Meeting Jesus - Jesus heals the leper

Some people believe Jesus is a republican, a democrat, or an independent. Some people believe that Jesus is like a Genie in a bottle–if you rub the lamp through prayer, you get whatever you want. Still, some view Jesus like a Mascot the church rallies around once a week.Over this next year, we are going to seek to understand who Jesus really was,what he was really like, and how you and I can become more like Him.

Here at Beach Church, we believe if we read God’s Word and apply his Word, he Will change our lives.Last week we talked about the importance of continuing to surrender to Jesus in our lives, and this week we are taking a look at Luke 5:12-16 when Jesus changes another man’s life.

The majority of us have experienced something traumatic in our lives, that we had to learn to deal with.

Maybe it was an unexpected layoff. Maybe a spouse filing for a divorce you did not want. Maybe your child was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.

Some trauma comes to us through no fault of our own. 

Perhaps like me, you had an abusive, alcoholic parent who was mean and hurtful to you, or maybe somebody betrayed your trust and took advantage of you. Maybe you were neglected and abused by a spouse, or grew up in a violent and dysfunctional home. The world has been broken by sin. That means that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. And, bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people.  

A newsflash for all of us: 

Life is not fair! Nothing in life seems to be consistent and fair because the world has been broken by sin.

When my teachers would punish the whole class for something one person did, I would stand up, interrupt the class and shout: “That’s not fair.”

If my brothers or sisters received a toy, and I didn’t  - I would say, “That’s not fair.”

Today, we read about a man dying a slow, painful death through no fault of his own…and nothing could be done to help him.  I am sure he mumbled many times, “Life’s not fair.”

Luke 5:12-16

In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” 13  Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 14  Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone what had happened. He said, “Go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.” 15  But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16  But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. 

It is important to understand this incident in the proper context. Leprosy was a terrible disease. The moment it was discovered a person had leprosy, their clothes, possessions, and bedding were destroyed through fire.  Then, their family disowned them and shunned them for the rest of their lives. Even if they had wealth and money – they lost it all. A person never asked for Leprosy, but they got it. Like Covid, a virus, cancer, or the common cold, a person contracted Leprosy through no fault of their own. Whether old, young, rich or poor, a leper was shunned by friends, family and the community.  

As a leper traveled and walked along the road or trails, they had to yell “Unclean!  Unclean!”  and ring a bell to make sure people knew they were diseased and for all to stay clear. And, their condition grew worse and worse. They grew a bit more grotesque and diseased every day.  In their leper colonies, they watched each other literally rot away, losing fingers and toes, losing limbs, going blind, horribly disfigured they would eventually die…of either starvation or rot.

Can you imagine that life? To be grouped together with a group of diseased people and watching them one-by-one die a painful death, knowing that one day, you would also meet that same fate.  And – the psychological consequences of Leprosy were as damaging as the physical. They carried SHAME and GUILT even though they were innocent victims of the disease. Historians tell us that they often blamed themselves.

This man HATED himself and all that he had become.

This man had become the most grotesque version of himself he could possibly be. I believe He Hated who he was and what he had become. And maybe that’s where you are today.

Maybe somebody hurt you as a child, and you blame yourself. Maybe you were in an abusive relationship for years, and you blame and shame yourself for not getting out sooner. You were hurt. Your kids were hurt. You are weighed down by guilt you should not be carrying. Maybe you have an eating disorder, an addiction to drugs or alcohol, and you have hurt people who loved you. Maybe you were the abuser, you have deep regrets about the pain you caused. Maybe you just can’t look at yourself in the mirror any longer because you hate the person. you are today.

EVEN WHEN WE HATE OURSELVES, JESUS REACHES OUT

As Jesus is moving about in the village – this diseased leper hobbles to Jesus, bowing down to the ground in shame and pleads: “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean!”. Without hesitating, drawing back in horror, or recoiling, Jesus takes a step toward the man and said, “I am willing – and he TOUCHES the man!”

The day he was diagnosed, people stopped touching him. 

No handshakes. 

No hugs. 

No pat on the back. 

No stealing kisses from the woman he loved. 

