Christ is Life Podcast

Most of you know, if you've been here, I've talked before about spending many years teaching and coaching, before God called me into vocational ministry, a lot of years around seventh through 12th graders, 12 to 18 year olds. And there were a lot of really fun highlights and a lot of great memories from that time. But there were also some difficult things, some things that were hard to see. One of the most difficult things was watching and seeing, noticing kids who were who were on the outside, looking in, the kids who sat at a lunch table all by themselves, the kid who walked through the hallways alone and never talked to anyone, doing their best to avoid contact with anyone, hoping that no one would see them, the kids who always got picked last for a team, the ones with disabilities, the ones who were differently abled. It was heartbreaking sometimes to see these kids who are on the outside looking in, the ones who feel like they don't fit in, they don't belong. There's something wrong with them, and they should just do their best to avoid people we all know and have heard stories of how that can get carried along to the point where kids and teens are bullied because of those things. They're they're teased and and even kids who have gone to the extreme and taken their lives because of the emotions and the feelings tied with being on the outside, being invisible,
being noticed,
nobody would ever know world would be better place if I just wasn't here heartbreaking to see that happen in the lives of kids and our teens. But the reality is, is that that it's not just our kids and teens who feel that way. I think to some degree, we can all relate to what it feels like on some level of being on the outside looking in to feel left out where we don't belong, or we've been made fun of before or ostracized. It can happen in our jobs, in our neighborhoods. It can happen in our own families, where we feel invisible. No one even notices us. We're being pushed out. Flip side of that is that sometimes though, we are the ones on the inside, and unfortunately, we're the ones responsible for leaving others out, for ostracizing them,
or for not even noticing them,
because that's the other reality. I mean, we may not even do it blatantly. We just look right past people. Sometimes they're just invisible to us. We don't even notice that they're alone. We don't even notice that they're hurting or they're grieving or they're in pain today as we continue to make our way through Luke Jesus is going to come across someone who's like one of the invisibles, those who are alone, isolated, hurting,
pain. We're
going to see how Jesus responds to him, and it's going to say a lot to those of us who feel invisible and can experience that in our own lives, and are maybe even experiencing it today, or our hearts go out to those who do, or even those of us who I don't even know if we notice sometimes see
Luke chapter five, beginning in verse 12,
Luke says that while Jesus was in one of the towns, he says a man came along who was covered, or full, in some translations of leprosy, covered with it, not just a little bit of it, but I mean full of it, covered severe leprosy. I don't know if you know much about leprosy, but it's a terrible disease to live with a skin disease. It causes severe disfiguring of the skin and skin sores, but it also causes nerve damage too when that happens. And so it can be a really painful and just terrible disease to have to live with on that level, the biological level of physical level of what it does to you. But I think perhaps the worst part about that, especially in this day and age, is that you were kicked out of the city. You were kicked out of the camp that you lived in. The Old Testament had specific requirements for these kinds of things. In Leviticus, chapter 13, beginning in verse 45 they were told, Hey, anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, Unclean, unclean, as long as they have the disease. These skin diseases, is what the con. Text is here, they remain unclean. Listen to this. They must live alone. They must live outside the camp. Can you imagine this picture coming down with leprosy, and all of a sudden, you've got to move outside of the camp. You've got to move away from your family. You're moving away from your wife, your husband, your kids, your grandkids, your mom, your dad,
grandparents. You've got to give
up your occupation. You've got to give up your friends, your habits, the social things you love, the fun things that you like to be a part of. You pack up, you move outside of the camp, and there's there's no protection outside the camp, outside the walls of the city. It's like being sentenced to solitary confinement. It's awful. And if that wasn't bad enough, being alone wasn't bad enough, as the text indicated, you had to make your appearance as repugnant as possible to scare people off from coming too close to you. And if they did get too close and get a little bit near you, then you had to cry out, Unclean, unclean. Get away from me. Don't come. Stay away.
Can you imagine
seeing your spouse come across them at some point in time and you're having to yell, Unclean, unclean.
