Introduction to Preaching--1st sermon

This is my first sermon for my Introduction to Preaching Class.

A reading from the gospel of Mark (chapter 1 verses 40 - 45) (NIV)

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

This is the Word of the Lord. (Thanks be to God.)


Alone, alone, alone.

Eighteen-year-old Joanna and her parents communicate in verbal spars and glaring silent looks. They cannot seem to agree on any of the essentials in their family life. Her parents refuse to give her any of the independence she desires. In turn, she refuses to follow their rules without questioning. So her parents have asked her to move out. She leaves her small-town home and moves to the big city where she works and tries to finish up her senior year in high school. She is alone.

Ben, a professional educator and father of two young children finds himself always busy. Busy at work-- with lesson plans, research and writing. Busy at home--co-parenting his children and trying to maintain a good marriage. Busy at church-- with Sunday school, Session, and lay leadership. He just doesn’t seem to have the time and energy for any personal time with God. Even with people around him all day long, sometimes he feels alone.

Alison, a seventh grade girl watches as one by one, each of her friends walks past her and sits at a table on the other side of the school cafeteria. None of them have spoken to her in class for the last two days. She wonders why they have left her alone.

Do you know any of these people . . . or someone like them? Have you ever experienced what they are experiencing? Separation--Separation from family, separation from friends, separation from community, separation from God.

The leper in our text experienced separation--separation from community. According to the purity code in Leviticus, once his leprosy was discovered, he had to be expelled from civil and religious society. No longer could he pray in the temple or go to the synagogue with his friends. No longer could he share meals or living quarters with his healthy relatives. He had to live outside of the village--no one to talk with, no one to eat with, no one to hold onto. Cast out of the community, he is alone.

But he didn’t want to be alone. He wanted to be restored to his family and his community. So, in our text, he approaches Jesus, this rabbi who did not turn away at the sound of “unclean, unclean” or the sight of his torn clothing and disheveled hair. He approaches Jesus and he begs him on bended knee.

“If you are willing, you can make me clean.” The leper recognizes Jesus is his chance for restoration.

Mark tells us Jesus was filled with compassion. He reached out and deliberately touched the man. He touched this man, who had been denied the feel of another person’s skin. Jesus touched the leper and said, “I am willing. Be clean.”

When he touched him, Jesus broke down walls: walls that had been carefully constructed hundreds of years ago in that Levitcal code, walls that had been meticulously maintained by priests and other religious leaders ever since. No longer would this leper be closed off from others. He was restored--restored to community, restored to friends, restored to family--because Jesus had touched him.

About a year after she leaves home, Joanna’s parents reach out to touch her. They’ve decided to redefine “essentials” as listening with an open mind; as accepting Joanna as an independent person; as supporting her physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Joanna responds to their touch by trusting that they really do want to understand her and show her they love her, by acknowledging she can use their help, by accepting that help without looking for a catch, by coming home and being welcomed back into the family.

At his local bookstore, Ben finds a devotional book with a lectionary reading and a brief meditation for each day. It isn’t easy to get up 30 minutes earlier each morning, but he decides to begin each day with prayer and the devotional, on a trial basis, to see if it will begin to soften this hard place in his heart, to fill the hole in his soul. At first, his prayers are stilted and forced, but he perseveres daily. Within a few months, he realizes he is experiencing peace despite his busy days. His prayers are heartfelt and free. He feels God’s presence with him in times of distress as well as in quiet moments. His heart is softening, and that hole in his soul is mending.

Alison’s “friends” continue to shun her. Her mom drives her to and from school, since she no longer has a walking buddy. The two of them talk about how it feels to be cast out for no reason. Alison finds other people to eat lunch with, to talk to in class--new friends. She grows up, and as an adult, she finds herself conscious of those on the outside, left out, alone. She has a heart for inclusion, so she develops skills for inviting others into conversations, activities, and friendships.

When we are separated by barriers of whatever design and whoever’s construction, the Holy Spirit touches us, and we are restored. We pray or someone prays for us, and the Holy Spirit moves in our lives. Joanna’s grandparents prayed for Joanna and her parents. The Holy Spirit touched their hearts, and ultimately, their family was restored. Ben’s wife prayed for Ben. The Holy Spirit planted the seed for a morning devotional ritual. And Ben’s relationship with God, his spiritual life, was restored. Alison’s mother prayed for Alison. Through this junior high crisis, the Holy Spirit breathed compassion for others into Alison’s heart. Years later, she is an agent of restoration in other people’s lives.

Alone? Alone? Alone? Friends, we are not alone. For, in life and in death we belong to God. And nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Hallelujah.

(The grader suggested I remove the next to the last paragraph--barriers . . . Holy Spirit because I'm explaining too much. He said let the stories and their ending do the explaining. I agree with that, however I felt it was important to talk about the Holy Spirit's action in restoring us. Perhaps a good compromise would be to have just the first 2 sentences of that paragraph and omit the specific explanations of how the Holy Spirit worked in the 3 persons' lives.)

Peace, ML