No butterfly kisses on his cheek from his children or grandchildren.

NOTHING.

Then – this stranger reaches out his hand and TOUCHES the Leper. BEFORE he healed him!

The touch came first, then came the healing.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you came to a moment that you understood that you NEEDED the cleansing power of Jesus to change your life, too.  You understood the ugliness of your sin. That your sin separated you from God. But Jesus death on the cross paid the price for your sin and through his blood, you were cleansed from sin and made new. You Surrendered your life to Jesus and committed your life to following him.

If you are a follower of Jesus – understand if we want to make a difference in this broken world, we must reach out with a compassionate TOUCH before we can make a difference.

If people around you are broken – reach out with compassion. 

Be willing to meet them where they are.  Show them uncomfortable grace. Some people are so broken they hate themselves and they are ready to give up – show them the compassion of Jesus.  Your character and beliefs are never compromised by showing compassion to people overwhelmed by sin.

And, if you are at the place that you hate yourself because of choices you made, things you have done, words you have said, and hurt you have caused to others…JESUS is still reaching out to you.

You may hate yourself – but God loves you 

He knows how you feel about yourself…

He knows what you think about yourself…

But he will never stop reaching out to you.

Jesus will never ever stop reaching out to you. So reach back out to Him. Surrender control of your life to Him. 

Tell Him you are tired of making up the rules for your life. Tell Him you are ready to live by his rules. Beginning this moment, get clean on the inside.

Surrender your life to God and receive forgiveness for sins. Just simply say to God, “I believe Jesus paid the price for my sins, and I surrender to you. I will stop living by my own rules, and begin following you.”

Now, for all of us, it is important that we understand:

SOMETIMES HEALING IS INSTANT, SOMETIMES A PROCESS

In verse 13, we see that this man was healed immediately by Jesus.  I have heard of those miraculous moments in people’s lives when they struggle with anger, or addiction, or they have been diagnosed with cancer – and they are healed instantly!

I have seen the before and after of medical ultrasounds of tumors that are suddenly gone. I have spoken with men and women who had their desire for drunkenness and getting high instantly disappear. I praise the Lord for those sudden, dramatic, healings that demonstrate God’s power.

But, sometimes healing is a process that takes time.

PTSD healing takes time.

Overcoming depression and anxiety takes time.

Overcoming abuse, church hurt, and sadness can take time.

Much of the hurt you and I have experienced in life requires us to process through prayer, reading the Bible, counseling, and programs like Celebrate Recovery.

If you have any hurt, habit, or hangup that you wrestle with – Invest in healing for yourself by attending Celebrate Recovery and be open and honest about what you are hoping to recover from…Jesus heals today instantly, and he also heals through a process of time, prayer, conversation and understanding.

Wherever you are at, and whatever you need healing from, you are worth beginning the process and the journey.

Then, as you grow to a point of change and transformation…

ANNOUNCE CHANGE THROUGH BAPTISM

Luke 5:14

…He said, “Go to the priest… Take along the offering … This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.” 

Jewish Old Testament Law required that those cured of an infectious disease receive permission to re-enter society from the Priests.  This man with the advanced case of leprosy must have hungered for years for a priest to say, “You are clean!”  Being healed from the disease would mean that he could return to his family, return to an occupation, and from that point on – he would never be alone, lonely, or by himself again because of his disease!

No more watching families from a distance. No more watching Father and Sons go to the synagogue together…and wishing that was him. Now he could be hugged! Now he could hug others! Now he could love and be loved by others…Through the touch of Jesus – he got a second-chance at life!

But before he could live in the NEW – the change had to be announced.

Some of you have experienced the life-changing power of forgiveness in your lives…It is time for the PUBLIC TESTIMONY of Baptism to let your world know that you are now a follower of Jesus. It is time to let your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors celebrate the change you have experienced.  Baptism is an outward declaration of the inward change you have experienced…is it time you have stopped holding back?

When you announce, others can celebrate and God is glorified.

It is time to let your world know you are now a follower of Jesus. You have been forgiven for your sins. You are not the same person you once were.

Let your world know.