Your friends, co workers,
other family members.
Picture what it was like to
not just give them up, but to never be touched. I mean, think about that. That's probably one of the things that we would take for granted most, is human touch, high fives, handshakes, pats on the back, hugs, kisses from other people. You've probably all heard about or seen the studies of of touch deprivation, what it what it does in their studies to to babies in their physical and psychological development. I mean, studies have found that those of babies who don't experience that touch had issues with growth and emotional regulation and social bonding and cognitive ability. So Do not underestimate the significance of human touch in our lives, so much warmth, feelings of belonging in human touch, but with leprosy, you don't ever
get to experience that anymore.
It's a lonely and a miserable disease to have you're truly on the outside looking in. And so that's this man's situation that Luke tells us about that came into town. He's in pain, he's in misery, he's lonely, he's isolated, feelings of rejection, most likely feelings of shame, and probably depressed a whole host of emotions. So let's see what Luke says. Happens Next. Verse 12 continues, when he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Underline the parts that say he fell with his face to the ground and underline, Lord, are you willing, or if you are willing? And Luke says that he felt his face to the ground. This is expressing his humility. Of course, he's acknowledging that Jesus is superior you, you, you bow before someone who is superior to you. We even see that in the way he addresses him as Lord. In Greek, it's Kyrios, his master or Lord. It's the way they would even address the Roman Emperor addressing Jesus as someone who's superior, greater than him. But the second thing that I asked you to underline, look at his request. It's it's not centered around Jesus. Can you? Are you able to heal me? It's centered around his willingness to do so. The guy shows great faith that Jesus is able to do it. He isn't doubt that Jesus is able to make him well. He just doesn't know
if Jesus is willing to do so.
Why? Why would he doubt that Jesus might be willing to do so well? Most likely because he was a nobody. He was invisible. He was an untouchable. He was on the outside, looking in beyond that he was someone who was ritually unclean, associated to someone with sin. And so besides being a nobody, an invisible and a touchable eye outside looking in, he was an unclean sinner. So he approaches him with his face to the ground in the most humble way possible. And. Jesus if you're,
if you're willing. I
mean, you probably, you probably aren't. I mean, I understand if you're not. I mean, I'm, I'm an unclean sinner, I'm a nobody. I'm on the outside looking in. I'm invisible, I'm untouchable. I get it. I mean, it probably not willing. I'm just just asking, sure for some of you, maybe the hardest part of hearing about this guy's situation again is that you can relate.
Maybe you feel the same way.
May not be because of leprosy, but you know what it's like to be an unclean sinner, or to feel like a nobody, to feel like an invisible or an untouchable, and so however Jesus is going to respond here. Isn't just going to say a lot about this guy, but it's just
going to say a lot about you as well.
Let's see how Jesus responds. Verse
13, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.
I am willing. He said, Be clean immediately. The leprosy left him.
Let me see, Jesus is supernatural power, his ability to heal someone. And again, as we pointed out a few weeks ago, not just gradually, but I mean, immediately, it completely left him. He's He's good. He's got supernatural power as as the Son of God,
Messiah. Jesus
says, I am willing.
