doubts, fears, and misgivings. You come as a leper, rejected as less than human, and leave as a brother of Christ, embraced as a son of God.

Do you see now how the leper is a man of faith? He shuts his ears to the Law which pronounces him unclean. Better than that, the more he hears the harsh tongue-lashing of the Law, the more his steps quicken to that Man who is the Gospel in the flesh. The demonic dogs snapping at his heels with their teeth of guilt only quicken his flight to climb onto the Tree of Life. The more he feels his unworthiness, the more he clings to the only One who is worthy. So the enemies sharpen their attacks, saying, "Listen, o leper! God made you this way. How can you flee to that a sadistic Tyrant? How can you turn to the One who created you as the beast you are? How could you run to that Man as if He is heaven, when He has made your life a living hell?"

But the leper keeps running to Jesus, for he is a man of faith who believes that His God is love [1Jo 4:8, 16]. So he is unclean, so what? So his appearance is disgusting, so what? So the Law condemns him, so the demons accuse him, so what? The eyes of faith look only outward. Faith fixes its eyes on Jesus, only Jesus [Heb 12:2], and finds in Him Love, and only Love. By faith he knows that heaven is his, even though his life is hell on earth. By faith he knows that salvation is his, even though he deserves hell. By faith he knows that everlasting life is his, even though the teeth of the grave chew on the flesh of his heart. Neither leprosy, nor sin, nor death, nor demons, nor doubts, nor anything else in all creation will separate this leper from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus his Lord.

Do you dare suppose, then, that something is separating you? Or are you even aware of how shocking it is that nothing does separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus your Lord? "Well," you say, "maybe if I'd ever been a leper and gone through all that bad stuff you've been talking about, then I'd see how shocking it is that God really loves me." If this is how you think, then you are mistaken-sadly, woefully, mistaken. Don't you understand . . .? You are the leper! Pull your head out of the sand of self-righteousness and take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror of God's Law. You are the leper. Behind that outward appearance is a mind intent on self-satisfaction, a heart chasing after whatever makes you happy. You are the leper! If you can't feel it, if you can't see it, then at least believe what the Scriptures say, "[You] are as an unclean thing; all [your] righteousness is as filthy rags," [Isa 64:6] and if your righteousness is worthy of nothing but the sewer, how grotesque your unrighteousness must be. Or again Christ says, "When you have done everything God commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have only done our duty.'" [Lk 17:10] If those who fulfill the commandments are unworthy slaves, what fuel for the fires of hell those must be who daily shatter the divine Law! You are the leper!

How, then, shall you come before the holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth when you are unholy beyond measure? How shall you, a leper, not be separated from the love of God? By the love of God which is in Christ Jesus your Lord-that's how! How can God be separated from you, when His own Son took on your flesh in the Incarnation? How can the Father be separated from the brothers of His Son? He cannot. He will not. Never, ever, will He separate from you, for He is the God who is love, the God who cannot stop loving, who cannot stop forgiving, who cannot stop being merciful without ceasing to be God. For, if God is not love, then God is not God.

That God of love is your God, my fellow leper, by faith in Jesus Christ. Does your conscience open wide its mouth to taunt you? Faith sews shut the lips of that accusing conscience. Is the stomach of your heart empty of peace and full of striving? Then by faith feast your eyes on the One who is the Bread of Life, who fills those famished by guilt and starved by sin with the Food from heaven. But, more than that, partake of that feast in which you eat the Body of forgiveness and drink the Blood of compassion from the One who not only touches lepers, but puts Himself into their very mouths. Are you ashamed of a sin committed under the cover of darkness? Then bathe in the absolution-Blood of Jesus, who hung on the shameful cross in the broad light of day to purge away your guilty stains.

As that leper ran by faith to Jesus, so you have come here before Him. You are unclean, so what? So your sin is disgusting, so what? So the Law condemns you, so the demons accuse you, so what? The eyes of faith look only outward. Faith fixes its eyes on Jesus and finds in Him only Love. By faith you know that heaven is yours, even though your life is hell on earth. By faith you know that salvation is yours, even though you deserve hell. By faith you know that everlasting life is yours, even though the teeth of the grave chew on the flesh of your heart. It is good to be a leper, for lepers are loved by God. Let the devil be condemned, let the grave be buried, let the stain of sin be blotted out, for Jesus has touched you with healing in His hand. And His hand opens the gate of heaven, the portal to paradise. His sacramental touch gives life to all the lepers of the world, and even to you. Now neither leprosy, nor sin, nor death, nor demons, nor doubts, nor anything else in all creation will separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus your Lord. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008