How to Light a Candle with a Lightning Bolt

Right away a leper came and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Reaching out His hand He touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his disease was healed.

Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed, as a testimony to them.” – Matthew 8:2-4

Perhaps God can meet our need, but will He? We do wonder for the mind of God is mysterious beyond our understanding. Experience leads us to think that there is some unknown – a constant, perhaps, that we must factor in to get the equation to work for us. One side of the equation is my lack. On the other side is the creative, wonder-working power of the Almighty, El Shaddai, the All Sufficient One. In a way it seems like there is almost too much on God’s side. He is transcendent, the great Creator; I and my problem are so tiny and insignificant. It would be like trying to hook your hairdryer into a line coming straight off the dynamo. Too much of a good thing. How can we balance things out? What makes it work for the lepers, the blind, and the lame of the New Testament, but not for me?

I can see one element that must be added in on my side: humility. Pride will get nothing from the Lord for it will never really ask anything of Him, truly. Walking in pride, I might demand of God, say to Him that He ought to do it for me or that He owes me, because, after all, look how wonderful I am. Surely if anybody is worthy of a blessing it is me. The leper came in humility, kneeling at the Master’s feet, feeling unworthy to even stand before Him.

Another factor must be that recognition and acknowledgement of the efficacy of God’s power in our particular situation. We believe, perhaps, that God can do “anything”, but do I truly believe that He could heal, deliver, or provide for me right here and now? The leper had no doubt that Jesus could make him whole. The poor man might have questioned if he was worthy to receive the blessing, if his sins would come between him and his healing, if he had brought this thing upon himself and so deserved to suffer on in loneliness, pain, and torment. But he was clear that he believed Jesus had the power to change his life.

Jesus. The constant that makes the equation work is the Constant One, Jesus -- the same yesterday, today and forever. The leper received a healing because he took the one all-important step: he met Jesus. Jesus is the Transformer, the Great High Priest who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He modulates the raw power of God that causes mountains to melt like wax because He understands our weaknesses. We are the bruised reed He will not break. He is gentle and humble in heart. We find solace and help in Him.

I need to meet Jesus.

…the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I will also love him and reveal Myself to him. (John 14:21)

If I recognize something lacking in myself, I can be made whole by meeting Jesus, but Jesus reveals Himself only to those who love Him. It is something of Catch-22. How can you truly love someone that you do not know, when you can only see Him if you love Him?

It depends on how you define the word “love”. If by love we mean a feeling, an emotion, or an affection, that’s one thing. Yet there are many that have a “soft spot”, sympathy, or “warm feelings” for Jesus who do not appear to know Him, to whom He has never been revealed.

If we look at the first part of John 14:21, Jesus tells us this: The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. As the song says, love is not a feeling, it’s an act of the will. I do what Jesus tells me. If I do that, by His definition – the only one that counts, He says that I love Him.

OK, so, Lord, what are Your commandments?

This is My commandment: that you love one another just as I have loved you (John 15:12).

I was afraid of that.

I was kind of hoping it would be something grandiose and spectacular. I was also hoping it would be easier than loving my neighbors. Crawl up a flight of stairs on my knees. Go on a three day fast. Sit in a sweat lodge. Lay off cookie dough ice cream. Vote Republican. Run a marathon. Build a skyscraper. Pass some laws. Give up television.

I’ve actually done a couple of those things anyway. Can I get extra credit?

Love one another just as I have loved you, Jesus says. To love as Jesus loves us we, too, must be willing to lay down our lives -- not necessarily to the shedding of blood, but to the setting aside of our own desires, our own dreams sometimes. Love is expressed in sacrifice: giving for the benefit another what I wanted for myself, whether material or energy, treasure or time.

In that obedient love, though, Jesus will reveal Himself to us. We will see Him – perhaps when we least expect Him, in the least of these.



When you gonna wake up,
When you gonna wake up,
When you gonna wake up,
and strengthen the things that remain.
-- Bob Dylan