I see you. You matter to me. You're important to me. I care about you. But did you notice what Jesus did before he even said that, before he said, I'm willing and before he said, to be clean, Luke is careful to point out that Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man first, before he ever said a word, before he ever healed him. Jesus certainly could have done it the other way. There are plenty of times in scripture where Jesus just spoke the words and healed someone. And quite honestly, if I had the ability to do that, that's what I would have done. It's a terrible skin disease. It's gross, it's nasty. I mean, I cause you to gasp sometimes seeing the disfiguration and the sores. And I mean, if I got the ability to heal him, then I'm just gonna be clean, get rid of all that stuff. It looks better. And then, okay, now come in for an embrace, not to mention that. But remember, he was viewed as someone who was unclean and in sin. And so if you touch him, then that makes you unclean. Now you become someone associated with being in sin. And so it would just have made a lot more sense for Jesus to do it the other way around. But this is not what Jesus does. He reached out towards the man again, put yourself in his shoes again, you've moved outside the camp. You've been isolated from people for who knows how long? And not only that, every time you've come across someone, you're yelling, Unclean, unclean. Stay away from me. You've had to make your appearance as repugnant as possible to scare people off. You're so used to having people the moment you see them run in the opposite direction, and yet, Jesus actually moved towards you, move towards the man. He reached out towards him. He touched his sores. He touched his scar. He touched his unclean skin. I imagine the text doesn't tell us this, and I can't prove it, but I can't imagine that Jesus kind of just like, you know, when it says he reached out and touched the man, it was like, I'm willing be clean. You know what I mean? I mean, it can't have been like that, right? Like, I just gotta get one finger on him and touch him, and then I'll try to avoid the most nasty spot on there. I mean, again, Jesus could have said the words, it wasn't about touching for the healing. There was something he was doing through the touching. He was making sure that this man knew he was loved just as he was,
just as he was.
Imagine that Jesus used both hands,
I mean, grab the guy's cheeks right, pulls him in close, looks him in the eyes, and I mean, with that sincerity and compassion and loving way that only Jesus can look at someone. He's saying, I am willing imagine he even pulls him in close. You know how sometimes, when you we get a good hug from someone, and maybe. One hand's wrapped here, and another one's even sometimes around the back of their head, and they pull you in so close, like your your cheek is is touching their cheek. I mean, this is a full on embrace. I imagine that. That's how Jesus pulls the guy in and for the first time, and who knows how long his his face is being pressed up against another person's face, the human touch, the warmth that he felt, and not to mention someone who's been outside the circle for so long, being like pulled into
the circle, what a moment for him.
But notice again, what this says to you and I as well about us today, Jesus is not afraid to enter into whatever situation and circumstance you are in, no matter how far you've gone in some kind of sin and the place you've ended up, no matter how unclean you feel or how unworthy you feel, Jesus reaches towards You, not away from you. He doesn't run from you, no matter how long you've been running from him, no matter how long you've been on the outside looking in, no matter how invisible you seem to other people, no matter how used to you are of people moving away from you to avoid you, you are seen and loved by Jesus. He doesn't move away from you. He moves towards you. He loves you so much. My hope is that you would receive it. You would receive his embrace. You'd receive his touch.
You'd receive His love. Today,
Luke goes on in verse 14,
says, Then Jesus ordered him,
don't tell anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and he and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them. What's What's that all about? Why is he asking him to do that? Well, as alluded to here, this was an Old Testament commandment. This is what someone who had been healed and cleansed of a skin disease was commanded to do. And there's a couple of reasons that Jesus was responding to him in this way, asking him to take this step. I mean, first and foremost, this is how the man would officially be able to move from outside of the camp back into the camp. A priest would examine him and look to see if this leprosy was gone, and after going through the process of becoming ritually clean, then he would he'd be able to move back in with his family, his friends, start his job again, enjoy his life with people. That was an important step for him to take. Jesus wanted to make sure that's what he did. But secondly, he wanted to show the leaders of his day, the religious leaders, a testimony of who Jesus really was. There were questions about who is Jesus, and he wanted to share with the religious leaders through this testimony of what he did, more about who he was. I mean, remember, the priest couldn't heal someone of leprosy. They weren't healing anyone of this skin disease. They were just pronouncing them clean or unclean based on whatever they saw. But Jesus had done this miraculous work that pointed to him being above and beyond just a normal man, more evidence of him being the Messiah. But why did he tell people not to tell or tell this guy not to tell anyone? Jesus did this from time to time. We talked about it a little bit already, but again, most likely because he knows it's the kind of thing that can cause a frenzy. I mean, it's the kind of thing that people notice and talk about, and it could, people could swarm him and bring attention to the Roman authorities and the Jewish leaders of his day who were against him and his ministry, and it wasn't time for maybe that yet, regardless of whether he told him to tell anyone or not, Luke tells us next that news about Him spread anyway. Verse 15, yet the news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and be healed of their sickness. Verse 16, but Jesus often withdrew to lonely or that can be translated, secluded, solitary places and prayed something we've also already seen so far in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus was in this rhythm, this rhythm of retreating for silence and solitude, and this intimate time enjoying his relationship with God, the Father, but then He was sent back into the world and to see people, to minister, to to serve them, to selflessly serve people in need. That's what we said. His mission was, as we saw when he unrolled the scroll of Isaiah and we talked several weeks ago, this was his purpose. This was his mission. He was the son and he enjoyed. His relationship with him and moments to be still, and then he was sent back in to selflessly serve people who are in need.