Meeting Jesus - Walking Away From Religion

Some people believe Jesus is a republican, a democrat, or an independent. Some people believe that Jesus is like a Genie in a bottle–if you rub the lamp through prayer, you get whatever you want. Still, some view Jesus like a Mascot the church rallies around once a week.Over this next year, we are going to seek to understand who Jesus really was,what he was really like, and how you and I can become more like Him.

We mention week after week that our mission as a church is to to become a connected people, captivated by Christ, whose changed lives are changing lives. Have you ever wondered why we mention our purpose as often as we do?

See, if Beach Church as a gathering of believers, or as individuals, if we ever forget our purpose and our mission – we will become nothing more than a country club.  I know this might sound ridiculous to even mention – but sometimes churches forget “who they are” and “why they exist” so instead of having an outward focus to reach people, they develop an inward focus. 

They focus on the comfort, care, and preferences of those inside the church.

Instead of valuing and pursuing people to see them surrender to the life-changing power of Jesus, they began to value the things that matter to the majority of the people inside the church and cater to each other.  

They have forgotten their purpose.

They engrave names of people on buildings…Sunday school rooms get nicknamed after the leaders of their classes. Nobody else is allowed to use that room during the week because “it’s theirs.” Inward focused churches focus on things NOBODY else cares about. Inward focused churches argue about paint, the color of the carpet, choir robes, translations of the Bible, and the qualifications of Deacons. They become known as a church you would rather not visit than one you would.

That is one of the reasons why it is important that we talk about our purpose so much.  If we don’t, we will slowly begin to drift and become more focused on property and possessions rather than people. Inward focused people focus on the surrender they made to Jesus in the past – but they no longer live surrendered lives to Jesus. People who become “Followers of Jesus”.

Meaning they have come to a point that they believe that God sent his son into the world to save the world, not condemn the world…They have had a moment that they surrendered their lives to God by trusting in Jesus as their savior – and they have been changed from the inside out…In that moment of trust, they became a follower of Jesus through surrender.

But it is interesting that some people become followers of Jesus, people become Christians through SURRENDER…and yet never surrender anything to God again!  

And if you and I want to continue to live surrendered lives to Jesus it is important that we as a church and as individuals, apply these lessons to our lives.

Luke 5:1-11 

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2  He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3  Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. 4  When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” 5  “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6  And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7  A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. 8  When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” 9  For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10  His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” 11  And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

One of the ways that you and I can continue to live surrendered lives can be drawn out from verse one.  Verse one tells us that as Jesus was teaching – great crowds were pressing in to hear him.  The crowd was so big – Jesus had to get on a boat in the water…far enough away that he could speak to the crowds – but not so far away that people could not hear him.

Why were these crowds pressing in to hear from Jesus?  One of the reasons, is because they understood what he was saying!  

JESUS SPOKE PLAINLY TO PEOPLE, SO LET’S DO THE SAME

Luke 5:1 

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 

The reason why great crowds were gathering to hear Jesus teach is because they understood what he was saying. Have you ever met somebody that used large complicated words to communicate to you, and you had no idea what they were saying?

Maybe you have watched a TED talk. They were speaking about technology, medical breakthroughs, research…and even though they spoke in your native language – you had no idea what they were talking about. I have sat in classes in college and in seminary and I could tell that the teachers in charge of the class really loved to hear themselves talk.

They used big churchy elaborate words.

They used religious words. They used words like:

Justification. 

Sanctification. 

Incarnation. 

Transfiguration. 

Hypostatic union. 

Atonement. 

EXEGESIS…

When I first heard the word exegesis, I thought it was another name for Jesus…And then the Professor started saying things like “exegetical” and I knew I was wrong. I had to look the word up and read that it simply meant “an explanation of what a bible passage means.” Why didn’t he just say that?

And I guess that’s fine in a seminary classroom environment, but then Seminary trained pastors use “Christianese” language in their pulpits, then the members of their churches use that language as well. Then what happens is the people who need Jesus, those outside the walls of the church, have KNOW idea what we are talking about, so they seldom surrender their lives to Jesus. Just like Jesus taught plainly – you and I, if we use “Christianese”, need to surrender our language to Jesus so people can understand and experience the life-changing power of Jesus in their lives. Jesus taught plainly, large crowds gathered, and after Jesus used Peter’s boat, through a miracle of Jesus, Peter and the others caught such a large haul of fish, the nets were tearing and both boats were filled to the verge of sinking.

