Sermon - Epiphany III 2022 - Matthew 8:1-13

Christ and Leper, Mosaic in Monreale

How far away is God from us? I know it’s easy to at times believe that God is far away from us, and that He doesn’t care for us; that He’s way up in heaven, and we’re left to our own devices here on earth below. But that couldn't be further from the truth! Today’s Bible lessons teach us that God is in fact near to us. Jesus has come down from heaven to have mercy upon us poor sinners.

Prior to our Gospel reading, Jesus was preaching His great sermon on the mount. In that sermon He taught us so much about faith, God’s law, and righteous living. But Jesus didn’t just spend His entire ministry sitting on the mountain, or going to wedding parties and fancy dinners, rather He spent His time among the poor suffering people whom He came to redeem.

“When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

Jesus didn’t shy away from this unclean leper. Normally a Jew would have avoided a leper and not gone near one, and if one would have approached him and knelt before him, he would have been furious; but not Jesus. When the sick unclean people present themselves before Jesus, Jesus draws near to them and heals them. This leper lived that passage from James: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you!” 

Jesus didn’t just draw near to the leper, but Jesus did the unthinkable in front of the crowds: He stretched out His hand and touched the man! In but an instant the leprosy was cleansed by Jesus! Jesus is unafraid of those things which make us unclean and repulses others from our presence. Jesus is unafraid of our filth because He has come to cleanse us from something much worse than our bodily illnesses; the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sins!

Our sins are a pollutant far worse than any and every sickness, even leprosy, or dare I say Covid. Each and every one of our sins we have ever committed makes us unclean. Took out your anger on your kids or spouse? Unclean. Lied to make yourself look better? Unclean. Looked in lust upon another? Unclean. Every sin, no matter how minor or secret you may think it to be, makes you as filthy as the grave. Every sin marks us as unclean and means we don’t deserve to be in the presence of anyone, let alone almighty and holy God.

But that doesn’t stop Jesus from drawing near to us unclean sinners, laying His hands upon our heads, and declaring “I forgive you all of your sins.” The angry Jewish crowd was right: “Let His blood be upon us and on our children!” By His blood we are cleansed and our sins are forgiven. Jesus’ brutal sacrifice on the cross was suffered in order to take away the filth of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. By His wounds we are healed!

So the church here is a hospital for unclean sinners. Here we sinners draw near to Jesus, He draws near to us, and then He stretches out His hand to forgive us. In the absolution we are transported back to the font where Christ has washed away our sins in those holy, precious waters, just as Naaman was cleansed. Throughout the service we are sprinkled clean with the holy words of Jesus, sanctifying us in the truth, because His Word is truth. 

Then like the centurion, we humbly approach Jesus, confessing: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” Yet, the Lord does in fact come under the roof of our mouths in His holy body and blood. That medicine of immortality takes away our grave sickness of sin, and restores in us the breath of life, the Spirit of God. Our Lord has not kept us at arms length, but has come near to us in our most dire need.

Because of our sins and how unclean we are, you would think that God would want nothing to do with us and that He would avoid us. It’s tempting to feel like the Leper and say to Jesus: “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.” The leper doesn’t doubt that Jesus has the power to heal him, instead he doubts that Jesus would want to heal him. So what a comforting word to hear Jesus say: “I will.” It’s as if Jesus said “I love you and desire only your good, it is my will that you be healed and live with Me.”

It’s tempting to feel like the centurion and say: “I am not worthy.” Again, he doesn’t doubt that Jesus can heal his servant, instead He doesn’t believe that He’s worthy enough for Jesus to even enter his house. The centurion’s humility and faith in Jesus was so great that it caused our Lord to marvel at this man’s faith! What a comfort then that Jesus immediately healed the man’s servant and told him that he would one day recline at table in the kingdom of heaven with the saints. Jesus may not have entered the centurion’s house that day, but the centurion would later dwell in the Lord’s house in heaven! 

Dear Christians, it’s okay if you feel poor and lowly, if you feel humbled for your sins and unworthy, but don’t hesitate to draw near to your God, because He will draw near to you! He has come down from heaven to be near you so that you may one day be carried up from here to heaven to be in His nearer presence! What great mercy God shows us poor sinners! How fantastic it is that God is so near to us!

Your problems, whatever they may be, God cares about them because He cares about you. Your family problems, the surgery you’re recovering from, your winter depression, your lingering cough, and that disability, God cares about them all and wants to make you whole again. If He cares enough about you to heal your sins, then most surely He cares about your every other problem and desires your good.

He looks upon our little discouraged church with mercy and compassion and gives us courage and hope. Here within our midst the Lord of creation comes down from on high to be with us and dwell among us and within us. We aren’t worthy, but if the Lord wills it and the Lord builds the house, then we aren’t working in vain because every saint is precious in the eyes of God.

For too long now our nation has treated covid like the Pharisees treated leprosy. We look at one another as possible “spreaders,” we hear someone coughing and avoid them. Many treat one another as unclean and so hold each other at arm’s length. Our government talks of those who haven’t been vaxxed or received the booster or wear masks as lepers, unclean, people to be kept out of public and away from others.

Regardless of what you think is the efficacy of vaccines or social distancing or masks, treating one another as the Pharisees treated lepers is not what our Lord taught us. The Lord teaches us through St. Paul: “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Instead of worrying about being unclean because of our covid status, or treating others as unclean because of their status, let us remember that Jesus comes to be with us unclean sinners. One of our little sins makes us much more unclean than any sickness, including covid, ever could. Yet, Jesus comes near to us in mercy and cleanses us of all our sins. 

Likewise, your vaccine status doesn’t make you clean or unclean. The only status which matters is if you’re a baptized child of God and washed clean in the blood of Jesus. Forget about the vaccine passports and all of that drama; get your baptismal certificate framed and proudly mounted on the wall. Your sins have been washed away by Jesus who comes near to you, that is a cleansing to treasure and keep within your heart each and every day.