🙇Before I begin this
morning – I want to acknowledge that the sermon began with a thought from Anna,
submitted for our Two-Bit Bible Study – where she reflected on the physical
distancing of lepers in relation to Jesus through that healing story.
Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming and Jesus answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” (Lk. 11: 20-21)
These words, from the Gospel of Luke, follow the story of the lepers being healed. The words provide a lens to help direct our reflection on the story. God is not coming with things that can be observed ... in fact the kingdom of God is among you.
Back
in late March and early April, would the first words on our lips have been that
the kingdom of God is among us? I don’t
think so. I remember the early days of
COVID as peculiar. Every day I went for a walk – an adventure – filled with new
rules, navigating away from other people, moving to the road – watching for
cars, choosing routes with less people, turning one’s head if one couldn’t
distance, refraining from touching crosswalk buttons; being careful not to
sneeze or cough, not greeting others to avoid contagion, being anxious or wary
of who might be a virus carrier; wondering if the air was okay or if one had to
distance from dogs or cats. There was a
whole mess of feelings - walking was no
longer a leisurely exercise, no longer a time to greet neighbours, and no
longer a communion with creation.
Perhaps for the first time in my life, I have a sense of the mess of ‘feelings’ experienced in 1st century Judea related to leprosy. Lepers lived in colonies – communities outside of inhabited areas, in inhospitable places. They were sent away because leprosy was, is, contagious. Although still not known exactly how the disease is transmitted, until recently it was treated as a disease passed via physical touch. Those in leper colonies relied on friends, family, or others who would leave food or other items at the fringe of the encampment. From time to time lepers would leave the colony in groups – like the ten we read of this morning- to gather alms and savage resources. There are stories that lepers carried items with which to make noise, in some periods of history wearing bells, to warn people of their presence and to make people move away. Physical distancing was the practice: lepers were not to approach the healthy, the healthy avoided contact with lepers.
In
this story, we are told that the lepers approached Jesus, keeping their
distance. They called to Jesus and from
a distance Jesus answered back ... no touching involved. Healing happened
somewhere in the space between Jesus and the lepers -the kingdom came not in
something observed. Jesus spoke words (words are not seen, but rather
heard). There was no outstretching of his
arms in blessing or calling out to God or doves appearing in the sky. No, just words spoken that said nothing about
healing; “go show yourself to the priest” Jesus says.
This
is not an action easily done. It is not
just going and seeing a priest. To see a
priest would mean a ritual bath, admittance to the Temple grounds, an offering. Before going -to be permitted in the crowds
of the city of Jerusalem- would mean acquiring clothes to replace their leper
rags. It would require the former lepers to integrate into societal ways of
moving through the city streets to the Temple mount, acting in ways that many
of them had not done for a long, long time. The lepers were use to avoiding, not
touching, not communing with people – and now to maneuver through the narrow streets
that went up to the Temple, unable to distance they would be touched and
jostled in the bustle of the city--- how overwhelming. And to top it off, they
could not return to their home, because their home was now off limits. They now
had to physically distance from the people they had been living with, physical
distancing from all they had known perhaps
for years, even decades.
I can’t imagine--- it is difficult just going for a walk now- where some people still distance, others do not, some wear masks outside, others push through or pass; can we touch; do we retain our bubbles, who is allowed in our homes, who is not; what church groups will start to meet face-to-face; with what are we comfortable, when are we not comfortable. ... some days such circumstances are overwhelming and exhausting. Our current experience helps us understand a little more the story of the lepers, and former lepers.
Told to go show themselves to the priest, the lepers had a lot to prepare and to think about. There minds, I imagine, were overwhelmed by the tasks required to do as Jesus said. I wonder how far along the journey it was before the first leper noticed he was healed – this leper was one who would not be going to Jerusalem, as he was a Samaritan- the lepers had to walk past Samaria to get to Jerusalem. Perhaps it is here on reaching what would be his place of reintegration into society that he noticed he was healed. Perhaps the others were still overwhelmed and preoccupied working out the to-dos of what would happen once reaching Jerusalem. When the first leper noticed that he was healed he returned and fell at Jesus’ feet. This is certainly close proximity to another human being, and I imagine might have included touching Jesus’ feet – a sign of respect. That touch --- can you imagine reaching out to touch someone when you have not been allowed to touch another for a very long time? Those of us with parents or friends in nursing homes or hospitals, who have not had physical contact with their loved one, when once again you can touch – in small measure this is the leper’s experience. This action – the feeling of another so close- might cause one to weep, to grieve what has been, giving the broken heart a chance to heal; and a simultaneous rush of fear and gratitude. God is not coming with things that can be observed....the kingdom of God is among you.
Not
coming in things observed. The kingdom of God is among you.
In
physical distance – in words – in a returning of gratitude – in touch (well for
us this year keeping in touch not actual touching).
When I think of the physical distance between me and you, too often I fret about what we can not do. In doing so, I completely gloss over one of the messages in today’s gospel – the kingdom is among us, in the space between - healing happened despite physical distance and was accompanied by the sound of words. Kingdom was present in the relationship, lepers to Jesus, Jesus to the lepers.
This
Thanksgiving I have a new found respect, joy, and gratitude, for those things
which I can not see.
This is Thanksgiving Sunday and I am thankful that the gospel message is alive in our midst. The kingdom of God has been, is, and will continue to be among us. With gratitude overflowing – I feel healing and experience relationship in that which can not be observed: in all the ways relationship has been fostered, grown, deepened; in words that travel via wifi from smart phone, to computer, to files saved in the cloud, the wonder of Facebook live, notes by email; in sharing the peace of Christ by looking into each others eyes, bowing, nodding, waving; in celebrating communion with you – shared in words here, repeated in our homes – eaten together yet physically distanced; in feeling God in moments of peace, in the heat of sunshine, in music that makes me cry, in poetry that sinks deep within, and in moments of a broken heart when I am in touch with the raw pain of others throughout the world. For the things which can not be observed...I give thanks for herein is the kingdom of God among us.
Once
Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming and Jesus
answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;
nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the
kingdom of God is among you.” (Lk. 11:
20-21)
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