I LOVE the response of PETER.

He said, “Lord please leave me.  I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.”

That response is one I have heard a hundred different ways from people.  

People say things like, “If I were to walk into a church, the church would catch on fire.” 

Or 

“If you knew what I have done in life, you wouldn’t be talking to me about God.”

Please understand this…

JESUS PREFERRED RELATIONSHIPS WITH SINNERS, NOT THE RELIGOUS.

If you came to church today, and you are under the impression that God only wants to connect with “churchy” people, you are wrong. 

Way wrong!

Two thousand years ago, the God-Man entered the world…and even though he went to the temple on a regular basis – Jesus seemed to prefer hanging out with sinful people. We read in scripture that “as was his custom” Jesus went to the synagogues for worship…yet he didn’t seem to hang out with the people he went to church with.  He was always with the people OUTSIDE the temple.  He connected with the people that DIDN’T necessarily fit in with the churchy people.

In fact, the “churchy people” called the people that Jesus connected with and hung out with, “SCUM.”

Later on in Luke Chapter 5:30 the RELIGIOUS leaders complained about the people that Jesus and his disciples hung out with…they said, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” 

So if you feel like scum.

If you feel rejected.

If you feel like you don’t fit in at church.

If you feel like you are too much of a sinner to be here…I have good news!

You are right where you belong!

Jesus came to “take away” your sin. (1 John 3:5) 

He takes away your sin when you stop trying to be good enough on your own to connect with him, and surrender your life to God by trusting Jesus as the one who takes away your sin and makes you a new person. 

RELIGIOUS people think God is blessed to have them church…

BUT Jesus preferred the presence of sinners, scum, and low lifes.

You don’t have to impress Jesus. You just have to surrender to him. 

The building has not caught on fire. You have not been zapped with lightning. God loves you, in fact, he prefers to hang out with you because he loves you. So, just take a moment and tell God you SURRENDER to him and trust Jesus as the one who took away your sin. Take that moment right now – even while I am talking.  Let the Love of God fill your heart and flood your mind and surrender to Him.

FOLLOWING JESUS REQUIRES SURRENDER OF MORE THAN SIN.

Jesus invited Peter to follow him – and he and his brothers left everything to follow Jesus. Verse 11 says, “As soon as they landed they left everything and followed Jesus.”

These were fishermen.  They surrendered more than sin…and they surrendered their occupations that were not bad!  It is not as though they were strip club owners or pornographers.  They weren’t cheating people out of their money. They walked away from their boats. Their nets. Their source of income. Because they wanted to follow Jesus.

Now, I am not suggesting that you walk away from your jobs.  And I am not suggesting that surrendering your life to Jesus requires you to change your occupation…But it might.

If you earn a living cheating people out of money – God is calling you out of that occupation. If you earn a living harming other people…God is calling you to surrender that and walk away from that lifestyle. God may desire that you sell off land, houses, cars and give it all away.  I don’t know what God is calling you to surrender when it comes to your possessions, but I do know that God is calling you to surrender your time by loving your neighbor as yourself.

I believe God is calling you to walk away from Christianese. I believe God is calling you to walk away from Religion. I believe God is calling you to live a surrendered life through Jesus.

A person who lives a surrendered life is more concerned with people than property. So love surrendered. A church that lives surrendered understands that God has called us to lead people into a relationship with Him, not to become a religious hypocrite. Jesus told Peter from now on he would be fishing for people. That purpose must shine in all we do. Fish for people.

Invite your neighbor to church.

Invite your spouse to church.

Invite your children to church.

Invite your coworkers to church.

Invite your Barista, your lawn care worker, and the person that cuts your hair to church.

God is doing a new thing at Beach Church. He is leading us to walk away from religion and make everything about our relationship with God, and real relationships with others.

What else besides sin, do you need to surrender today? What else is getting in the way of your relationship with God? 

Ask God to show you, and He will.