Jesus is still on that mission today.
He just uses the church to accomplish that mission. You and I, that's what we've been saying all throughout this series, is that Jesus, the moment we say yes to Him, He forgives us based on his finished work on the cross, to forgive our sins, to pay the penalty for them. But then the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, uniting us into this spiritual union with Jesus, giving us everything that we need for life and godliness. And then he begins to express his life through us. As us, He becomes our guide. Leads us to where he wants to go. He empowers us to be able to do so it's his energy and his work in us and through us, we become the instruments that he uses to accomplish his purse, purpose and mission of selflessly serving people in need. So what do we learn today? What do we learn today about how we can expect Jesus to express his life through us? Well, first, he'll lead us to notice the invisibles, to notice the untouchables, to notice those who are on the outside looking in. But then secondly, not just to notice them and become more aware of them, but to move towards them, not around them. We're trying to avoid them, but to love and to serve them again. That's what Jesus did here. He noticed. First and foremost, I see you. I'm listening to your request. I am willing. And then he followed through with what he said he was willing to do. After seeing him and noticing him, he showed him compassion and love and offered him a place inside the circle, a place to belong. That's what he'll do through us and share his compassion and love with the invisibles and the untouchables in our world, and use us to give them a place to belong inside the circle as well. So if this is what Jesus did, then then this is what we can expect him to do through us. And the question becomes, what does that look like for you, what does it look like for you? Specifically, who are the invisibles, who are the untouchables and those on the outside looking in that Jesus wants you to notice and to move towards if you're a young person here today, is it someone at school? Is it someone who's eating all alone by themselves, or the kid who's always picked last, or the one who's being made fun of how they dress or how they look. Maybe it's someone in your workplace and somebody who stays to themselves and they don't get noticed, they don't get recognized. Maybe they have a hard time fitting in with other people in the workplace. Maybe they're not even as good at their job, and God wants to use you to help them become better and come alongside of them. Is it someone in your neighborhood, people that you just rarely ever see and don't pay any attention to, or that you do see but you do your best to avoid a
little extra Grace required with some neighbors? Is
it someone who's homeless or someone who's stuck in long term care and a hospital or a nursing home where there's nobody coming by to check on them or hug them or smile at them, notice them. When I was visiting with the family, and I was trying to help come alongside of Mike and Bobby OG and the situation that Stacey Skidmore was in in the hospital, Mike came out, and he was Jason. I walk up and down this hall, and I see all of our family who's around Stacy and praying for her. And there's room after room after room that I pass by and there's not one person in the room with them. They're all alone. They're isolated. No one's checking on them, no hugs, no prayers, no warm welcome, words of encouragement, support. Maybe
it's someone like that
he's leading you to, is it someone with disabilities? Is it a is it a parent dealing with a child with disabilities who often goes unnoticed? Or if they are noticed, they're used to having people move away from them rather than towards them? Jesus noticed the untouchables and the invisibles and those who are on the outside looking in, and he moves towards them, and he embraces them, and he meets their needs, and he welcomes them in the inside of the circle and into his family. And he will express his life through you in the same way today. So again, who is he leading you to notice today? Who is it on the outside looking in that he wants you to embrace and to give them a place to belong?
Must be that kind of church. Let's
be a church who notices the invisibles, who notices. Untouchables who notices those on the outside and let's move towards them together. Let's embrace them together. Let's welcome them home together. You.